Silent Brotherhood
The Silent Brotherhood, also known as the Brüder Schweigen and the Aryan Resistance Movement, was a white revolutionary organization active in the United States between 1983 and 1984. Journalists began referring to the group as The Order which was a fictional inner circle group of White revolutionaries who appered in the novel The Turner Diaries. Robert Jay Mathews, the founder of the Silent Brotherhood, was inspired by the work and modeled some of his group's activities on the revolutionaries in the book.
Contents
History of the Silent Brotherhood
Robert Mathews founded the Silent Brotherhood in late September, 1983 at his farm near Metaline Falls, Washington. A fundamental goal of The Brotherhood was revolution against the government of the United States, which was seen by the group as being controlled by a cabal of the Jews.
To fund these goals, The Brotherhood committed a series of robberies. Their first effort was the robbery of a sex shop (directly copied from an early event in The Turner Diaries) which netted them less than $400. The Brotherhood later moved on to bank robberies, counterfeiting, and eventually a large armored car robbery in Ukiah, California which netted them $3.8 million.
After being arrested on counterfeiting charges, one member of The Brotherhood informed FBI agents of the group's membership roll and its methods. Based on this information, authorities were able to track down Mathews in December, 1984. He was living in a cabin on Whidbey Island and refused to surrender to the FBI. During a shootout, the FBI set the cabin on fire and Bob Mathews died.
Mathews is held in high esteem within the white nationalist movement. One website declares that "Robert Matthews died a hero and a martyr to our Race. God rest his soul. A band named "Dresden" wrote a song called To Robert Mathews in Valhalla in 1995.
Ultimately, ten members of the Silent Brotherhood were tried and convicted under Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) statutes. In a separate trial, three other members of The Order were tried and convicted of violating the civil rights of Alan Berg, a Jewish radio talk show host in Denver, Colorado who was assassinated on the evening of June 18, 1984 in front of his home as he was exiting his car.
No one was charged in the actual shooting death of Berg. However, David Lane, the getaway driver for Berg's assailants, served what amounted to a life sentence (190 consecutive years) with no chance of parole on the charges of racketeering, conspiracy, and violating Berg's civil rights. Lane died in prison in 2007. Lane is regarded by many white nationalists as a hero and a political prisoner. They revere his Fourteen Words that have become a motto of many white racialists and white racialist organizations: "We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children".
Oath and Motto
The Silent Brotherhood had a system of oaths and mottos which were reminiscent of fraternal organizations. The first members of the group were recruited from Aryan Nations and the National Alliance.
The nine founding members of the group swore an oath that began:
"I, as a free Aryan man, hereby swear an unrelenting oath upon the green graves of our sires, upon the children in the wombs of our wives, upon the throne of God almighty, sacred is His name, to join together in holy union with those brothers in this circle and to declare forthright that from this moment on I have no fear of death, no fear of foe; that I have a sacred duty to do whatever is necessary to deliver our people from the Jew and bring total victory to the Aryan race..."
A motto on the group's crest reads "Brüder schweigen", which means "Brothers remain silent" in German.
Members
Orginal nine sworn members (22 September 1983)
- Dan Bauer
- Randy Duey
- Richard Kemp
- David Lane
- Ken Loff
- Bob Mathews
- Bruce Pierce
- Denver Parmenter
- William Soderquist
Later members and associates
- Tom Martinez
- Gary Yarbrough
- Randal Rader
- Robert Merki
- James Dye
- Jackie Lee Norton
- Mark Jones
- Charles Ostrout
- Richard Scutari
- David Tate
- Mike Norris
- Jean Craig
- Frank L. DeSilva
- Ronald King
- Ardie McBrearty
- Randy Evans
Books
- Bruder Schweigen: The Story of The Silent Brothers by Frank L. DeSilva
- Bruder Schweigen: The Story of The Silent Brothers, Vol. II by Frank L. DeSilva