This is an unofficial translation of a statement from Antifa AK Cologne, originally posted online in German in late 2010: https://antifa-ak.org/demo-turnleft-gegen-nazis-rechtspopulismus-fundamentalismus/. In light of the rise of the “alt right” in recent years, it may be of relevant interest for progressives outside of Germany. Furthermore, given that this piece came out almost ten years ago, conditions and prospects for the German far right have changed. For example, during the federal election in Germany on September 24, 2017, Alternative fuer Deutschland (AfD)/Alternative for Germany won ninety-four seats in the Bundestag. All errors are my own. Please leave a comment if you have corrections to suggest. If somebody with Antifa AK Cologne prefers that I take down this translation, then I will comply. Just let me know. Stephen Cheng July 22, 2019

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This is an unofficial translation of a statement from Antifa AK Cologne, originally posted
online in German in late 2010: https://antifa-ak.org/demo-turnleft-gegen-nazis-
rechtspopulismus-fundamentalismus/. In light of the rise of the “alt right” in recent years,
it may be of relevant interest for progressives outside of Germany. Furthermore, given
that this piece came out almost ten years ago, conditions and prospects for the German
far right have changed. For example, during the federal election in Germany on
September 24, 2017, Alternative fuer Deutschland (AfD)/Alternative for Germany won
ninety-four seats in the Bundestag.
All errors are my own. Please leave a comment if you have corrections to suggest. If
somebody with Antifa AK Cologne prefers that I take down this translation, then I will
comply. Just let me know.
Stephen Cheng
July 22, 2019
Oppose Nazis, right-wing populism and fundamentalism! Turn left.
Antifa AK supports the call by Antifa [ko] and Autonomous Antifa [f]:
Oppose Nazis, right-wing populism and fundamentalism
Organize the antifascist resistance
Turn left!
Nazis
After the Nazi march which the National Democratic Party (NDP) of Hesse led in
Offenbach in December 2007, the previously existing Nazi structures are already no longer
deniable. Parts of the city like Buergel are covered with Nazi stickers and fascist graffiti.
Memorabilia from the neo-Nazi spectrum such as “Consdaple” and “Thor Steinar” are
knowingly placed in sight and brought out to the public. During the Offenbach Kickers’ football
games, neo-Nazis show up in public--racist and anti-Semitic taunts in the fan block are the order
of the day. The now-closed clothing shop “Wayward Streetwear”, with a proprietor who ran a
business in the 1990s selling CDs with National Socialist content, recently has had not just “Thor
Steinar” in its assortment but also offers upon request banned T-shirts from under the store
counter. Last summer (summer 2009), a supposed antifascist was attacked and injured by three
neo-Nazis from the so-called “autonomous nationalist” milieu due to her/his/their political
convictions. One thing is clear above all else: The neo-Nazis feel comfortable in Offenbach and
they hardly have to deal with any opposition or resistance within the population. While a more
or less active Left exists in neighboring cities, the neo-Nazis in Offenbach see themselves in
rather decent positions with seldom any direct antifascist resistance to confront them. It is thus
no wonder that the fascists in Offenbach feel comfortable in their surroundings and publicly
propagate their worldview through the use of sensational Nazi symbols.

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Fundamentalists
Whoever walks the streets of Offenbach in fact sees Nazi decals side-by-side with the
graffiti of the Grey Wolves. “Bozkurt”, the three crescents, or “MHP” are symbols that stand for
a mixture of the nationalistic and Islamist ideologies of Turkish fascists. The frequency of the
symbols in Offenbach shows that parts of the migrant [populations] are also forced to
acquiesce to far-right positions. At the same time, the Grey Wolves frequently work with
German Nazis and see them as allies in nationalist and racist politics. The ideological connection
of these Turkish fascists with German Nazis was vividly exemplified by then-district chairperson
Joerg Krebs for the National Democratic Party in Frankfurt, who in December 2007 provoked
Kurdish counterdemonstrators at a NDP march in Offenbach with the so-called “Grey Wolves’
salute”. In the same year, he also with a speech, which he published on the far-right platform
“Altermedia”, called for close cooperation of German neo-Nazis with Turkish fascists fromthe
ranks of the “MHP” and the “Grey Wolves”.
Islamist positions are not only just found among the Grey Wolves. [These positions] are
forced into public as well as appear under otherwise consensual [conditions] in Offenbach, as
shown at an event by the Islamic fundamentalists Pierre Vogel and his organization “Invitation
to Paradise” in October 2010 at the Offenbach town square. About 400 higher-ranking youths
cheered Vogel as he, [with] a simple black-white view, divided the world into the “evil West” on
one side and the oppressed Muslims on the other side. Also, members of an Offenbach youth
group of the Islamist organization Millî Görüş were among the participants. Here, it is not
merely a matter of religious ideologies worthy of criticism. Islamic fundamentalists politically
charge the religious identities of Muslims and instrumentalize them for their reactionary and
misanthropic agenda. Anti-Semitism, prescribed sexist [gender] roles, homophobia and an
authoritarian image of the world become propagated as elements of a “godly, pure doctrine”
which promises to solve economic, social and political problems of the existing society and
offers paradise as redemption.
Right-wing populists
The growing popularity of the Islamic fundamentalists is grist for the mill for right-wing
populists such as Wolfgang Huebner’s “Free Voters” in Frankfurt and the Germany-wide “Pro-“
movements. They see therein their fears confirmed about “being overrun by immigrants” and
their “own” culture endangered. The supposed threat of Islamic culture to the “Christian West”
knowingly and conveniently overlooks the crucial difference between Islamas a religion on one
side and, on the other side, the project of Islamismas a politically reactionary movement which
demands worldwide the abolition of democratic rights and the introduction of Sharia. The
current discourse on immigration and integration indicates how such positions are able to
[become mainstream]. Thilo Sarrazin becomes celebrated as a “taboo-breaker”—[it] is always
stressed [that] he only says what many think. Therefore, right-wing populism has become
fashionable in Germany. Nationalist and racist positions are not exceptional appearances in the
population or an all-too-willingly conjured phenomenon of the far right, but are also constantly

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accepted by the self-identified “center” of society. And precisely here an antifascist critique
should be set forth: But until wide sections of society already accept reactionary positions, neo-
Nazis are not initially the problem. Indeed, many citizens pay lip service against the far right –
this dissociation in fact only serves to vindicate their own [private] opinions. Whoever officially
condemns neo-Nazis can end up diffusing, in an assuring way, racist ressentiments—lastly,
incipient reproaches via the distancing [of one’s self] from neo-Nazism have reportedly already
cleared the path in advance.
Anxieties due to capitalist crisis and the cutting off of social ties lead only all too often to
flight into ideological impasses. They are not perceived as a problem of conflicts, competitive
pressure, and wage labor resulting from economic relationships, but rather of supposed
“foreigners” who “overwhelm” the country. Out of the fear that outside or inside influences
could damage or even capture the singularly constructed collective, be it the “volk”, the
“nation” or the “race”, a clear outward differentiation and the restrictive disciplining in the
interior develop (a looser, freer translation of the last clause: a clear demarcation with the aim
of excluding the outside world and the restrictive disciplining of internal affairs become
developed). How compatible these positions are with the biologistic racismof the Nazis again
becomes obvious with the aid of Sarrazin whose theses on “backward” migrants and the
unemployed attribute social conflicts to biological instead of social and economic causes.
Reactionary overture(s)
There exists one decisive common denominator among the varied reactionary to openly
far-right overtures: suggested solutions for social problems based on misanthropic ideologies.
The right-wing, personalized critique of capitalismwith a touch of anti-Semitism is to be found
in all the mentioned movements. And instead of wanting, in an emancipatory sense, to do away
with bourgeois society and capitalism[in favor of a] more liberated and just society, it demands
reactionary answers [amounting to] a regression behind existing social relationships (a more
liberal translation of the last clause: it demands reactionary answers [amounting to] a turning
back of the clock as existing social relationships are dissolved in favor of previous ones). History,
and therefore also social relationships, becomes perceived not as makeable and changeable (or
in one word: malleable). Instead, reactionaries advocate [and/or substitute] an ideological
image of the world in which personal ties, religious delusions, forced collective homogeneity
and hatred of the “foreigner” or the “other” are decisive.
Reactionary tendencies do not at first present a problem if and when they achieve social
relevance. Other right-wing tendencies in certain Eastern European countries, above all
Hungary, have not enlisted fascist guards as a result of Offenbach and also right-wing populist
parties in Germany up to now cannot chalk up major electoral victories. Nevertheless, as the
current “integration debate” indicates, elements of reactionary ideologies are able to
thoroughly become mainstream. Offers of identities by Nazis, right-wing populists and
fundamentalists become gratefully taken up and reproduced by people who feel betrayed and
discriminated against or threatened in their social positions. The result is the coexistence of

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different right-wing worlds of living (social worlds)—as seen in Offenbach—not especially
interfering with one another and often compatible with the moods of mainstream bourgeois
society. Despite major conflicts within and between the camps, a social climate for a right-wing
consensus arises in which emancipatory positions are rarely to be found. Moreover, the
followers of reactionary and far-right ideologies bring out structural violence and therefore
present a real threat and danger, physically and mortally, to those who think differently.