| From Unity, 16 May 2009 |
We wish you powerful strugglesby Hermann Glaser-Baur“The journeyman has many stories to tell” says an old German saying. A communist journeyman has the obligation to write at least some of them down for his comrades: learning from each other is one of the centrepieces of internationalism.One of the most impressive observations during my one-week trip to Berlin at the invitation of the German Communist Party (DKP), which took me to various parts of the city and a number of public meetings which I had to speak at, was the level of activity and presence by the SDAJ (Socialist German Workers’ Youth). Wherever one looked on May Day and during the days leading up to it, the whirly youths with their red flags and banners seemed to be everywhere. Between the anti-Nazi protest in Köpenick* on the morning of the 1st of May and the “revolutionary demonstration” in the evening I grabbed hold of Sven George, chairman of the SDAJ Berlin, for this interview. There were no seats anywhere, the place was packed, so we talked sitting on an iron fence outside a block of working-class flats. How is the SDAJ in Berlin? What are you up to? We are a small organisation here in Berlin if you compare us with the size of the city.† We are very active and are trying to get involved wherever it makes sense and wherever anti-capitalist forces are acting. Due to the huge tasks, the work load for our comrades is massive. The pupils’ protests saw, and will see, us playing a key role. We put big energy into the preparation of the May Day events, sure you can see how much is going on here. We are supporting the Communist Party in its election campaigns for both EU and national parliament elections. We organise our own meetings around subjects we are interested in. It is absolutely vital for us to grow bigger to be able to cope with the growing tasks. During your very good speech at the DKP May Day event last night you asked people to throw money into a large Cuban flag your comrades carried through the hall. What are you doing with it? Up front I want to say: Cuba is an idol for us. It exists as a socialist state, despite counter-revolution, blockade, and all the hatred. That impresses us, and we love the will of the Cuban people to fight. We want to learn from Cuba and give practical solidarity at the same time. Work-brigades are a great way to do this; young people can give practical help and experience life in Cuba. Two German brigades are going over this year and our collection will sponsor a young person from Berlin to join one of them. Why are we experiencing several May Day demonstrations here in Berlin, the trade union one and the “revolutionary” one, to name but two? There are historical reasons for this. During the 1980s the trade unions, or should I say their leaders, increasingly banned anti-capitalist slogans from the march. Groups of people who insisted in keeping the anti-capitalist content of May Day started to form their own blocks and eventually their own demonstration. It is now called the revolutionary one, carried by a large alliance of migrant workers’ groups,‡ autonomous groups—both anarchist and communist—people from the ecological left, and recently also the Communist Party. It is not a new thing for Berlin to have several May Day demos. In the 1920s and right up to the total illegalisation of May Day by the Nazis, the Communists always organised their own demonstrations. The infamous “blood May” of 1929 was a gunning down of the KPD’s rally ordered by the Social Democratic chief of police. It left thirty-three workers dead. The SDAJ was at the trade union rally this morning and is getting ready for the revolutionary one now. In between we had to go and blockade the fascists in Köpenick . . . Especially around the 1st of May the Nazis tend to try and kidnap working-class traditions. This is a time when we have to show the flag very strongly. It worked well today: we had a good alliance of people here, young trade unionists, communists, anarchists, and others. We basically stopped the fascists even getting to their headquarters by blockading the railway station. By the time the police had physically lifted us off the platforms the anti-fascist march was well on its way. 3,000 anti-fascists and about 100 Nazis who more or less had to be locked into their own yard: that’s good proportions. You say the SDAJ is small in Berlin. How do you manage to be so present at all the different activities? What choice have we got? Wherever anti-capitalist politics happen we have to get involved. It seems far too large a task at times, but we just can’t afford not to be there. You need a good plan and good activists. Have you any messages for me to take back to the Connolly Youth Movement in Ireland tomorrow? Of course. Tell the comrades we wish them powerful struggles and to sink more and deeper roots amongst the young people in Ireland. *Köpenick is the part of Berlin where the fascist NPD (National Party of Germany, sister of the British BNP) has its headquarters and holds—or, in this case, was trying to hold—its May Day Fest. †Berlin today has a population of well over 4 million people. ‡There are over 140 migrant workers groups in Berlin |
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