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CAMPAIGN INFORMATION |
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KNOW THE PAST Know that racism, fascism and antisemitism have resulted in the deaths of millions of people. Understand that intolerance is not something that is only in our past, but is also part of our present. Be aware that racism and fascism have many faces, and not all are so easy to recognise. Remember that brave men and women have resisted against fascism. Know that there are hundreds of non-governmental organisations in Europe that continue this tradition and fight intolerance in all sorts of ways. MAKE YOUR FUTURE Make a choice whether we create a 'Fortress Europe' that causes us to both exclude all those people outside Europe, but also the people inside Europe we do not give full rights. Think about whether we will continue to have a Europe with different classes of citizens, according to their ethnicity, their background or the colour of their skin. Decide whether you want to do something about it. Choose whether we work towards a future in which all inhabitants of Europe feel accepted and appreciated. When Martin Luther King said that "peace is not the absence of conflict, but the presence of justice" he summarised very well the ideals of many resistance fighters of World War II. Anti-fascism and anti-racism are about justice and about human rights. WHAT ABOUT THE PRESENT? Over the last years voters in the different European countries have increasingly voted for parties that promoted a clear 'anti-immigrant' view. Some of these successful parties are populist, others are traditionally extreme-right and others are nationalist in nature, but all have been consistent in the view that all ills in Europe are to be attributed to the 'strangers' in our midst: the foreigner, the immigrant, the asylum seeker. While they focus on this vulnerable group, the problems that exist are not solved in any meaningful way. Unemployment is not solved by closing borders. The loss of social cohesion cannot be counteracted by creating an even bigger rift between groups in our societies. THE "KRISTALLNACHT" POGROM: OUR PAST In Germany on November 9th 1938, the Nazis started a pogrom against the Jews. After the Nazis came to power in 1933, Jews were subjected to harsh laws against them - being forced to hand over their businesses to 'Aryans' only being allowed to shop in Jewish-owned shops, children only allowed to go to Jewish schools etc. This was accompanied by much organised violence against Jews in the streets and elsewhere. But, until November 9th 1938, these attacks had the appearance of being unplanned and not sanctioned by the leadership of the Nazi Party, the government of Germany. On November 6th, a young Jew living in Paris, Herschel Grynszpan, received a postcard from his father Zindel who had been deported, along with 18.000 other German Jews, on October 27th to the Polish frontier. The postcard described the terrible conditions that the deportees were living under. Herschel Grynszpan was so angered by what he read that he went to the German Embassy in Paris and shot the first German official that he saw, Erns vom Rath, a diplomatic assistant. Vom Rath died of his injuries on November 8th and the news of his death reached Germany the next day. The Nazis and Hitler denounced the killing as part of a world-wide Jewish conspiracy against Germany. The pogrom started in Berlin on November 9th 1938, organised unofficially by Hitler's SA storm troops. Hitler never officially commented on the pogrom, but he must have given his approval. Goebbels certainly ordered the violence to begin. Synagogues were set on fire. Jewish shops had their windows smashed across the country, which gave rise to the name "Kristallnacht", which freely translated means the Night of Broken Glass. Many Jews were physically attacked too. More than 7000 Jewish businesses across the country were attacked. Fires were lit in every Jewish area and the Nazis burned religious books. Around 200 synagogues were destroyed. The violence lasted 24 hours and 91 Jews were killed. More than 30.000 were arrested and sent to concentration camps. Many of them were killed in the following two months. The "Kristallnacht" pogrom is usually seen as the symbolic beginning of the Holocaust. In addition to the approximately 6 million Jews who were the targets of a complete annihilation policy, were an estimated 5,5 million "enemies of the German state", criminals and 'asocials', people with mental disabilities, homosexuals, Jehovah's Witnesses, political offenders such as communists and socialists, and Roma and Sinti. Estimates of the number of so-called "Gypsies" murdered are between 200.000 and 1.500.000. The estimated number of homosexuals killed in the camps varies from 10.000 to 15.000. Around 100.000 men and women were arrested of the German homosexual community of around 1.500.000 men and women. The word "Kristallnacht" was given to the event by the Nazis themselves, because it mocked what had happened. German anti-fascists today prefer to describe the pogrom as "Reichspogromnacht", although in most other countries the term "Kristallnacht" is used as it is more well-known. ... AND NOW? After World War II the European peoples decided that they would never let anything like the Holocaust happen again. Despite this, intolerance has continued to fester in the heart of Europe. We have only to take a look at the history of the Roma, Sinti and Traveller communities in Eu-rope after the war to see that racism and discrimination did not disappear. THE RED TRIANGLE The red triangle on this poster is one of a collection of triangle signs in several colours. These triangles signify the groups as they were differentiated in the Nazi concentration camps. It was typical for fascism to divide citizens into categories. Minorities were separated and were blamed for everything that had gone wrong. Signification of the triangle badges in Nazi concentration camps: yellow star: Jew red triangle: political prisoners pink triangle: homosexuals green triangle: criminals lilac triangle: Jehovah's Witnesses black triangle: Roma and Sinti ('gypsies') and 'asocials' Anti-fascists now use the red triangle as a badge of honour, signifying their resistance against fascism. Gay groups often use the pink triangle as a sign of being gay and being politically conscious about it. DEFINITIONS Antisemitism is prejudice against Jewish people. Antisemites wrongly believe that Jews are fundamentally different from other people, that they want to rule the world and are trying to reach this goal through a world-wide conspiracy. This form of xenophobic intolerance leads to discrimination against individuals as well as to the persecution of Jews as a group. The most horrific manifestation of antisemitism came with Hitler's rise to power and the Nazi ideology of racial purity. Fascism is a violent reactionary right-wing political movement, which manifests itself ultimately in an openly terrorist dictatorship. Fascism gains support among all social groups especially in times of political and economical crisis. It destroys democratic liberties and discriminates members of specific (ethnic) minorities and people with different views. Fascists believe in the just leadership of a strong man, instead of parliamentary democracy. Fascism builds on a strong nationalism, which often turns racist. The term fascism is historically linked to the Italian Fascism under Mussolini, but is applied to a range of similar regimes, parties and movements. Nazism is an ideology and policy of the German fascism, which was characterised by racism, antisemitism, totalitarianism, social demagogy, aggressivity and superiority claims over other nations. The word Nazism is derived from the expression 'national-socialism', which was a political movement in Germany led by NSDAP (German national-socialist workers party). The nazi regime was responsible for the deaths of millions of civilians. Some groups identify themselves with the ideals of Nazism even today. These neo-nazis sometimes manifest themselves as skinheads, but not all of them do and not all skinheads are neo-nazis. CO-OPERATION AGAINST INTOLERANCE When you sit in a train together with your friends and a stranger enters, it feels awkward. The stranger is viewed with suspicion. You don't know why he is in this train and why he dresses, speaks and acts differently. This kind of suspicion may be natural, but it cannot be allowed to become permanent. Organisations have worked on introducing the different groups that work in a country to each other. They have organised cultural events and social events that bring together different groups. Around 9 November many organisations feel the wish to commemorate the past together with other groups. If Jewish groups wish to work with Roma groups and anti-fascists, this may lead to a working cooperation that may continue after the commemorations are over. WHAT YOU CAN DO Around 9 November the UNITED network organises each year a European-wide campaign to commemorate the past, protest against the present and build the future. Together we: - motivate and inspire each other - learn from each other's experience and ideas - generate more publicity - mobilise more people If you would like to take part in this campaign, you can do so by announcing your intentions to the UNITED office and start organising. The variety and creativity of many different simultaneous activities on different levels and all over Europe make the campaign successful. The campaign is linked together by the use of a single date at its centre - 9 November - and the use of a common theme and or slogan. This poster is designed to introduce you to the theme. Special care is taken to bring together groups of different backgrounds, such as anti-fascist groups and Roma groups together with gay and lesbian organisations. The idea behind the campaign is to use the divisions that were made in the past (such as by giving Jews a yellow star, antifascists a red and gays/lesbians a pink triangle) to unite us in our fight for equal rights and equal chances today. We stand together as one big colourful movement. Some ideas from the past years included: drawing competitions in schools, public discussion meetings, demonstrations in the streets, commemoration meetings, conferences, poster action, media actions, cultural events with minority music groups,etc. etc. HOW UNITED CAN HELP UNITED will produce a special calendar of activities taking place all around Europe, which can help you to make contacts and exchange speakers with other groups. It will be updated several times and will be published on our website: www.unitedagainstracism.org Call UNITED if you cannot find a partner of your activities. We might know of other NGOs in your country who are planning something. A media release will be sent out to all important European press agencies, newspapers, etc. If you feel that we should include a specific media contact from your country in our list, let us know. Journalists that want to know about specific activities are referred to the organisations involved in local actions. UNITED will produce a European report after 9 November, including as many of the activities that took place as possible. HOW YOU CAN HELP UNITED We can only do this with your help. Help us make the media release exciting! Announce your activities to us! Send us your announcements, invitations, leaflets and posters before the activities take place. Help us make the report complete. Make sure your activity is included! Send us reports, newspaper articles, photographs, etc. after the event. Check out also: Internet Centre Anti-Racism Europe (I CARE) - www.icare.to Up UNITED for Intercultural Action European network against nationalism, racism, fascism and in support of migrants and refugees Postbus 413, NL-1000 AK Amsterdam, Netherlands phone +31-20-6834778, fax +31-20-6834582 info@unitedagainstracism.org, www.unitedagainstracism.org |
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