Chicago (report from Refuse Fascism, Chicago)
A determined and diverse group gathered to loudly “Never again will we allow another Holocaust to happen to any people!” Carrying signs from Refuse Fascism saying “NO!” in many languages and a banner declaring “From 1933 to 2017, Never Again! Drive Out the Trump/Pence Regime!” they lined up in front of the Loop Synagogue, which was the target of a fascist attack in February when the building was defaced with swastikas and windows broken.
After an MC from Refuse Fascism made some introductory comments, she introduced a series of powerful speakers. First up to the mic was a soft-spoken representative of the American Muslim Task Force who read a statement from Salman Aftab. The message itself was loud and clear: “If you allow Muslims or immigrants to be demonized, to be called terrorists and rapists by the President of the USA, we have seen where this racism and scapegoating can lead. This can be a first step to a new Holocaust. We have to resist now!”
The MC read a statement from Father Bob Bossie, SCJ, recalling his visit to the Auschwitz concentration camp: “As I wandered through this place of horror, I realized that the persons who did this were not devils but were like me, ordinary persons who had slowly capitulated to the customs of the day in order to avoid ridicule, keep a job, go along to get along, avoid persecution, keep going to the better school, or who simply thought it wouldn’t, couldn’t and didn’t happen here.”
Ted Sirota, founder of Degenerate Artists Against Fascism, told the story of his great grandfather who was shot and killed by the Nazis in Poland, along with many others of his extended family, even before the concentration camps were in full operation. He said, “And now along with synagogues, Black churches in the South and mosques are under attack—all people of conscience must say NO!”
Brother Michael C. Oboza, speaking as a member of the LGBTQ/Bi community, shared that he had been a Catholic who didn’t believe that the Holocaust really happened, but then learned that 15,000 gays and suspected gays were among those killed in the Holocaust, and many more forced to wear the pink triangle.
The Rev. Taigen Dan Leighton, a Soto Zen Buddhist priest, also sent a statement, saying, “All of us who represent true spiritual and ethical values, and the values our country claims to be founded on, must now speak out.”
The MC reminded those gathered and the press that the U.S. has already registered and rounded up a whole group of people and sent them to concentration camps—people of Japanese descent during WWII.
From there, the group marched boldly down a major street several blocks to the ICE Chicago headquarters in Chicago. Chants rang out: “1933 to 2017, Never Again! Drive Out the Trump Regime!” “In the Name of Humanity, Stop the Insanity, No Ban- No Wall, No Fascist USA!” “Dump Trump. Dump Pence, The World Can’t Wait, Drive out the Fascism Regime before it’s too late!”
The day before this action, two Refuse Fascism people went out to the Holocaust Museum in Skokie, outside of Chicago, to attend their Holocaust Day program. The moving program was led by Holocaust survivors who lit candles for the Jews the Nazis killed. The MC, a Holocaust survivor, said the Holocaust Day honors the date for the beginning of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, which he called “the most significant armed resistance to the Nazis.”
Los Angeles (report by Refuse Fascism, Los Angeles) On Holocaust Remembrance Day Refuse Fascism Los Angeles held a procession through the streets of Downtown L.A. The procession began outside the offices of the L.A. Sheriff’s Department. Several protesters wore prison uniforms representing Holocaust victims. The procession attempted to deliver an award to Sheriff Jim McDonnell.
It stated “You, Sheriff Jim McDonnell, head Sheriff of LA County, are being presented with the Adolf ICEman (named for Nazi mass murderer Adolph Eichmann) Award for collaborating with the Fascist Trump/Pence regime and for your collaboration with ICE in carrying out deportation.” The procession took off shortly after that. The procession, trailed by supporters chanting “Never Again to any people”, walked through busy downtown city streets.
We walked through a section of Little Tokyo, and stopped in front of the Japanese American museum. Connections were made between the horrors of the holocaust and Japanese internment and the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. We ended at the Metropolitan Detention Center.
The procession included people who had been at an Armenian genocide commemorative march for justice earlier that day, Jewish activists, and members of the LA Refuse fascism chapter. At the end people were invited to speak. Several spoke about the current danger of the fascist regime and the need to reach many with this call to action. People signed up and called on others to participate in the remaining days of action.