Anti-Nazi Schmazi

Yeah so the RAF (‘Baader-Meinhof’) met a fairly grisly end in most cases, with a few exceptions (including the bizarro/“utterly incorrigible” Horst Mahler [1936–], who became a paranoid neo-Nazi). But it’s better than bottling it up, I guess…

See also : Evil & Dangerous Woman (Rude Grrl) Outta Jail (March 27, 2007) | Exploring the case for armed struggle? Re-framing the Urewera 17 (October 25, 2007)

In any case, a Blacksmith Punk informs me that overnight on August 2/3 1944, the entire Roma camp at Auschwitz was destroyed and the population gassed and cremated in what was called Zigeunernacht (‘The Night of the Gypsies’) — not that the corporate/state media seems to have remembered (nor anyone else for that matter).

My sister Josefine Steinbach had nine children, only one of whom died in camp. Today I still can’t believe that the other eight children survived everything until they were gassed in August 1944. My sister could have survived. But when she was supposed to be taken away with me to Ravensbrück before the destruction of the Gypsy Camp in Auschwitz-Birkenau, she refused to go because of the children. She told the SS that she wouldn’t leave without her children. After the last transport left Auschwitz she and her children were gassed together. . . ~ Maria Peter, in State Museum of Auschwitz-Birkenau, Memorial Book: The Gypsies at Auschwitz-Birkenau (K.G. Saur, New York, 1993) p.1517

On the other hand, the Anti-Racist World Cup has again been celebrated in Bologna, Italy (A soccer tournament with a social conscience, Amanda Wilson, Christian Science Monitor, July 24, 2008):

A hot Mediterranean sun parched the soccer fields of Casalecchio as the 204 soccer teams from 27 countries gathered for the 3 p.m. shaking of hands. African political refugees, Italian Roma, Danish feminists, young Ecuadoran gang members from the streets of Genova, and many more all stood in neat lines for the official start. Moments later, they broke chaotically into the inaugural game of the four-day Anti-Racist World Cup, an extraordinary amateur soccer tournament that takes place each year in this northern Italian town…

Against the political backdrop of a right-wing Government and a revived neo-fascist movement, it’s good to see the Cup survive. Further:

Music was the theme of the film “Nazirock,” screened for a crowd of more than 100 people in the “Anti-Racist Piazza,” the main square of the tournament. The Italian documentary, directed by Claudio Lazzaro, explores neo-fascist and neo-Nazi rock bands in Italy and their role in the politics of intolerance…

Nazirock is also being played in Australia, of course (although fortunately the number of outright fascists taking to the streets is miniscule), with Sydney band T.H.U.G. playing at the East Brunswick last month, Perth band The Quick & the Dead being featured in the latest issue of the Blood & Honor zine as well as playing alongside friendly punk bands such as The Homicides, and the annual Ian Stuart Donaldson gig being held next month in Melbourne. One other thing that distinguishes the much more numerous Italian fascists from their Australian counterparts is their honesty and openness; Australian fascists tend to be both less literate and more secretive.

See also : Remembering Nicola Tommasoli (May 17, 2008) | mad props 2 zamboni (October 31, 2007) | Granddaughter Of Upside-Down Corpse Heils The Dawn Of A New Europe (January 10, 2007)