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The OSA Headquarters in Hollywood
Since April 20, 1991, in the former Hollywood Guaranty Insurance building, in close proximity to porno theaters and street prostitution, right on the ground floor at the feet of management, a museum of a special kind has been established, "The Ron Hubbard Life Museum Show," a life's retrospective on "Superman Hubbard's Adventures" and his "prominent accomplishments" for humanity. If Baron Munchausen had known of Hubbard's adventures, he would have been green with envy.
According to what the museum receptionist said in August 1996, Gottfried Helnwein also paid his respects to his lord and master, Hubbard, with a visit of insufferable glorification: "Oh, yes, Mr. Helnwein and his wife have been here to visit the show. They also have been here several times up on the headquarters floors to visit Mr. Weiland, Mr. Rinder and other representatives of the church, sometimes together with his beautiful wife," reported the reception woman proudly. Helnwein is a known name in headquarters and probably even more so by "reception," since she looks everyday at the over-sized, polished stone slab directly in front of her desk next to the entrance of the hall on which Gottfried Helnwein, as one of only 20 Scientologists, what an honor for him, is immortalized until further notice with a statement of praise for the great master.
Scientology leader David Miscavige, Hubbard's heir, had this giant slab of honor put up, visible to all visitors in the entrance area for Master Hubbard, who "dropped his body" and died a worldly death in 1986.
Set off conspicuously on polished stone, Gottfried Helnwein's misplaced words of praise for Hubbard beam in the brightest light, as do those of his friends from "old" Viennese days past in the
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"Center for Art and Communication," Julia Migenes and Chick Corea. Helnwein's quote with his professional designation underneath of "Award Winning Fine Artist", consisted of a short statement;
"MANKIND NEVER HAD A TRUER FRIEND."
Celebrity Center International in Hollywood
A couple of streets up, at 5930 Franklin Avenue, also in Hollywood and can be reached in no more than five minutes by car, there is a mysterious castle-like fortress defended by tall, dark, spear-shaped pikes, the "Manor Hotel": according to Scientology's promotional statements "The ideal environment to go clear." In this hotel, managed exclusively by and for Scientologists, which even has its own three-star Scientology restaurant, there also resides the worldwide headquarters of the "Celebrity Center International - Church of Scientology," to which all famous and not-so famous Scientology artists as well as other illustrious Scientologists belong: that is why it is called Celebrity Center International. On August 3, 1996 this center celebrated its 27th "birthday" with an evening gala in the hotel garden. The high point of the evening was a star performance by rock musician Edgar Winter, also a Scientologist for many years, and his band. Regularly vacationing among their own kind under palm trees by the pool, especially at the end of the 1980s and the beginning of the '90s, Gottfried Helnwein and his wife, Renate, bag and baggage, were feeling well here in this environment, and, above all, were protected and shielded from the attacks upon his character which got ever more vehement in far, distant Germany from 1992 onward. Here both of them, without being perceived or recognized from outside, could devote themselves at their own pace to their Scientology studies, make new contacts, meet like-minded long-term friends and develop new art projects or look up other stars in Los Angeles whom Gottfried Helnwein could integrate into existing projects, such as "Idols of the 20th Century" or "Faces." A close artistic relationship occurred in this way with Michael Jackson. One thing that certainly played a role in this connection was that Jackson's current wife at the time, Lisa Marie Presley, was and is a fervent Scientology adherent, as are the Helnweins, and, sometimes with her mother, often met with Helnwein in Los Angeles. The "Manor Hotel" in Hollywood was the ideal location and starting point for that.
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Gottfried Helnwein lived in the Manor Hotel - June 1990
(from:
"Celebrity" 286, 1995 CSCCI)
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G O T T F R I E D H E L N W E I N
To
Mr. Quincy Jones
Quincy Jones Productions
Burgbrohl, 18.5.90
Dear Mr. Jones,
You may remember my letter from the the 9th of April 90 (see
next page) which Mr. Reichelt brought to your office in L.A..
I think he also gave you some art books and posters of my
husbands work.
It would be great if we can meet you when we are in L.A.. We
arrive in L.A. at the 28th of May and we will stay until 6th
or 7th of June.
1st of June we will visit Michael Jackson, all the other days
are still open.
Could you please be so kind and let me know by Fax, if this
works out?
Our Fax# in Germany 011-49-2636-1483
phone 011-49-2636-1481
We will stay in L.A. in the Manor Hotel phone 9603200
5930 Franklin Ave fax 9603232
Hooywood, CA 90028
It would be great if you could let us know in advance, that
we can plan on the time.
If you have any question about the photosession of the
artproject "Faces" let me know.
Thank you very much.
Best regards
Renate Helnwein
![[scan of letter in English]](hasp407.gif){kind=link}
Consultant Reichelt set up a meeting with Quincy Jones. The Helnweins were "residing" in the Scientology Manor Hotel in Los Angeles and were available there for the world star.
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G O T T F R I E D H E L N W E I N
28.5.90
Dear Peter,
Please send all data on
1) Beach Boys
2) Spielberg
3) Quincy Jones
by telefax to Renate. She can be reached until June 6 at
Manor Hotel
5930 Franklin Ave.
Hollywood, CA 90028
Fax 213-9603232
Tel -9603100
-9603220
greetings
Eva
[scan of hand-written letter in German]
![[scan of hand-written letter in German]](hasp408.jpg){kind=link}
Helnwein kept consultant Reichelt up to date as to his actual place of residence while on the move.
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Scientology Celebrities love the "Manor" Hotel
(from:
"Celebrity" 295, 1996 CSCCI)
The two actors John Travolta and Tom Cruise may well be the most well-known adherents and walking billboards of Scientology; they are still helping Scientology USA in their unbroken popularity to increase their successes, i.e., $millions worth of new memberships, courses, etc.
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The Helnwein Interview in "Celebrity" Scientology magazine - 1989
The latest edition of the official member magazine of the "Celebrity Center International Los Angeles" - "Celebrity" - minor issue 295 - August 1996, is graced by a full-page portrait on the cover of John Travolta with the announcement of a multi-page interview with him in that edition: "Interview with 'Clear' and Star of his new film 'Phenomenon' - John Travolta." Every edition of this magazine, published at short intervals, sometimes several times a month in the English language, contains a very detailed exclusive interview with a high-ranking Scientology celebrity. "Celebrity" is a typical propaganda sheet to attract people into Scientology with famous names in the USA and elsewhere. It is available free in almost all Scientology Orgs worldwide. It is regarded as the highest honor among Scientologists to have your own, particularly detailed interview in it, and above all, to have your picture appear in color on the magazine's cover. This extraordinary honor has been bestowed in the 27 years since its founding upon 230 Scientologists worldwide, Gottfried Helnwein from Germany among them. By doing that he has become a walking advertisement for Scientology in Germany, a sort of John Travolta leadership figure. Since it is almost always customary for U.S. Americans to grace the cover of "Celebrity," with the display of his portrait on the cover of edition Nr. 225, Minor Issue, in Summer 1989, Helnwein broke through the dominance of American Scientology stars like Tom Cruise and John Travolta. Helnwein was the new "Number 1," the Scientology painter, the new star in his own ranks, pity that it the whole thing was only a make-believe world which, negative for Helnwein, does not correspond to reality and is only of use exclusively within the organization.
Certainly he was also being honored by this for his more than 25 years of true and cost-intensive membership in Scientology. Scientology spared neither cost nor effort to put Helnwein into the best fitting, best possible light. Dick Zimmerman, as the photographer who took the Helnwein cover portrait along with the other snapshots of him along with his son, Ali, is himself a long-term member and is responsible for celebrity photographs inside the organization.
Helnwein stands casually grinning at the observer from the cover of "Celebrity" magazine in front of a selection of the most famous posters he made, including that of James Dean, according to him the most sold poster in the world, with
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circulation of 250,000 copies and sales of 15 million DM, and one of Marilyn Monroe. On the inside of the issue, the interview begins on page 8, the upper half of the first page is filled with a picture of his son, Ali, sitting together with his father on the floor among various Helnwein posters. Both are smiling happily and full of pride for the camera of star photographer Dick Zimmerman. It may well be one of the few photos which shows Helnwein smiling for once.
Gottfried and his son Ali Helnwein in "Celebrity"
Scientology magazine
(from: "Celebrity" 225, 1989 CSCCI)
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The "Celebrity" article began with an editorialized, biographical introduction:
"Gottfried Helnwein was born in Vienna. In 1969 he decided to become an artist. He registered for Professor Hausner's master class at the University of Fine Arts. By 1970 he had already gotten his first award for his outstanding pictures, although he had only been drawing for a little more than a year.
In 1973 Gottfried became a 'Scientologist.' Although he was already a successful painter, Scientology drove his career as a painter to new heights, and a short time later he was just as well known in Europe as Norman Rockwell in the USA. His pictures appeared on the covers of many famous magazines in Germany, Austria, France and many other countries. The quality of his pictures could soon also be admired on American magazine covers like Omni, Esquire, Time and Rolling Stone, especially with portraits of John Belushi, Clint Eastwood and Elvis Presley. In 1982 Gottfried prepared his famous self-portrait. This picture quickly became one of the most-published title pictures of magazine history and also appeared on the record cover of the "Blackout" LP by the German hard rock band "Scorpions," which sold over three million copies worldwide. In 1983, Gottfried was chosen in Germany as one of the "people of the year," together with Jane Fonda and Joan Collins, an art exhibition by him attracted over 100,000 visitors. He took photos and made portraits of well-known personalities which included Mick Jagger, Andy Warhol, Nikki Lauda and Muhammed Ali.... Gottfried is currently living in a magnificent castle in Germany together with his wife and his four children.
"OT 5" Gottfried Helnwein - 1989
Gottfried Helnwein is an Operating Thetan V (OT V) and is taking courses of the 'Academy Levels' (Auditor course up to Class IV) at the Celebrity Center in Duesseldorf (as of 1989)."
This fact escaped him only two and a half years later, thanks to a "loss of memory" which suddenly cropped up. In October 1992 he used a summary procedure to get a court order in an attempt to stop "Prinz" Duesseldorf city magazine from describing him as an "Operating Thetan" of the Scientology Organization. He submitted the following sworn affirmation, dated October 9, 1992 to the court as enclosure 4: In recognition of the meaning of a sworn affirmation and the penalty of a false,
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even a negligently false affirmation, I hereby affirm and submit to the court under oath: I AM NOT AN OPERATING THETAN, WHATEVER THAT MAY MEAN. - signed Gottfried Helnwein.
Now that the original text of his Scientology interview with "Celebrity" has been made available in this book and Helnwein has been described as Operating Thetan Level V by the highly official membership magazine, this leaves only one conclusion:
Gottfried Helnwein lied to the court and submitted a false sworn affirmation to his own advantage at the time. "Prinz" lost the legal proceedings exactly for that reason. It was not to remain his only false affirmation.
In 1995 the "Handbook of the Scientology Religion" itself gives answers to the most asked questions by the media. In it, under the keyword "Operating Thetan or OT" is written: "'OT' describes a spiritual being or a Thetan who is in the position to operate in complete awareness, with full memory recall and with complete abilities independently of the physical universe. This is a goal which people have wanted to obtain for thousands of years. The fundamental levels of Scientology orients a person to his spiritual existence and immortality. In this means it helps free him from complications in his personal relations and in the solving of everyday problems, so that he can direct his attention to higher aspects of his being. On the level of Operating Thetan one goes about with his immortality as a spiritual being. As with any other spiritual level of Scientology, the state of OT is reached by traversing a series of gradually increasing steps. The sequence is laid out exactly and deviating from them, from experience, leads nowhere. Therefore the person must first manage the simpler steps before he can dedicate himself to the higher steps of salvation.
At the OT level, Scientologists study the very advanced materials from L. Ron Hubbard's research. According to those who have attained OT, there are no words to express the degree of spiritual consciousness."
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It is provable that by 1989, Gottfried Helnwein had reached OT Level V, and his wife Renate OT Level VIII. High-ranking Scientology former member Gunther Traeger, was was trained in Duesseldorf Celebrity Center with Helnwein, was a member of the organization for twenty years before he finally left in 1992. In "Spiegel" magazine, volume 10 / 1993 of 1993, he gave a surprisingly frank interview about his knowledge and his experiences.
"Spiegel": "You had reached one of the highest OT levels, you were an Operating Thetan Level V. One can allegedly walk through a wall of fire at that point."
Traeger: "Wall of Fire is meant symbolically. One is confronted with hot emotional data. I had already known that people had rather gone aground.
"Spiegel": "How many Germans like you have reached the OT V grade of enlightenment?"
Traeger: "Maybe 100. About 50 may be on the highest level, OT VIII - ..."
"Spiegel": "What do they have special?"
Traeger: "A good question, I would like to know that, too. OT VIII allegedly offers so little new that you ask yourself why you have given money for it at all."
"Spiegel": "How much must one expend to attain the highest ordination?"
Traeger: "300,000 DM and more has already been paid, and appeals for donations which bring it up to six figures are no rarity."
It becomes overly clear from Traeger's statements that Gottfried and Renate Helnwein are top Scientologists in Germany with the highest degree of training and are highly thought of with the organization, especially in the USA; no wonder that the two of them have made an estimated 1.4 million DM in "donations" to various organization departments since 1972 (!).
But back to the year 1989. "Celebrity" magazine continued: "This month Gottfried describes for our readers why he decided to be an artist and in what manner the Scientology teachings have helped to assure his success even today, thereby surviving as an artist in difficult times."
Then began the most detailed and, above all, the most honest interview that Gottfried Helnwein had given to date since the "College" interview in 1975,
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14 years earlier about his decades-long intensive relationship to Scientology, noting once again, in a full edition of a Scientology membership magazine distributed worldwide. The publication of this interview is, without doubt, the most momentous occasion of his entire life. In it he described many details of his training as a Scientologist, what he has to thank these "teachings" for, advertises intensively for new members, and praises Scientology as the "non plus ultra," as necessary everyday as bread and water. Then, only two years later, in a dramatic, sudden turnaround starting in 1992, he mimed a poor, innocent, persecuted victim of the media in various unprecedented media campaigns, who, in his own words, "shat on Scientology," and did not even know what an "Operating Thetan," a "Patron" or even an "auditor" were. Now he said he was not even a Scientologist. Helnwein: "No, I was never any of that," his words ran in spring 1996; from now on no one will believe him. By that he has conveyed the lie of his life. What kind of string-pulling act is going on in his life, does he just want to outlive the Germany art business in which Scientologists are boycotted more and more, or is there actually more to it?
It was not just this interview, published for the first time here in its German translation, by which his later, multifarious, subtle lies and hair-splitting in questions of his Scientology involvement and past were finally discovered by German agencies and the media. It was proven with what has already been written here, along with what is to follow, just with other means. His own words are not an index [of reality]; they are proof of his guilt. Gottfried Helnwein has been a member of Scientology for decades. A fervent defender of the ideology of his master, L. Ron Hubbard. Helnwein is the role model of a successful Scientologist. Even today he is the European way sign for various recruitment campaigns in the USA, with him as the fortunate top Scientologist. In doing that, he is playing a strategically important role in the plans of the highest Scientology management in Los Angeles. How long will he be able to play this role there? Helnwein has made a confession according to all the rules of the legal profession with his testimonies. A district attorney would be luminous with joy to have the proof presented here in preparation of a lawsuit. At the point of the interview, he already had 18 years of intensive Scientology schooling, i.e., brainwashing, behind him, he had success worldwide, and he was not aware of what
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was to begin two years later, starting in 1992, in Germany - the "outing" of Scientologists in the media and their gradual boycott by the state, with the consequence of a quasi-professional ban today (1997), especially for Scientology artists, since they are particularly dependent upon public institutions like museums, and also subsidies.
"OT 5" Helnwein gave the Scientology
Organization a long interview
(from: "Celebrity" 225, 1989 CSCCI)
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The content of the interview refuted in all detail any of his later disparate but adventurous efforts to deny the close connections he had with Scientology for the major portion of his life by scandalous schemes, such as lying in different courts or to the public with "sworn affirmations," even going so far as to deliberately give various false assurances under oath, such as he did not even know what an "auditor" or an "Operating Thetan" were. How schizophrenic must a person be to simply delete the memory of 20 years of his life? That still does not justify his criminal behavior in various German courts by giving false testimony in cases initiated by himself against "critics" to obtain an outcome favorable to himself. Insofar as this behavior has led to harm to others, this form of untruth is to be strongly condemned.
The very first question in "Celebrity Interview of the Month" from summer 1989 refers to the beginning of his career "in Scientology."
The Interview in "Celebrity" magazine
Celebrity: How did you get interested in the Scientology religion?
Gottfried Helnwein (GH): In 1973, I heard some other artists talking about it in Vienna. Scientology was the most interesting thing I had ever heard of, so myself and another artist friend of mine went to Munich, Germany, where we did the Communications Course. In just four days of studying the data on communication, my whole life changed completely. The problems that I had previously, disappeared. From Scientology, I realized that I was cause over the events of my life. That viewpoint is not generally held in this society. People think they are the effect of life.
After the Communications Course, I went back to Vienna with my new viewpoint and data about life and was eager to run into people and situations I used to hate. I sought out situations I couldn't confront before to test out my new abilities and skills. I met with people I didn't like and put myself into many uncomfortable situations. Nothing was a problem any more. Scientology data worked....
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Celebrity: Did Scientology help you improve your art?
GH: Scientology helped me understand what I was actually doing with my art. Before that, I just painted -- but at effect. With Scientology I finally understood why people would react to my art, why they would want to talk to me as if they knew me or as if I knew them, why some people got angry, why many people would get this enormous urge to seek me out and communicate to me -- just by looking at my paintings. Before, I didn't understand and I was very interested to find out why. I had read Freud and many of the Far East philosophers because I was so interested. But I could never get good answers. Sometimes I did, but they were just little answers, nothing major.
But from the first sentence of Scientology and every sentence since then, it has all made sense. The thing that I really liked about Scientology was that everything you learned could be applied to life.
All the things I wanted handled personally got handled with Scientology. All the answers I had ever sought out were fully answered in Scientology. It really is amazing.
I operated with very high knowingness even before Scientology. But without it I would have been in big trouble -- and I actually was. To me no one in this world is in as much danger as the artist is. Because when you step out and communicate something you become visible. And if you create a big effect with music or painting, etc., then you are in trouble because there are certain people in this world who don't want that and they will do anything to suppress it. When you think of all the young artists who died of drugs or were killed: Janis Joplin, John Lennon, Brian Jones, then you can see what I mean. I think artists need Scientology to survive. It can also improve their art, but they really don't need it for that as much as they need the information contained in the subject to survive in the world.
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Normally you will find that a good artist is not very aberrated on the subject of communication. This is a miracle. When you look at Van Gogh for instance, he was in more trouble personally than you could imagine, in all areas of his life. And he didn't know what was wrong. And although his entire life was completely messed up, the one thing that was untouched was his ability to create. And that's interesting. Even when a good artist is a bit insane, is in trouble or his life is falling apart, his ability to create is still there. And I find that's incredible when you really look at it.
So, there is an example of a great artist who had no technology to survive personally, although his art did. His communication, his art did survive -- he didn't.
So I don't think that good artists need Scientology to create good art, really. Sometimes that may be. But to survive as a human being, and to hold a position in space, is where Scientology comes in.
Mozart is another example. What huge works of art he produced. And he could have created more if he had lived longer. When I first began studying Scientology, I realized that if Mozart and all these other artists would have had this data - just the basic data in Scientology - we would have so many more paintings and great works of theirs, because they personally would have survived to create it.
I think that Scientology training is the best, as it really allows you to be cause over your entire life. You get vital tools and you can use them. You get data which allows you to handle anything in life. [...]
Celebrity: You are getting services at Celebrity Centre Dusseldorf in Germany. What is that like?
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GH: Celebrity Centre is just the best. The Executive Director, Adelheid, creates a very safe environment for the people there. I love being there, and my service from Adelheid and the other staff has been really great. Celebrity Centre is a very important place for artists to get Scientology services. And, Scientology services are vital to their survival.
Celebrity: Anything else you would like to say?
GH: [...] Another thing for other artists: Training is the most fantastic thing. Every artist and every person needs to get trained.
Celebrity: Thank you very much."
That was in 1989!
Helnwein in Berlin
Berlin, the same year. In March 1989, Helnwein once more conducted a "Promotion Tour" for Scientology on his way to the local SC organization in Berlin to hold an exhibit/sale of his latest pictures in rooms provided by them. Helnwein was at the revival, this time with his works of art hanging on the fishhooks of recruitment. This operation, however, did not remain hidden from an alert reporter in TAZ, a Berlin newspaper. In the article "Forks in your Eyes" of March 15, 1989, writer "Doro" described Helnwein's practical implementation of the theoretical recruitment potential of a Scientology artist addressed in the "Celebrity" interview.
"They are right at the entrance. The body guards of the controversial psycho-religion. 10 DM permits entrance of those who look like they came for the art ... to the special event: Gottfried Helnwein ... honored the business rooms of the Scientology Church in Berlin-Friedenau with his presence on Sunday evening ... Subsequent to Helnwein's appearance in the Scientology Church, more gentle manipulation takes place. As if it were the usual thing here, people are asked to look up at over-sized black and white photographs of extraordinary people, ranging from Michael Jackson to Peter Alexander ... One cannot call this an exhibition, it is much more a consolidated sales effort for the purpose of recruiting new members. And they came in droves, attracted like moths to a light, in order to get their fill of Helnwein after a staged interview with the Scientology female director. ... By his own statement, Helnwein has been a Scientologist since 1972 because the
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Scientology Church's drug withdrawal program (Narconon) convinced him ... But Helnwein acts like he does not believe in the Scientology Church as an enterprising business, not even in the millions embezzled by since deceased founder Hubbard. ..."
He still acts that way, in April 1997!
Helnwein's Scientology Membership Application - 1987
Even in October 1996, Helnwein was unconcernedly spreading his lies in public in spite of overwhelming proof of the opposite coming from all directions. Once again he got support from his home town of Vienna. His friend, "NEWS" journalist Georg Kindel, repeatedly gave him the chance to not only drag his adopted homeland of Germany across the coals, but also to falsely deny his SC membership again. This time, however, Kindel remonstrated him with evidence that clearly showed the opposite.
"NEWS," the Viennese news magazine, reported a sensational event in its 41/96 edition under the title of "THE GURU? - Painter Gottfried Helnwein." It contained Helnwein's membership application for Scientology! It was supposed to mean that Gottfried Helnwein had been a "member of Scientology" in 1987. The article contained a facsimile of an original "Application for membership into the International Association of Scientologists (IAS)," signed by Helnwein. It was dated March 14, 1987. The Helnwein couple were accepted into the IAS Scientology Organization in England, membership numbers 38764 and 38765.
The 8 Million Members - Lie
That is also evidence that the number of Hubbard adherents worldwide in 1987 was not much higher than 40,000 (!); by 1997, a total of not more than 70,000 membership numbers had been given out - not, as continues to be falsely propagated by its management, 8 million members worldwide. Another incredible exaggeration for propaganda purposes!
Helnwein in the Viennese "NEWS" - October 1996
"NEWS", continued: "In order to conquer the globe, at last, with his pictures, Helnwein started a two year retrospective tour around the world. 400 of his best exhibition pieces were to be displayed in Sapporo and Tokyo for six months, after that the exhibition was to go to the state
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museums in St. Petersburg, to Finnland, Germany, San Francisco and, in fall '97, to the Viennese art building. The gutter press, however, beat the master over the head with his alleged membership in Scientology. The situation for the painter has become especially threatening at his residence in Germany. ... NEWS spoke with the artist:
NEWS: Are you a Scientologist? Helnwein: No. I took several courses in the '70s and the early '80s and read books about it. ... NEWS: "Forbes" wrote that you had founded Scientology Austria. ... Helnwein: These journalists are scum. I have demanded they sign an order to desist. ... NEWS: There exists a lifetime Scientology membership application which you have signed on 14 March 1987. Helnwein: That is a counterfeit. I would have to know if I had signed something like that. NEWS: You did not offer to donate the proceeds of a total of 450 of your "Marilyn Monroe" lithos to support Scientology in 1992 either? Helnwein: That is a bare-faced lie. If someone from Scientology said that, he's nuts. NEWS: Scientology has even advertised using your name. Helnwein: They have used my picture and my name without my permission and without my volition three or four times. I had my lawyer tell them that and he received a signed notice of intention to cease and desist. ... NEWS: You have been described as a Scientology leader, as an "Auditor IV" ... Helnwein: That is crazy. I took courses where you are automatically made a temporary member. But today I do not belong to any association. I was never an auditor in my life. That insanity was dished out by a mentally ill woman from Saarland. ... I recommended that she get psychiatric help. ... The Germans need the witch hunt phenomenon. That is a German campaign which originates primarily from the Evangelical church. They have been attempting psycho-terrorism for years. In Stuttgart they have a kind of secret service where they give out millions to spy on people all across the country. NEWS: Are you banned in Germany? Helnwein: When I acquired the castle in Burgbrohl in 1986 and began to restore it, a general missionary of the Evangelical church showed up and told the minister and everybody in town that I was secretly a sect leader and the studio was just a front. I was said to have set it up to lure in young people and destroy them with brainwashing. The people in the area flew into a panic and did not allow their children to visit anymore. At some point they then made the whole country hysterical.
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PRO
Painter
Helnwein:
"Witch Hunt"
He invented the "Jewish Argument"
The inventor of the "Jewish Argument"
(from:
"NEWS" 4/97, p. 62, 1997 Vienna)
NEWS: Are you suffering from a modern Inquisition? Helnwein: That is exactly it. The old witch hunt has reappeared in a new form. They tortured and burned hundreds of thousands of people in Germany, they also did it with the Jews. ... Then the Germans became world leaders again. Now they are fighting the Scientologists. ... Germany is the only country in the world which could come up with the idea to annihilate everything which is not worthy of living, in their opinion, and to turn it into soap. ... GERMANY IS AN EVIL COUNTRY, AN INTOLERANT LAND OF FANATICS. Over there is Austria, far more Catholic, therefore more lustful, sensuous, more perverse ... That is a mass psychosis, a mass delusion, what is going on there. ... I am leaving Germany. I have already brought my children into safety.
Helnwein & Scientology, Lies & Treason by Peter Reichelt, 1997 - Page 431
I am, thank God, completely independent of the country. I have just been looking for a studio in Santa Monica, from now on I will work in Los Angeles, even if I still go back to my castle sometimes."
That was Helnwein's last interview as of today, a fanatical attempt to divert attention from his own misdeeds and lay all blame exclusively on others, true to the Hubbard directive that "a Scientologist is infallible and always seeks out the mistakes in others."
August 1996 - Burgbrohl seven years later. Seven weeks have past since the three judges of the 16th Civil Senate of the Superior State Court in Frankfurt am Main legally recognized on June 20, 1996, case number 16 U 163 / 95 under Judge Chairman Baumecker and Judges Dr. Deppert and Janzen:
Helnwein is a Scientologist and an "auditor IV clergyman," after he has been publicly denying and bitterly contesting that over and over for half a decade, including in a dozen court proceedings against many of his public "critics."
The ARD "Report" broadcast of February 3, 1997
The ARD political magazine, "Report," was dealing with the Helnwein case for the third time in eight months.
"Scientology is everywhere: the controversy about the dangerous psycho-sect. Real estate business in the best spots in Stuttgart. This was formerly a Scientology Center in Baden-Wuerttemberg's state capitol. For the first time we will get a look behind the scenery. Our guide is Jeanette Schweitzer, a former Scientologist. She shows us the so-called auditing chambers in the attic.
Jeanette Schweitzer: 'Here is where people bared their souls, that means that anybody who got this auditing, regardless of which kind, there is even special penalty auditing, would end up baring his soul. There are questions in the penalty auditing, for example, which asked about one's personal life. What people have you slept with, have you slept with a colored person, do you own a firearm, have you committed criminal acts? These questions are re-phrased over and over again until one ends up answering them. But there are also other interrogation techniques by which the person will bare his soul, in these processes, translated 'auditing,' every 'crime' the person has ever committed will come out eventually.
Helnwein & Scientology, Lies & Treason by Peter Reichelt, 1997 - Page 432
We counted sixteen tiny auditing rooms, one after the other. Auditing is how Scientology makes its big money. One hour is said to cost from three to six hundred marks. Not just mentally unstable people fall into the clutches of the organization. Every person is a potential victim. A former Stuttgart Scientologist. Question: 'How often have you been audited here in these closed spaces?' 'That was several hundred hours, so I would have been here over a hundred times.' Question: 'And what did you pay for that?' 'All in all over 100,000 marks for the auditing, the largest portion of it.' Question: 'How did you get into it?' 'That was a ruse by a management consulting company whose seminars I took. That is how the contact to Scientology came about later on.'
Outwardly Scientology advertises with glitter and glamor. World stars in the service of the psycho-corporation. The pretty packaging takes attention away from the true goals of the Scientology Organization. Report from Munich has seen another revealing policy of sect founder L. Ron Hubbard. According to what it says, politicians and management will be misused to further the goals of Scientology without their knowing it. Hubbard instructed, 'Don't bother to get elected. ... Use any talent one has to get a place close in [to such a person], go to work on the environment and make it function better'."
Typical example in Germany: the famous artist, Gottfried Helnwein, for whom it was decided that he is a Scientologist. Prominent politicians and opinion leaders are among his friends and supporters. He has that support even though the Scientology Organization has been using him for years to advertise, as discovered by "Report" from Munich. Numerous internal sect magazines have recorded celebrity Helnwein's highest words of praise for Scientology. Helnwein, the painter, has sold his art in the service of the sect. At the same time, he has wooed the public and has played the persecuted artist who allegedly has nothing to do with Scientology. He can depend on his powerful friends in politics and the media. A Green Party Parliamentary Vice-President [Antje Vollmer] even made a state affair out of the "Helnwein case."
Antje Vollmer: "You know, for me this really has a little bit to do with this Republic. And I am getting involved with this case because my image of civility in this Republic really does not permit Gottfried Helnwein to have to leave the country. I would not like that."
Helnwein & Scientology, Lies & Treason by Peter Reichelt, 1997 - Page 433
Helnwein already went. In America he even wanted to meet with U.S. congressmen and representatives from the State Department, as the Washington Scientology Center told the DPA on January 14, 1997: Helnwein was to report on his painful discrimination as an artist and as a Scientologist (!) in Germany. The fact is: State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns received a Scientology delegation. Was Helnwein permitted to pour out his troubles for him? "No comment," "Report" was told in Washington.
Scientology in the USA "outed" Helnwein as a
Scientologist (!) victim of "painful discrimination" in Germany on
January 14, 1997 in an official press release .
The nightmare is over. Or
is it?
Helnwein & Scientology, Lies & Treason by Peter Reichelt, 1997 - Page 434
bdt0067 4 pl 324 dpa 0131
Sekten/USA/Scientology/
* aus1 gebe inla
Painter Helnwein complains in the USA about discrimination against Scientologists =
Washington (dpa) - The Austrian artist Gottfried Helnwein has given American administrative officials "a first-hand report about the shocking and painful discrimination which he, a Scientologist, has been subject to in spite of his outstanding professional accomplishments." That was released by the Scientology sect on Tuesday in Washington.
According to their release, Helnwein, an internationally renowned graphic artist and painter, has met with officials from the National Security Council of the USA and its State Department, as well as with members of Congress.
The 48-year-old artist who comes from Vienna and lives in Germany obtained a temporary restraining order in 1994 defending himself against an accusation that he was a member of Scientology. At the time, said Helnwein, the assertion that he was a member of the Scientology Church was "false and a sheer invention. I am not a member anywhere." Critics in Germany continue to reply to him that the sect is using his name to advertise.
On Thursday last week, "Oscar" prizewinners Dustin Hoffman and Oliver Stone as well as 32 other stars of the American cultural scene accused Germany of "organized persecution" against Scientology. In an open letter to Federal Chancellor Helmut Kohl, which was published as an advertisement in the International Herald Tribune," the signers drew parallels to the Nazi era. This past fall, the Scientologists had taken out advertisements in the New York Times which compared the German proceedings against Scientology with Nazi methods.
The stars emphasized that they were not members of the sect. Kohl accused them of having "no idea of Germany, neither do they wish to have an idea, otherwise they never would have talked such nonsense."
On January 15, 1992, DPA Washington reported the scandal
Helnwein
"outed" as a Scientologist
Helnwein & Scientology, Lies & Treason by Peter Reichelt, 1997 - Page 435
Even in Germany: silence from the responsible parties. Neither Gottfried Helnwein nor Antje Vollmer had the courage to go on in front of our camera. Only Alfred Biolek gave us an interview last week. Report: Mr. Biolek, what do you really expect now from Gottfried Helnwein? Biolek: I expect nothing, because I spoke with him after he came back from the USA and I asked him what was really going on now, whether he had lied to me, because it did indeed appear as if he said in the USA that he was an active Scientologist. And he assured me that he had said nothing over there in from of the Committee on Foreign Affairs or the Senate or the House of Representatives, I don't know exactly, that was different from what he had told me in our broadcast or from what he had told Mr. Riehl-Heyse from the "Sueddeutsche Zeitung" newspaper. He has hired an attorney to, so to speak, force the Scientologists, who published something quite different about him in their own press office in Washington, to correct what they said or tell the truth. Therefore I don't feel like he's gone behind my back or lied to me, at least until I see proof to the contrary."
Yet today there is still no official denial of Helnwein's membership in Scientology, despite an inquiry made by "Report" to Scientology in the USA. So who is lying? Helnwein or Scientology?
Sabine Weber, press spokeswoman for "Scientology Germany:
I can only tell you that you will have to get in touch with Washington, I don't have any more information, I assume that someone made a mistake but I don't know that, I only know that you have to personally talk it over with Mr. Helnwein and with the Scientology Church in Washington. That is the only thing I can suggest."
Was everything just an administrative error, or is Helnwein lying? We made inquiries to someone who would have to know. Professed Scientologist Waki Zoellner is an artist, and acquaintance of Helnwein and has reached OT VIII, which is currently the highest level which can be achieved in Scientology.
Waki Zoellner, OT VIII - Scientologist and Helnwein's friend. Question: "So is he a Scientologist?" Zoellner: "Yes." Question: "And it is possible, if he had gone your route, the open route, that he could no longer be working in Germany?" Zoellner: "That is what he did. That tempted him. That had been made impossible for him until he even said, yes, he was familiar with Scientology, but ...." Question: "As an experienced Scientologist, what would you advise him to do now? Make a clean breast of it or continue the route of deception? Zoellner: "That is hard to say. That is a matter of his conscience,
Helnwein & Scientology, Lies & Treason by Peter Reichelt, 1997 - Page 436
what he wants to do. I can only recommend to Helnwein that he get on with being a Scientologist as soon as possible and eat up this knowledge as soon as possible. Who knows how long it will still be around?"
In saying that, top-Scientologist Zoellner verified the opinion of the Frankfurt Superior State Court. In 1996, the court determined in a decision which could not be appealed: "Helnwein is a Scientologist." "Report" caught Helnwein's reaction to that in a tape recorded interview which has not yet been published. In that interview Helnwein said, "I am saying it: it is a misjudgment. The judge was a Nazi. It was a sheer misjudgment." Wolfgang Frank, judge and press spokesman of the Frankfurt am Main Superior State Court. Question: "Mr. Frank, how will the Frankfurt Superior State Court react to this insult from Mr. Helnwein?" Frank: "Once in a while, here in the Superior State Court a criminal charge is filed in the course of duty. The statement that the judges were acting like Nazis, however, was done very deliberately and, at the same time, an effort was made to categorize oneself as a victim of the Nazis, thereby making the horrors of the Holocaust useful for oneself in some kind of fashion."
So much for "Report" from Munich.
The Alfred Biolek case
It began on September 5, 1991. Alfred Biolek was traveling the 120 km. from Cologne to Burgbrohl to meet the Viennese man, Gottfried Helnwein and his wife at the Burgbrohl castle. Topic: the ARD Show, "Boulevard Bio." But that was not all they talked about...
Clearwater in Florida. Second residence of the Helnwein couple since 1988. Location: The Scientology headquarters in FLAG. It is the 7th of February, 1991, 6 p.m. There is a little get-together for a fine dinner in the Hibiscus Restaurant, the top Scientology restaurant at FLAG. Those partaking of the evening meal include Renate Helnwein and her long-time friend Loredana Biancolinia, better known as Shapari Khashoggi, wife of the famous arms dealer, Adnan Khashoggi, one of the richest men in the world. At that point in time, Loredana had been residing in the "President's suite" in the FLAG Fort Harrison Hotel for almost one year. She was there, as were Gottfried and Renate Helnwein, to receive intensive Scientology training, as former FLAG staff member Martin Ottmann is aware of. Her husband, Adnan, according to Ottmann, was also spending some time here with his wife in Clearwater, though only for a short while.
Helnwein & Scientology, Lies & Treason by Peter Reichelt, 1997 - Page 437
Seven months later at the Biolek-Helnwein meeting in Burgbrohl, the theme included the Khashoggi couple. Alfred Biolek told the attentive pair about what was to be on his "Boulevard Bio" broadcast with the working title, "Beneficence: Modern Welfare," scheduled for November 20, 1991 in Cologne. Guests included Ute Ohoven from Duesseldorf. Subsequent to this meeting with the Helnweins, Biolek succeeded with one or the other's help in getting Renate's friend from FLAG, Loredana, together with her husband Adnan on his talk show. A gigantic success for Scientology.
Exactly one year later, now it is November 3, 1992, the first high-ranking Scientology guest was a guest on the Biolek broadcast; this time it was Gottfried Helnwein on the topic of "Vienna."
As mentioned, on September 24, 1991, wife Renate proudly wrote about her "success" shortly after Biolek's visit to their home on September 5, 1991, in a letter to her friend, Scientologist and construction tycoon Kurt Fliegerbauer: "... Gottfried was a guest on the Biolek broadcast, the topic of SCN (Scientology) was also brought up. Biolek was here, is very positive! ... Renate." She was celebrating a year too early for Gottfried.
The contact to Biolek did not break off after that talk show. Today they are still friends, for five years now, and meet regularly either in Cologne or in Burgbrohl, in 1995 they vacationed together at a festival at the Helnwein castle, or took, as also happened in 1995, an 8 day vacation trip down the Nile together. And so Helnwein appeared again in fall 1996 on "Boulevard Bio" as the star guest. Woe to him who thinks anything is evil with that.....
Helnwein & Scientology, Lies & Treason by Peter Reichelt, 1997 - Page 438
The SZ*, surprisingly uncritical*Sueddeutsche Zeitung ("SZ") | |
In reference to the article "New Taboo Zones for Scientologists," the first surprising thing is the obvious fact that the otherwise soberly critical SZ (this newspaper, the "Sueddeutsche Zeitung") believes Helnwein the Austrian painter when he says that he is not a Scientologist. Research by journalists from other media yielded several weeks ago that Helnwein numbers among the leading Scientologists. On January 14, 1997 in the USA, Scientology itself revealed that he belongs to that organization. The Interior Ministry also has information which is condemnatory in this regard which gives evidence that Helnwein is an influential, long-term member of Scientology. In addition to that, the article and the commentary, unfortunately, provided none of the on-going contextual discussion about Scientology. Nevertheless, we completely unanimously agree with the attitude that the government should have no interest in whether an artist is a communist, a Freemason, Scientologist or member of the CSU. Neither is an assessment of Helnwein's artistic quality part of the debate. | A wholly different matter is the question of whether state institutions use public tax money to subsidize members of totalitarian organizations which include not only leftwing or rightwing extremist parties and groups, but also Scientology. It would not pass muster for the state to recognize a danger from a certain group on the one hand, yet contribute to its finances on the other. Would the SZ approve of it, for example, if the Bavarian state government subsidized selected neo-Nazis with the argument before us? In closing, please permit me to make the following comment: during the past few weeks, the "Sueddeutsche Zeitung" appears to me to have critically concerned itself mainly with the 15 point list of measures by the Bavarian state administration, while the Scientology system of human contempt has as good as not been mentioned. While other media in Europe and worldwide have had stories about the psycho-practices and Scientology reform camps which are documented by reports of former members, that has hardly been mentioned in the SZ. As I have found in several meetings, that has also been diligently recorded by the various media. Christoph Hillenbrand |
Scan of original German article
The dispute about Helnwein continues. The opponent ....
(from: "SZ" of February 6, 1997
Helnwein & Scientology, Lies & Treason by Peter Reichelt, 1997 - Page 439
In the Footsteps of Hundhammer | |
The state government has requested that no Bavarian communities support any event "which is associated with an advertisement for the Scientology Organization." One example of such an advertisement, the recommendation continues, may be "presumed when internationally known celebrities (appear) who openly profess to Scientology." Openly professing to Scientology, however, is exactly what Gottfried Helnwein, the painter, does not do, on the contrary. He publicly says, "I shit on Scientology." He has filed a Constitutional complaint against a court decision which stated that he may be described, without consequence, as a Scientology "auditor." He has protested in writing to the American Church of Scientology about them describing him as a Scientologist against his will and using him in their press campaigns. How an exhibition with Helnwein's pictures may be an advertisement for Scientology under these conditions remains a secret of the Interior Ministry. Neither is this about "the state" contributing to the "financing" of a totalitarian organization. It has much more to do with whether the state's (or a community's) granting a subsidy to an artists' association entails the right to dictate to that association which painters may have their work put on display and which not. | The last time something comparable to this happened was in 1949 with Bavarian Cultural Minister Alois Hundhammer, when he plotted to have Werner Egk's ballet "Abraxas" taken off the schedule of the Bavarian State Opera. The reason: he refused to "have such things presented at the cost of the state." If the argument is not about the artistic quality of Helnwein's pictures, but about the character of the painter, then one would also have to forbid the Munich Philharmonic orchestra from playing works by Richard Strauss, for example. Under the Nazis he constantly led the Reich's music chamber. Finally: if there really were a neo-Nazi who painted exciting pictures which have high artistic value, then he, too, should be able to put them on exhibition at an association which receives state subsidies, provided that he does not use the exhibition as a platform for Nazi propaganda. Anybody who has had a look at Gottfried Helnwein's work and asserts afterwards that these pictures glorify totalitarian ideas is either blind or malicious. Hans Holzhaider |
Scan of original German article
.... and the defender
(from: "SZ" of
February 6, 1997
Helnwein & Scientology, Lies & Treason by Peter Reichelt, 1997 - Page 440
The Nazi Judge
On August 15, 1996, in his castle in Burgbrohl, Gottfried Helnwein gave a four hour, tape-recorded interview to Viennese journalist Lies Kato in which it was said:
"LK: Since the last court decision you may be called a 'minister of the Church of Scientology' .
GH: Yes. That is proof of how the mentally ill gain ground and do not even stop at courts or judges. The judgment shows how degenerate and decadent the courts are. It is one of those kinds of delusional misjudgments...
And now this misjudgment has come from the Nazi judge from Frankfurt, by which one may publicly describe me as a sect priest. May publicly say: I exterminate people by forced hypnosis... In the last several years I have somehow been able to keep up my exhibitions, by complaints and lawsuits. I have always won every single trial because they were about things which were completely absurd and also easy to disprove. But that was never mentioned in the press. Nothing up until the one time that a feeble-minded judge handed down this misjudgment: now they are talking! ... But I say: the judge was a Nazi ... It was a misjudgment, and he did it because he knew: that was the last stage of the proceedings; he ruled out appeal."
How did that happen? What were the causes? Why, after Helnwein's "golden" Scientology years in the second half of the '80s, was his ship slowly sinking in the channel of growing public criticism of Scientology in the early '90s?
Former Helnwein consultant Peter Reichelt: "I hope this book will be able to contribute some information and answers to several previously unanswered questions and riddles. I also hope that it raises as many questions as it answers. Even after spending almost a decade with Helnwein and thinking that I knew him very well, I was very surprised at what all came to light with a little research."
These are exclusively facts, not suppositions, and will remain so. Bitter truths for artist Gottfried Helnwein. What will probably happen to him, the model Scientologist who has been so for half his life, but who currently has no social or commercial prospects, at least not in Germany by his own estimation?
Helnwein & Scientology, Lies & Treason by Peter Reichelt, 1997 - Page 441
What mistake did he make? Where did he make it? What will happen to his four children who, with the exception of the youngest, have been schooled in Hubbard's Scientology, knowing full well from his own experience what can happen to them? What will happen to his art when not even Scientologists can afford to buy it anymore? And what will happen to him when not even the last remaining Helnwein apologist, highly esteemed in technical circles, German correspondent Riehl-Heyse from the "Sueddeutsche Zeitung" newspaper refuses to say or type a word for him?
The person and artist of Helnwein, as has already happened in his birthplace of Vienna from which he fled in 1984, now is certainly, magnificently and, above all, theatrically perfectly ruined in his new homeland of choice, Burgbrohl in Germany. Greater (supposedly intellectual as well as legal) efforts have not availed him in contradicting truths, undoing deeds, turning fiction into fact or vice versa.
An actor played his part according to the script. After his move to Rheinpfalz, "actor" Helnwein has been playing his latest part in the script of his life which he wrote according to his own rules, without deviation, not one iota, no ifs, ands or buts. Constantly droning the same lines over in monotone until anything seems believable. Do just one more take of reality today and that will be enough for the incredible Helnwein script. In the past few years he has shown his true, unmade-up face only very rarely and he has lost his rehearsed carelessness and tranquility. Amazingly, exclusively in recognition of a most bitter truth for him, that also, or even Gottfried Helnwein can lose just one more thing, and that would "only" be his credibility.
Now once again, what did he say on August 15, 1996 about the highest Frankfurt judge who verified for him in black and white that he is a Scientologist:
... And now this misjudgment has come from the Nazi judge from Frankfurt ... a feeble-minded judge handed down this misjudgment ... But I say: the judge was a Nazi ... "
Poor Gottfried Helnwein
SHSP
This translation originated at http://cisar.org.
The url of the original translation was
http://members.tripod.com/German_Scn_News/has00.htm
(Scientology got that account terminated when Joe Cisar published his thesis on the
press and public relations of L. Ron Hubbard.)
The version of this
translation is August 21, 2000
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