Matt Koehl

Matthias Koehl Jr. (January 22, 1935 – October 9/10, 2014) was an American neo-Nazi activist and religious leader who served as the second leader of the American Nazi Party from 1967 to 2014. He joined the party in 1960 following membership in various white supremacist groups, and succeeded to leadership following the assassination of the founder of the party, George Lincoln Rockwell, in 1967. Koehl became unpopular in the movement, alienating the party's members and attempting to consolidate power by removing his opposition from the party; often those cut off went on to form opposition groups. Koehl was very concerned with his unpopular image and made alliances with worldwide neo-fascists such as Hans-Ulrich Rudel and Povl Riis-Knudsen. Koehl cut down on the organization's previous publicity stunts under Rockwell. In 1983, Koehl renamed the organization the New Order and transformed it into a religious organization, influenced by the fascist writer Savitri Devi. The New Order promoted occult veneration of Adolf Hitler as an avatar of God. Eventually in 1985 the group came under financial troubles and relocated from Washington DC to Wisconsin and Michigan. Koehl revealed little personal information to the group's members, who were low in number but sturdy. Koehl died in 2014, aged 79, and was succeeded by Martin Kerr.