On the origins of East Germany’s anti-fascism: The Communist International’s incorrect theory of fascism
Translated from Der Faschismus und seine demokratische Bewältigung, by Konrad Hecker (GegenStandpunkt Verlag, Munich: 1995) p. 305-26 In the German Democratic Republic (East Germany), Germany’s communists realized a project that had failed when it mattered, namely to resist fascism with a powerful defensive front. In its own right, this was neither a bad or a wrong undertaking; however, it was only as correct as the concept of the enemy held by the anti-fascists, and only as good as the reasons they gave to win over fellow combatants. And here the German communists, as well as their international umbrella organization, were unfortunately quite wrong. They were quite certain about the “class character” of fascism, i.e., its place in the class struggle between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat: “Comrades, fascism in power was correctly described by the Thirteenth Plenum of the Executive Committee of the Communist International as the open terrorist dictatorship of the most reactionary