I wanted to make a post on this topic, as this trend of "anti fascist" and anarchist seem to be gaining popularity these days, and very few seem to know about the origin of this culture and motion
As my gran father was part of anarchist army during spain civil war, i know a bit about the history of this, and it always seem a bit a neglected part of history when it come to ww2.
Its not to cry at cultural appropriation, but its always weird to see this bunch of nut claiming to be anti fa while yelling stuff at others nut at a protest, and seeing only violence against fascist prorest as expression of this culture.
The first name to mention i guess is duruti column.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durruti_Column
The Durruti Column (Spanish: Columna Durruti), with about 6000 people, was the largest anarchist column (or military unit) formed during the Spanish Civil War.[1] During the first months of the war, it became the most recognized and popular military organisation fighting against Franco, and it is a symbol of the Spanish anarchist movement and its struggle to create an egalitarian society with elements of individualism and collectivism. The column included people from all over the world. Philosopher Simone Weil fought alongside Buenaventura Durruti in the Durruti Column, and her memories and experiences from the war can be found in her book, Écrits historiques et politiques. The Durruti Column was militarised in 1937, becoming part of the 26th Division on 28 April.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buenaventura_Durruti
José Buenaventura Durruti Dumange (14 July 1896 – 20 November 1936) was an anarcho-syndicalist militant involved with the CNT, FAI and other anarchist organisations during the period leading up to and including the Spanish Civil War. Durruti played an influential role during the Spanish Revolution and is remembered as a hero in the Anarchist movement.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anarchism_in_Spain
There were several variants of anarchism in Spain: expropriative anarchism in the period leading up to the conflict, the peasant anarchism in the countryside of Andalusia; urban anarcho-syndicalism in Catalonia, particularly its capital Barcelona; and what is sometimes called "pure" anarchism in other cities such as Zaragoza. However, these were complementary trajectories, and shared a great deal of ideological similarities.
Early on, the success of the anarchist movement was sporadic. Anarchists would organize a strike and ranks would swell. Usually, repression by police reduced the numbers again, but at the same time further radicalized many strikers. This cycle helped lead to an era of mutual violence at the beginning of the 20th century, in which armed anarchists and pistoleros, armed men paid by company owners, were both responsible for political assassinations.
Need to remind those federation were not primarily focused on violent group to fight fascism, but on auto organisation of worker, independent education system, the belief in worker autonomy to conduct technolgic , industrial and social progess were the core of their value.
They were very reluctant to form organized army, against military salute and hierarchy, and they never wanted to become thr same force of oppression through violence than what they were fighting.
The fight against fascism is not about making a bigger army, or fighting through violent mean, but through education, gaining skills, auto organisation, in order to reach economic autonomy.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francesc_Ferrer_i_Gu%C3%A0rdia
Following the declaration of martial law in 1909 during the Tragic Week, having been found guilty under a military tribunal in which no solid evidence was brought against him, on 13 October, Francisco Ferrer Guardia was arrested and then executed by firing squad at Montjuich Fortress.
At the age of 50, his last confession was "Aim well, my friends, you are not responsible. I am innocent; long live la Escuela Moderna".
Ferrer was the founder of the Escuela Moderna, a non-compulsory primary and secondary school. Ferrer's pedagogical outlook — in large part — was inspired by the works of William Godwin and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, both of whom firmly rejected the idea of education brought about by means of compulsion.
https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/francisco-ferrer-the-origin-and-ideals-of-the-modern-school
Consider what the condition of the present generation would be if the Spanish republican partyhad, after the banishment of Ruiz Zorrilla [1885], devoted itself to the establishment of Rationalist schools in connection with each committee, each group of Freethinkers, or each Masonic lodge; if, instead of the presidents, secretaries, and members of the committees thinking only of the office they were to hold in the future republic, they had entered upon a vigorous campaign for the instruction of the people. In the thirty years that have elapsed considerable progress would have been made in founding day-schools for children and night-schools for adults.
Would the general public, educated in this way, be content to send members to Parliament who would accept an Associations Law presented by the monarchists? Would the people confine itself to holding meetings to demand a reduction of the price of bread, instead of resenting the privations imposed Oil the worker by the superfluous luxuries of the wealthy? Would they waste their time in futile indignation meetings, instead of organising their forces for the removal of all unjust privileges?
My position as professor of Spanish at the Philotechnic Association and in the Grand Orient of France brought me into touch with people of every class, both in regard to character and social position; and, when I considered them from the point of view of their possible influence on the race, I found that they were all bent upon making the best they could of life in a purely individualist sense. Some studied Spanish with a view to advancing in their profession, others in order to master Spanish literature and promote their careers, and others for the purpose of obtaining further pleasure by travelling in countries where Spanish was spoken.
No one felt the absurdity of the contradictions between belief and knowledge; hardly one cared to give a just and rational form to human society, in order that all the members of each generation might have a proportionate share in the advantages created by earlier generations. Progress was conceived as a kind of fatalism, independent of the knowledge and the goodwill of men, subject to vacillations and accidents in which the conscience and energy of man had no part. The individual, reared in a family circle, with its inveterate atavism and its traditional illusions maintained by ignorant mothers, and in the school with something worse than error — the sacramental untruth imposed by men who spoke in the name of a divine revelation — was deformed and degenerate at his entrance into society; and, if there is any logical relation between cause and effect, nothing could be expected of him but irrational and pernicious results.
PROGRAMME.
The mission of the Modern School is to secure that the boys and girls who are entrusted to it shall become well-instructed, truthful, just, and free from all prejudice.
To that end the rational method of the natural sciences will be substituted for the old dogmatic teaching. It will stimulate, develop, and direct the natural ability of each pupil, so that he or she will not only become a useful member of society, with his individual value fully developed, but will contribute, as a necessary consequence, to the uplifting of the whole community.
This idea od independent education to emulate free thinking, rather than institutions of state or clerical doctrine was also a very important part of the ideology.
The principles at hearth of the "anti fascists" , "anarchist" program was around these line, fighting throught education, developing useful skill tailored to each one ability and aspiration, rather than education based on learning a dogma to become a clerc.
And need to remind they were in constant threat of assasination, of abusive jailing, striker or people against state dogma could be jailed and executed for any reason.
But they still tried to avoid organizing as army and violent group as much as possible.
I think now the core ideology is mostly lost with the so called "anti fa" who only see violence against fascist as sole expression of the motion, which is the very thing they tried to avoid since the beginning, even during very harsh period were political assassination and abusive jailing were common place, until franco started to rise an army to make his putch, and started the mass killing and repression.
I dont think any of the so called fascist groups of today are nowhere near this, they are not rising an organized army to do assassinate people, and do a coup.
To me this whole fascist - anti fascist thing looks mostly like a joke. Mostly people in lack of good cause and finding any pretext to rise violence to get attention from media on things that are more symbolic than anything.