Colin Jordan: Leading figure in British fascism
Tuesday, 28 April 2009
Colin Jordan, who has been described as the grandfather of post-war
National Socialism in Britain, was an ardent admirer of Hitler who for
decades carried the flag for Nazism. Despite his long devotion to the
cause, few rallied to his standard. His decades of activism none the
less made him a prominent figure in the ultra-right undergrowth which
included the National Front, British National Party and a myriad of
other groups.
Jordan was a member of many of these and an opponent of many more, since
the far-right proved at least as vehemently schismatic as the left, and
has been riven with often bitter splits over personalities, policies and
tactics. Jordan was at the heart of one such rift when he broke with
one-time associate John Tyndall over what they said were policy
differences. The widespread belief, however, was that the real reason
was that Jordan married the jailed Tyndall's ex-fiancée.
She was Françoise Dior, an eccentric niece of the famous designer
Christian Dior. She was as fervently Nazi as Jordan: as part of their
marriage ceremony they cut their fingers and mingled their blood over a
copy of Mein Kampf. Although she said she wanted to "give birth to a
little Nazi", they had no children, and after a few years of marriage
she ran off with a teenager. At one point she was charged with arson
attacks on synagogues.
The Jordan-Tyndall fall-out meant that two of the major figures in the
ultra-right camp were permanently estranged from each other. Both
struggled unsuccessfully to make inroads beyond the most extreme
fringes, and never managed to establish any significant electoral
foothold.
Jordan was involved with an entire lexicon of micro-groups, ranging from
the League of Empire Loyalists to the British Movement, and from the
National Socialist Movement to the White Defence League. He also formed
attachments with neo-Nazi elements on the continent and in the US. One
of his groups, Spearhead, was a paramilitary outfit which in the early
1960s landed him in prison for one of his spells behind bars. He had
been observed taking part in military manoeuvres by police, who seized
Nazi flags and portraits, pistols, knives, helmets and other
paraphernalia. On one container of chemicals the words "weed-killer" had
been replaced with "Jew-killer"
Jordan and several others were sent to jail. He was locked up again in
1965 under strengthened race-relations laws after he issued a pamphlet,
The Coloured Invasion, in which he railed against blacks, Asians and
immigration. He made many court appearances following rallies and
protests, and for the dissemination of literature said to incite racist
hatred. At one point the cabinet discussed banning one of his
demonstrations, with deputy prime minister Rab Butler saying the
government "must do something", but it was allowed to go ahead.
The son of a postman, Jordan was educated at Warwick School and at
Cambridge, where he took a history degree. His mentor was Arnold Leese,
a right-winger who before the war had quarrelled with Sir Oswald Mosley,
whom he denounced as "kosher fascist". Later on Mosley was to jeer at
Jordan and similar figures as "pygmies posing in the jackboots of dead
giants".
While at Cambridge Jordan formed what he called a nationalist club.
Later he taught mathematics at a secondary school, but lost the job
because of his activism. In the years that followed he attacked
immigration and "Jewish control" of politics, business and the media. In
his scheme of things democracy was "a master method to deter people from
any critical appraisal of the Jews". He declared: "Democracy is death".
Annoyed by such pronouncements Denis Healey, while Secretary of State
for Defence, once punched him at a public meeting as Jordan and others
sought to push the immigration issue during by-elections.
But Hitler – "this wondrous man" – was always Jordan's primary focus. He
asserted that there was "no reliable evidence whatsoever" that six
million perished in the Holocaust. His attachment went far beyond mere
hero-worship, extending into the realms of spirituality. Discounting
Jesus as "the counterfeit Christ of the Christians", Jordan described
Hitler as "messiah" and "saviour", and as a seer and priest who brought
a "message of salvation". In a 1989 essay he declared: "The crucifixion
of his creed was by the spears of baleful war alone, devoid of higher
sanction from any worthier creed. His was the spiritual victory." He
went on to forecast Hitler's "resurrection" as "the spiritual conqueror
of the future".
With few takers for such a vision, Jordan faded in his leadership role
in the far-right underworld, though he continued to write books and
pamphlets and at no point showed any sign of moderating his views. His
credibility was further damaged by a court appearance on a charge of
stealing three pairs of red knickers from Tesco's; he was found guilty
and fined £50.
Jordan's writing landed him in court once again in 2001 when he faced
charges of publishing material likely to stir up racial hatred. He
brought into court a large box marked: "Freedom is in peril – defend it
with all your might." The judge ruled that, at the age of 78, he was
unfit to stand trial because of a serious heart condition.
Two years ago he issued an appeal for far-right unity and an end to the
toxic in-fighting in which he had participated for so many years.
"Whatever tiny chance remains at this very late hour for National Racial
survival and revival depends on acting in unison", he wrote. The far
right must, he said, "make the essential ascent from that pettiness of
vision and spirit, with all its attendant squabbling, which has been the
curse of British nationalism and the joy and benefit of our opponents."
His partner Julianna Safrany survives him.
David McKittrick
John Colin Campbell Jordan, far-right activist: born Birmingham 19 June
1923; married 1963 Françoise Dior (marriage dissolved 1967); died
Pateley Bridge, North Yorkshire 9 April 2009.
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Tuesday, 28 April 2009
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