by MEAGAN DAY
To win over German workers and replace their socialist loyalties with fascism, the Third Reich made a Nazi version of May Day a national holiday. But the real International Workers’ Day is the one that lives on today.
Today we celebrate May Day with red flags, raised fists, and songs of solidarity, much as socialists have for generations. These traditions have persevered since the holiday’s inception in the late nineteenth century — but not without interruption.
In 1930s Germany, May Day was celebrated in the shadow of the swastika. The holiday’s survival of this brazen attempt at fascist co-optation deepens the significance of its continuation into the present day.
A Day of Hate
On May 1, 1933, Adolf Hitler stood before a crowd of five hundred thousand gathered on Tempelhof Field in Berlin. It was warm and sunny, what the Nazis called “Hitler weather” because his public speeches often fell on pleasant days like these. In the crowd were workers, employers, trade union leaders, and general spectators who paid admission to attend the grand event. Behind Hitler hung six enormous Nazi flag banners, a theatrical and imposing set designed by Nazi architect Albert Speer.
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