They Shall Not Pass!
London. October 4, 1936. Oswald Mosley was the British Hitler. He wanted to parade his "Blackshirts" through the East End to intimidate the Jewish population. The Police Commissioner said the march was legal. He ordered the streets cleared. He underestimated the people.
On the morning of the march, the Fascists arrived in military formation. But waiting for them wasn't just a protest. It was an army of citizens. The Irish Dockers, who usually didn't get along with the Jewish community, said, "No one bullies our neighbors." They showed up with iron bars. Grandmothers leaned out of windows and threw rubbish and hot water on the police charging the lines. Children rolled marbles under the hooves of the police horses.
The crowds chanted the slogan of the Spanish Civil War: "No Pasarán!" (They Shall Not Pass). The police tried to charge the barricades repeatedly. They were beaten back by a wall of humanity. Mosley waited in his car, furious. Finally, the Police Commissioner rode up to Mosley and said: "We cannot get you through. If you go in there, you will not come out." The Fascists turned around and marched away in humiliation. The people didn't rely on the government to stop hate. They stopped it themselves.