A-Infos (en) Germany, LIKOS: Defending May 8th - Against Historical Revisionism and Reaction (ca, de, it, pt, tr) [machine translation]

Exactly 80 years ago, on May 8, 1945, the Second World War ended in 
Europe, and with it the Nazi state, which had practiced daily terror and 
persecution since 1933 and, since 1939 with the attack on Poland, had 
transformed Europe, and then parts of Asia and Africa, into a 
battlefield, hunting, torturing, and murdering millions of people. ---- 
Celebrating and commemorating the Wehrmacht's surrender on this day 
seems only logical in this context. Last year, on the occasion of the 
anniversary, we wrote that increasing historical revisionism by AfD 
politicians like Maximilian Krah was spreading. The number of people 
persecuted by the National Socialists, who to this day never tire of 
speaking about historical Nazism and the suffering, is naturally 
decreasing. Esther Bejarano, along with many others, never tired of 
warning that Nazi ideology and sympathy for it were and are no more 
banished than the crimes that resulted from it.

That they were right is evident, for example, in the terrorization of 
Pride celebrations by the right-wing scene in many cities. Here, mainly 
young Nazis chant for the protection of a "pure, German country" and, 
full of hatred, want to destroy queer life and deny the right to exist 
to all those who do not fit into their worldview. Countless studies and 
research have shown that right-wing violence and the seizure of space 
are increasing in Germany (see, among others: 
https://www.ndr.de/nachrichten/niedersachsen/Zahl-der-rechts-motivierten-Straftaten-steigt-um-fast-58-Prozent-Innenministerium,kriminalitaet562.html). 
In Osnabrück, the AfD or other right-wing actors have not been able to 
gain the same foothold as in many cities or rural regions. This is a 
good thing, and not least thanks to the numerous anti-fascists who are 
organizing and standing up for themselves. However, here too, in recent 
months, an increasing number of right-wing stickers and graffiti have 
been seen in the cityscape, and people perceived as left-wing have been 
harassed. We must put a stop to all of this everywhere.

But it must be clearly emphasized that these developments are not taking 
place in a vacuum. It was the capitalist economic system that gave rise 
to fascism. Neither in Italy nor in Germany did the fascist systems turn 
away from capitalism; the property system was maintained, and the 
structures of the working class were destroyed. An imminent end to 
capitalism does not seem to be in sight. However, working toward this 
can and must always be anti-fascist practice if one wants to once and 
for all deprive fascist tendencies based on inequality, human unequal 
value, and exploitation of their breeding ground.

A more immediate area in which we can and must wage the fight against 
fascism is that of the narratives and historical images that are being 
portrayed.

In its current series of articles marking the 80th anniversary of the 
end of the war, the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung (NOZ) focuses on "the" 
Germans, or "Osnabrückers," and what the war and its end did to them. 
One article, for example, discusses the "Panzerschokolade" - 
methamphetamine - that German Wehrmacht soldiers consumed. After the 
war, however, no one really cared about it anymore. Discussing it was 
not an issue, even though Wehrmacht soldiers could have suffered heart 
problems from its consumption. (NOZ article from March 27, 2025, 
Panzerschokolade and Stuka Tablets: Frontline Deployment in a Drug-Rush, 
by Maik Nolte). Shocking

When, in another article in the NOZ, Joachim Dierks introduces his 
article "Hellish Finale of the War: 80 Years Ago, Osnabrück Was Bombed 
to Ruins" (dated March 25, 2025) with the paragraph: "This was once a 
pretty old town: 80 years ago, Osnabrück experienced the last major 
attack by British bombers, leaving behind a landscape of rubble. Why did 
so much suffering have to be inflicted on the people of Osnabrück once 
again, just a few days before the end of a war that was long lost 
anyway?", one cannot help but notice that what is being written 
deliberately portrays "the people of Osnabrück" as defenseless victims 
of the British. Not a single sentence in the article refers to the fact 
that the Germans unleashed the war and brought suffering to millions of 
people. The camps, the forced labor, and the transport hub that was 
crucial for waging war and exterminating people are left out. Dierks 
concludes the article with a reference to an unspecified strand in the 
research debate, which is critical of the bombings in question and notes 
that German injustice should not have been retaliated with Allied 
injustice. At this point, it's not about denying that the people of 
Osnabrück suffered under the bombings, losing their possessions and even 
relatives. However, what Dierks does here is simply shift the 
perspective from the suffering inflicted or tolerated by the Germans and 
numerous Osnabrück residents to the Allied response to crush all Nazi 
resistance in Germany and end the war.

In another article by Joachim Dierks, he gives voice to Karl-Heinz 
Städler, a former Wehrmacht air force officer who described his 
"impressions of the final battle" to the NOZ newspaper in 2015. Without 
further elaboration on his identity or a comprehensible verification of 
the accuracy of his statements, he is allowed to report in the region's 
most widely read newspaper about a battle with British forces near Hagen 
on April 3, 1945: "Our gunner was fatally wounded. That was a shock for 
all of us and seemed cruelly unnecessary, because it was clear to 
everyone that we could no longer do anything." (NOZ article from March 
30, 2025, End of the War 1945 in Hagen: Soldier Karl-Heinz Städler on a 
Completely Unnecessary Battle, by Joachim Dierks). We state quite 
clearly here: We have no sympathy for Karl-Heinz and his comrades; they 
could have surrendered.

What runs through the NOZ series of articles is, on the one hand, that 
the focus is on the suffering of the German perpetrator society at the 
end of the war they fought and ultimately lost. On the other hand, the 
victims of Nazi Germany and those who resisted and were often murdered 
for it receive little attention and remain, at best, a marginal note. 
There is no article on the continuity of Nazi perpetrators in the 
judiciary and police, no article on the lack of "compensation" for those 
persecuted by the Nazi regime, the non-recognition of their suffering, 
and the frequent exclusion of those already persecuted from post-war 
German society. Thus, the NOZ bears some responsibility for a shift in 
discourse, leading readers away from the actions and responsibility of 
the perpetrator generation and toward a rueful regret for the once 
beautiful old town of Osnabrück. It thus participates in a narrative 
often used by right-wing groups. You can quote the statements in the NOZ 
wonderfully; right-wing rhetoric is becoming more and more "normal." 
Even if that may not be the driving intention behind every bad article 
in the NOZ, it cannot be absolved of this responsibility.

Rather, this debate must and should illustrate how important it is not 
to leave such narratives and historical views unchallenged. It is this 
normalization of right-wing ideas, which is also fueled and supported by 
poor and/or conservative to right-wing journalism, and from which the 
actions already discussed arise.

A loud and determined counter-speech is needed. While we don't own a 
national daily newspaper ourselves, nor do we have comparable resources, 
we must nevertheless use the channels, opportunities, and conversations 
available to us to ensure that false, right-wing, and reactionary 
statements are not left unchallenged. If this counter-speech doesn't 
take place, the impression can quickly arise that the dominant and only 
valid analysis of history is the one described above. This is not true; 
this shift in focus must be hindered and prevented as best as possible.

Wars could and can only be waged if weapons are produced and broad 
masses of the population are mobilized and prepared for a (possible) 
war. The increasing historical revisionism is just as much a cause for 
concern as the possible production of Rheinmetall at the VW plant in 
Osnabrück. We want to oppose both.

The memory of the victims of National Socialism must be kept alive; it 
must be at the center of commemoration and remembrance. There must be no 
closure, because this would, on the one hand, once again deprive the 
murdered victims of their dignity. On the other hand, the Buchenwald 
Oath must not be forgotten and upheld as a still-present necessity and 
implemented: "The destruction of Nazism with its roots is our motto. The 
construction of a new world of peace and freedom is our goal."

https://likos.noblogs.org/2025/05/08/den-8-mai-verteidigen-gegen-geschichtsrevisionismus-und-reaktion/
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