On May 9, 1945, the monster of Nazism was annihilated in Berlin by the peoples and the working class of the world that had in its vanguard the heroic Red Army.
The World Federation of Trade Unions, which today has more than 100 million workers in its ranks from 130 countries across the world, honors this historically important anniversary and pays tribute to the millions of martyrs of our class who crushed the Nazi-fascist threat. We do not forget the victims of Nazi atrocities anywhere in the world, nor the 4 Heroic Cities, proclaimed as such on May 1, 1945 in the Red Square: Leningrad, Stalingrad, Odessa and Sevastopol.
The WFTU is the child of this effort, the culmination of this Victory, since it was founded in Paris, in the same year as the Antifascist Victory. In fact, the leading role of the working class, of the thousands of trade unionists who gave their lives, constitutes proof of the vanguard role of the working class in the fight against fascism and in the honor of humanity itself.
Today, the importance of this Victory is more topical than ever. In a period when the capitalists and their governments, the USA and the EU are trying to falsify history and erase the colossal contribution of the peoples, of the Soviet Union, of the partisan movements in the victory over fascism, our task is even more urgent. Peoples’ enemies did not even hesitate to characterize May 9 as “Europe Day” in order to change the true content of this date.
Today, in a time period in which neo-fascism and the extreme right is on the rise, under the tolerance or even the energetic support of the capitalist states, it is a duty of the class union movement not to let memory be erased, not to let historical truth be forgotten. The class unions must inform, spread the truth to the new generation of trade unionists.
May 9 continues to inspire the workers of the world, it gives them strength and teaches them faith in their strength; it will continue to show them the way against exploitation, no matter how much ink is spilled by the enemies of the working class. It will be an example to follow in the struggles of the future and in the complex tasks that will come for class unions around the world.
The WFTU is committed to keeping alive the spark of historical memory for workers around the world.
Long live May 9 !
Long live the Great Antifascist Victory of the Peoples!
The Secretariat WFTU