Björn Sigvald is a Swiss neo-Nazi, who has been active in the extreme right for about ten years, and has extensive international contacts in different camps of the scene. He has particularly strong ties to neo-Nazis in Ukraine, and had participated in the War in Donbass.1 He is considered the founder of the Swiss Reconquista section, and of the "Misanthropic Division Switzerland,"1 the Swiss branch of the recruitment structure for foreign volunteers willing to fight on the front in Ukraine. Sigvald is closely connected with the French segment of European third positionists as a natural born Francophone," according to the now defunct insider blog Reconquista Europe.2
Timeline
Björn Sigvald made his first important contacts through the neo-Nazi Hammerskins network, and in the early 2010s was accepted into the Romandie Hammerskins section.1 Together with Joël "Pouppi" Moret and other representatives of the Hammerskins, from then on he visited concerts and relevant scene events in Switzerland and neighboring countries and forged his first international contacts. Renversé published a picture, likely from 2013, which shows Sigvald, Joël Moret, together with other neo-Nazis in Milan.3 4 Among others, he got to know the French neo-Nazi martial arts celebrity Tomasz Skatulsky, organizer of right-wing extremist martial arts events and owner Pride France,3 "part extreme right lifestyle brand, part neo nazi fight club."5
Björn Sigvald (right), probably in 2013, with the Valais Hammerskin Joël Moret (left). Original Source: Indymedia Deutschschweiz.
2014
In 2014, following the Maidan events in Ukraine, Sigvald founded the Swiss section of the Misanthropic Division.1 The group includes members from Geneva, Valais, the canton of Vaud and St. Gallen, among them three men from the military: a chief sergeant major, a chief sergeant and a sergeant.6 The group served as a direct offshoot of a neo-Nazi militia of the same name, which fought against the Russian separatists in the Ukraine.
According to the Swiss newspaper Blick1 :
First, the Geneva native collected money in Switzerland and transferred it to the Misanthropic Division in the Ukraine. In November 2014, he then traveled to Kiev with comrades from French-speaking Switzerland to deliver a shipment of military clothing. On Facebook he posted a photo of a right-wing extremist Ukrainian militia and wrote: "Will I join? ...
So far, the Geneva-based B. S. has not been charged by the military justice system, but photos show that a few months after his trip to Kiev, he joined the right-wing extremist combat group Karpatska Sich, a small but brutal volunteer militia. In the pictures he poses armed in uniform. He promotes his attitude on his chest: a sewn-on SS skull.
Pictures of the Misanthropic Division Schweiz were published by the French-speaking Renversé. They show that Sigvald and his compatriots of the Misanthropic Division have a strong propensity to the National Socialist Black Metal (NSBM) scene. Sigvald can be seen on a picture with Ludovic Van Alst alias Famine, the singer of Peste Noire and Audrey Silvain, former member of Peste Noire.4
Björn Sigvald (second from right) with Ludovic Van Alst alias Famine, the singer of Peste Noire (in the middle) and Audrey Silvain, former member of Peste Noire (second from left).jpg
In 2014, Sigvald took part in the annual neo-Nazi martial arts event "Day of Glory," formerly organized by Tomasz Szkatulski, in Lyon, France, which at the time had garnered cult status in the scene. Between 2014 and 2016 hundreds of attendees from across Europe gathered at secret locations to watch the neo-Nazi spectacle, combining mixed martial arts (MMA) fights and concerts.5
Björn Sigvald at the annual neo-Nazi martial arts event "Day of Glory" in 2014.
2015
According to Renversé it was Björn Sigvald who organized a conference "on the Ukrainian question" on September 25, 2015, in Lausanne, which hosted a lecture by French Reconquista representative, Pascal Lassalle.4 2
Helen von Graven (Olena Semenyaka) advertised a pro-Ukrainian event organized 2015 by Pascal Lassalle on Facebook.
2017
A picture from 2017 shows Sigvald together with members of the Karpatska Sich militia, performing the Nazi salute.4
Björn Sigvald (upper right, performing the Nazi salute) with Karpatska Sich in 2017.
Sigvald appeared as an attendee of the 1st Paneuropa Conference in Kyiv, Ukraine, on April 28, 2017.2 In a subsequent Facebook post from May 2, 2017, Ukrainian neo-Nazi figurehead Olena Semenyaka posted a picture of her with Sigvald with the following caption:
If a person can move from Switzerland to Ukraine, then everything's possible. Thank you for everything, Bjorn! We expect a Swiss team at the next Paneuropa conference.7
Björn Sigvald (left) with Olena Semenyaka (right)
The same post by Semenyaka featured also the picture below, bringing Reconquista in connection with the Identitarian Movement and White Rex.
A sticker of the German Identitarian Movement reading "Europe, Youth, Reconquista," alongside a sticker advertising the neo-Nazi martial arts group White Rex.
2019
According to Renversé, Sigvald could be last seen "at a summer camp of the Karpatska Sich in 2019 together with neo-Nazi terrorist Igor Olegovich Garkavenko, who spent 9 years in prison for bombing the offices of several Ukrainian political and cultural organizations as well as the Israeli cultural center in the city of Kharkov."4
Björn Sigvald (right) at a Karpatska Sich summer camp in 2019 with neo-Nazi terrorist Igor Olegovich Garkavenko (left).
2020
According to Blick,1 Sigvald's current whereabouts are unknown.
Links
- 1 a b c d e f Fabian Eberhard, "Wie gefährlich ist B.S.? Dieser Schweizer Neonazi kämpfte im Ukraine-Krieg," Blick, August 23, 2020, https://www.blick.ch/news/schweiz/wie-gefaehrlich-ist-b-s-dieser-schweizer-neonazi-kaempfte-im-ukraine-krieg-id16056007.html.
- 2 a b c "1st Paneuropa Conference Report," Reconquista Europe, June 15, 2017. Archived version from June 13, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180613133924/http://reconquista-europe.tumblr.com/post/161847863121/1st-paneuropa-conference-report-the-1st-paneuropa.
- 3 a b "Aller et retour en Ukraine," Renversé, November 6, 2020, https://renverse.co/analyses/article/aller-et-retour-en-ukraine-2805.
- 4 a b c d e "Björn Sigvald : le néo-nazi genevois parti combattre en Ukraine," Renversé, August 31, 2020, https://renverse.co/infos-locales/article/bjorn-sigvald-le-neo-nazi-genevois-parti-combattre-en-ukraine-2739.
- 5 a b Karim Zidan, "Pride France: the French martial arts brand connected to the neo-Nazi fight scene," Bloody Elbow, October 23, 2019, https://www.bloodyelbow.com/2019/10/23/20926685/pride-france-french-martial-arts-brand-neo-nazi-fight-scene-mma-crime-politics-feature.
- 6Christine Talos, "Des soldats sympathisants d'un réseau néonazi," TdG, December 12, 2017, https://www.tdg.ch/suisse/soldats-sympathisants-reseau-neonazi/story/13706280.
- 7Facebook post by Olena Semenyaka, May 2, 2017, https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1556766884333518.