I hope that you will set aside a few minutes this week to read about the historic general strike that took place in Amsterdam, in the Netherlands on February 25, 1941. This year marks its 85th anniversary.
I first learned about it in an article on the United Auto Workers’ website. I was stunned to read about the 300,000 workers who waged the two-day strike for two reasons: First, the city-wide strike was a fight back, in part, against the German Nazi occupation of their city, triggered by growing persecution of Amsterdam’s Jewish population. And secondly, it was led by the then-outlawed Communist Party of the Netherlands. The second point was particularly noteworthy because the UAW had rarely, if ever, published a piece citing the good works of communists. I downloaded the piece and saved it in my digital files. I’m glad I did.
Today, there’s a rising chorus in support of general strikes in the U.S. in response to the persecution—not of Jews—but of racialized immigrants, intensified in the wake of the ICE murders in Minneapolis, and the wholesale round-up of sections of the working class, students, and community activists for direct deportation or imprisonment in detention camps.
In summary, here’s what the UAW highlighted:
- Holland surrendered six days after the Nazis invaded in May 1940. The persecution of Jews began immediately: they were ejected from their civilian jobs, including at universities, denied government services, etc.
- Nazi militias engaged in hate campaigns. Jews and their supporters organized self-defense groups.
- Tensions escalated; the Nazis swept through the Jewish neighborhoods, arresting and deporting nearly 500 Jewish men to a concentration camp 600 miles away, where most would eventually die.
- The Dutch Communist Party (which was outlawed when the Nazis invaded) led the resistance. It mobilized for a general strike after the metal workers’ union went on strike and blocked the deportation of their members to Germany.
- Beginning with work stoppages by the transport workers’ union, Amsterdam soon lurched to a halt. In two days, the strike was crushed; strike leaders were executed, many by firing squad.
- In the words of the UAW, the strike took its place in history “as an example of worker resistance in the name of justice for oppressed citizens, even in the face of death.”
Quoting Sem Davids, a Jewish author, the UAW adds: “Whatever one may forget from these bitter times, never this exceptional day….”
There are ironies in the UAW’s remembrance of this valiant Left-led general strike. It was published during the UAW’s domination by the “Administration (formerly Reuther) Caucus,” a decidedly anti-Left political group. Were some in the leadership too occupied with their alleged fraudulent activities (or efforts at cover-ups) to notice the posting, perhaps by someone on staff? Or was it posted with their approval?
The other irony is that it was only a few months later (August 1941), after the Communist-led general strike in Amsterdam, that the UAW at its convention in Buffalo, New York, adopted an amendment to its constitution barring from office any Local UAW member who was a member of a communist organization. (The amendment also barred members of Fascist and Nazi organizations).
Given the above history, it’s puzzling why a majority of delegates at the UAW Convention viewed the three organizations as equivalent. The sad part about it is that this equivalency has never been corrected. Eighty-five years later, the amendment is still part of the UAW Constitution as Article 10, Section 7:
No member of any Local Union shall be eligible to hold any elective or appointive position in this International Union or any Local Union in this International Union if they are a member of or subservient to any political organization, such as the Communist, Fascist or Nazi Organization which owes its allegiance to any government other than the United States or Canada, directly or indirectly.
Donald Trump and the circle around him are rapidly advancing fascism in the U.S. in patterns alarmingly like Hitler’s regime. Undocumented migrants and more generally brown and Black people with accents are the new Jews. The so-called “detention centers” that are cropping up around the country, which ICE has already populated with 68,289 detainees without due process, are eerily reminiscent of the Jews and others transported to Nazi concentration camps. Nearly 50% of registered voters before Trump’s re-election held the opinion that Trump is a fascist.
In tandem with his reactionary ideology, Trump proclaimed a week last November devoted to anti-communism—again, eerily like the Nazis outlawing the Communist Party in Holland as part of its attack on that country’s working class. The White House post says:
“For more than a century, communism has brought nothing but ruin. Wherever it spreads, it silences dissent, punishes beliefs, and demands that generations kneel before the power of the state instead of standing for freedom. Its story is written in blood and sorrow, a grim reminder that communism is nothing more than another word for servitude.”
Held up in the light of the heroic resistance by the Amsterdam dock and transit workers and others against Nazi antisemitism, Trump’s proclamation is clearly more descriptive of the fascists than the communists who led the resistance. There is no parallel “Anti-Fascism Week” on the White House portal.
A UAW autoworker in Ohio recently turned me on to “Army Talk Orientation Fact Sheet #64” published by the U.S. War Department in 1945, an 8-page document titled, “Fascism!” Army Talk Orientation Fact Sheets are described online as:
“…educational pamphlets published by the U.S. War Department (Information and Education Division) during World War II, typically from 1944 to 1945. They aimed to educate, inform, and boost morale, covering topics like wartime propaganda, Allied nations, the GI Bill, and the nature of the enemy.”
Fact Sheet 64 should be required reading for all Americans. These are excerpts of what the U.S. Army had to say about anti-communism:
“It is accurate to call a member of a communist party a ‘communist.’ For short, he is often called a ‘Red.’ Indiscriminate pinning of the label ‘Red’ on people and proposals which one opposes is a common political device. It is a favorite trick of native as well as foreign fascists.”
“Many fascists make the spurious claim that the world has but two choices either fascism or communism, and they label as ‘communist’ everyone who refuses to support them… Hitler insisted that only fascism could save Europe and the world from the ‘communist menace.’ …The ‘Red bogey’ was a convincing enough argument to help Hitler take and maintain power… The [Italy-Germany-Japan] Axis, whose aggressions plunged the world into global war, was…proclaimed by Hitler, Mussolini, and Hirohito as a ‘bulwark against communism.’”
“What is the difference between Communism and Fascism? Aren’t they essentially the same? In any discussion on fascism, there will be some who will argue that there are strong similarities between fascism and communism… [However] there are important and fundamental differences in philosophy, aims, purposes, and methods. In their systematic destruction of all opposing groups, Hitler and Mussolini had the communists first on their list. Among the early opponents of fascism, the communists were in the forefront.”
The document mentions how “fascism means war,” contrasting it to the Soviet Union at the time. It stated that, “the avowed Soviet [communist] policy has been peace through international collective security…The Soviet has reaffirmed its aim as lasting peace through international cooperation. This attitude toward peace has been recognized by leading Americans.”
Donald Nelson, former chairman of the War Production Board from 1942-1944, stated during his time: “I know from what I saw and heard in Russia that the leaders and the people of that great country are anxious to work with us. They know that only world cooperation and enduring peace can produce the rapid internal development of Russia, which is their main concern.”
The UAW Remembrance coincides with the 1945 U.S. War Department’s assessment that communists played a central role in opposing fascism and as proponents of peace. The UAW constitution does not. Maybe it deserves another look? Especially in view of the rise of fascism in many countries around the globe, and here in the United States, too?
As an expression of real appreciation for the role played by the Communist Party of the Netherlands, the “communist” reference should be dropped from Article 10, Section 7.
As with all news-analysis and op-ed articles published by People’s World, the views reflected here are those of the author.
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