Berlin: HU students support international mass movement against war
In the past few days, IYSSE members and students at the Humboldt University in Berlin have called for participation in the international online rally “For a mass movement of young people and students against the war in Ukraine!”, which the IYSSE will be holding on Saturday at 19 clock will stream live.
“It hurts me so much to see the situation of refugees from Ukraine,” says Caroline, who came to Berlin from Poland more than five years ago and started teaching English and biology at the Humboldt University. “These are people like you and me. Many people in Poland have taken in people from Ukraine directly into their homes. This movement does not come from above, but from below. People take it for granted. I think that’s the case here, too.”
“It always hits me when I see the news. That could also be my family, I think to myself.” Karolina supports the establishment of an international mass movement of workers and young people against the war: “It should be about the people, no matter what government they have.”
Karolina is concerned about the international development of the war: “One now hears that all countries are arming. Poland is also arming itself. I think it’s bad that there are cuts in education.” Karolina strictly rejects the nationalism of the Polish government: “I don’t like the Polish government. I think nationalism is totally wrong – everyone uses it for their own business. We should build a partnership.”
When Karolina heard that the crimes of the Nazi dictatorship were being put into perspective at Humboldt University and that even Hitler was being downplayed, she was horrified and wanted to know more about it: “I think that’s really terrible, I’m speechless. You should send this professor back to school.” In 2014, Professor Jörg Baberowski, who still holds the Chair of Eastern European History, mirror claims that Hitler was “not cruel” and later dies with the lie that Hitler “didn’t want to know anything about Auschwitz”.
Above all, many students speak out against the members of the IYSSE against German militarism. melissa studies primary school teaching at the Humboldt University and strictly rejects the unprecedented rearmament of the Bundeswehr with a “special fund” of 100 billion euros. “You could invest this money in completely different things! You could build so many new schools instead.” Melissa also wants to take part in the international rally of the IYSSE.
Humboldt University employees also support the IYSSE rally. A worker of Algerian origin criticizes the war policy of US imperialism in the last centuries and says: “NATO must stop its threatening gestures and eastward expansions and stop its provocations. Capitalism is a global problem. There must be no war that only takes place in the interests of the rulers. Workers must unite against it.”
“The lower you are in society, the more you are affected by the war,” says Luc, who has been studying at Humboldt University for two months. “The further up you go, the more you own of the war. From this standpoint the war starts. Poor people and young people are skilfully dragged into war.”
Regarding Professor Baberowski’s falsification of history, Luc explains: “That is factually wrong, what can one say about that. The goals behind it are to put historical crimes into perspective. What is the purpose of this? An even sharper shift to the right. There are connections between warmongering and heroic thoughts and fascist ideas. The example of the Azov regiment shows that there is also a threatening right-wing trend in the state military. You don’t hear anything about that if you get information from the public service media.”
Luc is outraged by German superpower politics: “I find ‘leading power’ a very difficult word. What does that mean? An imperialist hegemonic power, I think. With 100 billion for the defense industry, it certainly makes it appear that they want to go there. There are historical reasons for this. It wouldn’t be the first time. It runs through German history: from the German Empire as a colonial power to the ‘Third Reich’. That was a historical trend in Germany.” Throughout history, “millions of people have been sacrificed time and time again” for profit, Luc noted.
Luc particularly supports the international perspective of the IYSSE against capitalism: “When the corporations are organized internationally, when the workers will also take power internationally.” Luc wants to take part in the rally and hang up posters with IYSSE members in Berlin in the next few days.
The aim of the IYSSE is to launch a movement that will unite young people in a common struggle against the war, which is pro-working class and based on a socialist programme. Register now for our online rally on December 10th at 7 p.m. and invite your friends!