May 8/9, 1945 remains Liberation Day/ Victory Day

5. Mai 2022

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In times of military confrontation, the memory of May 8/9, 1945, the day of liberation from fascism and war in Europe, is more complicated.

The slogan “Liberation from fascism” was clear to everyone in 1945. Today, too, we clearly warn against the influence of neo-fascist forces in many countries of Europe. At the same time, we clearly say that the February 2022 attack on Ukraine was not a step towards “denazification” that could justify Russian actions.

The slogan “Liberation from war” was a reality for all people in Europe in 1945 – even for the German perpetrators, who no longer had to fear air raids. Today, however, many thousands of civilians again live in fear of war and destruction. Moreover, Europe, in view of the military escalation, faces the real danger that the regional proxy war will develop into a new world war in which even the nuclear powers are involved as warring parties.

Therefore, our message on this day must be:

Stop all hostilities immediately! Peace now! Withdrawal of all foreign troops from Ukraine! War is not a solution! Return to diplomacy and negotiations!

However, those who believe that they can suppress the memory of Liberation Day/Victory Day with a view to the war, we contradict in all clarity.

This date marks for FIR and all its member federations also further the victory of the peoples over the inhuman regime of the Hitler fascism,

– which excluded, persecuted and imprisoned political opponents and dissidents,

– which murdered millions of people solely on the basis of a constructed racial affiliation as Jews, as Sinti and Roma, whose extermination has been prepared, as Slavs, whose slavery was foreseen,

– which overran Europe and even countries and peoples in other parts of the world with war, occupation and extermination, with the goal of imperial hegemony and the destruction of the Soviet Union.

On the occasion of this day we remember and commemorate the millions of victims of fascist rule in the concentration and extermination camps and as consequences of fascist expansionism among soldiers and civilians. Especially today, we emphasize that among the approximately 55 million victims of the Second World War were 27 million Soviet citizens.

We thank all the forces of the anti-Hitler coalition, especially the members of the Allied forces, who also militarily smashed this threat. The main burden was borne by the Soviet Army. The Allied forces liberated, with the support and direct intervention of the partisans the different occupied countries and the former German Reich. The Red Army liberated the Auschwitz death camp on January 27. We will never forget that!

We thank the partisans and the resistance in all countries occupied by fascism, where communists were in the first ranks, who risked their lives for the freedom of their homeland. Among them were also German anti-fascists who fought conspiratorially in fascist Germany or from exile in the ranks of the partisans and the Allied forces for the liberation of their own country.

We thank all the men and women who – at the risk of their freedom, health and lives – made this victory possible.

Therefore, we strongly oppose political efforts to revise history by desecrating or even removing memorials to the liberation and the liberators, as we have had to experience in various European countries in recent weeks. Particularly shameful are the multiple desecrations of the memorial in Treptow Park (Berlin), which is dedicated to all soldiers of the Soviet armed forces, whether from Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Russia or Ukraine. Those who desecrate this memorial insult all fighters for liberation. In addition, we contradict just as clearly, all nationalistic approaches to honor collaborators of the fascist occupiers as “freedom fighters”. 

For the FIR and its member federations the legacy of the survivors, which they formulated in the “Oath of Buchenwald” and other declarations after the liberation: “Destruction of Nazism with its roots, creation of a new world of peace and freedom”, remains not only a historical document, but also a lasting political obligation for today and tomorrow.

In remembrance of May 8/9, 1945 FIR makes a strong appeal to all European countries because from the current very serious international crisis resuming the negotiations and initiating a new arrangement for a new collective security system, Helsinki 2, to address the environmental and sustainable development challenges for which we are all interdependent.

FIR protests against desecration of soviet memorial in Berlin Treptow Park

7. April 2022

We received the attached pictures of the desecration of the soviet Memorial in Berlin-Treptow Park, where the members of the EC honoured in autumn last year the veterans of the Anti-Hitler-Coalition for the liberation of Berlin in May 1945.

We condemn in clear words this barbaric act against the remembrance of the soviet veterans of the great patriotic war. Thus, who thinks they would protest against the war in Ukraine with such desecration, disobey the memory of the ukrainian soldiers in the ranks of the Red army too.

We call the German authorities to protect the memorials of the soviet soldiers in this time. We call the antifascists to raise their voices against such desecration.

Appeal for peace to all Soviet veterans of the “Great Patriotic War”

18. März 2022

The FIR and its member federations never forget the great achievement of all Soviet veterans of the Red Army against the fascist threat. Together with the other forces of the anti-Hitler coalition, they played a decisive role in the liberation of Europe from Nazi barbarism and, thus, in ending the Second World War. At great sacrifice, they defended their own homeland and in liberating the Auschwitz camp on January 27, 1945, they reached that central site of the fascist extermination policy, the traces of which they had previously found in all occupied Soviet republics. The fact that the peoples of the Soviet Union had to pay with 27 million victims for this liberation struggle is a legacy that no one seriously committed to peace in the world can and must deny. Therefore, the Soviet veterans of the Great Patriotic War are in every respect entitled to raise their voices as a political and moral authority for peace and against Nazi ideology.

In the current situation of the Russian-Ukrainian war, FIR as “Ambassador of Peace” of the United Nations appeals to all former veterans of the Great Patriotic War, and their relatives:

Use your social and political influence and work for the immediate cessation of hostilities in this war. Whether you live in Belarus, the Russian Federation, Ukraine, Israel or any other country, turn to the leaders of your countries. Ask them, through a dialogue with political leaders in Russia and Ukraine, with representatives of the military on both sides, to bring about an immediate halt to all fighting, including ensuring that no armed snipers prolong this fighting. An immediate ceasefire is necessary for the protection of civilians, among whom there are many former Soviet veterans and their relatives. They know better than anyone else does that the guns must be silent. Arms deliveries will not bring peace, only a cessation of fighting and serious negotiations between the warring parties.

Once the weapons are silenced, the next great task for you, veterans, begins. You, who gave your health and life for the liberation of the homeland and the crushing of Nazism, are now challenged to help start the process of reconciliation between the Russian and Ukrainian brother peoples, as it is called in your publications. In this, the FIR would like to support you.

On May 8/9 – the Liberation Day and the Victory Day –let us remember together in the different European countries the historic achievement of the veterans of the Red Army, how they fought together, hand in hand, against Nazism and for peace. This can be a basis of reconciliation – in Russia and in Ukraine. At the same time, we need the joint support of all Soviet veterans as we struggle in various European countries to preserve the testimonies and memorials to the liberation and the liberators.

Military logic does not solve problems – military actions must be stopped immediately!

24. Februar 2022

The FIR is an “ambassador of peace”. We stand for peace without war! Therefore, FIR condemns the Russian military action on the territory of Ukraine. As highlighted in our last newsletter, we do not see military escalation as a solution to the disputes between the Russian Federation and Ukraine in the context of the Donbass conflict.

Even if military action is limited to strikes against military infrastructure, we as an International Umbrella Organization cannot condone such action. We continue to advocate that this military action must be stopped immediately. A solution can and must only be found through negotiations involving the OSCE structures.

This situation once again underscores in all its drama:

Whoever wants a de-escalation of the situation must return to confidence-building measures (such as the open sky agreement), the principles of the NATO-Russia Founding Act of 1997 and to genuine arms limitation and disarmament treaties, which have been unilaterally terminated by the United States.

Not military strikes against Ukraine or on the other hand rearmament of Ukraine, but diplomacy, a common security architecture and the recognizable will for disarmament are necessary in this situation.

The FIR and its member federations raised already several years ago the demand for a new policy of détente. This is more topical than ever. The peace forces in all European countries must publicly stand up for this.

Stop the danger of war – for a new European security architecture

23. Februar 2022

In its latest Newsletter FIR presented the following tasks to solve the political conflict:

From our point of view, there is a solution to this problem, to which all sides can actively work on:

A propagandistic de-escalation and preparation of a European security conference in OSCE format, in which contractual agreements are concluded which correspond to the security interests of all states in Europe.

Those who do not want Russian medium-range forces in Kaliningrad must also contractually agree not to position any elsewhere near the Russian border.

Those who want Russian troops to be withdrawn near their own borders must not provide for NATO troops on their own border.

Whoever does not want a political-military escalation in Europe must prevent NATO – contrary to all political agreements – from expanding further east.

Those who want a de-escalation of the situation must return to confidence-building measures (such as the open sky agreement), the principles of the 1997 NATO-Russia Founding Act, and to genuine arms limitation and disarmament treaties that have been unilaterally terminated by the United States.

Not dangerous threatening gestures and armament of Ukraine, but diplomacy, a common security architecture and the recognizable will for disarmament are necessary in this situation.

The FIR and its member federations raised already several years ago the demand for a new policy of détente. This is more topical than ever. The peace forces in all European countries must publicly stand up for this.

The full declaration, you can find on facebook-page of FIR

100 years Prof. Ilya Semyonovich Kremer

21. Januar 2022

We remember one of the most active comrade in arms of the International Federation of Resistance Fighters (FIR), Prof. Dr. Ilya S. Kremer, because of his 100 birthday on 22 January.

Born 1922 in Gomel (Soviet Union), he studied 1939 at the faculty for history of the Leningrad University, from 1940 at the Moscow University. The fascist attack of June 1941 changed also his life. Instead of studying, he took part in the protection of the homeland, in fortification work and until 1943 in an aircraft factory as a lathe operator. In summer of 1943, he became a soldier in the Red Army and took part in the fight for Berlin. In an interview, he reported:

“It wasn’t until 1943, when the Red Army had already suffered terrible losses that I was sent to the front. So I was put into a training unit, and in 1944, I joined the anti-aircraft artillery of the 5th Corps of the 1st Belarusian Front. Our route then led from Lublin to Berlin via Warsaw, Poznan and Landsberg on the Warta River.” It was not until November 1945 that he was demobilized and returned to Moscow.

Two years later, he was able to complete his studies in 1948. As an historian and professor of international relations, he was subsequently editor and lecturer in history at the Moscow Automotive Technical School. In the mid-1950s, he came to the Institute of History of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. In 1974, he was appointed professor at the Department of International Relations of the Institute of Social Sciences of the Central Committee of the CPSU. As a member of the Soviet Committee for European Security, he accompanied the process of détente policy scientifically and practically.

Of central importance was his work in FIR. Several decades he was political secretary of the FIR and representative of the Soviet (Russian) committee of war veterans in the FIR office in Vienna, temporarily as secretary general and member of the presidency of the FIR. In this context, he developed various international contacts. He participated in numerous FIR congresses, in congresses for European security, in the World Congress of Scientists for Peace, etc. On behalf of FIR and the Russian Committee of Veterans he visited various veterans’ organizations of Europe, the USA and Israel with the aim of developing cooperation between national anti-fascist and pacifist organizations.

During the reactivation of the FIR since 2004, he was of enormous value as advisor and mediator. He really worked in that time – in the best sense – as a “grey eminence”, because of his intensive political contacts all over the world. FIR appointed him since 2004 as a member of the honorary presidency and distinguished him 2019 with the “Michel Vanderborght Award”.

Ilya S. Kremer in Franfurt/M at a congress of VVN-BdA

He died on 23 March 2020 at the age of 98 years in Moscow. We remember him as a comrade and good friend.

FIR is saddened by the death of EP President David Sassoli

11. Januar 2022

We were saddened to learn that the President of the European Parliament died this morning in an Italian hospital.

Sassoli was the son of a fellow member of the Italian Resistenza. He never forgot or denied these roots in his political life. We remember that in his inaugural speech after the European elections, he referred in no uncertain terms to the anti-fascist roots of a united Europe. We also did not forget that he subsequently changed his vote on the historical revisionist resolution of September 19, 2019, which he had agreed to out of factional discipline, to rejection. This showed us once again that his actions were shaped by a fundamental anti-fascist conviction.

His death is a great loss for his family, his political partners in the European Parliament and for his comrades-in-arms in the ranks of ANPI, of which he was a member.

Our sympathy goes out to them.  

The progressive forces in Chile have won!

20. Dezember 2021

With large satisfaction, the FIR took note of the result of the presidential election in Chile. Not the right-wing conservative Pinochet supporter José Antonio Kast could defend his lead in the first election round, but the representative of the left forces Gabriel Boric received with 56% of the votes a clear confirmation in the runoff. FIR congratulates the newly elected Chilean President and the Chilean people for this victory of the progressive forces.

It is a social confirmation of the process that has been fought in the streets for several months of political protests against social injustice and educational privileges. The first result was the creation of a constitutional commission to change the old Pinochet constitution, and now a president has been elected who comes from the protest movement. 

We wish the elected president and the Chilean people every success. Nevertheless, we also know that progressive movements in Latin America are always in danger of being threatened and destabilized by outside forces, more precisely by right-wing forces from the USA. The FIR cannot forget how 50 years ago the socialist government under President Salvador Allende provided hope and awakening in Chile, but then was replaced by the Pinochet regime through the CIA-supported coup of the military.

The FIR and its member federations were afterwards part of the world-spreading network of the Chile solidarity. We provided help for the Chilean refugees and supported their fight for the freedom of the country. This is another reason why we welcome this recent success of the progressive forces in Chile.

¡El pueblo unido jamas sera vencido – venceremos!

UN resolution “combating Nazism”

5. Dezember 2021

After the FIR Bulletin 62 went to press, we received the attached graphic about the decision of the United Nations General Assembly on the resolution with the unwieldy title “combating glorification of Nazism, neo-Nazism and other practices that contribute to fueling contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance.” For several years, this resolution has been introduced to the session by Russia and other states, and this year it again received the approval of the General Assembly, with 121 votes in favor, 53 abstentions, and 2 votes against.


In the chart below, you can see how each country voted on this issue. A comment is superfluous

Obituary Henz Siefritz (1946-2021)

22. November 2021

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With deep sadness, we have to say farewell to a longtime comrade and friend, who for many years helped to shape the work of the FIR also on a responsible level, Heinz Siefritz, our longtime financial secretary. He died at the age of 75 years in the hospital last week, after he had increasingly health problems in recent months.

Heinz Siefritz was a socially engaged person throughout his life. In his youth, he was active in the anti-nuclear movement. After his training and further education, he stood up for the social and societal interests of his colleagues in the company and later as a trade union secretary.

As an anti-fascist, who still personally met the contemporary witnesses from resistance and persecution, he engaged himself after his professional retirement in the VVN-BdA on district and federal level.

When in 2004 the FIR moved its seat to Berlin and a new cashier was looked for, he took over this task. He never understood his role as an accountant, but brought himself as a political financial secretary into the common work. Thus, he was involved not only in the meetings of the leading body and in the preparation of our congresses; in addition, he represented the FIR several times in international conferences, on commemorative events or with member federations. His house at Lake Constance was open for antifascist guests like for example Prof. Ilja Kremer, who visited him there. Moreover, many comrades of the FIR and its member federations could experience him as a committed and cheerful comrade-in-arms.

Heinz Siefritz at the congress of Austrian KZ-Verband

In mourning, we take now leave and express in particular our deep sympathy to his wife Inge. 

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