19 April 1945: Oath of Buchenwald – antifascist legacy

16. April 2020

Oath of Buchenwald

Comrades!

We, the Buchenwald anti-fascists, are reporting today in honor of those murdered by the Nazi beast and its helpers’ helpers at Buchenwald and its outside details.

51,000 captured!

51,000 shot, hung, trampled upon, beaten, choked, drowned, starved, poisoned – hosed down.

51,000 fathers, brothers – sons died a torturous death because they were fighters against the fascist murder regime.

51,000 mothers, women, and hundreds of thousands of children are decrying.

We the survivors, we the witnesses of the Nazi beastly activities in faint anger saw our comrades fall.

If there was something that kept us alive, it was the thought: The day of revenge will come!

Today we are free!

We thank the allied Armies of the Americans, English, Soviets and all Freedom Armies who fought for our as well as the freedom of the entire world.

We remember at this position the great friend of the anti-fascists of all countries, an organizer and initiator of the fight for a new, democratic, friendly world.

F.D. Roosevelt. Honor his memory!

We Buchenwalders, Russians, French, Polish, Czechoslovaks and Germans, Spanish, Italians and Austrians, Belgians and Dutch, English, Luxembourger, Romanian, Yugoslavs and Hungarian fought together against the SS, against the Nazi criminals for our liberation.

One idea inspired us: Our cause is just – victory must be ours!

In many languages we lead the same, hard, merciless fight that yielded many victims. And this fight is not over yet.

Hitler flags are still waving.

The murderers of our Comrades are still alive!

The sadistic torturers are still walking about.

For this reason we swear in front of all the world at this Appellplatz (roll call place of concentration camp) at this city of the fascist greyness:

We will cease our fight when the last guilty person stands before the judges of the people.

The eradication of Nazism as well as its roots is our guiding principle.

The rebuilding of our new world of peace and freedom is our goal.

That is what we owe our murdered comrades and their families.

In demonstration of your cooperativeness with this fight, lift your hand in the oath and repeat after me:

WE SWEAR!