Dresden Beats the Nazis

The Berlin anti-fascists waiting near the Spree River at 4:30 AM for the buses to Dresden were sleepy, cold, and nervous.  Not without reason.  Some had faced the Nazis a year earlier.  Every year these latter-day storm troopers try to misuse the emotions of Dresdeners mourning the loss of 25,000 to 35 000 people in the bombing inferno which incinerated the city on February 13th, 1945 by downplaying the Holocaust and Nazi crimes in general.  The anti-fascists always oppose them.  But last year it was again they who were treated coolly by the authorities.  The police took their time at the city limits frisking them for weapons and then concentrated on protecting the Nazis.  While driving home, a busload of union members was severely attacked by Nazis from Sweden; one man's skull was fractured.  The attackers have never been apprehended; the police said they were "overburdened."  And this year the Nazis threatened to break all records with 10,000 adherents from near and far.  Just in case, the anti-fascists were given maps, telephone numbers, and tape for the bus windows in case stones were thrown.

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