Anti-fascist pressure forces police to cancel Nazi rally|5Nov05|Socialist Worker

Holocaust Survivor Leon Greenman movingly outlined the threat of fascism on Monday of this week as activists geared up to protest against the Nazi British National Party (BNP) in Leeds. Students at Leeds University gave him a standing ovation after hearing him speak. Leon spoke alongside speakers from Unite Against Fascism and the Unison and GMB trade unions at a meeting to raise awareness of the BNP’s threat. Leon Greenman was born in England in 1910 but ended up a witness to Nazi death camps across Europe from 1942 to 1945. His wife and son perished in Auschwitz. “I want to give you an idea of what could happen if you vote for the BNP,” he told the meeting. “In mind and body, you would become a prisoner like I was.” As Leon Greenman spoke, anti-fascists from across the country were preparing to mobilise against the Nazis outside Leeds Crown Court on Wednesday of this week. The BNP’s leader Nick Griffin was due to appear in court that day to face charges of inciting racial hatred. These charges stem from the BBC’s Secret Agent documentary, which exposed the race hatred and thuggery at the heart of the BNP. Unite Against Fascism and Yorkshire and the Humber TUC have organised the morning protest against the BNP, followed by an anti-fascist rally outside Leeds Art Gallery.