Cover Photo: Sam, Marco Blum, Hannes Werner, moderator Luisa, David Christner and Selima Pfistner on the youth podium.
This report by Lynda Walker first appeared in Unity, the weekly publication of the Irish Communist Party.
The 31st Rosa Luxemburg Conference took place last weekend with an attendance of 4,000 people.
On the Sunday 11th January thousands of people marched though Berlin to pay their respect to Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht, but this was not covered by most of the capitalist media.
The conference organisers Junge Welt reported that “despite freezing temperatures and snow, the crowds in front of the Wilhelm Studios in Berlin’s Reinickendorf district were large ….. Only a few comrades from the north were unable to travel because of the suspension of long-distance train services. But via the RLK live-stream on the jW homepage, those who stayed at home could also follow the conference”. Of course, it is not the same as mixing with people and participating in discussion but it does give some opportunity to listen to the speeches and other contributions. The event included lectures, interviews, songs and music, exhibition, a socialist market, free childcare and food and drink venues.
Furious start with the band »Kontrast« In the large conference hall, the band “Kontrast” began to play punctually at 10.30 a.m. With their mixture of Anatolian folk, rock and Balkan music, the eight musicians are attracting more and more visitors.
At eleven o’clock, moderator Gina Pietsch – singer, actor and political activist – officially opened the conference. First of all, she referred to the posters on the subject of peace from the jW poster competition exhibited in the hall. She announced ambassadors from Venezuela and Cuba for the late afternoon. Pietsch’s demand: “The warmongers must be stopped” was met with applause. Pietsch introduced the first presentation of the conference: Manuel Pineda from the Communist Party of Spain who spoke about the multipolar world order.
“The U.S. is waging an economic war against Cuba”
Manuel Pineda from the Department of International Relations of the Communist Party of Spain spoke mainly about the threat to Cuba from the USA. Pineda pointed to the devastating consequences of the economic blockade by the USA, which is leading to major material problems on the island. Above all, the food supply and medical care are threatened. Washington wants to strangle the economy in Cuba and provoke social upheavals as well as protests against the government. Nevertheless, Cuba continues its socialist project despite the encirclement.
Following this, Economist Jörg Goldberg spoke. He grouped his lecture around two core questions; first, what are the causes and consequences of the increasing violence in international relations? Second, who are the instigators and profiteers of this policy?
“The world free of punishment for Israeli perpetrators is getting smaller”
Then a conversation took place between filmmaker Dror Dayan and human rights activist Jake Romm about the Israeli apartheid regime and the end of the “rules-based world order”.
YOUTH
“Conscription is a political decision against young people”
At the youth podium of the Socialist German Workers’ Youth (SDAJ), a clear and unambiguous stand is taken against militarized German imperialism and conscription.
It continued with “No to conscription”. Topic: The militarization of the FRG [Federal Republic of Germany] and the de facto reintroduction of conscription. “This is clearly a threat to the lives of all young people in the country,” said Hannes Werner of the IJV [Internationaler Jugendverein] at the opening of the discussion. One must use “every opportunity that presents itself” to fight against militarization and for the interests of the youth. It is clearly recognizable that there is an increasing politicization among the youth.”
The Connolly Youth Movement were also in attendance.
Ben Chacko – editor of the Morning Star – reported: “Young people vowed still bigger school strikes against conscription to take place on March 5th, and explained tactics for mobilising youth from anti-war sports clubs to school debates and referendums”.
He concluded: “A sobering day, in which the appalling reality of the continent’s headlong rush to war was made terrifyingly clear: but an uplifting one too, given the audience (including many hundreds of young people) was engaged in unapologetic opposition to German rearmament, conscription and solidarity with Palestine, Cuba and Venezuela.
Conversations of this kind, sharing experiences of how to organise, need to happen across Europe. The International Meeting Against War on June 20 in London will be a big opportunity for that over here. Trump’s aggression grows more brazen by the day; it has to be stopped.” (13th Jan 2026)
This is just a small part of the contributions which can be accessed on the Junge Welt website:
A powerful reminder that while the capitalist media looks the other way, the working class is wide awake. We won’t be fodder for their wars, nor will we let our comrades in Cuba and Palestine stand alone