H. Keith Thompson

Harold Keith Thompson (born 1922 in New Jersey [Martin A. Lee, "The Beast Reawakens", London: Warner Books, 1998, p. 85] ) is a New York City-based corporate executive [ [http://www.ihr.org/other/authorbios.html Biography] ] and a figure within American far right circles. Thompson is a graduate of Yale University. [Lee, "The Beast Reawakens"]

Early life

Thompson began his political career before America's entry into World War II when he campaigned against involvement as a member of the German American Bund and the America First Committee. [Lee, "The Beast Reawakens", p. 85] In this role he came to the attention of Nazi Germany and was appointed as a Special Agent of the Sicherheitsdienst Overseas Intelligence Unit on July 27 1941. [Lee, "The Beast Reawakens", p. 86]

After the war Thompson returned to Yale University in 1946 and completed his studies before embarking on an expedition to Antarctica. [Lee, "The Beast Reawakens", p. 86] This was as part of Operation Highjump under the command of Rear Admiral Richard Evelyn Byrd. [ [http://www.sharkhunters.com/EPThompson.htm Sharkhunters International website] ] He would soon befriend Otto Skorzeny and worked alongside him in setting up ODESSA. [Lee, "The Beast Reawakens", pp. 86-7]

Alongside his political activities Thompson also found work in public relations and this remained his area of employment. [Lee, "The Beast Reawakens", p. 85]

Post-war activism

Thompson became a close ally of Otto Ernst Remer and in 1951 when he registered with the United States Department of Justice as the American representative for the Socialist Reich Party, a position he held until the group was banned in 1952. Around the same time he also became involved with the National Renaissance Party. [ [http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?aid=176 'The Ties that Bind'] from the Southern Poverty Law Center site] His political involvement brought him into contact with Francis Parker Yockey whilst both men were campaigning for Remer's release from prison during the 1950s. Thompson and Yockey remained close allies until the latter's death in 1960. [Lee, The Beast Reawakens, pp. 103-6]

Thompson nailed his colours to the mast by writing an article entitled 'I Am an American Fascist' for "Exposé" magazine in 1954. In the article he praised the Third Reich and Adolf Hitler and condemned the Nuremberg Trials as 'vicious and vilely dishonorable'. [ [http://www.press.uillinois.edu/epub/books/tucker/ch3.html 'The Campaign against Civil Rights'] ] As a result of this he became linked to the International Association for the Advancement of Ethnology and Eugenics and published a number of pamphlets on their behalf. [ [http://www.press.uillinois.edu/epub/books/tucker/ch3.html 'The Campaign against Civil Rights'] ]

International ties

Seeking to expand international contacts, Thompson visited Cairo in an attempt to forge links with the Nasser regime. [ [http://www.epwijnants-lectures.com/harabr.html 'From Hitler to the "Arab Reich"] ] More concrete links were established with Mohammad Amin al-Husayni and Johann von Leers as part of a wider policy of building up contact with the Islamic world. [Martin A. Lee, [http://www.corpse.org/issue_11/broken_news/lee.html 'The Swastika & the Crescent'] ]

Republican Party and recent work

Along with a number of far right activists Thompson has also been involved on the fringes of the Republican Party. Independently wealthy, he has contributed to the campaigns of such radical right figures in the GOP as Jesse Helms, David Duke, Oliver North and Pat Buchanan. His activities for the party were such that he was awarded membership of their Presidential Legion of Merit as a result. [Lee, "The Beast Reawakens", p. 387]

Thompson has largely disappeared from the scene in recent years due to his advancing age. In the wake of the Oklahoma City bombing he re-emerged to initially welcome the attack although he has since revised his position and instead denounced it as a government act designed to destroy the reputation of the far right. [Lee, "The Beast Reawakens", p. 354]

Writing

Thompson's involvement in writing dated back to his early post-war years, whilst he also worked as a publisher and literary agent (where his clients have included Fulgencio Batista, Carol II of Romania and Hans-Ulrich Rudel). [Lee, "The Beast Reawakens", p. 114] Alongside this he has since became a writer for Journal of Historical Review, his articles including "Grand Admiral Karl Doenitz: Last President of a United Germany". [H. Keith Thompson, [http://vho.org/GB/Journals/JHR/4/3/Thompson305-334.html 'Grand Admiral Karl Doenitz: Last President of a United Germany'] ] A subsequent book "Dönitz at Nuremberg: A Re-Appraisal" was also edited by Thompson. [ [http://www.ihr.org/other/authorbios.html Biography] ] Thompson was in fact offered a position on the board of policy of the Liberty Lobby, although he turned it down stating that he only wanted to take one loyalty oath in his life (to Hitler when he joined the SD). [Lee, "The Beast Reawakens", p. 225]

References