By Josh Reynolds | WokeStoic.com
History Sanitizes Resistance
Crack open most history books, and you’ll see the same antifascist stories on repeat: the Allied armies storming the beaches of Normandy, the fall of Berlin, Winston Churchill shaking his fist at the Third Reich.
But here’s what they don’t tell you: the most dangerous antifascists were never in charge of armies or parliaments.
- They were students with underground printing presses.
- They were workers sabotaging factories.
- They were Black radicals writing from prison cells.
- They were Indigenous farmers in ski masks facing down tanks.
This isn’t about nostalgia — it’s about truth. These are the antifascists you never learned about in school — and they have
The Resisters You Should Have Met
Abraham Lincoln Brigade (Spain, 1930s)
Before the U.S. ever entered WWII, hundreds of American volunteers defied their own government to fight fascism in Spain’s civil war. These working-class heroes — dockworkers, students, factory hands — joined international brigades to stand with Spanish republicans against Franco’s fascist uprising. When they came home, many were blacklisted as “reds” by the same country they risked their lives to defend.
Lesson: You don’t wait for permission to fight tyranny. You go where you’re needed.
Sophie Scholl & The White Rose (Germany, 1940s)
In the heart of Nazi Germany, Sophie Scholl and her student group, the White Rose, printed and distributed antifascist leaflets, calling on Germans to resist Hitler’s regime. For that, they were arrested, tortured, and executed by guillotine.
Lesson: Words carry weight. Sometimes, they carry the cost of your life.
George Jackson (USA, 1960s–70s)
A revolutionary voice from within the U.S. prison system, George Jackson was a Black Panther, a prison abolitionist, and a thinker whose writings became blueprints for modern antifascist, antiracist struggle. Assassinated in prison, his words live on: “Fascism is already here.”
Lesson: Antifascism isn’t just street battles — it’s systemic, and it must include the fight against mass incarceration.
Maria Nikiforova (Ukraine, early 1900s)
Nicknamed “Black Maria,” she was an anarchist commander who led peasant armies against Tsarist, nationalist, and authoritarian forces. A master of guerrilla warfare and radical organizing, she became a folk hero — and a nightmare to her enemies.
Lesson: Women have been central to antifascist struggle for centuries — not as footnotes, but as leaders.
Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice (SHARP, 1980s–present)
In the ’80s, as neo-Nazis tried to hijack the skinhead subculture, working-class punks fought back. SHARP crews reclaimed the boots-and-braces identity, showing that antifascism wasn’t a political hobby — it was a street-level, cultural war.
Lesson: Culture is a battleground. Music, fashion, and subculture can resist or submit — the choice is ours.
The Zapatistas (EZLN, Mexico, 1990s–present)
On New Year’s Day 1994, Indigenous rebels in Chiapas rose up against the Mexican government, demanding land, dignity, and autonomy. Wearing ski masks and refusing individual fame, they built an antifascist project rooted in Indigenous rights and anti-capitalism that continues to inspire worldwide.
Lesson: Antifascism is local, Indigenous, and collective — and it doesn’t need permission from the global north.
Jewish, Romani, & Communist Partisans (Eastern Europe, WWII)
While textbooks focus on Allied armies, tens of thousands of Jewish, Romani, and leftist partisans fought behind Nazi lines, waging guerrilla war, blowing up trains, and saving civilians. Their stories are often erased, reduced, or forgotten.
Lesson: Resistance isn’t always formal. Sometimes it’s ragtag, desperate, and underground — and no less heroic.
Claudia Jones (USA/UK, 20th century)
A Black communist organizer deported from the U.S., Claudia Jones became a key figure in Britain’s antiracist and immigrant rights movements. She founded the UK’s first major Black newspaper and helped birth the Notting Hill Carnival as a celebration of resistance.
Lesson: Antifascism and antiracism are inseparable — and the diaspora is part of the fight.
The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW, Global)
Formed in 1905, the IWW (a.k.a. the Wobblies) is a syndicalist union that’s fought against capitalist exploitation, police repression, and authoritarian power structures for over a century. Their motto? “An injury to one is an injury to all.”
Lesson: The fight against economic fascism is part of the larger antifascist struggle — and the working class has always been on the frontlines.
Why Schools Erase These Stories
Why don’t you hear about these people? Because they didn’t fight for the nation-state. They didn’t die waving flags or propping up governments. They fought for each other — for workers, for prisoners, for the marginalized, for freedom that doesn’t fit neat patriotic myths.
Schools sanitize rebellion to protect the status quo. But the real story? Rebellion is how we got here — and how we’ll survive what’s coming.
What They Teach Us Today
- You don’t need a uniform or a title to resist.
- You don’t need everyone — just the determined few.
- The fight is global, intersectional, and ongoing.
- Silence serves power; defiance rewrites history.
Final Rallying Cry
Learn these names. Tell their stories. Carry their lessons.
Because when we remember the antifascists they tried to erase, we reclaim our own power — and we remind the world that history’s not over.
The resisters are still out there.
Maybe you’re one of them.
