Fascism—Fight it Now

"[U]nless we put our fellow-workers, our friends and families, on their guard, the fascists might increase in strength. The time to fight this evil is NOW—we must not wait until it is too late, as did the German trade unions."

"British fascists adopted uniforms similar to those of the German fascists... those of the German hooligan Black Guards who so brutally beat and tortured working people. They have added to the name... —the additional title of National-Socialist Party... and... are following the example of the German fascists... resentment against the Jews. ...[T]hey tell the unemployed, and others whose lot is unhappy, that the Jews are responsible. ...[T]hey seek to divert ...attention from ...true facts, just as did Hitler and his followers."

"The world-wide trade depression was... beginning to lift before the Nazis came to power. Between August and December 1932 (under the Republic), 121,000 more people found work. Then Hitler came to power. The process continued and he grabbed the credit."

"The British fascists are compelled sometimes to give... a faint appearance of sympathy with the working man, because otherwise they would get no support... But their real feeling towards organised labour is evident in articles... in their journal, rankly abusing and libelling officials of the , for which they were ordered to pay considerable damages. The fascists will stop at no mean tactics to secure followers; they will even use the term "Socialist" to fool the workers into supporting them. Hitler and his men... called themselves "National-Socialists" — and thousands of Germans now miserably realise... what that was worth. Nothing of a Socialist nature has been attempted in Italy or Germany—the capitalists and banks there are stronger than ever... and... heartily support the fascists."

"[[Liberty|[L]iberties]] are threatened. Let us hasten to defend them, here and now."

"[W]herever fascism makes its appearance, rearmament proceeds at a feverish rate, and the country is... fast driven on to war. The fascists cannot remedy poverty at home ...So their energies are turned OUTWARD ...towards war and conquest. Fascism leads directly to war."

"The Arbeiter Correspondent, October 1936, an official German paper, admits the rise in food costs... "The general price level... has... during the last few months taken an upward course... From the greengrocer to the boarding-house proprietress, from the butcher to the milliner, all say they must charge more." The reason... Germany is making more guns and less clothes... importing more raw material for war industry and less food. And the cost... for... a huge army of fascist officials. Another reason... the high on ed foodstuffs."

"[I]mprovement is not BECAUSE of Nazi rule—unemployment had begun to decrease BEFORE the Nazis came in, owing to certain economic causes, and would have continued—PROBABLY AT A GREATER RATE—had they not come to power."

"Last September (1936), 300 men on public assistance in the town of Breslau were ordered.... to report at the railway station.... They were not told where they were being sent, nor for how long. They were taken to Koenigsberg, in East Prussia... They were segregated in a camp, their letters were all censored, they worked under military discipline and received nothing beyond bed and board for full-time work. Such cases occur frequently."

"The British fascists... declare... they are on the side of the working people. Hitler and the German fascists said the same... The British fascists talk about "100 per cent, trade unionism," but... is the money-grabbing fake of the . The Italian and the German fascists all talked about being friends of trade unionism—before they came to power. Now there isn't a trade union left in either of those countries."

"We can defeat fascism... if we are determined and if we spread the facts. And if we stand unitedly together, whatever our respective opinions or organisations, in this fight."

"We must not sleep, we who believe in liberty, for the jackals may creep upon us unawares. We must not see England, Scotland, Wales—countries which we love, although conditions are by no means perfect within them—turned into grim lands where those who labour must move at the crack of the whip, wielded by the fascist agents of the exploiters of labour."

"[O]ur best defence against fascism is to STRENGTHEN OUR OWN ORGANISATION. Let us work towards an increased membership for our trade unions, the Labour Party, the Co-operatives, and all working-class organisations ; and, above all, everywhere within these organisations let us preach vigilance, VIGILANCE, VIGILANCE."

"[S]uppression of the trade union movement in any country aids the war-makers, because the international trade union movement can be a tremendous factor in the prevention of war, and the suppression of trade unions in any one country means the loss of a vital link in the chain of the anti-war forces of labour."

"[W]orkers have no union, no protection, the employer is lord."

"According to the German government... Statistisches Reichsamt... the in Germany has risen by 5 \frac{1}{2} per cent... between... 1933 and... 1936. But... it...[is] higher, as concerns... workers, for this is an average... and includes... luxury products... workers could never buy. ...[F]ood has risen EIGHT per cent... clothing TWELVE per cent."

"[S]econd only to Hitler—double-chinned, fat-bellied General Goering... told the Germans to use more jam instead of butter."

"But... hear the British Blackshirts on the street corner boasting of how the German fascists have "reduced" unemployment! ...[T]he supreme achievement of fascism, according to them. It is strange, therefore... wages have gone down, fewer houses are being built, and conditions have worsened generally."

"In May 1935 COMPULSORY LABOUR for both sexes was introduced. ...[i]t was estimated that between 200,000 and 250,000 young people had registered for "Voluntary Labour Service" ...Once ...on their register, the Nazis passed this law transforming "voluntary labour"—meaning ...forced only by hunger and social pressure to register—into compulsory labour ...Since then they have published no figures."

"[Y]ou will hear British fascists quoting figures, referring to Germany or Italy, of the International Labour Office of the League of Nations, as though... arrived at by an independent agency. They do not tell you that ...[i]t merely ACCEPTS THE FIGURES SUPPLIED IT BY THE VARIOUS GOVERNMENTS, INCLUDING THE FASCIST GOVERNMENTS. It has no machinery for testing them... Thus, I.L.O. figures, regarding Germany, are the German Nazi government's own figures..."

"[W]hat we have described stands also for conditions in Italy, and in certain other countries where fascism... has considerable power. It is to establish a similar tyranny that the Spanish "Nationalists," under General Franco, are seeking to overthrow the Spanish Government, which recognises the right of the workers to organise in trade unions and to endeavour to improve their conditions."

"[F]ascism means... the death of trade unionism... the worsening of working conditions, and the restriction of the freedom of the workers. It means that all the years of effort and self-sacrifice which have been devoted to building up our trade union movement will be made fruitless by the plotting of people who—whether... knaves or well-meaning dupes—are... tools of those great interests who have always desired the destruction of trade unionism—high finance and capital."

"We can see that others secure copies of this pamphlet, that our branch or Co-op Guild places an order for it."

"We must be vigilant, for the conspirators would destroy all that we have built up, and make of our country, a barracks, a prison and a shambles."

"YOU who have read this pamphlet — trade unionist, cooperator, or wife, son or daughter of trade unionist or cooperator — it is YOUR job to help this fight."

"[Y]ou will easily find other workers who are carrying on the anti-fascist agitation. JOIN IN WITH THEM. HELP THEM. DO YOUR BIT."

"If we do this we shall be able to banish the evil plague which has already fastened upon the German and Italian people, and make our country a country really of freedom, where the people may work out their own salvation, and control their own destinies."

"On 7 June 1934, at the notoriously violent (BUF) rally at West London’s Olympia stadium, a young anti-fascist seaman... climbing on the roof... and crawling along the girders... above BUF leader Sir Oswald Mosley, where he remained shouting anti-fascist slogans. ...Eyewitnesses described unprecedented political violence... by fascist thugs... armed with... weapons. ... ...made it his business to speak out, actions that would lead to one of the most extraordinary legal battles of the period. ...Mosley founded the BUF whose 'Blackshirts' were frequently involved in street violence. ...Marchbank ...took on the aristocratic fascist leader in the courts ...Marchbank was reported to have said: “We strongly object to... assembling in the guise of a military machine with the object of overthrowing by force the constitutional government of the country.” ...Mosley ...sued for slander. ...Following ...legal victories, the [Almagamated Engineering Union] AEU and NUR general secretaries wrote a joint introduction to an LRD pamphlet aimed at trade unionists, called Fascism – Fight It Now."

"WE CAN BEGIN RIGHT NOW TO COMBAT FASCISM. The first step is EDUCATION—we must tell the truth about fascism at every opportunity: at our branch meetings, on the job, in the pub or on our way to the football game—wherever we come together with other workers."

"In a trade union anti-fascist publication entitled Fascism, published by the — to which the great transport workers' unions of Britain and other countries are affiliated — a writer states as follows:"Between trade unionism and National-Socialism (fascism) no compromise is possible; under National-Socialist dictatorship there is no room for free workers' organisations. To-day, after three years of fascism in Germany, there is no more difference of opinion on this point, but when in 1932 the (German) unions had to decide whether or not to engage in open struggle for their existence, they hesitated and yielded, in the hope that some miracle would save them. Their yielding proved fatal.""

"The above figures were given officially at the last meeting of the treasury officials of the Labour Front. And they do NOT include the further deductions which are made each year for " Winter Help.""

"A worker who is no Nazi must... [pay] to keep a Nazi paper going. ...[T]his helps ...understand how the Nazi Press keeps its "marvellous circulation.""

"A... Nazi paper, the Arbeitsmann, official organ of the " Labour Service," had a circulation of only 65,000 copies up to the spring of 1936. This did not leave enough profit for the officials... or for the Nazi treasury. Therefore, a "campaign" was launched... regular subscribers rapidly rose to 240,000. The Labour Service workers were compelled to subscribe... under threats of punishment, curtailment of home leave, punishment drill... Many were not permitted to go to their homes for the Whitsun holidays until they had signed... This is a taste of Nazi tactics. ...[T]hat is what the workers get if they allow the fascists to get into the saddle."

"REAL wages must be reckoned in accordance with what they will buy, with prices. If prices rise, and wages are stationary, it is the same thing as a wage-cut."

"The German economic review Wirtschafi und Statistik ("Economics and Statistics") admits... consumption of meat is falling lower and lower. ...Germany is suffering from a famine in fats ...Even if a housewife can afford ...a quarter-pound of —about twice as dear as in England—she may have to wait ...for hours outside a shop . ...The reason? Butter used to be imported from Denmark. Now the fascists are using that money to import materials for ...munitions. ...And the system introduced ...1937 is the most recent measure imposed by the Nazis."

"[S]hortage of fats, rising food prices and the decline in real wages and in housing must adversely affect... health... Let British... mothers note how the fascist rule has affected the health of the children... from the "German Statistical Yearbook " of 1935 ...prevalence of and among the children... mortality ...had risen 50 per cent, in ...three years ...and from measles 77.4 per cent."

"[F]igures issued by Dr. Vogler, official head of the Building Industry in Germany. First, comparing 1935 with 1928, he finds that only 87 per cent, as much building work is now taking place, and only 73 per cent, as much allotted to building. ...WHAT KIND of building is being done now, as compared with the earlier year. ...[T]wo classes of building have declined—housing and industrial... while one class has gone up—"." In 1928, 36 per cent... was for housing—in 1935... 17 per cent... Fascism means slums and overcrowding! Industrial ...factories, textile mills, etc.—in 1928 ...33 per cent ...in 1935 ...only 15 per cent.... Fascism means industrial decline. But "public works" leapt from 31 per cent... in 1928 to 68 per cent... in 1935. These " public works" are NOT schools, s and libraries—it's easier to burn books than build libraries—but barracks, aerodromes and fortifications. Fascism means, not homes for workers... but places for them to fight and die in."

"The production of private motor cars and champagne has increased enormously since the fascists came to power and installed their thousands of fat, easy-living officials in cushy jobs—for which the workers... pay."

"[T]he main present cause of re-employment is the tremendous expansion of the Nazi armaments industry. Thousands more... making guns—but thousands... put on part-time... making other goods. The Nazis do not mention this."

"Another method of "solving" unemployment, under the Nazis, is... "land-helpers" ...115,000 ...young men and women, aged ...16 to 25, city-bred ...bound by the State in contract to farmers to work ...for ...bed and board and a couple of pence ...The contracts last six months. No young worker ...can choose the part of the country to which he or she is sent. Conditions on some farms are frightful. And it is virtually slave labour, for, if one of them ...runs away he forfeits ...unemployment benefit. Many workingclass mothers are terrified when their daughters are sent away ...because of the dangers to morals ..."

"The great increase in the ... allows for several hundred thousand...men coming off the unemployment register... enabling the fascists... magnificent achievement in "reducing unemployment." And... there are thousands of workers in the punishment camps because they... [were] loyal to their trade unions or political parties. The withdrawing of young people under 25 and of women—"woman's place is in the kitchen!"... also... freeing the unemployment register of thousands... what has become... these... is... conjecture. For many... women there were no kitchens to go into."

"[T]he fascists have... substantially reduced the rates of unemployment relief and... deprived thousands of the right to that relief, but... also made it much more difficult to secure relief and remain on the register. The worker's contribution is heavy, amounting to 3 per cent, of his full wages... twice what it was in 1928, and the... time which must elapse after loss of employment has been lengthened... The Nazis are working in a direction... contrary to... Britain, where agricultural workers are now being admitted to unemployment relief. ...[T]he fascists in Germany have excluded agricultural workers, as well as workers in forestry and fisheries, formerly eligible... By all these means they have manipulated their register to make it appear that they have begun to "solve" the problem of unemployment."

"there is in Germany what is called the "underground movement," the maintenance in secret of working-class party organisations, and even trade union bodies. Handbills are thrust under the doors of working-class dwellings, overnight placards — secretly printed — are pasted on the walls, and appeals are chalked on walls. ...A working-class movement such as that in Germany—which... produced men like André", who was recently executed, the writer, , and the indomitable Thaelmann and Mierendorff, among others, who have been in prison, without trial, for years — can never finally be defeated, although this movement has received a severe set-back. But the struggle against fascism in Germany goes on. We can help that struggle by fighting fascism here in Britain."

"[T]he employer is chairman of the council... he who convenes the meetings, leads the discussions... [I]n fascist Germany, the employer is... "leader" of the factory... a miniature Hitler... [H]e leads the workers... into the ditch of exploitation and poverty. ...[T]here are hundreds of thousands of German workers who see through this confidence trick, although Nazi tyranny prevents open exposure..."

"[T]he former factory councils functioned... independently of the employer—he had no voice in their discussions, nor was he present at... meetings. Not so in the case of these "Confidence Councils"... of the fascists. ...THE EMPLOYER IS... CHAIRMAN OF THE "CONFIDENCE COUNCIL"!"

"[T]he Christian Trade Unions were broken up and dissolved by the Nazis, just as arbitrarily and brutally as were the other unions."

"[A] "council"... elected from a list... hand-picked by the employer and a fascist party lieutenant, cannot... represent the... workers. ...[T]he employer... puts up... names of workers... agreeable to himself... those "boss's pets" who could never get on... the old councils."

"[F]or the present councils, the candidates are not put forward by the unions... there are no unions. Nor... by the workers... The list... is drawn up by... THE EMPLOYER and THE NAZI LOCAL LABOUR CHIEF, a specially trusted... fascist..."

"Before the Nazis smashed it, the German trade union movement was the largest in the world, with the exception of the Russian unions."

"The instruments of working-class endeavour are the trade unions, the Labour Party, and the co-operative movement. They are the protection... against oppression, and... our only insurance against fascism, nazi-ism, and kindred terrors."