ANTI-FASCISM AND ETHNIC MINORITIES: HISTORY AND MEMORY IN CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE

In: Rutledge studies in fascism and the far right

Abstract

Anti-Fascism and Ethnic Minoritiesexplores how, and to what extent, fascist ultranationalism elicited an anti-fascistresponse among ethnic minority communities in Eastern and Central Europe. The edited volume analyses how identities related to class, ethnicity, gender and political ideologies were negotiatedwithin and between minorities through confrontations with domestic and international fascism. By developing andexpanding the study of Jewish anti-fascism and resistance to other minority responses, the book opens the field ofanti-fascism studies for a broader comparative approach. The volume is thematically located in Central and EasternEurope, cutting right across the continent from Finland in the North to Albania in the Southeast. The case studies inthe14 research chapters are divided into five thematic sections, dealing with the issues of (1) minorities inborderlands and cross-border antifascism, (2) minorities navigating the ideological squeeze between communismand fascism, (3) the role of intellectuals in the defence of minority rights, (4) the anti-fascist resistance against fascistand Nazi occupation during World War II, and (5) the conflictual role ascribed to ethnicity in post-war memorypolitics and commemorations. The editors describe their intersectional approach to the analysis of ethnicity as acrucial category of analysis with regard to anti-fascist histories and memories. The book offers scholars and students valuable historical and comparative perspectives on minority studies, Jewishstudies, borderland studies, and memory studies. It will appeal to those with an interest in the history of race andracism, fascism and anti-fascism, and Central and Eastern Europe.