Showing posts with label resistance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label resistance. Show all posts

October 2 - Happy Birthday, Mahatma Gandhi

 Posted on October 2, 2021


This is an update of my post published on October 2, 2010:




Born on this day in 1869, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi became the political and spiritual leader of India during the India independence movement. He led his people to stand up to British rule—what might be called tyranny—through mass civil disobedience. But he made sure that the protests were also nonviolent.



Not only was Gandhi successful in helping India gain independence from Great Britain, he inspired other civil rights and freedom movements around the world. For example, Martin Luther King, Jr., was very influenced by Gandhi's philosophy and tactics as he led the African American civil rights movement, and Nelson Mandela continued the tradition as he worked to end apartheid in South Africa.

Many people think that Gandhi's first name was Mahatma, but Mahatma is a title that means “Great Soul.”

Gandhi was a Hindu and a vegetarian. For a while he was a fruitarian—which is someone who not only avoids meat, but also avoids dairy products, vegetables, and grains. That means that fruitarians only eat fruits and nuts! Gandhi famously used fasting—that is, not eating at all for hours or even days—to purify himself and to call attention to his political goals.


Nowadays, the memory and legacy of Mahatma Gandhi are facing fresh scrutiny for his attitudes about race and about women. When he was young, Gandhi was decisively racist. However, biographer Ramachandra Guha states that Gandhi learned and grew and became anti-racist. Some of the push-back on Gandhi as a great man has come from women who question some of his words and deeds - and such criticism is fair. However, Gandhi did work on ending discrimination based on sex and gender, and he also was a huge promoter of women in politics.

All in all, Gandhi was a hero for Hindus, and Indians, and he added some great ideas for making needed changes through ethical and non-violent resistance. And that benefitted the whole world! It was a tragic day in 1948 when a Hindu extremist assassinated him.


Find out more...

  • Here is a short biography on Gandhi. 

  • Here is a bio that also has puzzles near the bottom of the page, including a jigsaw puzzle of Gandhi and his wife. 


Powerful words...from Mohandas Gandhi

  • A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history.


  • If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change.


  • An ounce of practice is worth more than tons of preaching.





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June 22 - Anti-Fascist Struggle Day in Croatia

Posted on June 22, 2020

This national holiday marks the beginning of Croatian forces fighting against the German and Italian occupation during World War II. On June 22, 1941, the first armed resistance unit formed in a forest near Sisak. 

When I read "the first armed resistance unit," I assumed that this was the first such unit formed in Croatia. But according to Wikipedia, it was the first such formed in all of Europe!

I read that the Sisak armed group only had 77 fighters, and by the end of the war, that number had been cut down to only 38. The squad did mostly diversions - keeping the Nazis busy with fixing rail lines they damaged, for example. Another, smaller armed group started up near Vrgorac.

These squads of fighters inspired people all over Croatia and the surrounding region to join a resistance movement that is considered the most effective resistance of the war. I gather that the anti-fascist Croats were able to control lots of the previously occupied land. People rationed consumer goods, recycled materials, bought war bonds, and worked in war industries. 

Laying flowers and wreaths in cemeteries and at memorial parks is a popular way of honoring the anti-fascists. Opposing fascism today would be another good thing to do!



(By the way, even though some people misuse the label "antifa" as they hurt people or destroy property, other people who label themselves as antifa only use "violence" in self-defense of people being attacked by white supremacists or other fascistic groups. Some people pretend that antifa is an organized group of terrorists - but "antifa" isn't an organization, and few if any people using the label are rightly labeled as terrorists.  The truth is, "antifa" just means anti-fascist. And we should ALL be anti-fascist, shouldn't we?)

Sisak - the location of the beginning of Croatia's anti-fascist movement - is today considered the Mural Capital of Croatia:







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August 22 - Remembering Willem Arondeus

Posted on August 22, 2019

Willem Arondeus was a Dutch artist and writer. But we don't remember him primarily for his artistic creations. Instead, we remember him mostly for his heroism.

Arondeus, who was born on this date in 1894, was in his forties when the Nazi's invaded and occupied the Netherlands. Arondeus promptly became one of the first members of the Dutch resistance movement.


Before the war, Arondeus lived openly as a gay man. And the Nazis often persecuted members of what we now call the LGBTQI community, including sending gay people to concentration camps and/or executing them. But instead of hiding or trying to run away, Arondeus started an underground newspaper for other artists, encouraging them to join the resistance. He urged artists to use their skills to create forged documents so that Jewish people could pose as non-Jewish residents and - hopefully - travel to someplace that was still free from Nazis (like the U.K.).

The problem was that the Nazis had made lists of Dutch citizens and residents, claiming that the lists were for the people's safety; Arondeus and other resistance fighters knew that they would be used for something much darker than "safety." The lists and identity cards were kept in the Municipal Office for Population Registration. The Nazis could just check the forged papers against those lists and determine that they were fakes!

Arondeus and another in the Dutch resistance planned to attack the office and destroy the registration lists, and they recruited a group of resisters to help. On the planned night in 1943, the resistance fighters disguised themselves as Dutch police officers, gained access to the Municipal Office for Population Regulation, snatched up 600 blank identity cards and 50,000 guilders (Dutch currency, equivalent of around 270,000 current U.S. dollars), destroyed 800,000 identity cards. They blew up the building - and they got away!



When firefighters came to the burning building, they used way more water than necessary to put out the flames. In that way, they were able to destroy as many records as possible while appearing to be doing their jobs.

Unfortunately, there was apparently a traitor in the group. Arondeus was arrested by the Nazis. He refused to give up the names of the other resisters, but the Nazis were able to find his notebook and rounded up 13 other men who had participated in the bombing. Arondeus had a trial and claimed full responsibility for the bombing...but the Nazis didn't buy it. Arondeus and all of the others were executed.

Arondeus's last request of his lawyer was to tell people that he and two others of the resisters were gay. He went on to say, "Tell the people that gays are no cowards!" 

(Or some such. I have read several slightly different versions of this quote.)



After the Netherlands were liberated from the Nazis (and the Nazis were, of course, wholly defeated), Arondeus's family was awarded a medal in his honor. Since then, Arondeus has posthumously (after his death) won several other awards and recognitions for courage. 

Here is a sample of Arondeus's art:

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