The 2010 Dresden anti-fascist blockade, organized by the umbrella group Dresden Without Nazis (''Dresden nazifrei''), an

anti-fascist Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were ...

alliance of several German organizations, was a counter-demonstration against a planned march of

neo-Nazis Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and racial supremacy (often white supremacy), attack ...

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...

on February 13, 2010. The Dresden Without Nazis alliance is supported by anti-fascist organizations as well as politicians from the Left Party, the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundati ...

and the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Fo ...

and leading members of trade unions. The alliance coordinated large, peaceful blockades consisting of large crowds of people to stop the neo-Nazi demonstration, a strategy that was successful in preventing the neo-Nazis from marching through Dresden. With information from Reuters.

Supporters

Supporters of Dresden Without Nazis include local and regional anti-fascist groups, the nationwide anti-fascist associations "No pasarán!" and " VVN-BdA", artists such as

Konstantin Wecker Konstantin Alexander Wecker (born 1 June 1947, Munich) is a German singer-songwriter; he also works as a composer, author, and actor. Life and work Classically educated at the Wilhelmsgymnasium, Wecker got one of his first jobs as a songwriter a ...

and

Die Toten Hosen Die Toten Hosen (literally "The Dead Trousers", figuratively "The Deadbeats") is a German punk rock band from Düsseldorf. History The current members of Die Toten Hosen are Campino (Andreas Frege), Kuddel (Andreas von Holst), Vom (Steph ...

, politicians from the Left Party, the

and the

and leading members of trade unions.

Activities

Dresden Without Nazis was set up to mobilize against a planned march of

on February 13, 2010, the biggest Nazi activity in Europe. The coalition advocated large, peaceful blockades consisting of large crowds of people as a means to stop neo-Nazi demonstrations. Its consensus on the form of action to be taken against the neo-Nazis reads: "We engage in

civil disobedience Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal of a citizen to obey certain laws, demands, orders or commands of a government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a stat ...

against the Nazi demonstration. We will not escalate conflicts. Our mass blockades consist of people. We are in solidarity with all those who share with us the goal of preventing the Nazi demonstration." On January 19, 2010, police units searched premises used by the alliance in Dresden and Berlin, and confiscated computers, as well as posters. Politicians of the Left Party and the Green Party criticized the seizure. According to the

Prosecutors Office Public prosecutor's offices are criminal justice bodies attached to the judiciary. They are separate from the courts in Germany, Austria and the German-speaking parts of Switzerland, and are called the Staatsanwaltschaft. This kind of office al ...

, the slogan "Gemeinsam blockieren" ("Blocking together"), used on the poster, constituted a call to violate the law. Blockade Dresden Hansastrasse 13-02-2010-420px

Blockade Dresden Hansastrasse 13-02-2010-420px

On February 13, 2010, neo-Nazi groups gathered in Dresden to stage a "mourning march" on the 65th anniversary of the bombing of the city in World War II, which they describe as a "bombing

holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

". Until 2010, the march, organized by the National Democratic Party and the Junge Landsmannschaft Ostdeutschland, was the largest yearly demonstration organized by neo-Nazis in Europe. On February 13, 1945, the city was bombed by Allied planes, resulting in the death of an estimated 25,000 inhabitants, and official ceremonies to commemorate the dead take place in Dresden every year. Coordinated by the alliance Dresden Without Nazis, which organized several rallies that took place in the area, between 10,000 and 15,000 demonstrators surrounded the train station of the Neustadt district of Dresden, where the neo-Nazi demonstration was supposed to begin. In the city center, an additional 10,000 people took part in a human chain that symbolically protected the city against the Nazis. While about 6,000 Nazis held a rally in a confined space adjacent to the Neustadt train station, more than 5,000 police separated the opposing groups. Police then declared the blockades to be intractable, did not allow the neo-Nazis to march, and ordered them to leave the area by train.

References

External links

Official website of Dresden Without NazisNo pasarán!VVN-BdA
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dresden Anti-Fascist Blockade, 2010 Anti-fascism in Germany Protests in Germany Protests in the European Union 2010 in Germany Anti-fascist blockade 2010s in Saxony February 2010 events in Germany