Originally published by the International Federation of Resistance Fighters – https://fir.at/en/
Last weekend, not only in Poland and Germany, but also in many European countries, governments and peace forces commemorated the beginning of the warlike part of the Second World War with Hitler’s German invasion of Poland. We deliberately say “warlike part” because, in our view, the Second World War had already begun with the intervention of fascist forces in the Spanish War and with the annexation of Austria, the Munich Dictate against the CSR and the occupation of the rest of the Czech Republic.
The expansionism of German fascism could have been stopped, if the Western forces of the later anti-Hitler coalition had countered the claims of German fascism. The British-French appeasement policy, which was intended to direct the aggression of German imperialism to the east, against the Soviet Union, was an important prerequisite for the invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939. In the spring of 1939, Adolf Hitler announced at the “Greater German Reich Veterans Day” in Kassel, in the presence of representatives of numerous foreign embassies, that there would be no more territorial claims if Poland resolved the issue of the corridor to Danzig and the status of the Free Imperial City of Danzig in the interests of fascist Germany. At the same time, the Wehrmacht’s plan of attack, the “White Case”, was ready in the drawers of the General Command.
It is these facts that we are emphasizing on the 85th anniversary of the invasion of Poland in order to reject historical revisionist claims that the German-Soviet non-aggression pact was the prerequisite for the German invasion. Even if such theses are repeated by the European Parliament on September 19, 2019, in the “celebration” of a day of remembrance against “totalitarianism” or in speeches by politicians from Poland and the Federal Republic of Germany. This does not make them true.
In addition, Marian Turski, President of the International Auschwitz Committee, emphasized this:
“With all our experiences and memories, we as survivors of the German concentration and extermination camps warn, especially on this historic 1st September, against voting for right-wing extremists and Nazis whose ideology has already driven Europe to war and destruction.”
The fact that rallies and other demonstrative actions to commemorate Anti-War Day took place in over 100 places in Germany alone last weekend was encouraging. However, it could not be overlooked that the number of participants and the number of young people clearly fell short of the necessities of today’s threat to peace – not only in Europe. “Rethinking peace” or “Peace-capable instead of war-capable” were the clear messages at the rallies, for which good arguments were put forward by the prominent speakers. It is the task of anti-fascists and the peace movement to spread them further.
On this day, the German government was instead concerned with tightening asylum law. On this day, a new “migration pact” was discussed, which would worsen the living conditions of refugees in Germany, place people under blanket suspicion and enforce deportations to war zones against all norms of international law. The aim is to provide an “answer to the AfD”, which celebrated shocking election successes in two eastern German states this Sunday, each with over 30% of the vote. The AfD had two issues: The federal government had to go and refugees had to be deported from the country. They had nothing to say about state politics. Nevertheless, they were still elected.
In terms of peace, one positive result was that at least one party entered the state parliaments with more than 10% of the vote in each case and had the following slogan on its political agenda: “No arms deliveries, diplomacy instead”. The media accuses this party of acting in a populist manner because the issue of war and foreign policy is the sole responsibility of the Federal Government and the German Bundestag. However, the election of this party shows that people in the country are not only concerned about local or regional issues, but also about peaceful developments in the world.
In this sense, “Anti-War Day” showed that there is a need for peace among the population, but that the extreme right is still able to push its issues to the forefront of social debate.
It is the task of anti-fascists, together with other social forces, to ensure that people’s real problems, such as education and care for children, health and social security, public services, jobs and a fair economy, are brought to the fore. Then the extreme right can also be pushed back – and the issue of peace will be heard.