Elon Musk’s X & The Digital Resurrection Of Der Stürmer

"...today’s right-wing extremists on X are trying to make white Canadians feel threatened by Sikhs and other minorities."

Jungfateh Singh
August 20, 2024 | 10 min. read | Opinion

In recent months, I have consistently struggled to comprehend the excessive hostility aimed at Sikhs, not only on social media but even in mainstream news. The sensation of powerlessness in attempting to counteract every malicious post, article, and idea is overwhelming, recognizing that even if we succeed in addressing one, a subsequent and even more frenzied assault on our community will swiftly ensue. We are left contemplating whether there is a viable solution to these issues, if it is possible to confront these injustices, and if people who promote such violent and racist language against our communities can ever be held accountable. Perhaps it’s possible some bigot will face justice, but the current climate makes it painfully clear that the deep rot of bigotry and the fascistic fantasies of those among us have taken firm root, and they’re not going away anytime soon. 

Before this current chaotic milieu of right wing and white supremacist bigotry, Sikhs were facing a daunting task of countering the almost cosmic degree of misinformation and disinformation being directed toward us by the Indian state. An almost endless stream of counter narratives and grassroots work done by Sikh writers, academics, activists, and organizations helped cushion the community. During this time I had written a piece on this cosmology of disinformation and misinformation and how to navigate through it, touching upon the Nazi propaganda tabloid publication Der Sturmer, founded and published by Julius Streicher. Since I never felt compelled to do so, I never went further than a cursory mention. But the new wave of white supremacist hate speech directed at Sikhs online made me want to learn more about the rise of fascism in Nazi Germany, and how tabloids like  Der Stürmer were instrumental in this process. I felt a strange familiarity with what I found.

After their electoral victory in 1930, the Nazi’s had an enormous task on their hands: to keep the party faithful engaged and enthused. At the time, Germans were easily liable to lose interest after highly charged and emotional rallies and meetings. To this end, the local party press played an instrumental role in keeping Nazi propaganda and ideology deeply ingrained in Germans.

As Dennis E. Showalter's "Letters to Der Stürmer: The Mobilization of Hostility in the Weimar Republic,” points out: “Hitler viewed the ideal Nazi newspaper not as an instrument of conversation, but as a means for continuing the political education elsewhere…” The publication that idealized this “political education elsewhere” the most was Julias Streicher’s  Der Stürmer.

The publication existed before the Nazi’s would come into power, during the Kampfzeit period (1919-1933) when the Nazi’s struggled to gain control in Germany. However, after gaining power, Der Sturmer would be seen as an essential tool of indoctrination. It’s important to note that during the Kampfzeit period, Der Sturmer’s editor was seen as “Jew-Baiter Number One,” and, as Showalter writes, “the men and women who addressed the “Jewish Question” in Streicher's pages before 1933 did so in the framework of a free society. They could not be described as running with the hounds of governments-sponsored hate campaigns…” 

The “genius” of Der Stürmer lay not in its journalistic prowess, but in its ability to democratize hate. By inviting ordinary Germans to share their grievances, however trivial or baseless, it tapped into the deep-seated prejudices that many harbored but rarely voiced. These sentiments, once private, were now thrust into the public sphere, where they were legitimized and, crucially, normalized. What set Der Stürmer apart from other Nazi propaganda was its ability to transform its readers from mere consumers of hate into active participants in its creation. This was not top-down indoctrination; this was grassroots propaganda at its most insidious. Each letter, each story published, made the writer feel a part of the Nazi cause, reinforcing their commitment to the regime's anti-Semitic ideology. As Showalter highlights: “ Their presentation offers some indication of the kinds of antagonisms the National Socialism sought to mobilize as it set out on its twisted road to Auschwitz.”

Unlike the more polished and controlled messages that came from the Nazi leadership, Der Stürmer exuded a raw authenticity. The voices that filled its pages were not those of party officials, but of the "common man," lending the publication a veneer of truthfulness and credibility, even when the stories were wholly fabricated or wildly exaggerated. This perceived authenticity was its strength. Readers found their own prejudices echoed in the pages of Der Stürmer, and in seeing their thoughts reflected back at them, they were emboldened. It wasn’t just their belief in the lies that was strengthened; it was their conviction that these views were widely held, and therefore, justified.

The letters that poured into Der Stürmer from across Germany typically fell into four distinct categories, each revealing the varied ways in which ordinary citizens contributed to this toxic discourse.

The first category consisted of undifferentiated anti-Semitism—letters expressing a simple, generalized hatred of Jews, often rooted in ignorance and age-old stereotypes. These writers didn’t need a specific grievance; they hated Jews for being Jews, echoing baseless accusations that Jews were inherently deceitful or malevolent. As one rural correspondent Showalter highlights laments over the “alleged Jewish practice of throwing stones on the graves of their dead while saying “greet Abraham, Issac, and Jacob for me, and when you see the little carpenter, throw a stone at his head.”

The second category revolved around marketplace grievances. These letters detailed petty disputes and complaints about business transactions, where Jewish merchants were blamed for perceived injustices. Whether it was a disagreement over the price of goods or dissatisfaction with the quality of a product, or “a sense of anger at the passing of an era perceived as the golden age of customer service – a time when even an ordinary purchaser received courteous treatment; a time when turnover and volume were not the dominant concerns of honest merchants.” The writers were quick to attribute their frustrations to the supposed dishonesty and lack of consideration  of Jewish businessmen. 

The third category focused on hostility towards the social norms of Weimar society, which many contributors believed were being undermined by Jewish influence. These letters complained about breaches in etiquette, rudeness in public spaces, and other societal changes that were blamed on the Jews. The writers saw the very presence of Jews in society as a corrupting force that needed to be resisted.

Finally, there were the letters steeped in sexual allegations and obsessions. These writers painted Jews as sexually predatory, corrupting the morals of German society. These salacious and often fabricated stories fed into the most extreme and dangerous stereotypes, portraying Jews as a threat to the purity and virtue of the German people.

For myself, what stuck out the most was the third category of letters and the incessant obsession over social norms of Weimar Society, as Showalter emphasizes that “Nazi propaganda put a sinister dimension on the most mundane encounters. It legitimized the description of commonplace events in terms of nightmares, when the known and familiar assume malevolent forms.”

Further, Showalter writes: 

Perhaps the best single illustration of this pattern in Der Stürmer's pages is offered by a letter describing the behavior of an elderly woman who entered a Nurnberg apartment building, rang one of the doorbells, asked an inane question and received a noncommittal answer, then checked the names of the other tenants to see if any Jews lived in the building. Finding none, the woman emptied her bowels on the steps, then fled.

A common-sense interpretation of the situation suggests a respectable woman, far from home, unwilling to use a public comfort station even if one were in the neighborhood. She knocks on a door at random, then is too embarrassed to ask whether she can use the toilet. She sees no "Jewish" names as possible obvious sources of assistance. With no other alternative apparent, she relieves herself and runs. For Streicher and his correspondent, however, the "old Jewish mother hog" simply acted "like a Jew," obeying the "Talmudic" injunction to defile the homes of gentiles. She epitomized the deliberate alien pollution of German soil.

That strange familiarity didn't start to grasp, all the way to the point of becoming overt, until I read Showalter's essay, and more specifically, the above letter in Der Stürmer. An old woman was obviously in an untenable circumstance before she was transformed into an alien, polluting force on German soil. The point is understood and stressed by any rational person; but, these individuals were not reasonable.

Now, some eighty years later, those same irrational fanaticism are back. 

Some weeks ago, a white woman took to social media to document what she claimed to be numerous sightings of Indians defecating and burying their waste on a Wasaga, Ontario, beach. There was a subsequent barrage of racist and bigoted remarks, along with innumerable other purported claims of such occurrences. The mayor of Wasaga was eventually forced to step in and debunk the story, as it was entirely fabricated. But, as soon as the frenzy over this incident took hold, and could be effectively countered, another right wing, white commentor took to twitter to post a photo of an elderly sikh man allegedly defecating in a cup at a gas station. This image was soon challenged by the gas station owner, who claimed that the photo had been doctored. In spite of this, a heated discussion about the legitimacy of the image raged for days. Nothing worthwhile came of it in the end. Any real discussion seemed unattainable due to the meaningless babble that had taken over the online discourse. An elderly Sikh man, perhaps struggling with early-onset dementia or another medical or mental health condition, was suddenly cast as the embodiment of the supposed incompatibility of Sikhs in Canada—an alien, polluting force on Canadian soil. 

The frenzy surrounding the fabricated incidents at Wasaga Beach and the image of the elderly Sikh man wasn’t about addressing genuine grievances or initiating any meaningful dialogue. Much like the letters sent to Der Stürmer by Nazi sympathizers, these right-wing commentators on X (formerly Twitter) have no intention of engaging in rational discussions about perceived issues. Their goal is not to resolve misunderstandings or foster better relations between communities but to stoke the fires of fear, hatred, and division. 

These disinformation ecosystems, both in the past and now, operate with specific objectives in mind. First, they seek to sway external entities—governments, media, and the broader public—by presenting a distorted narrative that casts minorities as inherently problematic or dangerous. This was as true for the anti-Semitic propaganda spread through Der Stürmer as it is for the anti-Sikh rhetoric circulating on X today.

Second, these ecosystems aim to create an environment of constant hostility and harassment for the targeted minority group. By bombarding social media with baseless accusations and rousing images, they seek to wear down the community, forcing it to be perpetually on the defensive. This tactic is designed to make life unbearable for the minority, pushing them further to the margins of society.

Finally, these efforts are intended to incite panic among the majority, white population. Just as Der Stürmer worked to convince ordinary Germans that they were under threat from the Jewish population, today’s right-wing extremists on X are trying to make white Canadians feel threatened by Sikhs and other minorities. The goal is to sow suspicion and fear, to create a narrative where the majority feels justified in treating the "other" with suspicion, hostility, and, when deemed necessary, violence. In this way, the purpose of these right-wing commentators is clear: they are not interested in justice or truth, but in perpetuating a cycle of hate and alienation. 

What’s clear from all of this is that under Elon Musk, X has increasingly become what Hitler envisioned for the Nazi newspaper: 'not as an instrument of conversation, but as a means for continuing the political education elsewhere…,' serving more as a conduit for spreading radical views than as a forum for genuine discussion. 

Engaging in these petty online debates with extremists is a futile endeavor. Their objective—to spread right-wing extremism and target non-white communities—is being carried out effectively. As Sikhs, it's crucial for us to recognize the reality of the world we inhabit, the country we’ve settled in, and the pervasive undercurrent of white supremacy that permeates its very foundation. No amount of awareness campaigns, lobbying conservative politicians, or attempting to integrate Sikhs into these spaces will yield meaningful results because, ultimately, these political parties and environments were never intended for us. 

This reality is further underscored by the actions of Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre, who has deliberately courted these very far-right extremists, understanding the influence they wield in today’s polarized landscape. His refusal to condemn their rhetoric is not a mere oversight—it’s a calculated move. Poilievre knows that the environment being nurtured on X, under Elon Musk’s laissez-faire approach to hate speech, serves his political agenda. By allowing this toxic undercurrent to thrive, he’s banking on it to galvanize white Canadians, pushing them towards the Conservative Party in the upcoming election.

For us as Sikhs, this is a stark reminder that the spaces being created and the political strategies being employed are not designed for our inclusion. We remain, in their eyes, the perpetual outsiders—alien, polluting forces within a nation increasingly emboldened to reclaim its white supremacist roots. 

This moment demands that we, as Sikhs, take a hard look at how we navigate our lives in the West, particularly as the world around us grows increasingly hostile toward non-white minorities. We cannot afford to flirt with or entertain right-wing rhetoric, fooling ourselves into believing that we can find refuge in its divisions by assuming that the hatred is aimed elsewhere—that it’s “their problem,” not ours, as some mistakenly believed when far-right extremists in the UK targeted Muslims. The idea that we can somehow escape the wrath of white supremacist hate by distancing ourselves from other minority communities is a dangerous delusion and a profound betrayal of our very fiber as Sikhs. 

We must reject isolationism and recognize that the struggles of other marginalized communities are inextricably linked to our own. The same white supremacist hatred that targets Muslims, Black people, immigrants, LGBTQ communities, and others is the very animus that will inevitably, and has already, turned against us. Our strength lies in building solidarity with these marginalized groups, uniting under a shared commitment to justice and equality.

As the tide of fascism rises again in new forms, we must not only defend ourselves but also seek new avenues of solidarity and action. The fight against hatred and bigotry requires more than just awareness—it requires concerted, collective action that challenges these toxic narratives at every turn. It is in our unity and our unwavering commitment to justice that we will find the strength to push back against the forces that seek to marginalize us.

Jungfateh Singh is an organizer, writer and producer, and has worked on Sikh issues across the globe for over 15 years.

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