On 21st November 1992, the squatter and anti-fascist Silvio Meier was killed by a group of neo-Nazis in the U-Bahn Samariterstraße. Since then there have been annual actions, demos, rallies, to remember both Silvio and the other fatal victims of neo-Nazi violence.
21st November 2021 is the 29th anniversary of the murder of Silvio Meier. This day fills us with sorrow, shock and anger – and reminds us how high the price can be for anti-fascist engagement. Friends and relatives lost a close friend, a father and a political activist, who never tolerated neo-Nazis.
Since then, the anger has grown, as neo-Nazi murders are still on the agenda, and the trivialisation of neo-Nazi violence is still not a rare occurrence. Countless attacks on refugees, on Jewish life in Germany, the NSU terror, the murder of Walter Lübke, the attacks in Halle and Hanau are only the best known examples, which give a rough insight into the dimension of right wing terrorism.
They, and all others who have been murdered by neo-Nazis remind us not to lose sight of an important fight. Anti-fascism was and remains self-evident. Anti-fascism is lived solidarity.
Come to the vigil and rally in Friedrichshain #Hanau #Halle #Baseballschlaegerjahre
A friend of Silvio’s who witnessed the event will report his experiences. Other speakers include Ferat Kocak, the initiative “Dieter Eich” and the young Antifa Prenzlauer Berg, There will be music from Christoph who has dedicated a song to Silvio.
Bring candles and flowers – and your friends!
Sunday, 21st November 3pm. Silvio-Meier-Straße (U-Bhf Samariter Straße)
Who was Silvio Meier?
Silvio Meier (*1965 in Quedlinburg) was already engaged in left-wing groups outside the State in the DDR. On the evangelical church day 1987 he was one of the founders of “Church from Below” (Kirche von unten, KvU). Left groups gathered in the “environmental library” around the Zionskirche in Prenzlaier Berg, Silvio Meier was one of the people who printed illegal “environment leaflets” in the church cellar. This is the same Zionskirche where the first open assault by neo-Nazi skinheads on left oppositionists took place. Two years later, he produced the opposition paper “Morning Star”.
In the “Wendezeit” when the Berlin fall fell, Silvio Meier and other Berlin-Friedrichshainer from the KvU formed the “Happy Friedrichshainer peace friends”. This group squatted one of the first houses in East Berlin in December 1989 – Schreinerstraße 47 in North Friedrichshain. Silvio Meier and some other squatters from Schreinerstraße worked in an alternative print shop.
