Left-Extremist Endeavours

No change in the
ideological orientation of
the VVN-BdA
Members: 6,200 (1998: 6,500)
Publication: "antifa-rundschau",
quarterly
The "Vereinigung der Verfolgten des Naziregimes - Bund der Antifaschistinnen
und Antifaschisten" (VVN-BdA - "Union of Victims
of Nazi Persecution - Alliance of Anti-Fascists") remained the association
with the largest membership within the spectrum of leftextremist
"anti-fascism".
Within the bodies and groupings of this organization, which is
supported by various left-extremist as well as non-extremist
forces, the political tone is set, as before, by both active and former
members of the "German Communist Party" (DKP).
The VVN-BdA orients itself by the classical orthodox-Communist
fascism doctrine, according to which both "fascism" and "bourgeois
democracy" serve to secure the supremacy of capital. It
claims that present-day right-wing extremism has functions within
the political system of the Federal Republic:
"However, any exclusively ’pure’ fight against neo-fascist
structures becomes dependent on the on-site presence of
specific adversaries, and neglects the social standards
pursued by anti-fascism. ... Notwithstanding the terror and
individual suffering, the immediate threat posed by neofascism
is not the assumption of dictatorial power by a neofascist
party or movement. Rather, the much greater presentday
threat posed by neo-fascism - much greater also because
it is disregarded by many or not perceived as such - is its
political function in a society that is moving to the right wing, in
which social conflicts have aggravated, economic interests
take precedence over social justice, and exploitation is
growing."
(Reinhard HILDEBRANDT, member of the National Committee, of
the Neo-Fascism Commission and spokesman of the Baden-
Wurttemberg Land Asssociation of the VVN-BdA, "Funktion
und Einfluss des Neofaschismus in der BRD" ("Function and
Influence of Neo-Fascism in the FRG"), in: "AntiFa-
Nachrichten", October 1999, p. 16)
Taking up a perpetual element of its agitation since 1947, the
VVN-BdA claimed that the Federal Republic was continuously
moving to the right wing:
"This includes the long-term ideological re-orientation function
of neo-fascism, continuously working towards an ideologicalcultural
change. And this in addition to a ’turnaround’ which is
nothing else but the return to conventional ’German’ values
and traditions which, already in the past, helped to foster the
fascist reign of terror and preparing the ground for it. This
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