Question

ANTIFA=NAZIFA. The symbols have changed, but the colors and ideology are the same in Germany.

Answer 1

This person on BlueSky is saying that the group Antifa originated from the Nazi party, and that they continue to hold the same values despite changing their image. This claim is false. While it is true that modern Antifa has origins dating back to Germany, Antifa’s German origins are merely etymological, and nothing related to the Nazi party, or Nazi ideology. According to a BBC article explaining what Antifa is;

“Antifa is short for anti-fascist. It is a loose, leaderless affiliation of mostly far-left activists. The word Antifa comes from the German word "antifaschistisch", a reference to a German anti-fascist group from the 1930s.” (Link)

According to an excerpt from the book Perspectives on Terrorism written by Nigel Copsey and Samuel Merril (published 2020,) and accessed on JSTOR;

“Antifa, short for ‘anti-fascist,’ is a self-designation. Its etymological provenance is German, a derivation of the militant Communist Party-sponsored organization, Antifaschistische Aktion, active during 1932-33. Yet today’s ‘antifa’ groups have no direct historical lineage to this Communist-sponsored organization. In fact, there is no political party affiliation, no central organization, no central leadership, and no prescribed doctrine beyond a shared belief that ‘fascism’ must be defeated.” (Link)

Answer 2

This personal social media account makes the assertion that Nazism is equivalent to Antifascism. The user is a German speaker with content that seems to largely related to politics, with posts expressing their opinion against “the left.” The icons chosen in their user name allow one to infer that they are a Christian and perhaps conservative, giving one a better understanding of the source and the context behind the claim. Because of the personal nature of the profile and the chosen medium (social media) it is clear that this is not a reliable source. 

In 1932, the original Antifa flag was designed with two red flags enclosed in a red circle. The flags represented the unity between Social Democratic Party and the Communist Party of Germany. In the 1980s, it was reimagined to include Anarchism by replacing one red flag with a black flag. Since then, many groups have modified the flag to address other issues such as racism, sexism, homophobia, capitalism, and more. https://www.jstor.org/stable/community.14325437?searchText=&searchUri=&ab_segments=&searchKey=&refreqid=fastly-default%3A22c84743a0b45397c044831f854c342a&initiator=recommender 

What is more, the notable Italian historian Emilio Gentile marks fascism as an ideology that “rejects coexistence with other political ideologies and movements.” By understanding the origins of the Antifa flags symbolism and the emphasis on cooperation between movements, it is evident that the colors and ideology are separate. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7829/jj.4032515.4?seq=1