Anti-fascism

The far-right in Germany is undergoing a process of regroupment, both in parliament and on the streets. To the right of the ruling conservative party, the CDU, is the Alternative for Germany (Alternative für Deutschland, AfD). This is the German version of Ukip. The AfD has won more than 12 percent of the votes in some states following a racist election campaign which targeted Muslims. The party also gained a number of MEPs in the Euro elections.

The UN anti-racism demonstrations on 21 March can become a turning point in the fight against Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, fascism and racism. The march comes six weeks before a general election dominated by debates around austerity and racism.

Golden Dawn, the Nazi party in Greece, came third in last month’s general election with 6.3 percent of the vote. It gained this position because of the collapse in support for the other parties. Overall, however, the general picture is of a marked shift to the left.

The vicious attack that left Stephen Lawrence bleeding to death at a south east London bus stop in 1993 was a racist murder that left a family heartbroken and many people angry.

There had already been other racist murders — Orville Blair, Rolan Adams and Rohit Duggal. Since the fascist British National Party (BNP) had opened its headquarters in Welling, south east London, racially motivated attacks had increased by a staggering 200 percent, leading the area to be named “Britain’s racist murder capital”.

The results of last month’s election in Sweden have shocked many on the left. The far-right Sweden Democrats (SD) more than doubled its vote to 13 percent. The party now has 49 MPs in the 349-seat parliament.

The mainstream Social Democratic Party, Sweden’s Labour Party, secured 31 percent and 113 MPs, while the Tory Moderaterna party saw its votes haemorrhage, losing nearly a quarter of its MPs.

The Greens garnered 6.9 percent of the vote, little change from the 2010 elections.

The 22 March European-wide anti-racist demonstrations are very important for socialists and anti-racists. Over the past 40 years there has been a migration of people from the Caribbean, south east Asia and Europe into Britain. They brought the flavours and sounds of their communities and have integrated into the working class.

Trotsky wrote this series of articles in extraordinary times. Germany in the 1930s was hit by a massive crisis that crippled the economy and drove unemployment up to 6 million.

In the conditions of global recession a new movement, fascism, was rising in parts of Europe. In Germany this took the form of Adolf Hitler and his Nazi party.

Where is Greece at the moment in terms of the rise of Golden Dawn and the anti-fascist movement?

After the murder of rapper Pavlos Fyssas on 18 September there was an explosion of anger against the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party, and against the government that was giving it cover.

The death of Clement Meric at the hands of a Nazi thug on 5 June was a rude awakening to many in France. While attacks on Muslims, LGBT people and left wing activists have been numerous in recent years, they have remained a concern only for a limited number among the politically active.

When the EDL first emerged in 2009 we thought, "What is this new beast?" We noticed that there were former BNP, Combat 18 and National Front types around the demos, if not necessarily on them. Those on the demos were mainly from the "firms" - football supporters involved in inter-club violence - and others.

The EDL were attracting supporters to the prospect of launching mini pogroms in places like Luton and Dudley. At the time we were facing a possible BNP electoral breakthrough alongside a growing fascist street movement.