The liberation of Berlin by Soviet troops in May of 1945, marks the victory of the peoples in World War II and the defeat of Nazi-fascism – the most violent form of class domination generated by capitalism and the direct cause of the war and of the death of tens of millions of human beings.

The decisive role in the Victory of May 9, 1945 was played by the Soviet Union, its people and Red Army, under the leadership of its Communist Party. It was on the Eastern Front that the major battles which determined the outcome of World War II were fought. To mark the 70th anniversary of the Victory is to recall and celebrate the heroism, the courage and determination of millions of Soviet men and women who, at the cost of enormous sacrifice and of over 27 million dead, resisted and fought, giving a decisive contribution to the defeat of the Nazi-fascist barbarity. To celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Victory is to remember and praise the heroism, courage and determination of millions of other resistance fighters and anti-fascist strugglers from all over the world who dedicated and committed their lives to the struggle for Victory.

Nazi-fascism was a brutal instrument of big capital to impose its rule, when confronted with the profound crisis of capitalism which followed World War I, in particular after the big crisis of 1929 and the repercussions of the October Revolution. Anti-communism was always a defining trait of Nazi-fascism. Everywhere, the working-class and popular movements, and especially the Communists, were its first victims. Everywhere, the Communists were in the front ranks of the resistance to fascism and were at the vanguard of the mass and armed resistance which led to the liberation.

Today, the resurgence of the fascist threat and the danger of a new war of great proportions are real and and growing. Again, in the context of an ever deeper crisis of capitalism – which results from its irreconcilable contradictions – big capital is attempting to emerge from the crisis by force, imposing brutal levels of exploitation and attacking the peoples' sovereignty and the independence of States on all continents. The big imperialist powers attempt to impose their world-wide hegemony by military means, multiplying their wars of aggression. Ukraine is living the consequences of fascist action, with the active support of the USA and the European Union – and of their military wing, NATO. In the name of “the struggle against Communism”, revisionism and historical forgery, with the shameless equation between fascism and Communism, are leading to a rehabilitation of fascism.

It is therefore of crucial importance to recall the lessons of history, to remember the crimes of Nazi-fascism, its class nature and the complicities which gave rise to its ascent. The tragedy of World War II must not be forgotten, so that another catastrophe may be prevented.

The undersigned Communist and Workers' Parties call upon the workers and the peoples of the whole world to develop their liberating struggle, to make the celebrations of the 70th anniversary of the Victory over Nazi-fascism into a powerful assertion of unity and struggle for peace, and against the threat of fascism and war, which is rooted in capitalism and which represents a danger to Humanity, and for democracy, social progress and socialism.

List of signatory parties

Communist Party of Albania
Communist Party of Argentina
Algerian Party for Democracy and Socialism
Communist Party of Australia
Workers' Party of Bangladesh
Workers Party of Belgium
Communist Party of Brazil
Communist Party of Britain
New Communist Party of Britain
Party of the Bulgarian Communists
Communist Party of Canada
Communist Party of Chile
People's Vanguard Party, Costa Rica
Socialist Workers' Party of Croatia
Progressive Party of the Working People, Cyprus
Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia
Communist Party of Cuba
Communist Party in Denmark
Communist Party of Denmark
French Communist Party
German Communist Party
Communist Party of Greece
Hungarian Workers' Party
Communist Party of India
Communist Party of India (Marxist)
Tudeh Party of Iran
Iraqui Communist Party
Communist Party of Ireland
Communist Refoundation Party, Italy
Party of the Italian Communists
Lebanese Communist Party
Communist Party of Luxembourg
New Communist Party of the Netherlands
Communist Party of Malta
Communist Party of Mexico
Communist Party of Pakistan
Communist Party of Paraguay
Peruan Communist Party
Philippine Communist Party (PKP 1930)
Portuguese Communist Party
Communist Party of the Russian Federation
Communists of Serbia
South African Communist Party
Communist Party of Slovakia
Communist Party of Sri Lanka
Syrian Communist Party
Syrian Communist Party (Unified)
Communist Party of Spain
Communists of Catalunya, Spain
Communist Party of the Peoples of Spain
Communist Party of Swaziland
Communist Party, Turkey
Communist Party of Uruguay
Communist Party of Ukraine
Communist Party of Venezuela
Comunist Party of Vietnam
New Communist Party of Yugoslavia

Also signed :
Unified Socialist Party of Catalonia
Galician People's Union