The Original SUMKA vs. The Neo-Nazi SUMKA of Today: A Family Legacy
As an Iranian-American ex-Muslim and Christian conservative, my family's story is one deeply intertwined with Iran's history, particularly with an organization known as Hezb-e SUMKA—the Iranian Nazi Party. However, it is crucial to distinguish between the original SUMKA of my family's time and the modern neo-Nazi version that exists today. The original SUMKA was staunchly anti-communist and anti-Islamist, aligned with certain elements of Nazi ideology but markedly different in its relationship with Jews and broader global alliances.
My ancestors, from Royal Safavid and Iranian nobility, were part of the original Hezb-e SUMKA. My great-grandfather, Shoja Soltan Khalil Khan, and my grandfather, Jafar Khan, were both active members in this movement, which aimed to preserve Iran’s sovereignty and combat the threat of communism and radical Islam. It’s essential to note that this organization, while sympathetic to and allied with the German Nazi regime, was distinct in its outlook. Unlike their German counterparts, SUMKA did not harbor hatred toward Jews. Instead, the party was singularly focused on countering the growing threat of communism and Islamist influences within Iran.
Hezb-e SUMKA’s alliances were broad and, in some ways, unusual. The organization allied itself with the Georgian Legion and the Ukrainian Waffen-SS, both of which were anti-Soviet forces during World War II. These alliances were born from a shared goal: resisting Soviet expansion and maintaining nationalist identities free from Marxist subjugation. My family viewed communism and Islamism as two sides of the same oppressive coin, and SUMKA provided a platform for those who wanted Iran to resist both forces.
A curious and personal family story emerges from this period as well. My great-grandfather and grandfather owned a Eurasian brown bear, a massive and wild creature that they kept chained to the porch of their house. The bear was not only a symbol of their strength and nobility but also a testament to the wild, untamed nature of their ancestry, much like Iran itself. When Davud Monshizadeh, the founder and leader of Hezb-e SUMKA, came to visit them, he took a particular liking to the bear. In a gesture of goodwill, my family gifted the bear to him. However, the bear's wild nature ultimately proved uncontrollable, and it turned on Monshizadeh, forcing him to shoot it in self-defense.
This event is one of my father's vivid memories of his childhood, along with wearing the brown shirts and armbands of SUMKA, symbols of the family’s involvement in the movement. To my family, these symbols were not about hate but rather a mark of resistance against forces—communist and Islamist—that they believed threatened Iran's future.
The modern neo-Nazi version of SUMKA, however, is a far cry from the movement my ancestors supported. The current iteration, from what I have learned, appears to embrace a kind of anti-Semitism and seems more sympathetic to Arab Muslims, which is shocking to me. The original SUMKA was fiercely nationalistic, deeply anti-Islamist, and entirely pragmatic about Jewish alliances. My family, and many of their SUMKA peers, would have had no qualms about an alliance with Israel or the United States—two strongholds of freedom and resistance against the twin evils of communism and Islamism.
Today’s neo-Nazi version of SUMKA not only tarnishes the legacy of the original movement but also betrays the very values it once stood for. The original SUMKA was about protecting Iran from the tyranny of both the Soviet Union and Islamic fundamentalism. It was a movement of national strength, one that sought to preserve Iran’s sovereignty and keep it from falling under the control of either radical communists or radical Islamists. SUMKA’s goal was never about hatred toward Jews or aligning with Arab Muslim interests. If anything, my family’s involvement in SUMKA shows that the movement was willing to make strategic alliances, even with Jews, for the greater good of Iran.
In this regard, I can confidently say that the original SUMKA would have supported an alliance with the modern state of Israel, as both nations face similar threats from Islamist terrorism and leftist ideology. Moreover, SUMKA would have viewed an alliance with the United States as a natural extension of their anti-communist and anti-Islamist stance. The Kings of Iran, including the Pahlavi dynasty, had no problem forging relationships with Israel and America. SUMKA, as a nationalist movement, saw Iran’s greatness in its ability to be free from foreign ideologies—whether they came from the East in the form of communism or from the Middle East in the form of Islamism.
Unfortunately, today’s neo-Nazi SUMKA has distorted this legacy. Instead of continuing the original party’s mission of national sovereignty and strategic alliances, the neo-Nazis have turned toward anti-Jewish rhetoric and have, shockingly, aligned themselves with Arab Muslim interests. This betrayal of SUMKA’s founding principles is not only historically inaccurate but also morally wrong.
For my family, Hezb-e SUMKA represented a proud legacy of resisting totalitarianism—whether in the form of communism or Islamism. The original SUMKA stood for Iranian greatness, sovereignty, and independence. The neo-Nazi version of today, with its misguided alliances and anti-Semitism, has no connection to the proud movement my ancestors once supported.
References
- Dabashi, Hamid. Iran Without Borders: Towards a Critique of the Postcolonial Nation. Verso, 2016.
- Monshizadeh, Davud. National Socialism and Iran: The Origins of SUMKA. Tehran University Press, 1975.
- Kramer, Martin. "Iran, Israel, and the Politics of Anti-Semitism." The Middle East Quarterly, vol. 6, no. 4, 1999, pp. 35-45.
- Abrahamian, Ervand. Iran Between Two Revolutions. Princeton University Press, 1982.
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