Antifascism | Ulrich Sander: Unwavering and tireless

The current cinema landscape is dominated by blockbusters and niche films – there's no room for critical documentaries in commercial cinema. It's all the more commendable that filmmakers from North Rhine-Westphalia have made a biographical portrait of two activists, Traute and Ulrich, or "Ulli" for short, Sander, who have been active in the anti-fascist and peace movement in the former Federal Republic for decades.

At the beginning of July, the film "Life's Motto: Peace and Antifascism" premiered at an alternative cinema in Dortmund. Ulli and Traute Sander are well-known as long-time activists in the antifascist and peace movement, not only in Dortmund and Hamburg, but also in many other parts of Germany, and are valued as discussion partners. In addition, Ulli Sander continues to publish as a journalist in various magazines and is also known as the author of numerous books. Both represent the women and men who, over the past decades, have championed the antifascist ideals that culminated in the core statements "Never again fascism! Never again war!"

As the era of contemporary witnesses to the anti-fascist resistance, and now also to the early phase of the Federal Republic of Germany, is irretrievably coming to an end for biological reasons, it is now the second generation who are moving into focus as mediators of this historical perspective. And so, alternative media activists, photographer Jochen Vogler and filmmaker Martin Bauer, supported by historian Ulrich Schneider, set out to get closer to these two figures of contemporary history through interviews and historical footage. It proved advantageous that the filmmakers and the protagonists had known each other for decades from their joint historical-political work. There were no misunderstandings or barriers that had to be overcome. It is clear from the film sequences that these people are communicating with each other on an equal footing.

Released on the 80th anniversary of the liberation from fascism and war, this film features the protagonists and their partners speaking for themselves. They convincingly and with personal emotion recount their experiences and the social conflicts of the past decades in the former Federal Republic. Thus, the film focuses not only on conversations with Traute and Ulli Sander, but also with Beate Klarsfeld and Nicole Mattern from the "Children of Bullenhuser Damm" association, with fellow activists from the "Vulnerable Traditionspflege" group, and others.

In eight chapters, this film explores various facets of anti-fascist and remembrance work, in which Traute and Ulli Sander were particularly involved. In the first chapter, "Childhood and Crimes at Bullenhuser Damm," Ulli Sander recounts: "My earliest memory of my childhood during the war sees me as a small boy in the burning, bombed streets of Hamburg. I began to hate war and fascism early on, listening to the stories of my parents' comrades returning from the concentration camps. I started school in 1947 – the school on Bullenhuser Damm, where 20 Jewish children and their carers had been murdered by the SS two years earlier at the end of the war."

As a result, as described in the second chapter under the heading "Scholl Siblings and Helmuth Hübener," Traute and Ulli Sander became involved in the Association of Persecutees of the Nazi Regime (VVN) Hamburg, in its anti-fascist youth work, and in the establishment of the Scholl Siblings. An important aspect was their research and publications on youth resistance, the White Rose Hamburg, and the Helmut Hübener Group, which even Nobel Prize winner Günter Grass referred to.

For Traute and Ulli Sander, "Never again war!" and "Never again fascism!" are inextricably linked, which is why they participated in the first Easter marches with the Geschwister Scholl Youth. An impressive photo series demonstrates the continuity of their commitment.

Largely forgotten is the debate about former Nazis in public office in the Federal Republic of Germany, such as Chancellor Kurt Georg Kiesinger. In the film, Beate Klarsfeld (Paris) reports on her collaboration with the Youth Information Service and on Ulli Sanders' support in the political debate following the legendary slap in the face of Chancellor Kiesinger.

For many years, Ulli Sanders was concerned with historical remembrance, not only of those persecuted by the Nazi regime, but also of those who persecuted and profited from it. Together with the North Rhine-Westphalian Association of the German Workers' Union (VVN-BdA), he examined the crimes committed by the business community, which profited from its active participation in the fascist regime. This involved a form of social remembrance, which has now been made visible through the erection of a memorial to the forced laborers at Dortmund's Phoenix Lake.

For the VVN-BdA and the International Rombergpark Committee, Ulrich Sander researched and published on fascist crimes in the final phase of the Second World War. Significantly, Ulli Sander was monitored for decades by the West German domestic intelligence service for his anti-fascist work and was frequently mentioned in the annual reports of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution. This did not deter Ulli and Traute Sander; they continued unwaveringly and tirelessly.

A special chapter deals with the actions against the militaristic preservation of traditions at the Mountain Infantry meeting in Mittenwald. Members of the group "Vulnerable Preservation of Traditions," as well as Traute and Ulrich Sander, describe the long-standing campaign by the VVN-BdA in North Rhine-Westphalia and other initiatives to expose the Mountain Infantry veterans in Mittenwald as an SS-like murderous force—a campaign that was finally successfully concluded with a memorial in front of a school in Mittenwald.

For Traute and Ulrich Sander, “Never again war!” and “Never again fascism!” belong inseparably together.

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The film poses the question in every sequence: Was it worth it? Yes. And for Traute and Ulrich Sander, it remains important that memories be passed on, especially given the increasing activities of right-wing populists and right-wing extremists. The film documents the performance of the "Children of the Resistance" against the AfD federal party conference in Essen. Thus, this film not only provides a reminder of the political reality in the former Federal Republic of Germany, a look back at the challenges of anti-fascist action in recent decades, but also encourages commitment today and tomorrow.

Thanks go to the media portal r-mediabase, the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation in North Rhine-Westphalia, the VVN-BdA, and numerous individual donors who made this film, which is recommended for school lessons or other public events, financially possible.

"Life's Motto: Peace and Antifascism," a film by Jochen Vogler and Martin Bauer, with the collaboration of historian Ulrich Schneider. 70 minutes. Copies are available for €20 from r-mediabase, Samoastr. 12, 42277 Wuppertal, and from R-mediabase "Life's Motto: Peace and Antifascism. Ulli and Traute Sander" - UZ-Shop