1940s anti-fascist film goes viral after Virginia violence

1947 anti-fascism film goes viral A 1947 anti-fascism film made by the U.S. military is gaining renewed attention after the violence in Virginia.

In the aftermath of violent race-fuelled rallies in Charlottesville, Virginia between white supremacists and opposition groups over the weekend, there has been a sudden resurgence of interest in a clip from a 1947 anti-fascist film by the U.S. War.

The anti-fascist film, titled “Don’t Be a Sucker,” was produced in the wake of the Second World War to warn Americans about fanaticism and hatred.

A two-minute clip from the film was widely shared on Twitter on Saturday, and shows an American man spouting nationalistic and racist rhetoric from a soapbox somewhere in the states. He complains about foreigners taking jobs from “real Americans” and calls for the removal of African-Americans, foreign aliens, Catholics and Free Masons.

During the diatribe, a man with a European accent tells a fellow listener that he’s heard “this kind of talk” before in Berlin, Germany when the Nazis were gaining power.

“I heard the same words we have heard today,” the man says. “But I was a fool then. I thought Nazis were crazy people, stupid fanatics. But unfortunately it was not so.”

The European man explains how the Nazis used prejudice to divide Germany into small groups in order to take control of the country.

The film’s message resonated with Twitter user Michael Oman-Reagan, a Canadian living in B.C., who decided to share the clip online after an anti-hate protester was killed by a white nationalist in Virginia on Saturday.

“1947 anti-fascist video made by US military to teach citizens how to avoid falling for people like Trump is relevant again,” Oman-Reagan tweeted with the video.

Oman-Reagan’s tweet was liked more than 215,000 times and received more than 154,000 retweets. U.S. Congressman Keith Ellison also shared the clip on Sunday and urged his followers to watch the video for themselves.

It’s not the first time the clip has gained popularity online. The short made the rounds during the U.S. election and throughout Donald Trump’s presidency.