Appeal of the Party of the European Left on the occasion of the 60 th anniversary of the liberation from fascism and the end of Wold War II:

60 years ago the states and armies of the Anti-Hitler coalition together with the national resistance movements and partisan units put an end to the Hitler fascist regime. By the end of the "Third Reich", planned to last 1000 years, Europe and the world could breathe at last the air of liberation. No more wars, never again fascism, a radical annihilation of its power basis – this was the spirit and message of the time. These where the hopes of the people freed from the concentration camps. They were thought to shape the agreements and treaties between the states of post-war Europe. <//span>

 Boundless the suffering Hitler fascism brought  to humanity, without historic precedence its crimes:  the industrially organized murder of the European  Jews, the genocide of the Sinti and Roma, the liquidation  of further people on grounds of race and sexual  orientation, the annihilation of the political  opposition to Nazi rule in Germany, of individuals  not ready to accommodate to its inhumane rules  of life, of persons being seen by the Nazis not  worth living, the invasion of the countries of Europe, the mass murder of their populations. Numerous  are the institutions of the Nazi state taking part  in these crimes: industrial companies and banks,  the military and the repression apparatus, judges and doctors, science and media. They all had their  share of responsibility in war, terror and annihilation.

 These unprecedented crimes must not be blurred  or played down. The great anti-fascist writer Bertolt  Brecht was right when warning: "The womb is  fertile still, which bore this fruit." His  words have not lost their weight even in our days.

 But unprecedented was the resistance against  fascism too – in the occupied countries,  in prisons and concentration camps, in Europe,  the world and also in Germany. Resistance was put  up by communists, social democrats, socialists  and Christians, by members of the military and  the bourgeoisie, by artists and scientists, by  those persecuted on racial grounds, collectively  and individually, by broad action and everyday courage. We remember with honour all those who  resisted to or fell victim of fascism. Their deeds  and their sacrifice are obliging us to act today  in their sense.

 The unity arisen from the common fight against  fascism fell apart in the cold war, in the bloc  confrontation, in the struggle for new power ambitions.  Very soon, war and military force became tools  of solving international conflicts again. We are  also aware of mistakes and wrong developments caused  by the forces of the Left.

 We honour the 60 years from the end of World  War II. We condemn its atrocities. We state “never  again”. It is an occasion for alertness and vigilance because racism and xenophobia are on  the rise in Europe.

 A united Europe of peace, democracy, solidarity,  social and ecological protection, multi-cultural  co-existence is the answer. A Europe with an all-European  system of all-embracing security based on the OSCE, without NATO. A Europe capable to play a decisive  role for world peace and equitable co-operation  , especially by contributing to bridging the North-South  gap.

 The 60 th anniversary of the victory against  fascism in the Second World War coincides with  the 60 th anniversary of the creation of the United Nations, which was founded to give flesh and blood  to the strong desire of the peoples and citizens  for permanent peace and global justice. Therefore  the European Left sees this occasion also as a  challenge to defend the UN-system against any attempt  to undermine and marginalize its role, especially  by the US-president Bush administration; as task  to campaign for the profound democratization and  upgrading of the United Nations.

 In the face of the history and the present, in  the face of new wars and ambitions of world domination  the Party of the European Left is appealing to  all people striving for peace, be they socialists,  communists, Christians or bourgeois democrats:

 Let us look for a new start, for a way to a new  culture of people living together in the 21 st  century, a culture of global justice.

• Let us say NO to war and re-armament. In the  21 century war must not be a means of politics  any more.
  
  
• Let us act for an open and democratic Europe  in an open and equitable world. Stability needs  economic and social justice, ecological responsibility,  gender democracy and state equality. To say NO  to fascism, racism and anti-Semitism is more  needed today than ever.
  
  
• We want a Europe of cultural diversity and  spiritual freedom. Our continent shall take the  path of more democracy and citizens' participation.

 A new start to peace, justice and democracy is  possible. 60 years after the liberation from fascism  the Party of the European Left is calling to organize  all over Europe meetings big and small to remember,  to discuss and to realize such a new start.