Jan Udo Holey (born 22 March 1967), often known by his pen name Jan van Helsing, is a controversial German author who embraces conspiracy theories involving subjects such as world domination plots by freemasons, Hitler's continuing survival in Antarctica following World War II, the structure of the earth as hollow, and others. His theories draw from sources such as The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.
His books Geheimgesellschaften (Secret Societies) and Geheimgesellschaften 2 have been banned in Germany, France and Switzerland for inciting antisemitic hatred.
The majority of his books, such as Die Kinder des neuen Jahrtausends. Mediale Kinder verändern die Welt (Children of the New Millennium, and how They Change the World) are non-political and deal exclusively with esoteric subjects.
Life Holey was born in Dinkelsbühl, Bavaria, West Germany, as the middle child of a wealthy family. His mother called herself a clairvoyant, and his father wrote three books dealing with gnostic and esoteric subject matter. Holey claims to have attended schools in Crailsheim, Bammental (near Heidelberg), Cambridge (in the United Kingdom), and Munich.
Holey chose his nom de plume "van Helsing", after he read Bram Stoker's vampire-novel Dracula at the age of fourteen.
Today, Holey runs his own publishing house, which publishes his own works as well as of others holding similar interests and viewpoints.
The Landesamt für Verfassungsschutz Baden-Württemberg (the State Office for the Protection of the Constitution of Baden-Württemberg) first referred to Holey in a 1996 report entitled "Rechtsextremistische Einflußnahme auf die Esoterikszene" (Right-Wing Extremist Influences on the Esoteric Scene).
Political opinions Holey draws from many esoteric and conspiracy theories, many of which originate in the United States of America. His writings encompass such varied themes as Nostradamus, reincarnation, conspiracy theories regarding John F. Kennedy and Uwe Barschel's murders. According to his detractors, Holey's books are largely plagiarized from other sources, many of which are conspiracy theorists of questionable repute. The author believes he is banned as part of a larger conspiracy.
In Geheimgesellschaften, Holey combines science-fiction, esotericism, Nazi-mythology, ufology and "Zionist global domination" theories. He also employs The Protocols of the Elders of Zion as a source. He believes the Rothschilds head a Jewish conspiracy to rule the world and associates them with a mysterious cabal called the Illuminati, who plan a New World Order. Holey and his followers claim that they are not antisemitic, but rather that they speak out against powerful Jewish interests in high finance and politics.Van Helsing: Ideologischer Kern unverändert ("Van Helsing: Ideological core unchanged", article in a Swiss antiracist publication 1999)
Publicist Activities He explains that the Illuminati, which several of his books target, are also made up of "bloodsuckers."Birk Meinhardt: "Aryan in the Microwave War." In: Süddeutsche.de. March 15/16, 2008.
In the late eighties, Holey wrote his first book Geheimgesellschaften und ihre Macht im 20. Jahrhundert (Secret Societies and their Power in the 20th Century), which was published in March 1994 by Ewert-Verlag and mainly sold in esoteric bookstores.Chantal Magnin and Marianne Rychner: "Structural Commonalities of Two World Views: Esotericism and Antisemitic Conspiracy Theory". In: Tangram. Bulletin of the Federal Commission against Racism, No. 6 (1999), p. 43. Within a few months, it became a bestseller. In 1995, the publication of Secret Societies 2 followed. The pseudonym was uncovered in July 1996 by critical reports in the magazine esotera and Der Spiegel. By the time the Jewish Community in Mannheim filed a complaint for incitement to hatred, which stopped the store sales, both books had probably sold more than 100,000 copies.Conspiracy Theorists with Connections to the Right Wing?, Article from April 7, 2009 by Matthias Holzapfel on Merkur.de The case was dismissed by the Mannheim District Court "due to lack of local jurisdiction."Arnon Hampe: Holey, Jan Udo. In: Wolfgang Benz (Ed.): Handbook of Antisemitism. Vol. 2: People. De Gruyter Saur, Berlin 2009, ISBN 978-3-598-44159-2, p. 375 (accessed via De Gruyter Online). A complaint followed in Switzerland, after which both books were confiscated and indexed in both the Federal Republic of Germany and Switzerland by the Federal Department for Media Harmful to Young Persons.
Holey was first mentioned in reports of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution in the Report of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution Baden-Württemberg 1996, where he was reported under the heading "Right-Wing Extremist Influence on the Esoteric Scene." This was followed by mentions in the Austrian Office for the Protection of the Constitution 2000Report of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution 2000 Austria, 2001, p. 23 and by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution in 2004 and 2005, where Holey was described as a "right-wing extremist esotericist."Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution: (PDF; 3.5 MB); p. 106; Constitutional Protection Report 2005, p. 118 Holey also made inroads into the social sciences as a "right-wing extremist esotericist."Thomas Fliege, Kurt Möller, Right-Wing Extremism in Baden-Württemberg, Belchen-Verlag 2001, p. 99; Ines Aftenberger, The New Right and Neo-Racism, Grazer Universitätsverlag 2007, p. 64; Johann Dolanski, The Universe as it Really is: The Dolan Theory: Presented Based on the Latest Scientific and Technical Research, Turia & Kant Verlag 2008, p. 125
Since the late 1990s, he has been publishing his works in the Amadeus Verlag, founded by his mother in 1998. Since December 31, 2009, he has been the CEO there. Blick nach Rechts wrote that he is considered the "most well-known representative of brown esotericism" with his publishing house.Blick nach Rechts: Ama Deus Verlag: “Bloodlines of the Illuminati” , Review, accessed on May 21, 2014. This publishing house also operates the website dieunbestechlichen.com; the imprint lists Holey as editor-in-chief. The site promises "uncensored news – politically incorrect and free!"Matthias Pöhlmann: Right-Wing Esoterism. When alternative thinking and extremism dangerously mix. Herder, Freiburg 2021, p. 94
From 2007 to 2010Bernd Merling: In: Antifaschismus2.de. January 3, 2010, accessed on January 26, 2014. he operated the web TV channel Secret.tv, through which he spread his esoteric and conspiracy-theoretical theses.Bernd Hüttner, Handbook of Alternative Media 2011/2012: Print Media, Free Radios, Archives & Publishers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, AG SPAK Books 2011, p. 65. A film created by Holey and Stefan Erdmann about the Cheops Pyramid was distributed through this channel. The Evangelische Zentralstelle für Weltanschauungsfragen (Protestant Central Office for World Views) calls the Internet channel a "film portal for brown esotericism."Evangelische Zentralstelle für Weltanschauungsfragen, Schöne neue Verschwörungswelt: Secret TV – a new film portal for brown esotericism , accessed on March 20, 2016 The "Handbook of Alternative Media" describes the channel as "right-wing extremist internet TV."G. Hooffacker / Peter Lok: Right-Wing Extremist Internet TV. In: Bernd Hüttner (Ed.), Handbook of Alternative Media 2011/2012. Print Media, Free Radios, Archives & Publishers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, AG Spak: Wasserburg 2011, p. 65.
In his books, Helsing draws on the conspiracy theories of authors Gary Allen and Des Griffin and their works The Insider (1970) and Who Rules the World (1976). In particular, he relies on the American ufologist Milton William Cooper, whom he also personally knew and extensively quoted from his work "Behold a Pale Horse."Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke: Black Sun. Aryan Cults, Esoteric Nazism, and the Politics of Identity. NYU Press, New York 2002, p. 297. Holey asserts a global conspiracy of the Illuminati, which he includes Freemasons and Jews in. He holds the view that Hitler was inspired by Bulwer-Lytton's book The Coming Race (1871) and Ossendowski's title Beasts, Men and Gods, for which there is no evidence. However, with these claims, Holey perpetuates neo-Nazi stereotypes, as many passages of authors Bulwer-Lytton and Ossendowski have contributed to the formation of neo-Nazi legends alongside theosophical sources.Martin Brauen: Dream World Tibet: Western Deceptions. Paul Haupt Berne, Bern; Stuttgart; Vienna 2000, ISBN 3-258-05639-0. p. 73.
Legal Disputes both books remained banned because their content was "highly antisemitic."Katharina Nocun, Pia Lamberty: Fake Facts: How Conspiracy Theories Determine our Thinking Quadriga, Berlin 2020, ISBN 978-3-86995-095-2, p. 115.
As a result, the author sought to portray the banning of his books in the introduction and first part of his writing as constitutionally questionable.Wolfgang Bittner: Satan's Sworn Brothers – Attacks and Antitheses against German Freemasonry 1970–2000. 453 p., Bodem Verlag, ISBN 3-934215-01-7. pp. 132–133. He wrote his legal interpretation on page 14 of the first part:
In 2001, the Mannheim Regional Court lifted the confiscation order.Federal Ministry of the Interior: Constitutional Protection Report 2004, Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Berlin 2004, ISSN 0177-0357, p. 106. However, the indexing in both countries was not lifted.
Reception and evaluation of publications
According to Hubert Michael Mader from the Austrian Landesverteidigungsakademie, Holey managed to achieve the most significant coup of right-wing extremism after 1945 with his bestsellers. He incorporates various themes that have long been familiar in the esoteric scene and are unspectacularly received. According to him, the new aspect is that he sharpens them with unusually numerous right-wing extremist ideas and mixes them with interpretations based on his conspiracy theories, suggesting that the world, especially Germany, is threatened with destruction by secret societies. Jews are said to be leading this conspiracy. To a large extent, he mixes his own claims with the right-wing extremist writings of Holocaust deniers and ufologists such as Miguel Serrano, Wilhelm Landig, and the British anthroposophist Trevor Ravenscroft. Holey advocates authoritarian state and social concepts, whitewashes National Socialism, and denies Germany's war guilt.Hubert Michael Mader: Studies and Reports. Political Esotericism – a Right-Wing Extremist Challenge. Landesverteidigungsakademie, Vienna 1999. p. 38–39 and p. 47. Holey assumes from the outset that his critics are afraid of (mental) change. He claims that he does not want to manipulate anyone, but his publications repeatedly create the impression that he intends to "reprogram" his readers mentally.Hubert Michael Mader: Studies and Reports. Political Esotericism – a Right-Wing Extremist Challenge. Vienna: Landesverteidigungsakademie 1999. p. 107f and p. 131.