VE day

 

Martin Niemöller

Celebrating VE Day is a public commemoration of defeating a regime that systematically targeted Jews, minorities, political dissidents, and others—and it was defeated through the collective resistance of allied nations and peoples who eventually said “enough.”

But voting for parties like Reform UK, which has campaigned heavily on anti-immigration, anti-woke, and anti-establishment platforms, can raise concerns about how receptive people are to messages that scapegoat others—especially in times of economic uncertainty, cultural shifts, or national discontent. Some of their rhetoric echoes historical patterns: blaming outsiders for internal problems, downplaying human rights concerns, or promoting “them vs. us” narratives.

The Discomfort of the Present Moment

That’s where Niemöller’s poem becomes sharply relevant. We're not yet at the point of authoritarianism, but the early lines of the poem are about failing to speak up when “they came for” certain groups. In this analogy, casting votes for parties whose platforms many see as exclusionary could be seen as normalizing the marginalization of vulnerable groups—immigrants, minorities, the poor, the “other.”

To celebrate VE Day while also supporting such a political movement may reflect a disconnection from the historical meaning of the day—unless one reinterprets it narrowly as simply a celebration of national victory, rather than a victory over fascism and the defense of shared human rights.