863 words
“Smash racism!” was the slogan under which immigrant gang members stabbed with a knife, beat with planks, and finally cut open the throat of teenager Daniel Wretström on a dark December night 20 years ago.
Daniel Wretström, 17, enjoyed wildlife and music. He spent his spare time going fishing and playing the drums in a patriotic rock band. His mother described him as a “seeking soul,” and he regularly sought out churches. He was very close to his ailing cousin Angelina, who told the 2006 Salem memorial march in his memory: “The safety I felt when he sat there with me . . . I wish that someone could have been with him that night,” while bursting into tears.
On November 9th, 2000, in the Stockholm suburb of Salem, Daniel was on his way home from a party, alone. Passing by a bus stop, a multicultural gang approached him. The gang members were aware that he was a nationalist, and they immediately began harassing him: “Here we have a Nazi!” Daniel pretended not to hear them and kept walking, but the gang was undeterred.
The entire gang of around fifteen people attacked Daniel. Being totally overpowered, he had no chance to fight back. He was kicked and beaten continuously; one of the perpetrators struck him repeatedly with a plank. Daniel tried to stop a passing car by jumping onto the hood in an attempt to get help, but the driver backed up before driving away. Daniel was left to meet his fate alone.
Markus Andersson, De förlorade drömmarnas skog, 2005.
Khaled Odeh, one of Daniel’s attackers, shouted that he had a knife while Daniel was being beaten. Daniel’s throat was then cut, and the gang left the crime scene, leaving Daniel to bleed to death.
The perpetrators were later handed symbolic sentences of community service and psychiatric care.
Just a week before Daniel’s murder, Prime Minister Göran Persson and Mona Sahlin headlined the slogan “We will crush them!” in the media. It was in response to a completely untrue story about a six-year-old boy allegedly killed by a Swedish youth sharing Daniel’s political views. Pushing this false narrative of violence, they helped create the atmosphere of hate that led to Daniel’s murder.
The march that awakened a generation
Daniel’s history could have ended here; another number in the statistics. He could have become just one of many who fell victim to the heinous immigration policy of the Swedish government. But it did not turn out that way.
Just a week after his murder, more than 1,000 people marched through Salem to commemorate Daniel and to remember all the other victims of multiethnic violence. The violence that hits native Swedes and Scandinavians, the violence that never finds its way into the official “hate crime” statistics — although research shows that robbers and rapists target white European victims specifically.
From 2000 to 2010, an impressive torchlit march took place in Salem, beginning at Rönninge subway station and ending at the place of Daniel’s murder. In its best years, more than 3,500 persons took part — a large number for a Nordic country.
These demonstrations mobilized the entire spectrum of nationalist and patriotic parties, groups, and organizations in Sweden. Even the national conservative Sweden Democrats (although more radical than today) took part in the commemoration in its first year — but they later stayed away due to the mass media demonization portraying the demonstration as a “Nazi march.” The Norwegian magazine Målmannen was among the few publications that tried to independently cover the Salem phenomenon.
As relevant as before
Since then, the situation in Sweden has not changed for the better. On the contrary, news reports about burning cars and no-go-areas like Rosengård have become news worldwide. But the Salem marches still made a difference. When thousands of people lit their torches, it sent an impressive message that could not be ignored. No matter what mass media said, there was still resistance. There were still people out there who refused to be stepped on. The Salem phenomenon turned into the largest immigration-critical demonstration in the Nordic countries, and it is thanks to the Salem demonstration and its yearly campaigns that words like “anti-Swedishness” (svenskfientlighet) found their way into public discourse.
Daniel Wretström is not forgotten and never will be. Whenever the name “Salem” comes to our mind, we think no longer about the coward motorist who shook Daniel off his car and ran away. We think about the thousands of others who came, stood up, and said: Enough is enough.
“Let us swear, to never forget, to always remember, to keep fighting — for the vision of a bright future, a just future, a future in freedom — for which Daniel Wretström gave his life.” [1]
Translated from the editorial article at Målmannen.
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Notes
[1] From the song “Til minne om Daniel Wretström,” Svensk Ungdom, 2002.
8 comments
Wow, never knew about this. That there were marches in his memory shows that Sweden is not as far gone as we might have thought. In the US there would have been marches in favor of the killers.
God bless Daniel. Keep his memory alive.
Thank you for Daniel’s story. It should remind us that White nationalism is a global phenomenon and that the liberation and safety of the White race will require a global solution.
There is a movement that fights back. In swedish it is called “Nordiska Motståndrörelsen” meaning The Nordic Resistance Movement.
They will never forget this brutal murder. Never. There will be a payback.
You should here in Counter-Currents look at this movement. It does not just fight behind the desk at home, but these guys are not afraid to show the flag, and march through the cities. I have been there, I have seen my comrades beaten by police, but let me tell you, these boys do not give an inch.
If you ever wish to actually achieve anything, there is an example. You cannot find better, as hard as you try to look for it. They are the burning fire, they show the way.
Also here in Finland we have had over 3000 people marching through Helsinki with torches. This has happened now for many years every Independence Day, 6th of December. This year the hostile elite stopped it based on pandemic fear. But no worries, the patriots will march later next year.
If there is one thing that you do not seem to have any ability to achieve, it is the street action. This is bread and butter for The Nordic Resistance Movement. And, yes, indeed, they do not shy away from National Socialism. Why should they? For God’s sake, isn’t it clear to everybody by now, who is behind the massacre of our people? It is not these brainless animals, it is the elite that is governed by the genuine Satan. And we all know, do we not, who that Satan is? Yes, we do.
Yes we do. Intel drives the fight.
Interesting, Daniel Wretström would be the same age as me but I’d never heard of him. It must have taken balls to be a nationalist teenager in Sweden in those days so he must have had something about him.
It’s touching to hear how there were marches in his honour for so long afterwards though.
We have similar problems in England.
WHITE YOUTHS MURDERED BY BLACKS AND ASIANS IN UK,
A very incomplete list:
Cole Kershaw, 18, Manchester, Aug 2020.
Archie Beston, 19, Kingston, S.W.London, Feb 2020.
Aron Warren, 18, Greenwich, E.London, 8 Dec 2018.
Jamie Brown, 17, Halifax, Yorks. 27 Oct. 2018.
Kyle Yule, 17, Gillingham, Kent, 6 Oct 2017.
Daniel Kirkwood, 18, Coventry, 15 March, 2015
Alan Cartwright, 15, Islington, N.London, 27 Feb 2015.
Jordan Brennan, 17, Gorton, Manchester, 10 Oct 2014.
Charlie Burns, 19, Hackney, N.London, 21 Aug 2014.
Kieran Raiswell, 18, Whalley Range, Manchester, 16 Jan 2013.
Thomas Overton, 18, Leyton, E.London, 19 Aug 2012.
Danny O’Shea, 18, Canning Town, E.London, 2 Dec 2011.
Nicholas Pearton, 16, Sydenham, S.E.London, May 2010.
Martin Bilaszewski, 19, Finsbury Park station, N.London. 6 May 2010.
Ben Kinsella, 16, Islington, N.London, 29 June 2008.
Jimmy Mizen, 16, Lee, S.E.London, May 2008.
Robert Knox, 18, Sidcup, Kent. May 2008.
Alex Holroyd, 19, Bradford, Yorks. Jan. 2008.
Jack Large, 14, Grange Hill, Essex. 30 Nov 2007.
Stuart Lowe, 18, Warrington, Lancs, 17 Oct. 2007.
Andrew Holland, 16, Farnworth near Bolton, Lancs, 17 Aug 2007.
Martin Dinnegan, 14, Holloway, N.London , 26 June 2007.
Ben Hitchcock, 16, Beckenham, S.London, 23 June 2007.
Kenneth Cole, 13, Burnley, Lancs,14 Feb. 2007.
Ian Page, 19, Colindale, N.W.London, 12 Nov. 2006.
David Strizegauskas, 13, Upton Park, E.London, 27 Apr 2006.
Christopher Davis, 17, Barking, E.London 19 Jan. 2006.
Jason Mayze, 16, St Helens, Liverpool, 13 Jan 2006.
Ben Bellamy, 17, Swansea, South Wales, Sept. 2005.
Kris Donald, 15, Glasgow, Scotland, 15 March 2004.
Jason Ripley, 17, Huddersfield, Yorks, Feb 2004.
Ashley Hedger, 16, Upton Park, London, 16 Jan 2004.
Terry Gregory, 19, Woolwich, S.E.London, 28 Dec 2003.
Sean Whyte, 17, Colne, Lancs. 29 Sept. 2003.
Gavin Hopley, 19, Oldham, Lancs, 16 Feb 2002.
Owain Leeson, 17, Sheffield, Yorks, 14 Feb 2002.
Ross Parker, 17, Peterborough, Cambs, 23 Sept 2001.
Liam Gall, 18, Redditch, Worcs, 26 Sept. 2000.
Jonathan Coles, 18, Newport Pagnell, Bucks, 11 June 1999.
Jamie Robe, 17, Rotherhithe, E.London, August 1997.
Andrew Steventon, 17, Birmingham, June 1996.
Danny Westmacott, 16, Edmonton, London, 8 Feb 1996.
Michael Dooher, 19, Lichfield, Staffordshire, 2 Sept. 1995.
Richard Everitt, 15, Kings Cross, London, August 1994.
Philip Gosling, 13, Handsworth, Birmingham, Feb. 1994.
Raymond Kelly, 17, Hartley Wintney, Hants. 1 Feb. 1991.
Stuart Gough, 14, Hagley, Worcs, 17 Jan. 1988.
Sean Keynes, 15, Lozells, Birmingham, 22 May 1986.
Robert Vaughan, 17. Southwark, S.London, 4 Feb. 1984.
Colin Reid, 18, Hitchin, Herts, 8 Oct 1983.
Terry May, 19, Thornton Heath, Surrey, 1 June 1981.
John Hunt, 18, Middlesborough, Tyne and Wear, 19 Aug. 1961.
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