Via Bob, here is Raincoat Optimist on the English Defence League, Kaminski and Griffin, who begins:
“My old psychology dictionary of terms informs me that overcompensation can be ‘a Freudian defence mechanism, whereby an individual attempts to offset weakness in an area of their lives by focusing on another aspect of it.’ I had thought to look this up after thinking about the recent spell of disavowed anti-Semite, Israel supporters.”
Read on.
This is a guest post by Doerte Letzmann.
Every year on February 13th and 14th, Germans commemorate the bombing of Dresden by the allied forces in 1945.
Usually there is an official memorial at the ‘Heidefriedhof’, a cemetery in the outskirts of Dresden. This year on February 13th , Dresden’s mayor Helga Orosz and Saxony’s prime minister Stanislaw Tillich spoke to the 200 mourners and laid a wreath in commemoration of the dead. Like in the years before, this event was also attended by several neo-Nazis, for example by members of the NPD, the main far right party, and of the neo-Nazi organisation HDJ.
In the evening of Friday February 13th, around 2500 people gathered around the ‘Frauenkirche’ (‘church of our lady’) – which was burned out during the bombing and collapsed – to remember the people who died during the bombing. Around the same time, around 1100 neo-Nazis marched through the city with torches.
Usually there is a major neo-Nazi demonstration to commemorate the bombing. This year on February 14th , about 6000 neo-Nazis – the highest number so far – from all over Europe came to march in Dresden. They listened to Wagner, symbolically laid down a wreath and carried placards saying: “allied bombing holocaust” and “historical truth brings intellectual freedom”. In their speeches they pointed out how the Allies “demolished an innocent city” and killed “hundreds of thousands of civilians”. In 2004 a commission of historians made clear that about 25000 people died during the bombings – far fewer than the number claimed by Nazi propaganda at the time and today’s neo-Nazis. It seemed necessary to highlight yet again how the city and its people were not that ‘innocent’: many of Dresden’s residents worked in war industries and the city was a communication and transportation hub.
A broad alliance of democratic institutions and individuals – among them the confederation of German trade unions and members of the Social Democratic, Green and Left Party- called ‘Geh Denken’ (‘Go think’) that engages against right-wing extremism in Dresden organised a counter-demonstration, which was attended by 7500 people. ‘Geh Denken’ opposes the ‘exploitation’ of the remembrance event by neo-Nazis, the “distortion of history” and wants to send a “democratic signal” against right-wing extremism.
The anti-fascist left is split over the possible counter-actions. The anti-fascist alliance ‘No Pasarán’, which was also part of ‘Geh Denken’ and doesn’t want to “let the nazis lie about history” staged an anti-fascist counter-demonstration that was attended by almost 4000 people. This demonstration was dispersed by the police and several protesters were arrested.
The ‘Vorbereitungskreis Keine Versöhnung mit Deutschland’ (preparation group no reconciliation with Germany) however, opposed the abandonment of left-wing positions in favour of a mass mobilisation and pointed out that the collective mourning of German ‘victims’ characterises both the neo-Nazi demonstration as well as the official commemoration events and that both were staged in order to find a new German collective identity. ‘Vorbereitungskreis Keine Versöhnung mit Deutschland’ organised a rally and concert on Friday February 13th against the remembrance event the same night and demanded the abolition of such events in general as they are an attempt to revise history and turn people that were involved in the national socialist state into ‘victims’ and ‘innocent civilians’.
They are clearly fighting an uphill battle. For Germans who yearn for a clear conscience, it is hard to be reminded of the simple fact that Hitler’s regime remained popular and the Germans remained loyal to it until its final hours. A ‘neutral’ German civil society did not exist in that sense, because the German reality of total war, ‘Volksgemeinschaft’ and ‘final solution’ required Germans to be either actively involved in what would now be considered war crimes and crimes against humanity, or to give an ideological approval to stay passive in light of this reality. Germany’s behaviour in the war, the crimes it committed, and the role of its civilian population were unique.
Like in the speeches at the memorial at the ‘Frauenkirche’ on Friday evening, it is often claimed that ‘legitimate’ mourning for Dresden is characterised by a demand for reconciliation while neo-Nazi marches stand for revenge. The understanding that Germans in Dresden and elsewhere were ‘innocent victims’, however, seems to be an uncontested value that most Germans, neo-Nazis or not, share. This is not what Allied leaders thought at the time, nor is it what history teaches.
The ‘innocent victims’ of Dresden is an historic construct collectively remembered every year so that Germans today can feel better about themselves.
Come to Dresden on 14 February 2009
On 14 February 2009, right-wing extremists from all over Europe will once again gather for their annual ‘mourning march’ in Dresden (D) – UNITED and the local platform Geh Denken calls for your help to stop the largest meeting of the European right-wing extremist movement!
In 2008 a frightening crowd of more than 6000 neo-nazis from Germany and foreign allied brotherhoods were mobilised for the largest gathering of the European right-wing extremist movement. Under the guise of commemorating the victims of the air raids against Dresden 13-15 February 1945, right-wing extremists claim the streets of Dresden to spread defamatory propaganda and gain public acceptance. Beside that, this self-declared ‘March of mourning and commemoration’ forms the highlight of a several days lasting network meeting of the right-wing extemist movement – where neo-nazis can get organised and receive ideological training.
UNITED calls for international support to make an end to the silent acceptance of this neo-nazi demonstration in the state of Saxony. We need your help to confront the neo-nazis in the streets of Dresden with active (peaceful) resistance and to create international pressure on the authorities of Dresden and Saxony. The city’s official remembrance concept – a ’silent commemoration’ – lacks a clear stand against modern right-wing extremism: LETS BREAK THE SILENCE!
In any case, the regional platform ‘GehDenken’ (Go and Think/Commemorate) together with UNITED is organising counter-actions in the streets of Dresden on 14 February 2009. Get united under the common title ‘Commemorate – a clear STOP to right-wing extremism’ and join forces in Dresden on 14 February 2009.
Get active together – use the opportunities!
Since some years, there have been a wide variety of activities against the march of right-wing extremists in Dresden. In 2006 the neo-nazi march was blocked successfully, but finally it was redirected and continued under rigorous protection of German police forces. In 2007 and 2008 German police guarded the way of this scandalous neo-nazi march, against the persistent protest of the anti-fascist movement.
In 2009, we call the European anti-discrimination movement to mobilise their forces to set an end to this public celebrated right-wing extremist procession.
Join us in the streets of Dresden on 14 February 2009 to stop the biggest annual neo-nazi gathering throughout Europe – peacefully and determined!
WHAT YOU CAN DO
* Inform all your contacts about this counter-action (translate this call and spread it in your country; use your newsletters / websites / mailing lists etc. to make this call for action visible to as many activists as possible)
* Organise buses, get your friends and come to Dresden on 14 February 2009
* Support our public call with signatures and/or statements of support from you or your organisation (just send an email to info@unitedagainstracism.org and orga@geh-denken.de)
* If you want to participate please inform us as soon as possible (we will try to organise budget accommodation)
More information under: http://www.geh-denken.de/joomla/international.html
Get in contact with us:
Preparation group 14 February 2009 ‘Geh Denken’
phone +49-351-5636669
orga@geh-denken.de – http://www.geh-denken.de
UNITED for Intercultural Action
Postbus 413 – NL 1000 AK Amsterdam
phone +31-20-6834778 – fax +31-20-6834582
info@unitedagainstracism.org – http://www.unitedagainstracism.org
THOSE, WHO CLOSE THEIR EYES FOR RIGHT-WING EXTREMISM, AGREE WITH IT!
In this year Dresden marks the kick-of for the ’super election year 2009′ and far right groups will exploit the public platform for political propaganda. Under the patronage of the German authorities this annual neo-nazi gathering in Dresden mainstreams right-wing extremism, destructs democracy and corrupts the country’s political conviction. It is simply a SCANDAL that police is protecting the biggest neo-nazi gathering in whole Europe and that Dresden’s authorities accept that right-wing extremists are taking over places and topics of remembrance. We shall not allow any propaganda platform to right-wing extremists.
This self declared ‘March of mourning and commemoration’ of neo-nazis from all over Europe has nothing to do with freedom of speech! The neo-nazi party NPD (National Party Germany), one of the co-organisers of this march, refers to the destruction of Dresden in 1945 as a ‘bombing Holocaust’, comparing the air raids with the murder of millions of Jews. Banners, flags and public speeches at the neo-nazi gathering openly relativise the nazi crimes, downgrade the Holocaust, glorify nationalism and ‘mourn’ the territorial losses of the ‘Third Reich’ after the 2nd World War.
CONTRADICT HISTORICAL REVISIONISM!
Right-wing extremist mass events like in Dresden promote the entrance into the anti-democratic movement among the participants, celebrate the brotherhood of a supposed national-socialist identity and provide a networking platform for right-wing extremists from all over Europe.
Such revisionist remembrance events strengthen the traditional lines towards the historical National Socialism. Equalising the victims of the air raids on Dresden and the victims who died in the concentration and destruction camps downplays and trivialises the Holocaust.
While Leningrad (RUS), Rotterdam (NL) or Coventry (GB) were targets of the German war of aggression and destruction, Dresden was bombed in the course of the ending of Hitler’s national-socialist tyranny. Many right wing extremists argument that the bombing of Dresden was rather aimed to ‘take revenge’ on the civil society in Germany than targeted at military and industrial areas. Far-right politicians in Germany have sparked a national debate by promoting the term “Bombenholocaust” (“holocaust by bomb”) to describe the raids. In order to oppose the extreme right propaganda, the difference between the Holocaust and the bombing of Dresden may not be blurred.
