A spokesperson for the University of Wales said: “The university is aware of comments made by an individual on social media who appears to be linked to our community. Such views do not reflect the position of the University. We have in place a Student Code of Conduct and expect all our students to respect and abide by our regulations.”

The counter-protesters walked down Upper Brooke Street and arrived at the Schuster Building in the park. It was here where they greeted the first three members of SAT to arrive, including the group’s founder, James Harvey, and a guest speaker, Tom Shaw. He was to carry the flag of his troop to the party’s national rally at Nuremberg. He was overjoyed. But when he returned we hardly dared trust our eyes. He looked tired, and on his face lay a great disappointment. We did not expect an explanation, but gradually we learned that the youth movement which had been held up to him as an ideal image was in reality something totally different from what he had imagined the Hitler Youth to be. Their drill and uniformity had been extended into every sphere of personal life. But he had always believed that every boy should develop his own special talents. Thus through his imagination, his ingenuity, his unique personality, each member could have enriched the group. But in Nuremberg everything had been done according to the same mold. There had been talk, day and night, about loyalty. But what was the keystone of all loyalty if not to be true to oneself? My God! There was a mighty upheaval taking place in Hans. Students Against Tyranny, Voice of Wales and Banners on Bridges Cardiff reportedly invited their members via encrypted messaging to take part in “outreach” work on 17th April in Swansea. Following the false accusation of threatening to burn down the library, John was subjected to two more meetings. During these meetings, he lodged complaints that his research had been excluded from the proceedings. Every December, there is a summary of everyone’s research, but John’s work was removed, effectively erasing his contributions. By disregarding his work, they were sending a message that his opinions and contributions were not worthy of consideration, which was a clear violation of academic integrity and respect.In his speech Harvey characterised John’s story as one of a student who was expelled for “wrongthink” – having opinions contrary to what the SAT describes as a “Marxist-based left-leaning education system”. Can we be inspired when people and groups resist or speak out, and also be disappointed or angry when they don’t go far enough? What can we learn from the actions those groups take, and from those they don’t? There are also reports that James is someway involved with the planning of the Cardiff protests, however, this has not been verified. Once the protest wound down, I spoke to one of SAT’s guest speakers, Tom Shaw, a dentistry student at Newcastle University.

I brought our regional banner today to show solidarity. We feel very strongly about racism and anybody who tries to whip up racist hate, and we understand that Students Against Tyranny are trying to do exactly that. I respect your right to an opinion but I would prefer that you would not talk about this near me as I find it offensive and I obviously would like to respond to this and debate you, but if I do that there’s a high chance someone will report me and say that I said something offensive so I can not risk engaging in this conversation so I would prefer that you just not talk about it”. Students Against Tyranny had labelled Covid as “rebranded flu” and told people to “wake up”, advising 15-21 year olds to refuse vaccination.

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But some time later a peculiar change took place in Hans; he was no longer the same. Something disturbing had entered his life. . . . His songs were forbidden, the leader had told him. And when he had laughed at this, they threatened him with disciplinary action. Why should he not be permitted to sing these beautiful songs? Only because they had been created by other peoples? He could not understand it, and this depressed him, and his usual carefree spirit began to wane. Contrary to Hitler’s hopes, membership in the Hitler Youth did not make all boys and girls ardent Nazis for life. Hans Scholl, who later founded the White Rose resistance movement with his sister Sophie and was executed by the Nazis, was at one point a member of the Hitler Youth (see reading, Protests in Germany in Chapter 9). His sister Inge Scholl describes how Hans slowly became disillusioned with the group: