Michael Swierczek is a German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 Neo-Nazi who lives in Munich

Munich

Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...

.

Swierczek began his political career as a member of the Young National Democratic Party of Germany

National Democratic Party of Germany

The National Democratic Party of Germany – The People's Union , is a far right German nationalist party. It was founded in 1964 a successor to the German Reich Party . Party statements self-identify as Germany's "only significant patriotic force"...

 (NPD). He was one of the leaders of the Freien Nationalisten before taking over the leadership of the Munich Kameradschaft of the Action Front of National Socialists/National Activists

Action Front of National Socialists/National Activists

The Action Front of National Socialists/National Activists was a German neo-Nazi organization....

 (ANS/NA). Swierczek then threw his lot in with the Free German Workers' Party

Free German Workers' Party

The Free German Workers' Party was a neo-nazi political association in Germany. It was outlawed by the Constitutional Court in 1995.The FAP was founded in 1979 but was largely insignificant until the banning of the Action Front of National Socialists/National Activists in 1983 when Michael Kühnen...

 (FAP), serving that group as both Vice General Secretary and chair of the FAP-Landesverbandes Bayern.

Swierczek split from the FAP in 1990 and formed his own group, National Offensive

National Offensive

The National Offensive was a German neo-Nazi party, which existed from July 3, 1990 to December 22, 1992.It was founded by Michael Swierczek, the former chairman of the Free German Workers' Party in Bavaria, who became the chairman of the NO, and Carlo Bauer, the president of the NO, during the...

, in Augsburg

Augsburg

Augsburg is a city in the south-west of Bavaria, Germany. It is a university town and home of the Regierungsbezirk Schwaben and the Bezirk Schwaben. Augsburg is an urban district and home to the institutions of the Landkreis Augsburg. It is, as of 2008, the third-largest city in Bavaria with a...

 on 3rd July. Although claiming only around 140 members the group became an important source of propaganda

Propaganda

Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....

 and as leader Swierczek became an important figure in historical revisionism

Historical revisionism (negationism)

Historical revisionism is either the legitimate scholastic re-examination of existing knowledge about a historical event, or the illegitimate distortion of the historical record such that certain events appear in a more or less favourable light. For the former, i.e. the academic pursuit, see...

, organising events that featured David Irving

David Irving

David John Cawdell Irving is an English writer,best known for his denial of the Holocaust, who specialises in the military and political history of World War II, with a focus on Nazi Germany...

 and other leading figures as speakers. However this group, which was mostly active in Bavaria

Bavaria

Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...

 and Saxony

Saxony

The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....

, was banned by the Federal Minister of the Interior

Federal Ministry of the Interior (Germany)

The Federal Ministry of the Interior is a ministry of the German federal government. Its main office is in Berlin, with a secondary seat in Bonn. The current minister of the interior is Dr...

 on 22nd December 1992.

Following the outlawing of National Offensive, Swierczek continued in his attempts to organise extremist movements. After attempting to reconvene the ANS/NA he was tried before the Stuttgart

Stuttgart

Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....

regional court and, on May 7 1995, was sentenced to 15 months imprisonment for trying to restart this banned group. He has subsequently returned to the NPD.