Auschwitz commemoration dominated by war propaganda, right-wing historical falsification

Bojo’s claims over Russia nuking the UK are a very sad reflection of the right-wing extremisim in Britain today

The commemoration of this year’s 78th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp on January 27 took place amidst NATO’s escalation of the war against Russia in Ukraine and was dominated completely by imperialist war propaganda and right-wing historical falsification.

In the eyes of millions all over the world, Auschwitz has become the dominant symbol of the crimes of fascism in the 20th century. The camp was liberated 78 years ago by the Soviet Union’s Red Army. Upon arrival, the soldiers found a vast complex of extermination and labor camps. Over 1 million people had been murdered here, including 900,000 European Jews. Overall, between 1.1 and 1.5 million people were deported to Auschwitz during the Second World War, among them at least 140,000 Poles, 20,000 Sinti and Roma—most of whom were murdered—and 10,000 Soviet prisoners of war. Countless thousands were forced to work in the labor icamps that were run on behalf of the German chemical and pharmaceutical giant IG Farben. It was the predecessor of today’s BASF and Bayer, two of the world’s largest and most influential companies.

What’s the difference between Nazi-Germany and Britain-today?

But these historical facts were under systematic assault at the official commemoration ceremony, which was placed fully in the service of imperialist war propaganda against Russia. Its aim was not to honor the memory of those who were murdered and the few survivors of the Holocaust who are still alive but to beat the drums of war propaganda to justify new crimes of imperialism.

Russia had been disinvited from the ceremony to begin with, despite the fact that the Red Army liberated the camp, as well as most of Eastern Europe 78 years ago.

The director of the Auschwitz memorial, Piotr Cywiński, focused his speech not on a condemnation of the crimes of fascism and Nazism but rather on a conscious relativization of the crimes of the Nazis by equating Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to the wars waged by Hitler and the Holocaust. He said, “Auschwitz emerged out of the lust for power and megalomania.” Today, he continued, “Similar sick megalomania, similar lust for power, and similar-sounding myths about uniqueness, greatness, primacy … only written in Russian. Innocent people are dying en masse in Europe, again.”

Even though Auschwitz is principally remembered as a major site of the Holocaust—its gas chambers murdered one-sixth of the Holocaust’s 6 million victims—the Holocaust and the Nazis’ death camps were largely ignored by Cywinski. Mentioning sites of Nazi massacres of Polish, French and Czech civilians but not the mass murder of the Jews, he said, “Wola district in Warsaw, Zamojszczyzna, Oradour and Lidice today are called Bucha, Irpin, Hostomel, Mariupol and Donetsk.”

No convincing evidence has been provided for the imperialist allegations of Russian war crimes in the cities of Ukraine cited by Cywinski. By contrast, it has been documented irrefutably that the Nazis murdered between 40,000 and 50,000 Poles in the suppression of the Warsaw Uprising in the Wola district in 1944; 340 Czech civilians in the massacre of Lidice and 643 French civilians in the massacre of Oradour, in France. Over 100,000 Poles were deported from Zamojszczyzna in an operation of ethnic cleansing that formed part of the Nazis’ Generalplan Ost, which aimed at the expulsion of the Slavic population and the settlement of Germans in Eastern Europe.

There is no innocent explanation for the head of the Auschwitz memorial to highlight these sites over those of the Holocaust. These massacres have long been exploited above all by Polish but also other European nationalist and far-right forces in order to downplay the crimes of the Nazis against the Jewish population in both countries, in which local nationalist and far-right forces either tacitly supported or directly participated in.

Mateusz Morawiecki, Poland’s prime minister and a member of Law and Justice Party, went even further, claiming on Facebook, “On the anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi German death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau, let us remember that to the east Putin is building new camps.” He provided no evidence whatsoever for this extraordinary claim. Hours later, he boasted on Facebook about Poland’s role in pushing for Germany to send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine to wage war against Russia.

Morawiecki is a member of a party that has not only played a key role in NATO’s war preparations against Russia but is also infested with far-right and anti-Semitic forces. In 2018, the Polish government banned public mention of and research into the crimes of Polish anti-Semites during the Holocaust. It has since undertaken a large purge of academic institutions and museums, ousting people who have opposed the government’s far-right historical revisionism. In 2019, the PiS government effectively allowed a pack of fascists to march in Auschwitz on the 74th anniversary of the liberation of the camp.

The unprecedented promotion of war propaganda and the deliberate minimization of the crimes of Nazism at the Auschwitz commemoration is inseparable from the renewed explosion of imperialist militarism now underway in Europe.

The crimes of Auschwitz and German fascism more broadly were ultimately rooted in the breakdown of the capitalist system. The Nazi movement was brought to power by the German ruling class to smash the workers’ movement and establish the hegemony of German imperialism in Europe. The virulent anti-Semitism of Nazism was rooted, primarily, in the political and ideological reaction against the internationalist and socialist workers’ movement. The destruction of the Soviet Union became one of the central aims of German imperialism.

First, Germany sought to destroy the degenerated workers’ state that had emerged out of the 1917 October Revolution and thus deal a major blow to the international working class. Second, German imperialism sought to establish full control over the vast raw material sources of that region in order to consolidate its position vis-à-vis its main imperialist rivals, above all, the United States.

These aims were the basis for a war that to this day remains the bloodiest in human history. It was based from the very beginning on criminal orders, placing Germany’s waging of war outside any established international norms of warfare. In one of the criminal orders issued to the Wehrmacht, Eric Hoepner, commander of the 4th Panzer Group, instructed his troops on May 2:

“The war against Russia is an important chapter in the struggle for existence of the German nation. It is the old battle of Germanic against Slav peoples, of the defence of European culture against Muscovite-Asiatic inundation, and the repulse of Jewish-Bolshevism. The objective of this battle must be the destruction of present-day Russia and it must therefore be conducted with unprecedented severity. Every military action must be guided in planning and execution by an iron will to exterminate the enemy mercilessly and totally. In particular, no adherents of the present Russian-Bolshevik system are to be spared.”

The Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941 marked a key turning point not only in the war but also in the development of the Holocaust. Auschwitz’s gas chambers began operation a few months later, as the Nazis’ Wehrmacht was massacring the Jewish population of the occupied Soviet Union en masse in mass shootings. The vast majority of the victims of the Holocaust were murdered between the summer of 1941 and late 1943.

The Red Army, composed of soldiers from throughout the Soviet Union and its different nationalities, fought against the Nazi invasion and played the central role in defeating Nazi Germany in the war. Despite the horrendous crimes of Stalinism, the Red Army, which had been founded by Leon Trotsky in 1918 to defend the conquests of the 1917 October Revolution against the invading armies, backed by the imperialist powers, still carried within it the spirit of the socialist revolution and social progress.

The disinvitation of Russia from the official ceremony was therefore not just a major political provocation but also part of a systematic effort to promote anticommunism and historical falsifications.

But Russia’s President Vladimir Putin counterposed to the imperialist war propaganda historical falsifications and political lies of his own. He responded to the disinvitation of Russia from the official commemoration ceremony by creating a false analogy between Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the role of the Red Army in World War II, claiming that the aim of his war in Ukraine was to “de-nazify” the country.

The reality is that both the war in Ukraine and the resurgence of far-right forces and the unfolding imperialist war against Russia are ultimately the product of the decades-long Stalinist counterrevolution against the socialist October Revolution of 1917 which culminated in the 1991 destruction of the Soviet Union by the Stalinist bureaucracy. The Putin regime, which speaks for the interests of a tiny oligarchy that has enriched itself at the expense of the masses over the past 30 years, is the heir of this counterrevolution.

The Russian army, recruited largely from desperately poor people, is not a resurgence of the Red Army. Its soldiers are tragically being slaughtered in a war waged by the oligarchic regime in a desperate effort at a war of “national defense” whose principal goal is to safeguard the oligarchy’s own privileges and somehow find a way to negotiate with the imperialist powers. The reactionary invasion of Ukraine by Russia’s oligarchic regime and the accompanying historical falsifications and promotion of Russian chauvinism have been water on the mills of the imperialist war machinery and its propaganda and have served to further divide and confuse the working class.

The task to put an end to the imperialist war now underway and to fight the resurgence of fascist forces in Europe falls to the international working class. It must draw the lessons from the devastating consequences of the nationalist betrayal of the October Revolution by the Stalinist bureaucracy and counterpose to the imperialist war-mongers and the nationalism of the Putin regime the strategy of a unified international struggle by the working class across Europe and internationally in the fight for socialism.

With many thanks to: WSWS (https://www.wsws.org/) and Clara Weiss @claraweiss_wsws for the original story.

Follow these links to find out more on these stories:
Auschwitz commemoration dominated by war propaganda, right-wing historical falsification (https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/01/31/meqc-j31.html)

90 years since Hitler took power: A sinister anniversary:
(https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/01/30/dwxa-j30.html)

Fascists march in Auschwitz: (https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/01/31/pers-j31.html)

The German government is celebrating the 90th anniversary of Hitler’s coming to power by sending German Leopard battle tanks to fight Russia: (https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/01/30/dwxa-j30.html)

https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/01/31/meqc-j31.html

‘KICKING OUT: Change starts with the man in the mirror’.

http://seachranaidhe-irishandproud.blogspot.com/2022/08/kicking-out-change-starts-with-man-in.html

Watch History Now: From The Treaty to Civil War with Dr Darragh Gannon

Roe 4 Maghaberry Prisoners Statement – IRPWA

Regrettably Republican Prisoners Roe 4 feel the need to issue a statement regarding allegations surrounding an individual’s decision to leave the Republican Wing.

This, of course, should have been dealt with maturely and pragmatically without feeding the PR machine of those attacking Republicans.

This individual was accepted onto Roe 4 after being asked to leave the Roe 3 community as a result of his behaviour there. He was accepted onto Roe 4 conditionally, despite his history in the British Army’s RIR and his previous attitude and behaviour toward Republican Prisoners.His acceptance onto Roe 4 was based on the ending of this behaviour yet after a short time this continued. Firstly, with Roe 3 Prisoners and then with others on Roe 4, he engaged in systematic bullying and engaged in other actions which jeopardised the community conditions without consulting the community. The community provides support and protection to all of those who reside on Roe 4; bullying, intimidation and anti-community activity is incompatible with the very basis of this wing. When this was explained to this individual, he refused to accept this and made it clear that he would rather leave; citing that he would not be adhering to the community guidelines (despite initially agreeing to do so on admittance to the Roe 4 landing). He then proceeded to issue serious threats against two Roe 4 Prisoners in front of the screws.

One issue of particular concern was his individual approach to potential Judicial Reviews that could have detrimental repercussions for all Maghaberry POWs and not to him individually, as he is due to be released soon.
The Judicial Review mechanism is employed by Republican Prisoners to deliver regime change in the face of utter intransigence. The agreement which Mr Mackle had accepted by subscribing to the Roe 4 charter, determined that any Judicial Review initiated in relation to issues on Roe 4 could only be initiated in consultation with all those that it directly affects, and in conjunction with all other ongoing Judicial Reviews.
Roe 4 believes, with substantiating evidence to back it up, that this organised approach to Judicial Reviews is the only approach viable, against an administration that is maintained by British Intelligence.
Mr Mackle decided that he would no longer adhere to these terms regarding the initiation of Judicial Review proceedings. As this placed Republican Political Prisoners at risk of adverse outcomes it was at this stage that the duty which Roe 4 representatives have to Republican Prisoners was activated.

The relationship between Roe 3 and Roe 4 has never been stronger and this individual is not welcome in either community.

Republican Prisoners in Roe House are at the coal-face of the prison struggle for political status and will remain so. We are obligated to protect and to defend not only current Republican Prisoners but those who will follow us through the gates of this citadel of hatred. We will not be distracted or moved from our position by deliberate scurrilous allegations.

This is the last word on the matter. Republican Prisoners are concerned with challenging oppression. We have no time for petty nonsense. Our decision is final. Gabriel Mackle in repeatedly breaching the charter to which he subscribed is not welcome on Republican Roe House.

Republican Prisoners,
Roe 4,
Maghaberry.
28th March 2017

Celtic Symbols and their meanings | Ireland Calling

Ireland is an ancient country home to several civilisations over thousands of years.
Some of the important symbols used by these communities have come to be symbols of Ireland itself and mean a great deal to many people who are proud of their Irish heritage.

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http://ireland-calling.com/celtic-symbols/

Today in Irish History: 19th October 1989 – After serving 15-years in an English prison, “The Guildford Four”: Geard ‘Gerry’ Conlon, Patrick ‘Paddy’ Armstrong, Carole Richardson and Paul Hill are released in what is considered to be one of the biggest-ever miscarriages of justice in Britain’s history.

Paul Hill is taken to a Belfast prison where he was serving time for murder; he was also expected to be released.https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=moDZUdmXT1E

With many thanks to:
http:// https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=841832689264527&id=352615514852916#!/StairnahEireann

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Gerry Conlon stormed out of the Old Bailey in London after his release, pictured with his sisters Birdie and Ann.

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=841832689264527&id=352615514852916

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Paul Hill, speaking in 1994 after his conviction for the murder of a British soldier in Belfast was quashed

Give Gerry Conlon’s Facebook page a like: Click on the link below….
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=841832689264527&id=352615514852916#!https://www.facebook.com/GerryConlonappreciation?fref=ts&refid=52

Served 15-years-in-prison for something he didn’t do.
(Part 1)
http:// https://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=SOtIccHr8SE
(Part 2)
http:// https://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=pV5kFR-17_g
(Part 3)
http:// https://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=qGEWoHDaeak

Gerry Conlon and Paddy Hill at the Univerisity of Limerick, School of Law.

http:// https://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=hgVOcEn3N3A

Gerry Conlon Dies in West Belfast (21.6.2014)

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The coffin of Gerry Conlon is carried by, among others, Guilford Four member Paddy Armstrong (front right), and Birmingham Six member Paddy Hill (front left).

http:// https://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=ahczeAn5dUU

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A post-release of Guildford Four member Carole Richardson, who died in obscurity in 2012.

End the Injustice and unjust incarceration of Martin Corey

Many people are rightly praising Nelson Mandela today, along with Bobby Sands probabily the most globally known political prisoner, and remembering the injustice of his incarceration for over two decades into his 60s.

FREE MARTIN COREY FOR CHRISTMAS

Less than 10 miles from Belfast there is a man named Martn Corey, aged 63, in Maghaberry Gaol. Martin served 20 years of a life sentence, was released, and and over three years ago was returned to prison with no evidence, no reason given, no right to defend himself – all at the stroke of a pen by a British Secretary of State who has not one vote or any right in Ireland. He has no release date and could die in prison. Where are the Free Martin Corey concerts? 1451527_670237059682798_647295611_nWhere are the pop stars and celebrities queuing up to attach themselves to Martin’s cause? Where are the trendy lefties with their Free Martin Corey protests? Where is the voice of political parties, so keen to attach themselves to Mandela, Castro and Chavez, demanding and taking to the streets en masse for Martin Corey’s release? Nowhere, because somtimes it is easier to seek credibility through a struggle thousands of miles away, than oppose what is happening right in front of your eyes !!!

With many thanks to: Dee Fennell

World Record attempt – White-line picket – Smash Internment

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Anti-Internment Rally

The Anti-Internment League invites all political, community, cultural and sporting organisations as well as ex prisoners groups, trade unions, human and civil rights groups and the republican/nationalist people of this Island to participate in a record attempt to hold the Worlds largest White-Line Picket on the Falls Road to highlight the continued unjustifiable use of Internment against Republicans in Ireland.

The record attempt will be for entry into the Guinness book of Records and will again bring to prominence the issue of Internment, putting it in the headlines and keeping it high on the political agenda.

PROSPECT OF THOUSANDS GATHERING IN CITY CENTER REAL CONCERN FOR POLICE

ANALYSIS – Connla Young.

WHILE many will take part in Friday’s parade to highlight claims of “internment by remand”, some will also see it as a platform to reclaim a significant date in the republican calendar.

END BRITISH INTERNMENT IN IRELAND

The introduction of internment on August 9 1971 saw the detention without trial of thousands of young Catholics across the north. A watershed moment in the early Troubles, which made headlines around the world,  it had unintended effect of converting morderate nationalists to the republican cause. Traditionally rRepublicans marked the anniversary witht the lighting of bonbone fires in nationalist areas, which often resulted in violent clashes with police. In recent years Sinn Fein has aa banded the bonfire tradition and attempted to remove tensions by creating the Fleadh around the August date. Opponents have claimed this was part of a process of steering its traditional support away from street politics. In that context, some anti-agreement republicans see Friday’s parade as an opportunity to showcase opposition to Sinn Fein’s strategy, both to the party leadership and wider political establishment.

However, the parade is also being used as an outlet for anger by loyalists involved in flag and other protests this year. Two of the five protests planned at Royal Avenue involve groups set up by leading figures from the Union Flag protests. Despite the parade not directly passing any loyalist areas in North Belfast. Orangemen in the area are also planning to travel to the city centre for a demonstration. Coming after strong police criticism of protests held against restrictions placed on a July 12 parade at Ardoyne, this represents a departure for the organization. Until now it is not thought to have organised any protests at republican parades. Given the serious disruption caused to city centre traders and commuters by the flag protests, and the violence seen on July 12 when loyalists gathered to protest at Ardoyne, the prospect of thousands of republicans and loyalists gathering in the city centre on Friday will be a source of obvious concern for police in the coming days.

With many thanks to : Connla Young, The Irish News.

Related articles

PROVOCATIVE PUBLIC RHETORIC NOTHING NEW

Paisley, McKeague and Seawright among famed users of emotive words.

POLITCIANS playing to their constituency with colourful and emotive rhetoric is uusually regarded as an asset. Renowned orators like Michael Collins and Winston Churchill delivered words in a manner that instilled awe and great loyalty among their audience.

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Throughout the Troubles – and even before 1969 – the North of Ireland‘s politicians have enjoyed employing aggressive and provocative language when speaking in public. One of the most notorious incidents occoured almost 50 years ago when big Ian Paisley demanded the removal of the Irish tricolour from Division Street in West Belfast. He warned of riots if the RUC did not heed his call, but the violence the relatively young Free Presbyterian preacher predicted was avoided after a police operation to remove the flag. Over subsequent decades the former DUP leader’s language sailed close to the wind on many occasions but never were his words deemed so offensive that they resulted in arrest. However, his East Belfast loyalist associate John McKeague did face prosecution for a hate crime over the written word rather than an inflammatory speech.

The 1971 publication of Loyalist song book and its inclusion of anti-Catholic lyrics saw McKeague brought to court but ultimately acquitted after the proesecution failed to convince the jury of his intent. McKeague was shot dead a decade later by the INLA. In perhaps the best known episode of inciting sectarian hatred Belfast DUP councillor George Seawright was pprosecuted in 1984 when he made provocative remarked during a meeting of Belfast Education and Library Board. The loyalist, who like McKeague was later gunned down by the INLA offshoot, described Catholics who objected to the singing of the British national anthem “fenian scum” and suggested they should be burnt in an incinerator. Although he denied making the comments, Mr Seawright was prosecuted and received a six-month suspended sentence. The era of social media means the opportunities for people to go beyond what is deemed acceptable is much greater. The court restrictions around using Facebook and Twitter placed on loyalist flag protesters Jamie Bryson and Willie Frazer reflect a recognition of the potential by political and community leaders to incite their followers through.

With many thanks to : John Manley, The Irish News.

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