Maurice Ludmer, whose father was a Salford hairdresser and mother a teacher of Hebrew, moved to Birmingham in 1939. As a young man he was interested in sport and joined the Young Communist League. During the second world war he served in the army. It was the shock of a visit to Belsen concentration camp which influenced his life.
In the 1950s he became active in local politics, particularly tenants' associations and in the British Peace commission. But following the racist riots in Notting Hill in 1958, the Smethwick election and the rise of racist resentment in Birmingham in the form of Immigration Control Associations, he committed himself to fighting the growing racism and fascism in Britain.
With Jagmohan Joshi and others he set up the Co-ordinating Committee Against Racial Discrimination (CCARD) which opposed both the racism of national governments and the activities of extreme-right Birmingham Conservatives. CCARD also organised demonstrations over international issues such as the Vietnam war and against British colonial rule in Africa.
Ludmer continued to oppose organised fascism and was beaten up by thugs screaming anti-Semitic abuse when he heckled Oswald Mosley at a local meeting. He was seriously injured by fascists twice and was constantly threatened and harassed.
In February 1975, the pilot issue of the new Searchlight appeared, with the aim of 'turning the searchlight on the extremists'. It reprinted on its cover the famous 1930s anti-fascist slogan 'They shall not pass'. The magazine became the primary source for everyone who wanted to know anything about the murky world of the extreme and fascist Right.
Because the magazine managed to infiltrate anti-fascists into right-wing groups it won respect from campaigners the world over. It was able to gather important, but hitherto secret information, about dangerous fascist activities. For example it exposed the existence of Column 88, the sinister controlling group of the hard-line British Nazi underground, the annual Nazi reunions in Europe, the National Front's attempts to infiltrate trade unions, and the links between 'respectable' Conservatives and the fascist fringe.
Ludmer spoke up for black peoples' right to self-defence against racist attacks. In 1976 he wrote: 'The days have long gone when Asians, Blacks and Jews will meekly accept a role as the convenient scapegoats for the ills of society. Nor will those who cherish democratic ideals sit back while fascism tries to grow on the dunghill of racialism. Notice has been served that unless full protection is provided within the law against racist violence, intimidation and harassment, then those who are the intended victims reserve the right to organise their own protection in co-operation with all those growing sections of society, who abhor the politically motivated racism of the extreme right and fascist organisations.' Numerous organisations including the Anti-Nazi League and the Campaign Against Racism and Fascism were influenced by his example.
Find out more about the people who made a difference on the HomeBeats: Struggles for Racial Justice CDROM.