Eighty-one years ago, on 9 November 1938, the citizens of Nazi Germany awoke to the sound of shattering glass as SA paramilitary troops, alongside civilian rioters, destroyed hundreds of synagogues and thousands of Jewish businesses. The noise of the rioters and troops as they harassed innocent law-abiding families and began carting Jewish men off to concentration camps was met not with the uproar of protest, but by a deafening silence. There were those both inside the German Reich and overseas who spoke out against what was later known Kristallnacht. But there were many more who stood by and watched as thugs attacked their neighbours, colleagues and friends.
Broadly speaking, European fascism was silenced on 8 May 1945, but today, after several decades in the shadows, the forces of far-right extremism, ultra-nationalism and white supremacy are making a defiant return. From Jobbik in Hungary to Golden Dawn in Greece, political parties that express extreme nationalist and fascist ideologies are once again on the rise. In countries such as Austria and Italy, they are almost mainstream.
The consequences of the return of hatred are immediate and deadly for minority groups including Jews, Muslims, people of African descent, Roma, members of the LGBTI community, and many more. France has recently seen a spate of homophobic attacks, dropping 11 places in one year in the Spartacus Gay Travel index. Meanwhile, anti-Muslim attacks are on the rise worldwide, from the horrors of the Christchurch shootings – where 51 people were murdered at two different mosques in New Zealand – to violent hate crimes taking place across the continent from the UK to Spain.
And while Kristallnacht may be the stuff of history books, attacks on synagogues are very much back in the news. In September, a gunman with a far-right ideology opened fire on a synagogue in the German city of Halle, killing two people and wounding several more. This was not an anomaly. From the Toulouse and Montauban shootings of 2012 to the more recent attacks on synagogues in Germany and Denmark, Jews in modern Europe fear for their safety.
We cannot continue to bury our heads in the sand. There can be no denying that, once again, the fundamental rights of the individual are under attack. People across Europe are condemned for their race, for their religion, for their sexuality. The values we as a society failed to defend in 1938 are more vulnerable than they have been in decades. But they are not without their defenders.
The forces of fascism argue that unity across cultures, religions and races is a weakness. They are counting on our silence and our tacit complicity in the rise of their revanchist and nativist ideology. UNITED Against Racism is a network of ordinary people who are committed to being loud in defence of equality and human rights. Founded almost 30 years ago and supported by over 560 supporter organisations across Europe, UNITED brings together NGOs and grassroots organisations who share a commitment to heeding the warnings of the past and ensuring that silence can never again be used to condemn the most vulnerable in our society.
On 9 November, we mark the anniversary of Kristallnacht with the International Day Against Fascism and Antisemitism. Over 500 NGOs from across the world have come together to raise their voices in opposition to fascism and racism and in defence of human rights for all and democracy. On social media and in film, at town hall meetings and in the halls of government, organisations such as ENAR, the Verzió International Human Rights Film Festival, ILGA Europe and many more will prove that Europe and its robust civil society is still committed to protecting its core values.
UNITED stands for raising our voices against the calls for hatred, oppression and fascism. Those who support our mission can participate in and get involved at dayagainstfascism.eu, where we acknowledge the warning, and also the hope, that 9 November symbolises.
