Former Neo-Nazi Kevin Wilshaw has come out as gay and rejected Nazism and far-right policies in a bid to “hurt” the movement he had been a part of for decades.

Wilshaw joined the National Front in the late seventies but only recently realised the real-life implications of the group’s intolerance first hand.

Being a member of the conservative party had given him a “sense of comradeship” and a common enemy which was represented by immigrants, people of other races and Jewish people.

Jewish Heritage

This xenophobic and racist attitude is particularly surprising given that his mother was of Jewish heritage.

Somehow, Wilshaw managed to relegate that information to the recesses of his mind and continue to persecute minorities en masse.

“Yeah [my mum] was part Jewish,” Wilshaw said. “We do have Jewish blood in our family on that side.”

That’s the sort of generalisation that results in six million people being deliberately murdered

“That term ‘The Jews’ you’re presenting a global faceless mass of people. You can’t personalise it. You can’t see an individual there.

“And that’s the sort of generalisation that results in six million people being deliberately murdered.”

It wasn’t until after his mother passed away in 2015 that Wilshaw grew even more extreme before tipping the other way after experiencing what it was like on the receiving end of the far-right’s intolerance.

Guilt

“I feel appallingly guilty,” Wilshaw said.

“The fact that, on one or two occasions in the recent past, I’ve actually been the recipient of the hatred from the very people I want to belong to [was a wake-up call].”

“Obviously, if you’re gay, it’s acceptable in normal society. But in this group of people, it’s not acceptable.”

“And I’ve found, on one or two occasions, I’ve been suspected of being gay, I’ve been subjected to abuse.”

When confronted with the various facets of his identity – being gay, of Jewish heritage and a Neo-Nazi – he explains that it is “a contradiction”.

“It’s not until [abuse] is directed at you that you suddenly realise that what you’re doing is wrong,” he said.

Check out the full Channel 4 interview with Wilshaw below:

https://youtu.be/DC–AtuKtFs