Antifascism | Day of resistance against the AfD

The Plötzensee Memorial is one of Berlin's places to remember victims of fascism. Photo: dpa/Jörg Carstensen The day of remembrance and warning is an important date for antifascists in Berlin. This year the date fell on Sunday a week after the state elections in Saxony-Anhalt, in which the AfD won 43.8 percent of the vote and almost an absolute majority of seats in parliament. Nevertheless, the number of participants in the memorial event at Franz-Mehring-Platz was limited.

»We have planned a small meeting this year with fewer stands. After all, we have had so much to do with the fight against the right in the last few months," said Elke Tischer from the Association of those Persecuted by the Nazi Regime VVN-BdA, which prepared the event. Several rounds of discussions focused on the question of how democracy should be defended against the growing right.

The lawyer Jakob Weikert from the Constitution Blog reported how various initiatives have been taken in recent months to prevent the judiciary from being exploited by an ultra-right-wing state government. Weikert was optimistic that many justice employees are clearly against AfD projects, but said that they need support.

The Law Solidarity initiative wants to support groups that could be threatened by right-wing politics. Similar initiatives from the civil rights movement in the USA are a model. The extreme right will increase the pressure on civil society, on migrant communities, queer associations, but also on critical activists. For this reason, the Republican Lawyers' Association, the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation, the Left Party Chairmen's Conference and Equal Rights Beyond Borders launched the Law Solidarity project months ago. The homepage with tips and information is scheduled to be activated on September 15th.

In another round of discussions, initiatives were presented that are committed to fighting the right-wing culture war in Berlin. Gabriele Gottwald, who is active in the Left and in the VVN-BdA, spoke to a woman who is opposed to the AfD getting offices in the building at Köllnischer Park. It is said that the party has already begun moving into the fifth floor of the building. The AfD federal headquarters, which must gradually clear out its current premises in Berlin-Reinickendorf by the end of the year, is supposedly to be housed somewhere else.

Neighbors fear that the AfD could spread further in the house at Köllnischer Park in Mitte. They have initiated a petition against it. The participant in the discussion on the Day of Remembrance and Reminder is studying at the Berlin Academy for Psychotherapy, which is housed in the building. She reports that opponents of the AfD's entry are being pressured to give up their protest.

The anti-fascist received a lot of encouragement and applause from the listeners on Sunday. Moritz Warnke from the Left in the Treptow-Köpenick district reported on the fight against ultra-right blogs such as Apollo News and Nius. They should lose their offices in the district. But then there was a shitstorm against the anti-fascists who allegedly threatened press freedom. Conservative media and politicians from the CDU and FDP also took part.

Around the Day of Remembrance and Reminder, the Berlin VVN-BdA is organizing three historical city walks to places of persecution and resistance during the Nazi era in Friedrichshain. The last city tour starts on September 15th at 3 p.m. in front of the memorial stele for seven resistance fighters murdered by the Nazis on Koppenstrasse and ends at Bersarinplatz. During the Nazi era, the Keglerheim, a notorious SA torture cell, was located there. The city walks are intended to keep the memory of the anti-fascist resistance struggle alive, especially among younger generations.

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