January 19, 2009 – the day our anti-fascist comrades Stanislav Markelov and Anastasia Baburova were murdered in cold blood by Nazis in the center of Moscow. This date has become memorable and symbolic for all those fighting fascism in Russia, Ukraine, and other former Soviet republics.
Today, we, Russian-speaking migrant anti-fascists, are witnessing in Germany the problems we know well: the rise of anti-immigrant sentiment, right-wing violence, and the fascization of public life. Even according to official data, 2024 was a record year in terms of right-wing, radically motivated crimes in Germany, more than a thousand of which were violent. The tragedy in Hanau on February 19, 2020, when racism motivated the murder of nine people, vividly demonstrates what ignoring such threats can lead to.
Right-wing resentment has contributed to the acceptance of an imperialist war against Ukraine in Russian society. This war, in turn, influences the legitimization of violence both outside and inside the country, as well as the rise of right-wing sentiment and militarism around the world.
We believe that our experience in the anti-fascist struggle can be important for our German comrades!
On January 19th, we will honor the memory of Anastasia, Stanislav, and all comrades who died in Russia at the hands of right-wing extremists: Timur Kacharava, Alexander Ryukhin, Ilya Borodaenko, Alexei Krylov, Fyodor Filatov, Ilya Dzhaparidze, and Ivan Khutorsky. We will also remember victims of far-right anti-migrant violence, such as Shamil Adamanov and Khursheda Soltonova.
Our action will take place on a street named after Silvio Mayer, an anti-fascist killed by right-wing militants in Friedrichshain in the early 90s. In St. Petersburg, the city where musician and anti-fascist Timur Kacharava was killed in 2005, an action in 2011 symbolically renamed a street in his honor. We hope that someday this gesture will also become a reality.
The procession along the street named after Silvio Mayer will be a reminder of all victims of right-wing terror and a call for international solidarity in the fight against fascism in all its forms.
To remember means to fight!
The struggle continues. ¡No pasarán!
Demo in Berlin. 19th January 2025, 1pm, Silvio-Meier-Straße (near U-Bahn Samaratinerstraße)
