dChan - Q Origins Project Archive

Antifaschistische Aktion (German: [ˌantifaˈʃɪstɪʃə ʔakˈtsioːn]), commonly known under its abbreviation Antifa (German: [ˈantifaː]), was an organisation affiliated with the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) that existed from 1932 to 1933.

Under the leadership of Ernst Thälmann, the KPD had become a staunchly Stalinist party, and it had been largely controlled and funded by the Soviet leadership since 1928; the party had adopted the position that it was "the only anti-fascist party" while it regarded all other parties, and especially the Social Democratic Party (SPD), as "fascists".[1][2] The KPD did not view "fascism" as a specific political movement, but primarily as the final stage of capitalism, and "anti-fascism" was therefore synonymous with anti-capitalism. The KPD stated that "fighting fascism means fighting the SPD just as much as it means fighting Hitler and the parties of Brüning".[3] In 1929 the KPD's paramilitary group Roter Frontkämpferbund was banned as extremist by the governing social democrats. The Antifaschistische Aktion was formed largely as a counter-move to the social democrats' establishment of the Iron Front in 1931, which the KPD regarded as a "social fascist terror organisation".[4] The Antifaschistische Aktion was an integral part of the KPD and was mainly active as a KPD campaign during the elections in 1932. During its brief existence the Antifaschistische Aktion focused in large part on attacking the social democrats, as they were seen by the KPD as the most dangerous and capable fascists; the KPD viewed the Nazi Party as a less sophisticated fascist party and as the lesser evil compared to the SPD, and sometimes cooperated with them in attacking the social democrats.[5]

In the postwar era the historical organisation inspired new groups and networks, known as the wider Antifa movement, many of which use the aesthetics of the historical Antifaschistische Aktion, especially its abbreviated name "Antifa" and a modified version of its logo.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antifaschistische_Aktion