Left-Extremist Endeavours

demoralize the nation and facilitate control over the people, so as
to consolidate their own power.
Irregularities committed by individual politicians are generalized
and constantly recalled so as to give the impression that all politicians
and top officials are corrupt. This is intended to suggest
the requirement for replacing the existing State by another system.
In connection with the discussion about old-age pensions, the
DVU defamed representatives of the democratic constitutional
state as mercenary:
"It’s the same as before: While impudent political bigwigs, with
ever increasing emoluments and ever new benefits, continue
to develop their money-raking land of milk an honey, the
ordinary citizen is subjected to merciless bleeding and
pillaging. The more helpless and poorer the victim, the more
merciless the attacks launched by the political robber barons."
(NZ, no. 37/1999, p. 10)
Politicians’ emoluments which were the subject of critical public
debate provided FREY’s newspapers with an opportunity to brand
Germany as a haven for political profiteers since the politicians in
Bonn were record-holding money-rakers 38) .
2.2 Organization and Development
Organizational structure Nationwide, the DVU has 16 Land Associations. While many
Kreis Associations exist at the lower level, the interest of many
members in developing firm regional party structures carrying out
independent political work was thwarted, above all, by FREY’s
dominating position. His position was confirmed by his re-election,
by the vast majority of votes, as the National Chairman at
the National Party Convention in Munich on 16 January.
The increase in membership resulting from the election success
in Saxony-Anhalt in 1998 (12.9 %) did not continue in 1999 although
additional electoral mandates were won in two Land Parliaments.
Their party even suffered a loss of 1,000 members so
that the total number of members may be assumed to have
dropped to about 17,000. Its Land Associations with the largest
membership are those of North Rhine/Westphalia, Bavaria and
Baden-Wurttemberg; in the East German Länder, the Land Association
in Saxony-Anhalt continues to have the largest membership
and the most developed structure.
The most publicity-effective DVU event, the annual mass rally in
the Nibelungenhalle in Passau, which on 25 September took
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