The radio series “Unguarded Passage” presents a special podcast featuring twenty landmark anti-fascist songs from across Europe — songs that left their mark on history and became inseparably linked to the people’s struggle against the darkness of fascism and Nazism.
From the extermination camps of Nazi Germany to the factories of Belgium, from Franco’s prisons to the partisan mountain trails of Italy, music became a weapon, a memory, and a spark of hope.
The podcast is organized into four thematic sections: “Sounds of occupation and uprising”, “Music of the rebel classes”, “Voices of the oppressed” and “Counterpoints from contemporary Europe”.
At a time when far-right parties and movements are gaining ground across the political map, and extremist rhetoric increasingly enters public discourse, Europe’s anti-fascist songs stand as a cultural ark — preserving the values of democracy, freedom of expression, and critical thought. They are a powerful reminder of the horrors that fascism inflicted on 20th-century Europe.
Researched, produced and presented by Thomas Sideris