Rote Hilfe is a German solidarity organization that aids people hit by state repression, such as anti-fascists. Recent moves to close its bank accounts are aimed at wrecking its activity, even though it hasn’t broken the law.

Unlike Germany’s numerous amorphous groups from the autonomous tradition, however, Rote Hilfe operates as a legal organization in compliance with federal law. It is registered as an association, has an official HQ, and maintains an elected federal executive committee as well as local chapters and activities in the public sphere. Although it is regularly attacked by Germany’s ruling Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and features prominently in reports by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, it is not a banned organization. This makes the repression it is currently facing all the more astonishing.

  • Denys Nykula@piefed.socialEnglish
    1·
    1 day ago

    From what I’ve just found in archives, Rote Hilfe has also once advocated for Borotba, a left-conservative pro-Russian group. That was… stupid of them, or at least disingenuous. https://web.archive.org/web/20150227230349/https://www.nihilist.li/2014/12/16/nam-ne-potribna-vasha-pidtrimka-wir-brauchen-diese-unterstutzung-nicht/

    Still, they stopped doing that, and they’re not alone being debanked (their leftist opponents are, too), and not for that reason. There seems to be crackdown on leftist organizations in progress. Which is a very upsetting trend. https://thefinalstrawradio.noblogs.org/post/2026/04/05/abc-dresden-on-debanking-and-us-anti-antifascist-pressure/

    • randomname@scribe.disroot.orgEnglish
      1·
      5 hours ago

      There seems to be crackdown on leftist organizations in progress.

      There may or may not be such a crackdown (against left-wing and right-wing organizations). In 2024, for example, the Rote Hilfe openly criticized the state upon the arrest of Daniela Klette as she was arrested the year before, and embraced her actions (you’ll find ample evidence on the web). Wikipedia says about Klette:

      Klette is an alleged member of the third generation Red Army Faction active during the 1980s and 1990 … Klette is a suspect in the 1991 United States embassy sniper attack in Bonn and the 1993 explosives attack against Weiterstadt prison under construction in the state of Hesse … In 1999, Klette, Burkhard Garweg, and Ernst-Volker Staub were suspected of robbing DM 1 million from an armoured vehicle in Duisburg.

      The Rote Hilfe has been embracing her violence. And this is just an example of what they do.

      As I said earlier on, there is no difference between the left-wing and right-wing organizations if and when they intend to topple the democratic state, particularly by violence. This is unacceptable and intolerable imo.

      • Denys Nykula@piefed.socialEnglish
        1·
        4 hours ago

        Direct action against war in Iraq, and destroying a prison without harming anyone? That’s… impressive, a person accused of being a part of this definitely deserves legal assistance. There’s a huge difference between the left and the right in terms of whom they defend, target and try to avoid collateralizing.