Unite Against Fascism | Antifascist hero Morris Beckman of 43 Group backs Bradford event

Veteran antifascist campaigner Morris Beckman, a founder of the 43 Group, which opposed Mosley’s fascists after the Second World War, has given his backing to the We are Bradford event on Saturday 28 August.

The event will celebrate our multicultural society and show our opposition to the English Defence League – an organisation of racist thugs with links to the British National Party and other fascist groups.

The 43 Group

Today, organisations like the EDL have particularly targeted Muslims. But before the war, the targets of Oswald Mosley’s fascists were Jewish. Mosley’s Blackshirts grew in the 1930s, but were pushed back by antifascist activists, most famously at Cable Street.

But Morris and other Jewish ex-service personnel were horrified to return from the war – and the revelation of Hitler’s Holocaust – to find the fascists were back on the streets of east London.

Organised

Starting with just 43 people in a room, the antifascists set up an organisation that eventually grew big enough to disrupt hundreds of fascist meetings and break up their organisation. The tale of how they took on the fascists in the late 1940s is told in Morris’s book, The 43 Group.

The picture shows Morris addressing an antifascist meeting in Bethnal Green, east London, in 1947. Today, Morris says:

One of the lessons of history is you should never let up on the racists and fascists. Racism and fascism should always be attacked. The 43 Group never let up, we took the fascists on relentlessly.

We ex-serviceman were determined to stop fascism and put an end to racial abuse. Our exasperation grew into outrage and anger… the flame was the 43 Group. We were very disciplined and determined to win.

I have just completed a book, The Hatemongers, which deplores the racism and fascism that has existed for decades. People who follow the Muslim faith should be as free to enjoy their lives as people of any other faith.

Today’s fascist thugs, like Mosley, have built their provocative parades in areas which have created disturbances. Fascists are again using free speech to provoke at will. The English Defence League’s appearance brings back foul echoes of Mosley’s intimidatory fascists.

Anyone who wants to fight the new fascists must be welcome. Trade unionists need to renew their efforts against the racists. Post-war, the trade union movement didn’t hesitate to demonstrate their abhorrence of fascism.

It’s what we DO that’s important in fighting fascism, we need to continue to wear down the BNP and their ilk and expose them for what they are.

I wish you success in destroying the fascists’ membership and confidence and hope that sooner rather than later you smell the sweet aroma of victory.

You can order copies of The 43 Group and Morris Beckman’s forthcoming book, The Hatemongers, from Bookmarks bookshop.

What you can do

The We are Bradford celebration of unity and our multicultural society takes place on Saturday 28 August. Assemble: 12 noon at Exchange Square, Drake Street, Bradford city centre. People using public transport should travel in via the Bradford Interchange.