Dresden 14.02.2009

[Holden Caulfield]

http://www.antifa.org.uk/nucleus3.32/nucleus332/media/1/20081221-119260-Dresden.jpg

In the last ten years Nazis have established their biggest annual demonstration in Dresden.

Up to 6.000 Nazis propagate the bombing of Dresden as an"Allied Bombing Holocaust“.

While passing the synagogue they demand vengeance and retaliation.

The Mayor and local government continue to put restrictions on the antifascist resistance.

Nevertheless thousands of people continue to block the Nazi demonstration annually.

It is time for us to stop their demonstration and take back the streets!

We will not let the nazis lie about history!

No more war! No more Fascism!

http://dresden1302.noblogs.org/ (http://dresden1302.noblogs.org/)



http://www.antifa.org.uk/nucleus3.32/nucleus332/media/1/20081221-234x60px_dresden09.gif

[Fietsketting]

This is believed to become one, if not the, biggest nazi demo in a decade.

No pasaran!

[Woland]

Uuuuh, if the place was a bit closer...I'd go for sure, but damn. Anyway, I'm pretty sure lots of people will come, lots from my town too. Germany has a strong Antifa and this is going to be brutal.

[redSHARP]

fuck! i wish i can go! is there anti-fa airline discount?:crying:
anything we can do across the ocean?

[Skin_HeadBanger]

Let's have a St. Valentine's Day Massacre of Nazis!

[Pogue]

Any chance of some solidarity work in the UK? And Behemoth the Cat, you live in Germany, surely you could make the hike there? If its a big thing and theres alot of Antifa going, it'd be worth you turning up and helping your comrades smash the fash even if it is a long journey.

[bcbm]

There's a day of action against capitalism also called for this day in the US, we'll be sure to give a shout-out to y'all.

[Melbourne Lefty]

I have heard of this march, hopefully the forces of light [thats us] can overcome the fascist scum.

Lotta people died in the bombing of Dresden, these thugs and idiots insult their memory.

[jaffe]

Any chance of some solidarity work in the UK? And Behemoth the Cat, you live in Germany, surely you could make the hike there? If its a big thing and theres alot of Antifa going, it'd be worth you turning up and helping your comrades smash the fash even if it is a long journey.
You could go overthere just arrange a group to travel with.


forces of light

:lol:

I've heard last years counterdemonstrations were dominantly run by anti deutsche. Is it this year the same?

[An archist]

Is Dresden more to the west or to the east?

[lombas]

Is Dresden more to the west or to the east?

Dresden was part of the DDR, if that's what you're asking.

[jaffe]

south eastern Germany close to the Czech border.

[Pogue]

I would like to get over there but it'd be somewhat impossible logistically and financially. Is it going to be a huge event(in terms of our opposition to it)? If its on a scale similar to the anti-G8 protests I'll consider going.

[Holden Caulfield]

keep in mind this is from Searchlight and about the 60th anniversary march in 2005, I'm only posting it to put out their opinion on the matter....

In the biggest show of strength since the Second World War, more than 7,000 nazis marched in Dresden on 13 February to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the bombing of the city by the British and US air forces in 1945.


The nazis were led by Udo Voigt of the Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands (NPD) and friend of the BNP leader Nick Griffin, Gerhard Frey of the Deutsche Volksunion (DVU) and Franz Schönhuber, former leader of the Republikaner party. They came overwhelmingly from the five east German federal states with only a few western cities, including Munich, Nuremberg, Lübeck, Cologne and Stuttgart, represented.

From the start of the demonstration in a car park close to the river Elbe, the nazis presented an image of well-organised menace. The march itself marked a qualitative step forward for the NPD and was notable for the youth of its participants and the high level of discipline and self-confidence they displayed.

Many of the contingents carried professionally designed banners, while others marched behind a forest of black flags. The whole event bore a stunning and shocking resemblance to a parade by the brown-shirted SA before 1933. Everything was there except the brown shirts and uniforms, although many of the nazis sported black jackets and black combat trousers.

What the march denoted was that, flushed with its electoral success in Saxony and bolstered by a monthly cash injection of e120,000 (£83,000) from the state of Saxony, the NPD is in the first stages of creating a real social movement with deep roots, especially among young disenchanted and economically disenfranchised males.

This was not the raucous mob that has characterised nazi marches in recent times. On the contrary, their self-confidence, even arrogance, exemplifies the resonance the nazis have begun to secure in an eastern Germany ravaged by the country’s current economic and social crisis.
It is evident that the nazis are able to penetrate those layers of young people looking for radical solutions to the problems of unemployment and the savage welfare cuts made by Gerhard Schröder’s red-green coalition government. In the absence of any militant intervention from the trade unions, whose leaders are much too busy clinging onto Schröder’s Social Democrats, or from the left, it is the nazis who are beginning to be seen as offering a challenge to the system.

The supposedly “militant” anti-fascist movement in Dresden proved on 13 February that it was in deep political trouble. They chose for the most part to gather well away from the nazis at the one building that they knew for certain the nazis would never be allowed to approach: the synagogue.

This was a monumental act of political cowardice, committed by a faction, the so-called “Anti-Germans”, who pride themselves on waving Israeli, British and US flags provocatively at anti-fascist and anti-war demonstrations. On the day they had new toys to play with, namely Royal Air Force flags which, one supposes, was their way of telling the city’s population that the bombing raids of 13 February 1945 had been good for them.

Large numbers of Dresden’s citizens wanted to commemorate the 20,000 deaths of 1945 with quiet dignity and wearing the white rose emblem of anti-Hitler resistance that would enable them at the same time to show their rejection of the fascists marching through their city. Regrettably this was an illusion from the start, but it is unlikely that these citizens will ever respect the “Anti-Germans” who have been allowed to hijack the activist anti-fascist movement in Dresden and many other cities.

The measure of the generalised crisis of the democratic forces in Dresden, and in eastern Germany as a whole, was highlighted by the 10,000-strong march organised by the DGB trade union federation and the mainstream parties in the city as an expression of so-called “civil society”. In contrast to the nazis, this march – a full four hours after the nazi march which had by then set the day’s political agenda – was an awful display of low morale with dejected citizens of all age groups shuffling miserably to the Altmarkt (Old Market Square). No fighting spirit was evident and even placards and banners were few.

In the Altmarkt after the march an estimated 50,000 people later lit candles which, viewed from above, spelled out brightly, “This city has had enough of nazis”. The only problem was that the citizens of Dresden are on the ground, and walking away from the elephant that is now squatting in their living room amounts to a capitulation in advance.

Had there been real leadership by an open broad alliance like the Round Table in Kiel, which anti-fascists there have fought hard to establish for over a decade, the nazis could have been subjected to an embarrassing defeat.

Why? The nazi march route crossed one of the narrowest bridges over the Elbe. All that was needed was for the DGB, the mayor or the leaders of “civil society” to time their demonstration appropriately and lead it to block the bridge. The police would hardly have thrown the mayor or trade union leaders into the Elbe and would probably have been pleased to tell the nazis their march was “off”.

The will to lead or take such action was lacking. Some might say, “It couldn’t be done”. Yet it was done in Kiel at the end of January, when 350 humiliated nazis were escorted to the railway station and told to leave the city after 10,000 Kiel citizens, led by the Round Table, blocked the streets on the nazi march route. Faced by intelligent and resourceful leadership and determined mass action, there was little the police with their riot gear, their water cannons and batons could do.
Fifty thousand people in Dresden could have achieved the same result and gained a great victory. Instead, they won the numbers game but handed a political triumph to the nazi horde.

[Patchd]

The supposedly “militant” anti-fascist movement in Dresden proved on 13 February that it was in deep political trouble. They chose for the most part to gather well away from the nazis at the one building that they knew for certain the nazis would never be allowed to approach: the synagogue.
Fucking Searchlight cowards, see if they can do better.

[Wanted Man]

Who are Searchlight, anyway, and what is wrong with them? Even if they are pricks themselves, surely they have a point when they say it's a terrible strategy to retreat, waving Zionist and imperialist flags while letting the nazis have the day? If it's true, that is.

[Pogue]

Searchlight is a more general and open antifascist group centered around the monthly publication of the magazine searchlight. They're involved in mass campaigns such as Hope not Hate which create a wider mass movement against the BNP and fascism in general. The magazine publishes news on Neo-Nazi activities and the like. They work with the Daily Mirror and things like that. They're criticised by the far left (Anarchists, etc) because they apparently work with the state in gaining intelligence on Nazis.

[jaffe]

also they accused anarchist of being fascists, Have good ties with M15 and worked in 'popular fronts' where women were forced to sit in the back of rooms because the muslim shop owners insisted they did.

[Wanted Man]

LOL. Jesus Christ, you meet all kinds of weirdoes out there...

[Holden Caulfield]

because they apparently work with the state in gaining intelligence on Nazis.
there is no apparently about it, it is a well known fact

[Melbourne Lefty]

I've heard last years counterdemonstrations were dominantly run by anti deutsche. Is it this year the same?

No Idea.

What I have heard about the anti-deutsche is slightly off-putting. But if they put nazis on their arses I wont be complaining.

[An archist]

No Idea.

What I have heard about the anti-deutsche is slightly off-putting. But if they put nazis on their arses I wont be complaining.

Well, it wouldn't surprise me if there would be anti-germans walking around with allied flags that day and chanting how good it was the city got bombed. Not really the crowd you want to be in.

[RaiseYourVoice]

Well, it wouldn't surprise me if there would be anti-germans walking around with allied flags that day and chanting how good it was the city got bombed. Not really the crowd you want to be in.
It used to be like that the last years, i have hopes for 2009 though because many of the decent antifa groups are mobilising (interventionistische linke). Also the antifa appeal isnt anti-german. I guess the people in dresdn learned of their mistakes. I doubt we will manage to forbid national flags (worked on a few demonstrations lately) so yes the anti-deutsche mob will be there as well, but i have hopes they wont be dominating as much.

[Pogue]

Is the coutner-demo going to be big? our side, i mean

[RaiseYourVoice]

Is the coutner-demo going to be big? our side, i mean
Last time it was about 1000 people in the antifa block and 3000-5000 not in black. probably 3000 is the more realistic number though. No idea if you consider that to be big.

One of the problems about this Nazi march is that its one week after the protestst against the NATO Security conferenc in Munich, the biggest annual anti-war protests in Germany. But i guess this time the counter demonstration is going to be bigger anyway.

[DreamWeaver]

There will probably be an organised bustrip from The Netherlands, so I'll come along with a few mates :)

[jaffe]

http://dresden1302.noblogs.org/post/2008/12/08/b-ndnisdemonstration-14.-februar-2009-dresden

call-out