The life of Ben Klassen

After arriving back home from the Canadian trip on July 24, I had my hands full in several categories. The land business was at its busiest and needed my attention. There were a number of prospects to see, contracts to close, land payments to make. There was that book I had started to write, and any number of ideas floating around in my head that had to be organized and formalized, then set down on paper. And then there was Eleanor Kramer and her group in the Tampa Bay area that I had left in limbo before departing for Canada.
When I got back, I had my answer to the latter situation. In a letter dated June 28 (but evidently mailed later, since I didn’t receive it before I left on July 4) Eleanor let me know she was devastated about my position on Christianity. The White man’s culture and Christianity have for the past two thousand years been “inextricably intertwined”, she pointed out, and “the ‘religion’ to which you refer sounds to me a bit like Aryan Judaism”, she said. Furthermore, although she had (at that time) not yet relayed that information on to the rest of her flock, she was sure that they too would not go along with my heretic views on Christianity.
I was neither surprised nor dismayed. In fact, I had expected as much, and her reaction convinced me more than ever that Christianity was indeed the disruptive intruder that had created havoc and confusion in the ranks of the White Race ever since that Jewish snake had raised its ugly head. I was more inspired than ever to get on with writing my book. In a letter to her, dated August 5, I laid out my position to her in emphatic detail. Regarding Christianity being “inextricably intertwined” with the White Race, I countered that statement with: so had tuberculosis, hepatitis and polio, but were they a blessing or a plague? This four and a half page letter, too, is recorded in Klassen Letters, Vol.
1, and can be reviewed in full. It was the forerunner of several more letters to follow in the ensuing exchange with other members of the group, some of which are also recorded in the same Vol. 1. Of special note is the 11-page letter I wrote on this subject to John R. Adams, Ph.D., on January 10, 1972.
In formulating the manuscript, I decided to divide it into two parts, the first part in general spelling out the problem, and the second part coming up with what I considered the solution, namely, a dynamic racial religion for the White Race. When Eleanor said that what I proposed sounded to her like “Aryan Judaism”, she was not completely off base. I felt that what the White Race sorely needed was indeed a counterpart to the Jewish racial religion that had been such a powerful factor in propelling the Jews to gain mastery of the world. I reasoned that if a miserable racial religion such as Judaism could do that much for a despicable bunch of parasites such as the Jews, imagine what a powerful, wellstructured racial religion could do for an intelligent and creative people such as ours. There was, however, this major difference, all to our advantage: whereas the Jewish race and religion was parasitic by nature, the White Race and its religion were the very opposite. Whereas the Jews needed a productive host on which to feed, we were independently creative and productive and did not need anyone for our sustenance and welfare. In fact, the sooner we could get rid of all the freeloaders and parasites on our back, the better.
I decided to call the first part Book 1: The Unavenged Outrage, and the second part, Book II: The Salvation. I also finally decided on the title. By calling it Nature’s Eternal Religion, I felt that each one of those three words emphasized the meaning I wished to convey, namely that our religion was based on the laws and wisdom of Nature, that such had been with us from time eternal and would remain as such, and that Nature’s rules were the unchanging creed which governed the actions of all living creatures, including mankind.
Having written a volume of material, by the summer of 1972, I started looking around for a printer. I realized that because of the controversial nature of the material, and since most book printers were in the hands of the Jews, such printer would not be easy to find. A young friend of mine by the name of Tony Lukas suggested that he had a good prospect. He was working for a book printer in Hialeah, called Universal Printing Company. It was a family owned company, a family by the name of Bechtel, and they were Christians. Of course, that too could cause a problem, but he didn’t think so. He had already talked to the old man who headed the company, and he seemed favorable. Why not go talk to him. They were located at 480 West 20th St., Hialeah.
I called up Mr. Bechtel and made an appointment. I brought with me half of the manuscript, which consisted of two full loose-leaf binders. I had also brought my checkbook, and we got down to business. I informed him up front that, yes, the material was controversial, and we took a dim view of Christianity, but then after all, a printer I presumed was a printer, and not a censor. He assured me my presumption was correct, and that as long as my book was not pornographic nor communistic, he would print it all right. I assured him it was neither pornographic nor
communistic, and we soon agreed on a price. He drew up a letter that served as a contract, and I gave him an initial check in the amount of $2500 that would bind the deal. I felt fortunate. It hadn’t been so tough to get a printer after all.
About two weeks later, on October the 10th, to be exact, I received a telephone call from Ron Bechtel, one of the sons in the business, telling me that he was coming to my office to see me. He didn’t say what about, but I had a premonition. When he came in, he brought with him my manuscript, the contract and the uncashed check. He told me in sanctimonious and holier than thou tones that after reading the manuscript his company could not and would not print my book. They were born-again Christians and what I said in my book was contrary to everything they stood for. Not only was the deal off, but he started lecturing me about if Christ couldn’t enter my heart it was because I wouldn’t let him in. But, I argued, the old man had said – no matter. The deal was off. So much for broad-minded Christian tolerance.
Next, I started looking for a new printer. In this regard, Tony Lukas, and also another friend of mine, Pete Martin, were of crucial help. They suggested I might go see a company in Ft. Lauderdale, that, although they were not in the book printing business, they did print an advertising flyer by the name of The Tribune. They could probably also print books. They were located at 4009 N.E. 5th Terrace. On Friday, October the 13th, (my lucky day!) I met with Mike Powell, the vice-president and the son of the owner of the company. I gave him the same caveat emptors,
warnings and disclaimers as I had given the Bechtels, but Mike said he didn’t think it would cause any problems. We soon came to an agreement on price, a sum that was actually a little lower than had been quoted by Universal. Mike said he would talk with his dad, John Powell, for confirming the deal. This he did, and on October 17, I came back to his office, and again, as with the Bechtels, I gave him an initial deposit of $2500 and completed the deal. He sent me a letter confirming the terms of the deal the next day. This time the deal stuck and we were in business. The deal pretty well included the whole package. They would do the typesetting, paste up the pages, do the cover in two colors, the bookbinding and the packaging in cartons of 32. I would bring in the copy in installments, pick up the typesetting a few days later, proofread it and bring back the corrected copy, including a segment of new material. At this time I had not completed my total manuscript, and I kept writing new chapters as the spirit moved me. My wife would do some of the typing for me, with the help of my secretary, Mary Childress, at the office, as well as Mary Wimmer and Donna Thayer, two friends who could also type. All this I was doing while trying to keep on top of my real estate business and the bookstore as well.
Finally, the printing job was completed. They delivered the first 1792 books on February 22, 1973, to Austin Davis’ warehouse at 681 N.E. 42 Street, Pompano Beach. By March 6, The Tribune had delivered all the books, a total of 19,277, to the warehouse. It was the first book I had ever written and the first book The Tribune had ever printed. Although less than perfect, I was well satisfied with the job. Our total cost of the printing was $14,141.61, a price I wish I could duplicate today. It had all come out of my own pocket. It was a severe strain on my financial resources, for although business was good, I repeatedly had a number of heavy mortgage payments to make on the several land purchases, and the cash flow was a matter of nip and tuck. In fact, I had to repeatedly go to the bank and make personal loans to tide me over from one payment to the next.
By this time I had decided on a name for our religion and for our church. Since the White Race was the most creative and productive creature Nature had produced in its long process of evolution, I would call our religion Creativity, and the organization The Church of the Creator. I felt we Creators well deserved the accolade. In order that the Church would be separated from the fortunes or misfortunes of my own private affairs and would have continuity and stand on its own feet, I applied for incorporation papers. On August 16, 1973, we received our Corporate Charter as a non-profit, religious organization from the State of Florida. We were now off and running. We now had our creed, we had our book, our own “holy scriptures”, and we were recognized as a religious institution. So far so good. But I realized that there was still a long and precarious battle ahead, to be sure. Not only a battle, but a relentless, unending war against the powerful and evil forces that sought to mongrelize and destroy our precious White Race, a war that would finally end in total victory for one side or the other. But now, at least, the White Race had a meaningful battle plan and a powerful weapon with which to win that war. It had a fully structured racial religion of its own.