20th century fascist movements
A01=Paula A. Oppermann
antisemitism
Author_Paula A. Oppermann
Baltic nations
Category=JBFA
Category=JPHX
Category=NHD
eq_bestseller
eq_history
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
European far-right parties
fascism
Holocaust
Latvia
Perkonkrusts
Product details
- ISBN 9780299353100
- Weight: 454g
- Dimensions: 152 x 229mm
- Publication Date: 21 Oct 2025
- Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Hardback
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Founded in 1932, the Pērkonkrusts (“Thunder Cross”) was the largest and most prominent right-wing political party in Latvia in the early twentieth century. Its motto—“Latvia for Latvians!”—echoed the ultranationalist rhetoric of similar movements throughout Europe at the time. Unlike the Nazis in Germany or the Fascists in Italy, however, the Pērkonkrusts never succeeded in seizing power. Nevertheless, Holocaust historian Paula A. Oppermann argues, its movement left an indelible mark on the country. The antisemitism at the core of the Pērkonkrusts’ ideology remained a driving force for Latvian fascists throughout the twentieth century, persisting despite shifting historical and political contexts.
Thunder Cross is the most comprehensive study of Latvia’s fascist movement in English to date, and the only work that investigates the often neglected continuities of fascist antisemitism after World War II. Formulated as an empirical case study, this book draws on international and interdisciplinary secondary literature and sources in seven languages to broaden our understanding of fascism, antisemitism, and mass violence from Germany and Italy to the larger European context.
Thunder Cross is the most comprehensive study of Latvia’s fascist movement in English to date, and the only work that investigates the often neglected continuities of fascist antisemitism after World War II. Formulated as an empirical case study, this book draws on international and interdisciplinary secondary literature and sources in seven languages to broaden our understanding of fascism, antisemitism, and mass violence from Germany and Italy to the larger European context.
Paula A. Oppermann is a researcher at the Historische Kommission zu Berlin. Her work has appeared in S:I.M.O.N. (Shoah: Intervention. Methods. Documentation), Peripheral Histories, Quest. Issues in Contemporary Jewish History, and elsewhere.
