Ruth Berlau and the Historical Repetition of Fascism

• Ruth Berlau's Warning: "He who forgets the past does not escape it."
• Fascism is defined as a hysterical phase of capitalism—its most crude, oppressive, and deceitful form.
• A critique of contemporary state suppression of anti-fascist movements and the re-emergence of fascist elements in modern politics.

Ruth Berlau and Bertolt Brecht

• Ruth Berlau (1906–1974) was a Danish actress, journalist, and activist who became a key collaborator of Bertolt Brecht during their exile.
• In the preface to Brecht's 'War Primer' (ABC der Krieg), Berlau emphasized the need to teach people to "read images," arguing that capitalism intentionally obscures social relations, rendering historical photographs undecipherable to the public.

The Nexus of Fascism and Capitalism

• Figures like Clara Zetkin and George Orwell characterized fascism not merely as military dictatorship, but as a byproduct of capitalist crisis.
• Zetkin described it as a "fake mass revolutionary project" that channels working-class anxiety into the oppression of vulnerable groups like Jews, migrants, and the LGBTQ community.
• Orwell famously argued that bourgeois democracy is often only a "matter of time" away from fascism, noting that one cannot effectively oppose fascism while preserving the underlying capitalist system.

Modern Case Studies and Implications

• The article cites recent instances of police crackdowns on anti-fascist protesters in Pamplona and state-supported violence against anti-Zionist activists in the Basque Country as examples of systemic authoritarianism.
• It questions whether contemporary regimes—even those not strictly labeled "fascist"—are less atrocious when they engage in mass violence, genocide, or colonial suppression, suggesting that fascism is essentially colonial violence applied within the metropole.