Militarization | Thousands against conscription: fear and resistance

Young people celebrate the performance of the band K.I.Z with pyrotechnics. at the Brandenburg Gate to demonstrate against the planned conscription. The alliance called “Unforcible”. Photo: dpa/Sven Kaeuler Joseph and Richin, both 21, happen to be here. They were actually visiting a friend in Berlin and wanted to go to the Brandenburg Gate. On Friday afternoon they stood on the sidelines of a rally against conscription. Having to go into the military would scare him, Joseph tells “nd”. "When you come back from the war, you are no longer the same person." The idea is also threatening for Richin: "I would like to have a nice life," he says. He doesn't want to go to war. "We can't help politicians making decisions like this."

A broad alliance around peace coordination, school strikes against conscription and the German Peace Society - Association of Conscientious Objectors (DFG-VK) have invited to the rally. The motto is “unforcible”. 30,000 participants were registered. In order to mobilize so many people, the alliance invited numerous artists, including the rappers KIZ, Disarstar and Sechser and the Rostock punk band Third Choice.

Approximately in the middle of the crowd in front of the stage is 22-year-old Janne. He reports to "nd" that his little brother has received a muster notice. He himself has already refused, he says. Janne is studying to be a teacher and already teaches at a school. “Many children are afraid,” he says. A feeling of powerlessness arises, especially through social media. That's why he's at the rally. "That shows that you can fight."

Thousands of people, especially young people, were already on March 18th Square when the rally began at 4 p.m. On the Straße des 17. Juni, the DFG-VK logo is several meters tall: two hands breaking a rifle. A boy sits in front of the stage on his father's shoulders and holds an obviously homemade sign that says: "Children don't want to go into the military after 18."

The first speech is given by Till from the Verdi Jugend Kiel. It builds a bridge from the federal government's social cuts to rearmament. Young people are particularly affected by the former. He talks about mandatory sick leave from day one, the prospect of not getting a pension, job cuts and chain time limits. All of this is a threat to the young generation. The money goes into the pockets of the corporations and into armaments. The youth who refuse are a role model for the unions. Large strikes are needed, including against the “policy of social cuts and rearmament.”

Between speeches and concerts, the crowd in front of the stage repeatedly chants. These include “Never again conscription” or “War, crisis, inflation, Friedrich Merz you son of a bitch”. A good week ago, students were arrested at other demonstrations because of the latter slogan. But as with the slogan “Merz leck Eier,” which caused a stir in the spring, the demonstrators are not letting this stop them. Central tasks at the rally, such as moderation on stage or stewardship, are taken on by young people.

As the evening progressed, the rally continued to grow. Two huge orange flags with “FCK AFD” and “FCK NZS” written on them are waved, as are numerous flags of communist organizations and the white dove on a blue background, the flag of the peace movement. Artists often appear between the speeches.

“This is living, shared resistance.”

In addition to these, the federal spokesman for the DFG-VK received the most applause. “This is living common resistance,” says Jürgen Grässlin in his speech about the fact that politics and culture are connected. “Hello, you young people who will serve as cannon fodder in the next war if the federal government has its way,” he then greets the crowd as it slowly gets dark. He tells how he was a soldier during the Cold War. When he was supposed to practice headshots, he refused, he shouts and the crowd cheers. »That day I became a pacifist. I refused to shoot. To this day I refuse to shoot at targets first and then at people." He says that the Russian army invaded Ukraine in violation of international law. But it is not said that the Israeli army has killed tens of thousands or that the Turkish army is killing Kurds. “But the good thing about all of this is: you refuse to do anything!” Grässlin ends his speech with a request: “Let’s create this better world together!”

After a short appearance by rapper Sechser, Andrea Hornung takes the microphone. She is the spokesperson for the “Never again war – put down the weapons” initiative, which helps organize the school strikes against compulsory military service. Hornung talks about the draft lottery, which was used during the Vietnam War to select young Americans who then had to go to war in Southeast Asia. But she also reports on the resistance to it, which she wants to join in today. "We refuse and fight against the war," she shouts and concludes: "If the federal government wants to play the lottery with us, then we will make sure that it only draws losers."

Someone who has felt the consequences of his anti-militarist stance is Soul Tsalik. As he says, he is an Israeli anti-Zionist activist and reports on his experiences. "When I was 16, I received my first call-up notice." At that time, he did his best to get into the most prestigious military unit. At 18, however, he refused and had to go to prison because of it. He has lost friends and still has professional disadvantages. Now Tsalik is studying. There is a soldier in every lecture hall. "Militarism is an addiction," he says, and it serves to simplify life. "The worst thing that militarism does is war, is occupation, is genocide." Addressing the German audience, he says that the injustices of the past should not justify the crimes of the present. “Stop arming my country,” is the last sentence of his speech.

After further speeches and concerts, the rally closes with a performance by the rapper KIZ. Even beforehand, at Disarstar's performance, the atmosphere was like a festival. Now thousands of participants are singing along loudly.

In the end it wasn't the announced 30,000, but, according to the organizers, 20,000. Nevertheless, it became apparent on Friday that the peace movement, whose events in recent years were mainly attended by older people, is rejuvenating. The prospect of being sent to war is frightening - but the will to resist is also growing.

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