human interest
exclusive
The neo-Nazi who inspired Edward Norton's skinhead character in 'American History revealed.
Frank Meeink, 48, became the leader of a violent far-right group in the early 1990s, torturing opponents who stood in his way in his attempts to incite a race war.
A virulent anti-Semite, sporting a flaming swastika tattoo on his neck, he denounced what he called the “Zionist occupation government” and believed Jews to be the “root of all evil.”
In 1998's American History It is partially based on the path of
But now Meeink has revealed a startling truth to the Post. That's because he's Jewish.
Long after quitting neo-Nazism and trying to make amends for his past, he took the 23andMe test and discovered he had Jewish ancestry, which he now accepts.
What prompted him to take the test was a chance remark from a friend that he looked Jewish.
“I just wanted to know if it was true, I wanted to know if it was real,” Meenk said.
“By a wonderful gift from God, I knew through my DNA that I was Jewish.”
Tests revealed that his ancestry was 2.4% Ashkenazi Jewish. A few people did not believe in its importance. His mother's maternal great-grandmother, Elizabeth Zelman Rementer, was Jewish. So, according to his maternal tradition, he is also Jewish.
Not all Jewish scholars accept that definition, but many do. Mr. Meek enthusiastically embraces Judaism.
He keeps kosher by wearing the tallit and tefillin of an observant Jew, praying three times a day, attending synagogue and Torah study three times a week.
Meek grew up in an Irish Catholic enclave in Southwest Philadelphia with his mother and abusive stepfather, surrounded by black families.
In the summer of 1988, a 13-year-old boy fleeing a broken home life to spend time on his uncle and aunt's farm near Lancaster, Pennsylvania, is picked up by his neo-Nazi cousin, who has a mural of Hitler in his bedroom.
Meeink was afraid of drugs and black people, but said his cousin's skinhead crew “justified all my fears.”
Upon his return, he traveled to the United States and met with prominent neo-Nazis, including David Duke.
“I grabbed this information that was being given to me,” he said. “I wanted to make this movement even bigger.”
At 15 years old, he had already joined and left the Ku Klux Klan before deciding to form his own group called Strike Force with his cousins.
Meeink said he uses the Bible to preach hatred “much like Hamas does with the Koran,” and that he has created a self-titled website in Springfield, Illinois, called “The Reich,” filled with racist “skits and jokes.” began public access cable television programming.
Strikeforce particularly despised anti-fascist skinheads (Sharps) who opposed racial prejudice.
Meeink, who had “Sharp Killer” tattooed on the inside of his lower lip, invited a member of the group to a party on Christmas Eve 1992, then locked him up and tortured him.
“So we kidnapped him and used firearms. We had guns and guns. We let him stay in an apartment for hours without any remorse or empathy. I also tortured them,” he recalled.
Meeink, 17, was sentenced to three years in prison for aggravated kidnapping. While in the custody of the Illinois Department of Corrections, he quickly became part of the Aryan “farm boys and bikers.”
But unexpectedly, through games of football and cards in the prison yard, he forms a bond with two black inmates nicknamed Jello and G, and begins a slow journey away from neo-Nazism, which becomes Norton's character. gave inspiration to.
Although he was released from prison after just over a year, he still attended neo-Nazi rallies and mocked racism against black people, but not anti-Semitism.
“I often hear people say that all black people are like this, but that's not true,” he thought. But his anti-Semitism meant, “I'm still going to preach against the Jews.”
In 1994, at just 19 years old, unemployed and drunk, he was offered a job at an antique store in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, by owner Keith Brookstein, who was Jewish. .
“'Did I tell him about the swastika?'” Meenk said, hesitantly asking the friend who offered him the job.
“Keith doesn't give you rats like you believe, just don't destroy the furniture,” he replied.
Brookstein's kindness, compassion, and forgiveness resonated deeply with Meek.
Eventually, while out for a walk, he thought about his anti-Semitism. “That was the day I thought, 'I'm done.'” I came out. ”
The next morning, Meenke didn't shave his head for the first time in years. He later had a swastika tattoo and the word “skinhead” removed from his knuckles.
Meek has become an active campaigner against neo-Nazism, but said it was the acceptance of Judaism that meant the most to him.
He credits his faith with getting him through the darkest times in his life.
Meek was in Los Angeles, California, recovering from alcohol and drug abuse in 2019 after the death of his 19-year-old son Josh, the death of his mother Thomasine from a fentanyl overdose, and the breakdown of his marriage. 5 years gap.
There he met a Jewish sponsor whom he named a “Reconstruction Rabbi” who helped him find his faith and sobriety. “It was a lot of work,” Meeink says.
“In the Restoration, it says, 'Find the God of your understanding.'” That's when I thought, “I'm going to really look into this.”
“What I like about Judaism is that it says, 'Love the Lord your God,' and that you don't have to impose your God on anyone else. God I would like to build a relationship with them.”
Meeink said her faith has given her the humility and humility to stand up for others.
Furthermore, he added: “During my morning prayer walk, I keep saying the word 'abide.' Stay: Stop thinking about yourself. ”
He also continues to call his “recovery rabbi” every morning at 8 a.m. “I'm just doing these things not to seem part Jewish,” he explained.
“I do it because God is at the forefront of my mind. It's his world, not mine.”
In 2020, he testified before Congress about neo-Nazi attempts to infiltrate police departments.
He is currently hoping to turn his entire life into a film that could serve as a sequel to American History It is. ” In 2013.
At its core is a simple message: “Love is more powerful than hate.”
