May 2, 2021: International Day of Solidarity with Odessa & All Anti-Fascists in Ukraine!
The following cities held events on May 2, 2021, to commemorate the 7th anniversary of the Odessa Massacre of 2014. To add your event to this list, please send the date, time, location and name of the sponsoring organization to the Odessa Solidarity Campaign at: DefendersFJE@hotmail.com.
ODESSA, Ukraine
Here is a report direct from Odessa on the events of May 2:
“Odessa Remembers the Tragedy of May 2, 2014”
DONETSK, People’s Republic of Donetsk
LUGANSK, People’s Republic of Lugansk
MINSK, Belarus
VANCOUVER, Canada
A show of solidarity by the Mobilization Against War and Occupation (MAWO) in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. http://www.mawovancouver.org)
BERLIN, Germany
NOTE: The Coop Antiwar Cafe in Berlin has done a great deal to promote May 2 solidarity actions and to gather endorsers on the International Statement of Solidarity. There website is here:
Solidarity vigil, with Oleg Musyka, survivor of the Odessa Massacre, in Berlin.
Solidarity vigil, with Gina Pietsch, in Berlin.
HAMBURG, Germany
BUDAPEST, Hungary
Supporters of justice in Hungary gather May 1 in Budapest’s Municipal Park to express their solidarity with Odessa. A speech was given on behalf of the Organisers for the Left (SZAB). It appears here in English:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1C2lOCVVBeTyszhWAxtK_QV1mNl1qtdtb/view?usp=sharing
and in Hungarian on the website of ATTAC:
https://www.attac.hu/2021/05/szolidaritas-az-ogyesszai-meszarlas-aldozatainak-hozzatartozoival/
BOLOGNA, Italy
CERIANO LAGHETTO, Italy
Deputy Mayor Dante Cattaneo of the Italian municipality of Ceriano Laghetto expresses solidarity with the victims of the Odessa Massacre. His speech can be seen here: https://www.facebook.com/ioulia.liakh.3/videos/947272439420774/.
MILAN, Italy
An event sponsored by La Brigata Immortale and Comitato Contro La Guerra Milano.
https://www.facebook.com/events/469931197610457/?active_tab=discussion
NAPLES, Italy
BALTI & CHISINAU, Moldova
Events by the International Union of Antifascists at the Embassy of Ukraine in Chisinau and the Consulate of Ukraine in Balti “to honor the memory of the innocent killed Odessa residents in the House of Trade Unions.WE WILL NOT FORGET — WE WILL NOT FORGIVE!”
https://www.facebook.com/groups/904958819629788/permalink/3729767863815522/
THE HAGUE, Netherlands
https://drive.google.com/file/d/14oRp0GYGqVzQ28Jc8iXwd5O_1gtBNGHN/view?usp=drivesdk
MOSCOW, Russia
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia
LLORET DE MAR CATALUNA, Spain
This is one of four solidarity photos we received from Lloret de Mar Cataluna:
NEW YORK CITY — USA
A show of Solidarity in New York City’s historic Union Square by Solidarity with Novorossiya & Antifascists in Ukraine. https://www.facebook.com/UkraineAntifaSolidarity
RICHMOND — USA
Twenty antiwar and justice activists, the majority youth and women and a third African-Americans, gather in front of the Federal Courthouse in Richmond, Virginia, USA, to express solidarity with the people of Odessa in an event organized by the Odessa Solidarity Campaign. Photo: Charles Brown.
VIDEO: OSC Coordinator Phil Wilayto explains the significance of May 2 at the Richmond event: https://www.facebook.com/phil.wilayto/videos/10159079772559451
MEDIA COVERAGE:
https://tass.ru/politika/11292055 — U.S. organizations to protest Odessa Massacre ion May 2
https://tass.ru/obschestvo/11298461 — Richmonders hold Odessa solidarity event on May 2
THE BACKGROUND: May 2, 2021, marks the seventh anniversary of the Odessa Massacre, when a massive mob led by openly fascist organizations murdered scores of people at the House of Trade Unions in Odessa, Ukraine. In February of that year, a right-wing coup backed by the U.S. government overthrew the elected president of Ukraine, unleashing neo-Nazi organizations against anyone thought to oppose the coup, especially Ukrainian citizens of Russian ancestry.
It was that coup — rarely mentioned by any Western media in coverage of the region’s current rising tensions — that led to the majority-ehtnic Russian people of Donetsk and Lugansk to declare themselves independent of Ukraine. For the same reason, the majority-Russian ethnic people of Crimea held a referendum in which they decided to reunite with the Russian Republic, which they had once been a part of. It was the right-wing coup that precipitated these events, not “Russian aggression.”
On May 2, in Odessa, a multi-ethnic city on the Black Sea, progressives had gathered outside the House of Trade Unions on Kulikovo square and were gathering signatures on a petition demanding that the Odessa province have the right to elect its own governor, rather than be appointed by the new right-wing central government.
Without warning, they were attacked by a much larger, fascist-led mob. They retreated into the five-story trade union building, which the mob then set on fire. At least 42 people died from the flames, smoke inhalation or from being beaten to death after jumping from the building’s windows to escape the fire. To date, not one person has been convicted of participating in the massacre, even though there are scores of cellphone videos of the events. (Just google “May 2, 2014, Odessa.”) Further, the Ukrainian government has never allowed an independent international investigation of the tragedy. Meanwhile, the U.S. government continues to support both the Ukrainian government and the neo-Nazi organizations that back the coup and led the attack in Odessa.
Some of these organizations, including the Azov Battalion, have linked up with U.S. white-supremacist groups, providing them with paramilitary training.
Each year on May 2, despite the threat of attacks by the fascists, Odessans gather at the site of the massacre to pay their respects to those who died there. And each year, antifascist organizations throughout the world hold local actions to show their support and to press the Odessans’ demand for an international investigation into the tragedy. (For more information on the Odessa Massacre, see: https://odessasolidaritycampaign.org.)
