co unism in ermany

:1:: Ubrary
Of;le
J
.A. New Mexico

Colleqe
if
Aqriculture
and
MechanicArh
The Truth about the Communist Conspiracy
on the Eve of the National Revolution
By Adolf E h r t
Publts h e d by tho
General League of German Anti CommuniBt Allsociations
/
1\ 11 right!" rmwr vlHl.
The illu stration on the trout paKe ur 1IH.l cove r was deelgn ed
by Hans Martin Tibor, Leipztg, from original photograpbs.
Why Americans Should
Read This Book
The question of Communi st propaganda and activit ies is of
immediate importance to the American people in view of the con-
sidera tion now being given to the question of recognition of the
Union of Soviet Socialis t Republi cs by the Government of the
United States.
Here is a challenging book. It should be read by every thoughtful
citizen because it presents the history of the life and death struggle
Germany has been waging against Communism. It reveal s that the
subversive methods and the destructive objectives of the Communists
in Germany are the same as are employed in the United States by
those enemies of civilized nations.
Thi s book is not a defense of anti-Semitism nor is it a defense of
the pr incipl es or measures of the Hitl er Government. The bitter
opposition of many to some phases of the Nazi domestic program
should not blind us to the reality of the Communistic threats.
The value of this German expose as an object lesson to other
countri es has led our commi ttee to place it in the hands of leaderso f
public opi nion throughout the United Stat es.
The lessons to be gathered from this book, "Communism in
Germany," should lead our citizens to demand more effective
measures of defense for our system of government, and our moral
and social standards.
WALTER C. COLE
JOlIN Ross DELAFIELD
RALPII M. EASLEY
HAMILTON FISH, JR.
ELON H U:-1TINGTON HOOKER
F. O . J OII XSON
ORVEL J OHXSON
HARRY A. J UNG
SAMUEL M c ROBERTS
C. G. NORMAN
ELLIS S EARLES
WALTER S. STEELE
ARCHIDALD E. STEVENSON
JOHN B. TREVOR
J OSIAII A . VAN ORSDEL
Copyright 1933 by Eckart. Verlag, Berlin.
Printed by Gebruder Feyl, Berlin. Germany.
For the Amer-ican Section of the International Com-
mittee to Combat the World IUenace of Communism.
o
Contents
. . . .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . .
p. 7
. .. . . . ..... . .. .... . . .. .... .. .... . .
I. T HE SYSTDI A:\1l

HI STORY OF coxmu xis ix
pp. 9 - 30
The urmed ri sing as the goa l (p. n) - The " putsch" per iod.
t!ll H- :,! :l [p. 1-1) - Suvle t Xlu nich (p. Inl - The Hu mb urg
Hisi ng [p. l U) - Cul t urul Bol sh evism, t!124-:U (p. 2;) -
T he net wo r k of COlll l ll 11ll is! organi za tion (p. 2()) - Err-en-
t r ic Clrt-les (p. 27) - The armed r ising, 1n:-\ 2- il (p. 29) -
Ir rupt ion or wo rld revol uti on (p. 2n)
II. CO:-iSP IHACY .... .. ... . .. ...... .. . ...... . .. Pl' 31- 58
TI lt! invisibl e gllttl ll (I' . ;\1) - House sea rc hes in th e Corn-
muui st par ty a nti tr ial alar m (pp. :U- :\2) - Ill egal procc-
-dur c ado pte d (p. ;-\i\) - The ar t or co nsp iri ng: [p. 34- ) -
Cypher co de s [p. 36) - Cou r- ier sen-ice (p. 40) - Secr et
ln- ou dcnst lug statio ns (1'. 42) - Black li sts {p. 43) - Get-
ling ri d o f lh v lenders" (p. -I i) - t ut ctngcn cc se rvice in
t unes of crials [p. 4R) - The ill egal par ty organ ization
(p, fit) - TIlt' OS);' ,\ (p, 5:1 ) - The Am-or-guni zutlon (p. 54)
- The servi ce d u ri ng t he armed r ising (p, 55)
I II . TREASO:\ PI' 59 -73
The Conuu u uls r lut crn ntlouul c (p. 59) - Dh-cr- tir ms for
cs plo nuce [p. .jH) - ,,'or ks' es pio nage [p. GO) - The Inn-
(I' . na) - Bct ru yul of mil ita r y secrets (p. 6.1, ) -
Secr-et :\IOPH orga nizati on [p. 66) - The f'rcc ing of pol it i-
cal pr isoner s {p. ()(\) - Passport for gin g: o l'l'ice (p, (HI ) -
Froulicr smuggling (I" 72)
IV. IlI GH THEASO:-i . . . . . .... . ...... .. ...... w 74-98
:\li1ita r y-pol i ti c:l1 l l t t-rat un- (I" 7.1,) - Espi onage in th e
;\ r lll y (I' , 7H) - Sk t'lt ,!ws m a d e hy sp ies [p. is) - Su bver-
..io n Hf 1111' .\ r1ll y a lld Polil ' t' (p, R2) - Sa but uge o f t he mili-
1:11'\' 1"1 1' 1" (I'. B"t! jlo lil't' " " li s (p, - Casl's of
!'I ll 1.\ '1 ' 1 1\ (' \\ HI I. (p. \ 1;\)
Y. TH E Hl SI'iG PI' 99- 176
Renaiss ance a nd In surrecti on (p. 177) - Th e Xntlons and
th e I ntcr nnti on nle (p. 178)
The pr in ci pl es of a n armed rising (p. 99) - Smuggli ng of
w('a pon s (p. 100) - Theft of weapons (p. 101) - w ea pon s
found (I'. 109) - Theft of explosives (I'. 111) - The H.F.IJ. .
[p. 114) - :\lil ihuy t raini ng (p. 116) - Red Army man -
oeuvr-es (p. 11 i ) - Or ga niza t io n (p. 118) - Secret Reich Con-
Ference (p. 122) - Before the star t [p. 123) - Anti -Fusuist
P igh tiug Leagu e (p. 126 ) - Heady 10 a ttack (p . 127) - The
Dresden affair (p . 128) - Alarm Orders [p. 120) - Red
Muss Se-lf- Pro tection (p. CHI ) - Mifit ar y In str ucti on (1'.
132) - Shooti ng practi ce (p. l a ;'l ) - Moblli zntiun orders
[p. 130 - Communist Youth Associat ion (p. t:1!l ) -c-- Ter ror -
ist Groups (I'. 136)
b) )bss Terrori sm p.
Fighting instructions [p. 137) - Terrorist groups in ac tion
(I' . 138) - Threatening letters (I' . HO) - Loot ing (I' . H2)
- Poisonings [p. 14::\) - F elseneck (p, 14- 4- ) - Arrest of a
Ter rori st Group [p. 144- ) - Murder on the Bulow Pl at z
[p. Hr, ! - The Murder of 5.0\. man Ti elsch (I' . H i ) -
Bomb Ou trages (p. 1-1 8) - Bloody Sunday in Alto na
(p . 148) - Hamburg and Eis lcbc n (p. 150) - Ter r orists
(p. i nr ) - Mu r der ed S.A. men a nd Red Terrorists [p. Hlf))
- List of N.S. D. A.P. ca suulifi es (p. 159) - List of poli cc
cas ualt ies (p. 160)
e] The Final Encount er 0 p.
The leader ship and th e pl an (po 161) - It s executio n
[p. 162) - Street- fighting (p. 165) - Directions for fight ing
and ala rm orders (p. 167) - Pl an of act ion for Berli n
[p. 172) - 'Yr angel Str-asse Poli ce Bar racks (p. J72)
To Atms (p. 172) - Dest r uct ion of t he K P.D. (p. 174)
a) )Iobilizution
VI. THE T.\5K
p.
PI'
99
137
161
177
Preface
In th e followin g pa ges we la y hefore the Engli sh-speaking
publ ic 01' t hc wo rld a chapt er fro m th e recent his tory of Ger ma ny
whi ch has rightly attract ed t he a tt ent ion of a ll civ ilized nations.
F r om th e de scription in th is brochure th e reader will clearly
re ali ze what a n important development in world hi stor y has
occurred in Germany. In was in vi ew of th e key positi on between
East and \Vest occupied by Ger many in th e fight waged by
Bol sh evi sm agains t th e ci vil ize d nati ons th at the Moscow Third
Comm unis t Internati on al c wi shed th at th e decisive hattl e in th e
world r evolution should be fo ugh t on Germany soil .
The lasting merit of the German Nati on nl Hevolution wi n be
that it saved lhe world from Bolshevist chaos.
The r evela t ions r egarding the attempted Communist insurrec -
tion on the eve of th e National Revolution will ca use a consi derable
sensatio n. It must ther ef or e he ex pressly sta ted th at t he descri pti on
of the Bo lshevis tic conspiracy , of high treason and trea son t o th e
State, of th e organized terrorization of the masses and of the plan
fo r a rising is based exc lusively on official material , of whic h t he
r eliability is beyond all doubt. The Gen eral League of Germa n
Anti -Communist Associ ati on s will make the ori ginal materia l
ava ila ble for serious ly interested students of public a ff ai rs. W,
desire t o t ake thi s oppo r t unity of expressing our speci al thanks
to all the offic ials of th e Reich and the Fed er al States who have
permitted the author to examine the pertinent mat erial.
The pr es ent work se r ves th e purposps o f not hing hut the searc h
for th e truth; it avoids a nd l' xagger at ioll s. The ideu
was to provid e a pamphlet fo r th e masses of th e populntiou wri l len
in : 111 i tupnrti nl and sciu n t lf'i c spirit which will as 1111'
a hle f'uuudal lon fo r tl u: jllll gl' lI lt' ll l of hlxtory. T hi s Pillll l'lIl l'l
dill' S IInl 111 ' :11 wi th till' spt' ,o i:d lII :lIll 'I' S 1'1l11l1t'I' II' d wilh IIII' hu rlling
II I 1111' 1I,'idl I nK i ll lI r clt' l' uol 10 \l1l 'jud il' I' I Ill' I'n,, .
We are informed that it is intended to publi sh an official
coll ection of th e judgements of the Suprem e Court in connection
with t he Communis t conspiracy. It is to be hoped that the General
Leagu e will he able to exh ibit th ese do cuments in an Anti-Commu-
nist )lUSCUI11 whi ch is shor tl y to he esta blis hed in Berlin. By means
of thi s a nd other works and publi cati on s th e Gene ral Lea gue will
he able to enlig hte n th e German nat ion and in t ernati on al publi c
op i nio n wit h r egard to the r eal a ims and doi ngs of th e Communist
l nternuti on al e a nd t o in vit e att enti on to the terrible danger which
it r epresent s for all nati on s.
General League
of German Anti Communist Associations
Eu ropa House. Berlin
"At the beginning of this year there were
weeks when we were within a heir's breadth
of Bolshevist chaos,"
Chancellor Adolf Hitler
in his Proclamation of the 1.
1
September 1933
I. The System and History
of Communism in Germany
An armed rising is not one met hod a mo ng othe rs fo r the
seizurr- of power by the Communis t I ntcrna ti onnl e hut the so le
a nd de cisive weapon in a strugglo for the di ct at orsh ip of the
pro letaria t. The programme of t he Communis t lutcrnntional c
which wa s accep ted hy the 6th \Yorl d Congress of the Kominteru
in the year U)28 contains t he fo llowing remarks wi t h r egard
to t hi s: -
" . , , ' ''hen the ruling cl asses arc di sorgani zed, the masses in a
s tall' of revolu tionar y fer me nt, when t he mid dl e classes incli ne to
j oin th e proletariat a nd the masses h a ve shown themsel ves ready to
fi ght and make sacr ifices, it is th e task of th e prol etarian party to
l end the masses in a fronta l attack aga ins t th e bour geois state. Thi s
will he att ai ned hy th e pr opagati on of gradua lly int ensified slogans
(wor kmen' s co unci ls, cont r ol of pro duct ion by th e wo r kmen, peasant
co mmit tees fo r th e forcible ex propria Lion of the big landowners,
disa r ma ment of th e bou rge oisie and arming of the prol et ar-iat , etc.) and
hy the organization of mass acti on,
Suc h mass action incl udes s t rik es, str ikes in connecti on with
demonstrati on s, st r ikes in connc cfiou with armed demonstrations, and,
finall y, th e general st rike co mbine d with the armed ri sing against the
gover nme nt a uthority of the Iiou r gcol st c. Thi s hi ghest for m of the
str ugg le follows t he rules of warfure . and necessitates as a preliminary
pla n of campaign a n offens ive character in th e fighti ng and unlimit ed
devot ion and her oism 0 11 t he' part of th e prol etari at. "
It is o wing to the pecul ia r mi xture of bruta li ty and cynici sm,
insane devoti on to t he purpose in view and ruthlessness of
Bolshevism that these phrases in the Co mmunis t programme ha ve
becn a ut horitative word hy wo rd fo r the en tire wo r k of disin te-
gra ti on pursued hy t he German Communist Par ty.
Everything undertaken by th c German Communis t Party a nd
ils numberless affil ia t ed organizations acquired sense and value
exclus ively in so far as it could serve as a preparation for the
ur-med rising. Whether it was a qu estio n of t he sexua l disi ntegratio n
of ti ll' young during the nude bathing or of esp ionage in enterprises
of mili tary lmpu rt .uu-r-, whethr-r till' 1II1c 'IIlployptl weru encouraged
to f01"l 1l IInllll " to rob provision s t O ~ t or w lu-Lht-r the ch urc h was
u l)(I\ ,' 1I a 111 1 1" 'IIlII ' II 'c1 t!" ,"qlit'ahll' , or wlu -Hu-r " u!l\'c'rsh'l' pallll'hlt 'l s
'J
' ) A. Ncuherj; (Il einz Noumnnn i : ..]),,,' 1" ' ", :il1'I1 ,,I ,' AI1fs l:l 11<1 " , 1\12X.
PI" X\'11, 22,
") AII'I'l'd 1.:1I1 !.: I' ,. ( II " ", l\ ipl" ',, I.....!.: , r ): " I I" r \\'''1': zuru Si,'g, Ili,' I\ lIll s l dl' s
1"'\\,,, 11'11""'11 A" I\ I ' '' I< I, ' , ,'' PI" :1 ' " 1< 1 Ir..
"'.'10 ""
we.......... PI'oIef ..ser 0
.. ReIIIlen ...1dlI eo'
The newspaper "Die Rote Front "
"The a rmed r is ing is the mos t decisive, most ,'l e ll te nud hi gh ,' , 1
form of class warfare whi ch t he prolcturiat must adop t a t l lu- xui tnlrlr-
m om ent in every co untry in order to overthrow th e rlmn iuu l iuu of
t he bourgeoisie and to take the power i nt o thei r own hands,
The armed rising is not a t hing by it sclf ; it is 1I 0 t all ac t iso lal<-01
from the rest of class warfare, hut lhu most a Clile 1'0 1'111 nnrl li lt'
h ighest stage of a class warfare which hecouu-s ilion' :1<' 111<- a lld
in tense. It is only a special li nk in the elwin of l lu- s l r llgg l,'s wh i.. h
end i n Ih e armed ri sing. It is not interrup tcd hy I I", vnrioux l' a r t i,, 1
s t rugg!<'s and p relimi nary struggles hili pn'pan'd for hy ""'111 . '1'1,,
armed fo rces of th e r evolution do not apl', 'ar Irrnu nnwlu-rr- Ity 111 :'1':;"
0" a t th e comuuuul of l l u: part ' 1," 1 a n ' ('ollsoli d:lI, 'd :Illd
h'ar,d" III'd ill I hes,: s l r uggll's ."
' I' h uruu-d ri si ll g is IIIIIS l it, ' l ns l link in 11 1, ' chui n " I'
Illl ls llI'vizali ' "1 :11 ,, 1 IIII' f irsl link in II II' dl :l in ,,1' ,'i, i l wu r,
" T' l u- gll idi ng Id"a o f II", I'ir:o> l 1,' \1 ' " If "Oil wi, 1I 10' II" , , i" I'" v
II I lilt , 1I 1 1111' d I I 1111 l l uu .Ill 1'1 ' \,,,111111111 II Y Ili tl W il l i, 1111"" 1111 I I \'
(Photo Gircke)
the nrrnv. or whe the r Ihe peasa nts were
resi stance 10 compu lsory a uct ions , it was
preparatory mcusurcs for th e a r me d ri si ng,
is the hi ghest form of t he poli lical st ruggle of
Karl Liebknedi! and Rosa Luxem burg.
were distributed in
encouraged to offer
always a questi on of
" T he armed r ising
l lu: prnl ctur iu l ."
Leni n, of cours e, nev er rcgarderl t he r isin g as an isolat ed act
unconnect ed wi lh the other features of class warfa re , The rising is
prepared by th e enti r e pr -evious struggle hcl wcen the cl asses i n a ny
given co unt ry and represen ts the organi c continua tion of the lalt er.
The en t ire nc tivit ic s of th e revol ul innury party. the fi gh t fo r p ea ce,
against t he im pcri nlist lc intervcn tio n in Sov iet Hussia , Chi na, e tc .
(against the co ming i mp eri ali s li e war betw een Euro pe a nd Ame r i:,a,
c t c. ], agai nst ca p ita lis tic raliona lisation, for th e raising of wages, lor
socia l ins uru nce, for a h igher s tanda rd of li fe of th e p ro leta r iat as
a whole, for t he n at ion al isa t ion of the soil , the pnrl inm cn ta ry struggle,
clc. , et c., a ll th at 1II 11sl he regardecl f rom th e perspective poi n t o r
view of the preparation and mohil iz ation of the masses for t he h ighest
for m of s truggle at the moment when t he r evo lution is ripe - for
t he risin g ' }" ,
A similar opinion was expressed the ot he r theo r cj icul
advocate of the armed r ising, Hans Kippenbergcr , th e well-known
military leader of Ihe German Com mu nist Party.")
{Photo Gross)
II
All means are justified that lead to the desired end. Everything
is permitted that does no damage to the Party. ChenLing and theft,
lying and force, agitation and in cit ement , espiouage and tr eason,
The damaged Police H eadqu art ers, March 1921.
(Atl.I"llC
II "" " , .1,"11.,,,,,/ '" II... S ,iliil zl.!lIsl' 4 1.. .uu! Entr.incc ro tlu: 1'.1i,IC" , 191 9.
( Photo So" , I)
Barricade in the Rosi odcer Strelie, Mosbii , Berlin, 1932.
3) Alfred Lnugur (Hans Klp pcubur gur}: ,, 1)(', WI''' 1.1I11 ' Si",,;. Die Kuns t des
hcwalf'"'! "11 AIII" I:lI,des ." p. 1.
0) Alfl'l', 1 1.11 11 "" 1' l, ipp" II),"I''' ' '' ) : ,,11,' 1' WI'M zuru Si"f{. Die Kunst des
1,-' wnll'lI l"ll'lI Ali i I ulld t' .' I' n,
no means gon e out of fas hi un. 11 has been eve n more pr eci sel y
stre sse d in the new edit ion." ' j
It forms th e transition f rom agitat ion al propa ganda to
It must begin when their own ranks ar c stronges t and the masses
most rip e for action and, on th e other hand, wh en th e adversar y
is weakest and the conditions are mo st favourabl e. Disin tegra tion
of the ad ver sary, i. e. of th e whol e of the sta te org aniza tions and
institutions, of th e political parti es an d figh ting associations, of
the natural executive organs of the people and of the political
opinions as well as of th e character or ever y f ellow-ci tizen are
thus th e first ste p, th e negati ve pre par at ion for the ri sing.
The propagati on of Marxism, of the world revol ution, and of
the future ide al and the organizati on of the r ecruited and trained
masses is the second step, the po siti ve preparati on f or the armed
rising,
"It is hardly necessary to emphas ize that the agitation an d
propaganda at such moments is no " agi ta tional propaganda wo rk" as
such but that it must be a da p ted t o the inter ests of th e armed s tr ugg le
with th e obj ect of a tt r ac ting as large masses as possibl e to active
participation in th e physi cal struggle and of causing confusion,
vacillation and di sintegration in th e oppon ents' ca mp."' )
I.'
1\
(Photo Hoffmann)
Die Riitehetrschsft in Miinchen 1919
11,,1 II .. , ,,,/ 1.,/,1''',''/ 1\,'.1 (/".".1 , It'd to 0'/'"',, 11"11"'''''' )
Red Guards take host ages to prison
Karl Radek, Soviet- Propngnnde Manager far Germany,
Ernst Toll er and Minister President Kurt Eisner.
r,) l x-n i n : .. 1)1' 1' H :H lik:lli 'IIII1 \\ 1 dit' <I t,\ l \lI ll1l1l l1l1i "IIIIl S .
U
I' 1" '
Disturban ces in Hamburg 1919.
cowar dly a ttacks and murder are ju st as pr ac ticubl e means as , on
th e oth er hand, music hall s and tea par ti es, ch ildre n' s clubs and
dcmonstrations, " re d" spor t and the study of th e wo r ks of Marx
and Engels.
" One must be ready to make any sac rifice and even, if necessary,
to adopt a ll possi bl e tr ick s, dod ges an d illegal metho ds for concea ling
th c truth.
This , says Lenin") , must be do ne wh en it appears suita bl e. The
objective r emains immovabl e, namely , the dictato rs hip of th e
prol et a ri at, th at is to say of th e Executive Committ ee or th e
Communist Internati onal e.
The h istory of th e Commu n ist rcyolu tionary movement in
Germuny falls clearly in to th re e par ts, HlI 1924-1929,
a nd 1\);\0-1933.
I I
11
/ I" "',' 11'/,,',. tlw 1"""' 1:"\ II "" 1/111/,1"" ,.1.
h
" {Photo Hoj/",.nn)
T e cellar 1lI whicli the hostages were confined.
M. Levien,
OJ "\\' ,,, will d r-r Sp,"' ln l" , huml?" 'l"nl,' <1 Irmu Ih, ' .. 11I " , l r i l' I'I.- C,',,",ail'h lt,
cl. ,( dr- u t 1' 1"'11 I( I'YUIIl IIO Il
Il
I nll ' l uul iOlllll"1 " 111"1 1.'1 'II:'K. Bl'llin I U ~ p, ~ f \ l ,
The first period begins with the founding of the Spartakus '
League, at first as a group within the German Indep endent Social
Democratic Party, to which th e dat e 14. 12, 1918 can be as signed,
th e da y of the publication of th e proclamation and programme
of th e Spart akus League by Hosa Luxemburg in th e "Rote Fnhne"
of that tim e. In that proclamation the decisive part played hy the
armed rising is described in unambiguous t erms:-
"The struggl e for Socialism is th e grea test civil war in th e history
of th e world, and the prol et ari an r evoluti on mu st prepare th e necessary
arms for thi s civil war, learn to use th em , to fi ght a nd to ga in th e
victory." oJ
Hardly a month ela psed before th e Spar takus League rai sed
th e banner of an armed ri sing in Berlin. The street fi ghting in
January in Berlin was extre me ly sa ng uinary and could onl y be
suppressed after days of heavy fighting by military units and
artillery,
At th e same time a Soviet Republic was proclaimed in Bremen
while street fighting occurred in Hamburg and Wilhelmshaven.
In February 1919 Sovi et Republics were procl aimed in
Brunswick and Bad en and had to be suppressed with great
sac rifi ce of human life.
The general strike and the ar med r ising in Berlin at the
heginning of March 1\")1 9 and the armed revolt at th e same time
in the Ruhr Dist r ict are st ill generall y remember ed.
An outst anding posi tion in th e continous series of ri sings and
fi ghting is occupi ed by th e Communist r evolution in Munich wher e,
from th e 7th Apr il to the 2nd May , 1919, a Soviet Republic was
set up under th e leader ship of th e sailor Rudolf Eglhofer and the
J ewish Soviet commissars Levine, Levi en and Axelrod. There was
a gene ra l str ike from th e 14th to th e 22nd April. Unt er the
leadership of the Communists, a red army was cr eat ed and
confisca tions , expro pri ations an d a telephone censorship carried
out. On th e 1st May began th e march on " red" Munich. The street
figh ting lasted until the 8th May and even ar tille r y had to be
employed in order to overcome the resistance of the Communists.
The number of casualties amounted to 927 dead and numberless
wounded. On the last day of the Sovi et ru le nine Muni ch citizens
and a woman wer e shot by th e Communists as hostages in the
courtyard of th e Munich Luitpold Gymnasium. The "Commander-
in-Chief" of the red army, Eglhofer, lost his life in th e fighting.
The spirit ual father of th e Muni ch rising, Engen Levin e wa s
ar rested and sho t on th e lilh June, Hll n, nl'tcr a l'ull trinl .
I ,II" 01. "" ,.\..1/01 .' I , \ 11../ I '(!
" W he n it h ecumc known thnt l lu: Sol'ia l- f)l' III,>c:rali<' I' a rl y d id II'"
wi sh 10 play th c ga llic of th e Cunuuun ls: 1' :11'1.1' lIl' adqll :, J'I t' rs, T,'c1d,v
[Thfi hnuun}, ill a fil o r pussi ou , orel t'J'('d II Ie' t'o llr il'l' s 10 xlnrl , wi lli
III , order 1'0 1' :1 r isi ng. 1IlIIlIl'c1iall'l y a ft c'r II", "OIlI'l'J'('lIc'" 01' II Ie' 1' :II'l o r v
"o" II,'i l, 1,1", CO" ' lIl l1l1i,1 I' " r ly ,I!":lIlq " a r l" I's 111 ,1.1 II 1I 11 ' I'IillH III oI i II
The attempts of th c Spartakus League who organized
r evoluti on ary risin gs were continued in Leipzig and Hamburg .
A year la ter, in March 1H20, there was an attempted rising in
th e Ruhr Dis tric l wh en a regular red army was also fo rmed.
In th e foll owin g month of the sa me year occurred the out rages
co rnrn it tcd by the not or ious ter r or ist Max I lolz ') in the Vogt land.
N umerous hou se-bu r n ings, murders and ac ts of vio lence wen'
co mmitted hy Xl ax Holz' s hands of ter ror-ists, a nd the r isi ng co uld
only hc que lled after lengt hy f ighting in which tr oops WCl'('
empl a yed. .
A yea r later th er e we r e aga in serious Commun ist dist urba nces
in Centru l Ger many, Hambu rg a nd t h e lluhr Di str ict.
In the meantime t hc economic a nd fina nci al posi tion of t hI'
Weimar Republi c became worse owi ng to t he unexampled
in effici ency of .its le nd ers until th e inflati on of the cur ronc,
res ulted in cata s t ro phe in th e autumn of 1!)2:1. The wave 01
Communis ! di slurhnnccs and att empted ri sings in creased aga in Oil
th e same sc ale. In Saxony and Thuri ng iu t be Ger man Corum1111 ivl
Part y to ok part in the local govern ments of th e s ta les. 1\ 1 11 11 '
e n d of Oct oher 1\)2:\ an a r me d ri sing was a llempled in H u mhu rj;
vhi ch u l firsl led to t he se izure of numerous pol ice post s ~ IIII'
te r roris t groups of the Communist Par ty and once agai n wu-,
only quell ed ul'Ier len gthy f ighting.
The Ha mburg r ising deserves special a t tention because it W:l '
a u t ho ri tat ive in la ter yea rs fo r the t heory of the armed r i, ill" ,
for the s tra tegy and tactics of street-fighti ng and the orga nizing
princi pl es of th e German Communist Pa rt y. The hl'st kno wn
Communis t terror ist s and leaders of the civi l war, Hei nz ]\1' 11111 : 11111
al ias Ne uherg, Hans Kippcnhcrger al ias Alfred Langer a /ld IIIII'
mcis te r alias \ VaIt er Zcut sch el , derived their experic nc. :llleI
teachings f ro m the Hamburg r isi n g.
At the beginning of l(li:\i\ these teachings were to he p il i iliio.
pract ice and th e mi st a kes formerly committed avo ided. A c'c'I 'I : 1i 1l
clemen t of tragic comedy is not lacking when oru- k-nrn s 1'1'11/1 1
Ze utschel's exper t dcscri p t ion how it then happened t Ita I IItI' a r llll' eI
ri sing onl y br oke ou t in Hamburg without bein g f'ol ln wr -d hy ul lu-r-,
el sewhere.")
' I 1'", 1'' 111 " "I "It lliil, . "' I' I' "
" I \\' 11 1111 Ji ll i 1 111 1 otl l ll 1)11'11 I ell" 10111 1111111 1 I i dllll ' I II I 111 1t 1l f.{i ll ll 1I1illll "
(T I' h , ll ll \.1,1 II t tl I llnl ll il lll ll i l B.,. 1111 1\). 11 I' I.
(Photo .I'd,,,I)
Incendiary placard in Falken berg. Vog tland.
Text : If the Reidisweht comes . . : set the fo llowi ng buil dings on fire!
1'1
Fellea trees as bazricades in the Hemburg-Beu nbeck distul bances ill 19:2.3,
The order to strike the first hlow was communica ted 10 IllI'
terrorist groups who had heen ala r med in th e ni ght l'rnm III\'
22nd to 28rd October. The surprise att acks on the oute r posts III'
the Hamburg poli ce occurred about 5 a,111, and these post s W( ' I'"
mostly sur pr ise d and occ upied, t he weapo ns and aIII III I II I iIill II
falli ng int o the hands of th e attackers.
A sing le in st ance will give an idea of what occu rred,
" In order t o carry out t he orders given by th e head s or Ih.
Communist Party for th e sta rti ng of the fight ing, mcmhcrs lIf Ih, '
Party in th e Prussian communes of SteIlingen and Lock stvd t lnul
hur r ied, by orde r given duri ng th e ni ght , on the early nuirn i ng 1I1'
the 23r d Octobe r to th e p oint s of assembly in di cat ed to IIII'll!. '1'1 ..,
Locks ted t Communis ts, who had assembl ed n ca r Ihe lncnl s ' hllllt,
moved, a fte r waiting fo r an orr le r 'hr ought 10 bhem Ihl' a ""disl , III
the wat er t ower in Ste ll inge n where th ey j oined 11;1' COl'lIll1l1l1i sl
assembled th er e in order to march in small pa rt iI's 10 1':illlshii l"'l
When th ey had assembled again th er e, the a tt ack lH'gall Oil Jlol..",
post No, 42 whi ch li es close to the fr onti er be tween Prusxiu 1I11c1
Hambu rg , I n doing t hi s th ey acted with hrut alit v, ' l' l u- two . 11I 1illll
po lice officers Halernha and Roggenbuck who he ]I;lIgc, d 10 llu- s tiltill ..
a nd were on pa tr ol wer e attacked whe n Ihe Communls ts l'l'lIc'l ,c'd llu :
corner of the Oster Strasse and Metf'esscl Strusse. 'I'hrr-e 11" '11 11 1111 ,' 1" .1
each of them obvious ly accor ding 10 a pre-arrange d pluu. ' I' l u- Jlol i,'"
officers wer e seized on the r ight an d th e lef t whi h- 1I l hi rd 111 1111
attacked them from th e fron t. Il ulcmhn was thrown III Ih, ' 1o:1'1I ' " ld
lind received t hr ee kn ife wo unds on the head, IIIC' ('!II'sl IIl1d II..,
1IJ11)(' r arm . His sword-hell wi bh h.i s ,l> lIyOIl"! 1I 11 d pis ill t IVII S 111111
o f'f a ud 1I11 C' of his ussui lnnls sho l him ill 11 11 ' d lC' sl wil l> his 1I1V1I
rr-volvr-r. II:d"III11a "lIl1ld rotu ru 10 dill y nf'tr-r th n -r - 1I11111111 ' s 1I11 pt lll i
In 'lIlll1c'lIl, 1'11 1 llu- 1I'1I 11 11ds ,'{' cC' il' l't1 I>y H0l-aWlIl>lI c'" 11'1'1" 1I " ,', ,1' 1'
111 111 III ' 1> 11 1""'lIl11" a pr-rn ru nr- u t iu vul ld nud wi ll 1"'lIhll h" 111 ' \1'\
10-:1\'" tl u- 1111 1',1111 ullv ,
Ernst Th almann.
Heinz Neumann,
Ha ns Kippenberget,
train must have s tarted just at the moment whe n th c messenge rs
dashed of f. But on ly the Hamburg man had star ted, The Mecklenburg
man had dr un k a cup of coffee in t he waili ng-room while wait ing
to start and had just come ou t on to t he plutf'onm wh en th e Hamburg
t rai n with which he ought to have travelled steame d out of the
station , The messenger sent after him met him jnst as h e was staring
disconcer tedly at the t ail -li ght s of t he t rai n and as ked hi m b reath -
l essly where the Hamburg man wus, "I 'liere he goes', he repl ied."
It is worth noting that the agi tation for a r ising in Hamburg
in 1923 was conduc te d under th e same slogan of "anti-Fascism" as
in 1932 and 1933. Russian Jews were again the leading person s
concerned in the preparati on of th e ri sing. On this occasion th ey
were Sobe lsohn alias Karl Rad ek and Otto l\Iarquar dt, member of
th e Soviet Commercial Mission in Hamburg. The ri sin g was
preceded by numerous strikes and excesses. The re aso n given for
the arme d rising was also sta ted to he ten yea rs ago Ihe hogy or
th e which lIlighl nvurrnu lilt' I\l' pnh lie.
A s('('I'p\ I l\' ad ('Olllillit k l' for rll lllli lig l l n- rising was nppoi ntpd
1" wh ir h 11 11 ' 11'1' 11 1110 11' 11 "11l1 lll1 lll1i I IIl1go l l rl ruh u x IlI' l' III1(c'd .
furthe r steps, In their hearts they were all glad that the Social-
Democr a ts had de cl ined. Then suddenly Teddy announced th at he
had despatche d the co uriers and the news worked li ke a bomb. They
all lea pt from the ir seats ami gazed at each o ther in bl an k a mazeme nt.
Brundler was t he fi rst to r ecover hi s composure . He at once se nt so me
of his men who were to stop th e couriers. None of th em had started
except th e man for Hamburg and th e ma n for Meckl enburg. The i r
' I
'll
(Ph"o 0"0 R, i,h)
Street blocked by banicades, Bs t mbeck, 1923.
T he offi cia ls in Ihe pol ice posts wer e crun pl et rl y su r prised. so that
th e ringl eader s we re uhle 10 si-izr- th e poli ee post without di ffi cult y.
II has been proved th at t he ringh':ll h'rs learnt a t lat est a t th o point
or nssernhly at th e Slc lli ngl' n wuh-r to we r th at it was a qu esti on of
an nt t nc k on poli ce po s t N, l :! al a nd Ih us of ucf iun
a ga inst the uuthorit y of th e s ta ll' ," (Poli ce r e port .]
The sever es t fighling occ urrvd s ubse que ntly to this in Ihe l lum-
hurg suburb of Bur mh cck which wa s cn mple telv ill the hands of
Ihe ins urgents who had e\'l'l' ll' d Iuu-r icurles there. A sho r t ex trac t
1'1'0111 t he police re po r t mu s t also suff ice in thi s cnse :-
" In order to bren k down thi s orga nized and very st ro ng resi .tunce
in Bur mhcc k. u n if'orrn louder hip wit h po wr -r l nl forcps was Ill!' l' ssary.
.vhuu t 10 a. m. P nl lco Muj ur l l ar ton sl ei u put in comma nd o f tlu :
insurg..nt di stri ct o f Barmhcck. II C' had a l hi s di sposal th e det a ch -
nu-uts alr eady IhN l' and i'url.lu-r th e 7I h sc r- t lon next for du tv. th e l si
I ree h a rb ou r pol ice post , :')0 mr-n of t he pr-rmrmeut s ect ion a nd 3 a r -
moured ca rs whi ch were la ter supple uu -nlr-d hy t he 2 armoured ca rs
1'1'0111 Eirn hiill el a f'Ivr they co uld he spar..d th er e. T he organi zed .. m-
pl oym cnt of th e Iorces nl t he dis po snl of Poli ce l\Ia j or Hart en st ein was
conside ruhly ha mpered and pn rt ly re ndered impnssible by the fa ct th..
th ose f orces were ul rc udy Ii rr-d upon and iu volvcd i n fi ght in g 011 th ei r
wa y to t he poin t of usse mbly (IIll'Y were order ed to polic e post No . In).
The i ns urg en ts pu t up powerful r esl s tuuce [rom r oofs. alli c windows .
re cesses in th e walls of th o h ou ses, cr-llnr wi ndows and from the s t re e t
hurrl cndes. Du ri ng l.he whol or 1.11 ,' :l:\n! Oc to her, . .it wa s nol
possihl c to qu ell the r isin g i n BaJ'ln heck. Th e resistance was too s t ro ng
1'0 1' il to be possi hl c 10 ca rry out opr-r ut io ns o r move th e f or ces in th r-
str ee ts by dayl ight wi t hnu! cons ide rub h- losses . II was o illy wh en
da rkness fell th at it was p os sihle 10 s u r r oun d Ihe ce n t re of Cu nu uun is t
n -sist nn ce wi th st r ong po in ts or suppor t, in order to fore c n 1'1'0111
th ese poinl s in lo t he CoIII III II II i , 1 Ill' si Oil IIII' :!\I 11 October a u el , 11 10 1,,
the m out."
' I' l u: ri sing l l u: 1111' lIf :11 It'asl fllrl y 1111 '11 .
whik - t lu- IIIIUd ,, '!' lI f Wll l ll l cll ' cI i ,' l lIlI al. cI II I 1;10 . Ti ll' III .... of
II
I
If " " , "I. mth 1I" ", bl/ / ' ell t ut b.vn, " ' 'v'
th e police in re capturing poli ce post 42 al one, we re three dead
and twelve wounded, whil e in recapturing Ba r rnbeck-Nord and
Barrnbeck - Sli d fiv e poli ce off icers were killed and thirt een
wounded.
Once again, in April 1925, th e a tte nt ion of Ger many wa s direct ed
to th e criminal plans f or viol ent act ion on the part of th e Com-
munists in connection with the tri al of the Sov iet Hussian and
German Che kis ts and Terrorists in th e Supreme Cour t in Leipzig.")
Furthennore, the Communis t Pa r ty had adopted a new lin e
of strategy which they ret ained unti l 1H2!l . The idea and purpose
of th eir wo rk con si st ed in the "conques t of the majorit y of th e
working cla ss" , as th e pr ogramme of th e Communist I nt ernat ionul c
expre sses it. They had real ized t hat the heallhy f'orces of the
The Russian Chekist Gorew-Sk oblewski,
who was condemned 10 deal h by the
Supreme Cour l in 1925, and later ex-
changed agai nst the Ger man student
Karl Kindermann and 10 ol her Ger-ma ns.
nation were too st rong for it to be possibl e to se ize the powe r bv
a coup de main, in spi te of th e inef ficiency of th e go\ernmen t.
What th en foll owed was all al mos t bo undless sys te m of agi ta t ion,
propaganda, individual acti on and organ iza tiolls, whi ch left no
singl e class of th e German peopl e unt ou ched , whi ch po ured the
Bol shevist poi son int o ever y vein of the body cor po ra te of the
nation and had every whe re a disint egrating effe ct in order to pu t the
feverish organism in th e condi tion of an "immediatel y impending
revolutionary situation". The procedure, th e ta cti cs and th e
methods of thi s per sist ent and well -aimed Bols hev is t work of
disintegration and pr op aganda among 1111' wo rk peopl e, IIw
") d . l\ ill tl"I" III1I1I1I , :.! ,I fl lo ..., ill fill ' T"Io'"loi;""" ''' , 1'." I," rl ,Vl'r lag, 1I"1' lill
Sh 'll lj l/, 111:11
' I
un empl oyed , th e peasantry, the women , th e young and th e
childre n, have bee n described in det ail else where.")
Alongside of Social Bolshevism wit h it s inci tement to class
hat red and civil war, a qu ite special task was assigned dur ing this
period to cult ura l Bolshevism which was 10 di sintegrate the moral
po we r of rcs istunce of the na lio n in books, pamphle ts, periodicals,
li lrns, th eatres and meeti ngs, hreak up th e soc ia l community and
undermine and destroy the Ger man cha racter , The kernel of
cult ural Bolshevism was formed bv the reckl essl y hatcful and low
godless movemen t, whil e the propaganda in of "free lov e" ,
mo ra l decay and moral perversity was ab le in the cle veres t way
10 harness the sexual impulse fo r the poli tical aims of Ih;'
Communist Int crnut ionule.
Badg es of t he various Commullist OlX. w iza/io IlS .11'1II -1,.lIId, .1IId 11r.. llriglll.,l Iii' oj' "
Soviet fl.1gsl.1ff ill ih fir sl Nntionol-Socislist Revolution /1/".\""111 ill Berlin,
(S 1.-.'11,111",111<, I '/ ,)
'H) ,\ 01 11 11 1'1111 ,,,,,I .l ul i n-, SI'Il\\'t,j, 'II" I' I : ,,1':11 11" " " ' 1111 ' 10: d"1 \ '11 1",,\,, 11" I.ill
()III ',. ..' li n d l dill I II ti ll nll l l'!1I \\'i"i l' I't111 f.( 1II'lI l "il' lIl a nd I' rk u r l \ "1 1/110: . 1'1'11111
1"Il IIl, 1'1I')
It) Ext ra ct 1' 1'0111 " Ell l f"s " ' lllllg cI ., 1111 " 1' \\'1'11 " . Pl' . 7 1'1 ." ''1.
12) All dt 'la il s a r t' Ih ost fo: i n' lI lI y t lu - nq,; lIl1ill lli ll U'i, " \1'. ' 1'1 lil t, muul u-r o f
l ilt , II I1C'llI plIl VI'cI \\ 1111' 11 i ... a ll 1,, 11111 111. ' ' I' h l' , 0 111'1' (' ., li re ' g i v t' ll i n 11 11 '
' 1'1'1" 111 1 ' .' , 11 11 11 '" II I 1' 1111 I I (II I ti ll' 11 1 11 11, - ,' llIlIlf
t
).
It is, of course, ob vio us , Ihat poli tica l Bolshevism wa s, at th e
sa me time, not neglect ed , but pumped every day into the nation
in an edi tion running to milli on s of copies. Pacifi sm. tr ea son .
espionage, th eft and cr ime were als o at thi s period th e usual
weapons of Ihe so-called " ide ological offen sive" .
We must con len t ourselves her e with providing a shor t survey
or Ihe network of CommunisL or ganizalion in Germany.
Condit ion s in 1 were uppro ximat cl y as fo\l ows:- " )
The orga nized core o f milit ant Bol shevism in Ge rma ny is urrung t-d
uc co rdiug to ti ll' s('a l,' o r ils poli t ica l nipness. r-nmmu ni st ic pu r it y a nd
disciplined activ i ty in t hree gro ups : th e basic, th e uni fo rm front a nd
th e advance pos ( orga niza tio ns. Fo r the sake of cla ri ty, we ha ve
arranged this in tubul ar forni." ]
....
" .
?
I
,
,
t e.o('
;' ,,0" _
';D:- ..... -
- ,/./ "., ....
Miscellaneous cult ural organiza ti ons (sing ers, man-
doli n e players, chess players, wr it ers, acto r s ,
esper an to spe akers, etc.] .
F igh t ing Committees a nd Ac ti on Committ ees o f a ll
kinds (Ant i-I mpe r ia lis t Leagu e, Ge r man Peas ants '
League, Tannnts'Committees, An ti -co mp uls ory Edu-
cat ion Commit tees, 218, Fighting Com mi t tee for
th e He-opening of th e Zehlendorf lIindenburg
Hospital, Fighting Commill ee for th e Hescu e of
Ru egg. a nd a no ther for the re sc ue of eigh t yo ung
n egr oes fr om Ih e electr ic ch a i r, etc. , etc.) .
- - - - - -,r- f - - - - - -
-- - - - -, f' - - - - - ..
' ) ( I " I' ' 11 . 1'1' III I I
/ 1
/ I,,l'
, t I
I
The fundamental idea of llu: orgallizalioll lIIay lu- SI' I ' II I'I'0nl
t he nhov dia gram:_1:,)
Tit" ha sic or!-ta ni za t iolls a n' rl 'p n 's"nlt'd lo y till ' ,oll,,n lri .. ,' il'l'I,
I, :J a lld :1 gronl"' d 1'011 111 1 1111' S: II I1" ,,n t r,. IIu- ZI\ or t lu- I\ t ' ll 'l' t"
IIlIifol'lo 11' 0111 o r!-t llll izations Ill'lo ngill !-t 10 tlt" 111 a I'" l'I 'I' ...,,llt.d h v II,, '
?
ca. 25 .000
ea . :100,000
ea. 50.000
ca . 300.000
ca .
ea . 120,000
ca. 30,000
ea . io.ono
ca . :W,OOO
'!
ea. 160 .000
I. Basic Organizutluns
German Comm unis t Part y (sect ion of the Corn m u nis t
International e), membership .
(I\ PD, sect ion or th e Komint ern)
German Communis t Youth Assoc ia tion (sect ion of th e
Co ru m un is t Youth Int ernati on al e) .
(I\.IVD, sec li on of th e K.Jt )
Rl' d F r onl-Figh l,' rs Lcn gu e iRF B), m l'gal a nd otlu-r
defen ce orga niza tion s , .
II. Uniform Frnnt Organlzutlnns
Revol ut io na ry T ra de Un ion Op posit io n. seclion of
I,ll" R,' d T'Ltde Unlon Iut eruuti on nl moo. se ct ion
of th e HGI ) .
Gerruun Red Provid ent So ci et y (se c tiou of th e Int er-
nati ouul Red Provident Socie ty It II D, sect ion of
th e HUl l .
Internalional Workmen ' s P rovident Soci et y (L\l I) ..
Associ atl on of Ger ma n P ro lela ria n F re e-Th i nk ers
(seclion of th e Int ernati onal Prole ta ria n F r ee -Th in-
. kers - VpFD, section of th e IpF) .
Unifor m Asso ciat ion for P role tar ian Sexua l Reform
and Prot ecti on of Mothers . .
Ant i-Fasci st Fight ing Lea gu e .
III. Advance Pust Organizations
Hed Pi oneers .
Women Del egates .. , .
Del egut es of the Une mploye d .
Red Spor ting Cl ubs .
' I ,
\. .'1
three eccentric circles 4, ,S and 6. Eaoh uniform front organizatio n
ex tends out of the ortglnnl ci rcle in to the non-Commu nist m asses : t ha i
is t heir idea an d ahm. Part of each circle, which has also the manage-
ment in its hand s a nd is called a " Communist fraction" in the language
of the Kom intern, ove rlaps t he basic circles. Th us the Assoc ia ti on of
P roletar ia n Fr-ee -Thinkers (ci r cl e 4) incl udes a mo ng it s 160,000
members abou t :W,OOO Communists and 130, 000 belonging to no party.
The next uni form front organization, such as th e International Work-
men's Provident Soci e ty, represented by circle 5, overlaps the basic
circles and also the fi rst uniform front organization. It thus i ncludes.
in 'addition to the bulk of t he no n-party men, also those who are in
the core or in the ot her uni form front organiza tion or in both, etc.
The who le arrangement is very reminiscent of the " Ch inese box"
system of mo dern conc er ns connect ed with s hare eompant cs. in whioh
the promoter, starti ng with a parent company, acquires sha r es in oth er
companies and t hus , with lit tl e ca pital of h is own, controls several
times as much outside capital. The Ger man Communist Party is the
poli ti cal holding company of the uniform front organizations.
Th is system of organizations casts it s nets, in the form of the
advance post organi za tio ns. int o (he surrounding cla sses of the popu-
la ti on . These are the nascent organizations, represented by t he figures
7, 8 and 9 in the diagram, whose " members hip figures" are no longer
comparable wit h t he fig ures for t he mass or-ganizubions, r or they hnvc
a different quality.
Taken all in all , the number of trained and organized Com-
munists in Germany in 1932 may be esfimn led at a bo ut one m ill ion.
This figure includes, of course, only th e core troops of Commun ism,
while, as is known, the n umber of Commun ist voters at that time
was about six million. If we ta ke in to accoun t t he number of
sympat hizers, waverers, pe rverts and part of th e indifferent, t he
result f or 1932 is a terrible pict ure of the int ernal d isintegration
and weakness of republican Germany which, when considered
a bs olutely calmly and impart iall y, can only be descri bed as ho pe less.
It must not he fo rgotten that the ' Social-Democrat ic pa r ty, as the
most important represent ative of repuhlican authority, formed
part of the same front of Marxism, J udai sm and Pacifism as its
hostil e brother, the German Communist part y. The lack of
determin ati on, t he internal insecu rit y and the co rr uptness which
characterized th e Social-Democratic pa r ty rendered it an absolutel y
ins uffic ient factor for resistance and one which the nation could
not employ. It can t herefore he sai d wit ho ut exaggeration and
purely on t he basis of the facts that t he reall y most dun gcrous
oppone nt of Communism in Ger many was no ! the state wit h the
Social -Democratic party and the Cc nn-r - p:ll' l y I HII 1IIl' Nn l ionnl -
Sociali st movement wh ich l hn-u tr-m-d III throw lhi x S:J Il W Ilt'l pil' ss
sta te of f its hul .uu-c wilh ('\'C' II 1-: 1' 1': 11 1' 1' forc l ' 'l' II lIs l lu- 1' :11':(' uml
1111' hut nr! of 1111' COlllllllllli "il Ilnrl " \\' 1' 1'1' 1'1I11"I I' q ll l' lI l1y 1'1I1l1'('lllr:dl 'd
2H
much less on the members of the Weimar state than on the S.A.
an d S.S. Bolshevism in Germany did not fig h t against the pas t
but against the f uture of th e Rei ch .
That was the sit uation in HJ:32 . The steady advance of Na tional
Socia lism confron ted the Communist pa rt y 'wit h the question of
its very existence. What the republic had f olcrutcd and Furthe red
for fourteen veal'S would no t he suffered by a Na tional -Sociul ist
Germany fo r a single day. In thi s sense the Communist party 1',, 11
it self to be the ally of the Weimar state against the common halvd
en emy, National Socialism. The conques t of the republic was 110 1
t he pass-word .given out for the de cis ive struggle in t he spriru;
of 1932, but the pa ss-word was anti-Fascist action.
The more eviden t the crack s in the structure of t he 1'0111'11
republic and t he cl earer th e alterna tive of Sov iet Germany 01'
Third Reich became, the more Icvct-ishly did the Commun ist purt v
begin the preparations for an armed rising.
The period of a conditional s tabili za tion of capitalism whi rh
was still spoken of at t he la st wor-ld congress of the COl111ll 1l Ii i "il
Inte r nuti onale in the autumn of 1U28 was apparently a t an ('Il d
and was fo llowed by" a profound dist urbance of wo rld bus uu-s......
The Marxist "analysis of the sit uati on" led of neces sity 10 li lt'
view t hat t he sit uation would soon be ripe for a revol ution. Se r iou s
re voluti on ar y dis turbances appeared inevitable. The task of I IIl'
Communis t I; art y was to place it self at the head of t he revolu t ionu rv
movement and to bring about by force a decision in Favour or 11 11'
C0l11111Unist I nternationalc. The 12th plenary me eti ng of E Xl '
cutive Committee of the Communist Internationul c (EI\l\: 1) Wllkll
wa s hel d in at the beginning or September sai d
offi ci all y t hat t here conld he seen
"wi th ab solute clearness th e pr-ospect of the 1II0s t vlolcut r-lnslr II I
class differences" .
This same committee, th e general staff of the world rr-vulufiou,
exp r essl y emphasized th e
"very increasing revolutionary movement in fiel'lIll1 lly l Ull] Ihl '
rapidly rlevc loping cond.ition s IH't'I' ssar y for a rr-vo lu liumu'v I'l'i "j ,,"
In the resol ut ions adopted by this plenary IIlt't'lillg or llu- ('Olllllli ll l'I'
(;Pl'll lilIlV is dcscrihcd in Iuteful \\'f)l'tls as " l ilt' w u u t u ] ill
T heir a im "':IS 10 estahl ish tl H'Ill Stj \,\, s ill t his wnmul und III ll'i( '
IIw g:lIl'\\': IY eu llr-d Goru umy to hrill g :IIHIIII lilt' irrnpfiuu II I
Holxln-vi ..... lll nl l 0 \ ' ( ' 1' IIIl' world. TIlt' riuumilh-r - lriumpltuull y
ill it s 1'( 'SOll1l ioll .... Illal
" l i lt" 1;"1111 11 11 Ik \' lIlul ioll wi ll tll l id.. 1111' 11111 ' of lln - juuh-I urluu
11' \011111 1111 III \ Vt h -t u :l l1d (:I'1I11 1It 1-:II I OJ I1 ' "
" I
!he world was to be conque re d by marching through Ger many.
I hc eas tern border st a tes, wed ged in between a Bol shevi st Ru ssia
and a Comm un ist Germany, would h av e been overr un irr esi stibl y,
and the fronti er of th e Sovie t Uni on would have be en
a t onc blow across the Rhine to th e \ Vesl. The y fell n o doubt that
the conquest of Germany would be a preliminary vi ctory in th e
world.rev.olution . The execu tive co mmi t tee were full y ; ware of
th ese in evitabl e consequences when they r ecorded the ass ertion that
" the of th e German Hevolul ion together with the victorious
da ys 01 Oct ob er 1917 co ns ti tute the mos t importan t stcp all th e road
to th e world r evoluti on " .
. Th.e r es?lutions of th e Commun is t gener al sta ff were adopt ed
111 their entire ty by the 3r d W or kmen's Confere nce of th e German
Par ty in October 1932, the cxact l ines of gnidance for
Its worked ou t an d sent as instructi on s to the subs idia ry
organizations, The s ubsequent di st ri ct par ty congresses accep ted
" t.mr eser vedly. and cn t irc ly" the order s of 12th pl enary meet ing
01 lhe Ex ecutive Committee of th e Comm un ist International e a nd
lh c instructions of t he above Par ty Conference.
T he Commu.nis t party whi ch all its s ubs idiary organiza tions
th ereb y pl a ced It self a t th e se rvices o( th e direct mobilization for
civil war. en masse was to he ta ke n t o train, organi ze and
arm th e worki ng classes for th e sei zure of pow er . T he sc t fi na up
of a Ger man Soviet Re p ub lic with a wor kmen's and peasunts'
govern mcn t was the goal procl aimcd. To a ttain thi s goal and
th e desl ruction of t h e h at ed Nationa l Soci alism ther e was both
theoreticall y and practically onl y one way, namel y, an a r med rising.
II.. Conspiracy
From the vcry st art a ll Commun is I organiza t ions in Gl'I"III :111 v
had a doubl e existe nce. On th e on e hand th ey were mass org:111i
zat ions for public pr opa ganda a nd agitatiolJ , a nd had t o s la lld Ih"
full li ght of th e poli cy of th e day and of publ ic a lien iion . 11111
the r oot s of th e uniform fronl or ma ss organizations r an wil hou t
excep tion beneath th e sur face of .t he off icia l party poli cy a nd d" "I'
in to the mire of th e polil icul , crim ina l, and lit erary undvrwurld
This principle of orga n iza Iion was in ten l.ionall y .1'0IIowd :111 01
mai n ta ine d in order to he uhle to disappear fr om the s lagl ' " I
pub lic life at any time and work behind the scenes. II I1IlI sl al"
not he forg oli en that the authoritative tradition had hcvn lal."11
over from th e Hussi a of th e Tsa r s where th e part)' had w" rl., 'd
illegally and under grollnd for decades . The t ea ch ers a nd 1"ad"1
of Couununis m in Ger many also ca me di r ect from th e se ho,, 1 " I
th e old Ru ssi an J ewish r evoluti on. T he spirit of an i nv ixihle ghl' l l"
impreg na te d fr om th e s ta r t th e German Commu nis t purly :" 11 1
a lso the s pir it of mental r eservati on whi ch uppur unf Iy W :I S 11 11 '
justifi cation for thi s dou bl e ga me , for lying, trvucb ery and 1"1
the id ea th a t eve ry t hi ng was all owable.
Since th e elect ions in September HlilO, th e Couuuuni st I'a 1' 1,
ha d a dopte d ill egal methods and accord ing ly did I"
l ruin th eir whol e apparatus, fu nctionaries and mcmlu-rx ill t lu-
:I rt of co ns piracy.
T hus t hc Commun is t Pa rt y ill Suxony is sur -d llu- 1',111" ",ill '
xl ri ctl v conf'ide n lul orders at the end of Scplel1ll H'r 1
I. Duri ng Ihe p,'!.iod Irom l,l ll' ', Ih lo I"l h (kl ol",1' 11 ,101 ,,," 10 10' 01, ,
s('arches an' 10 he car ried out even in Ihl' cas(' 01' llu- highc..1 111'"
Iionari es. Two men must al ways go log,IIIl'!". Ilo 1101 1' 0"10( ,'1 1111
cel lur and the att ics. Conf'iscntion ar e 10 10 1' nlad(, j us l as il' il 11'11
a rr- al seurc h. Arter every sl'are h a rr-po rl is 10 Ill' 1I1' :IIVIl III' 11 11 .1
siglll'd loy lhe lwo nu-n alld llu- hOll sc 'oWII"1' ill ",100,, ' 1'011 '" ""11 "
Ihing has 1)('1'11 Iuund 01' 1101.
:!. Al'l ,'r t lu- ('Ollll' ll'lioll 01' 111 (' h uu sr : S":II'C' III 'S a wri t h-u l'I ' l" I/'I ' 10
I... SI' II I lo us al 0111"" .
:\, 1':,'"l' y
,' I, ' .
'1'111 ' 11 '
I lld
Ol'pol'llIlI il ' ,' I"II"'lIlul'l' "OIl I' SI'S, 11I "l'lill gs 01' 1111 ' ,,:,.1"1
I 10 I", II I ili/ ..d 1' 01' II", I" "I' :I/'al i O ll 101' ill" Io( al 1I 1"ll ut r :
11111 I I I. I ll) 1 1.'IIIl ' ll lllrv l ' lllll ' l, l ' i ll \vlli. ' 11 II I 11' 1''11 ' 1111' 1' \ ".dIl J.,l
.111\ 111 . II III 111' 11 1I11111. ' I'!i
In BUlking ho use-sea rches do not forget the fu nctionaries of th e
super ior party or'gan.izu t.ions and t he defence organizati ons.
The house-s earches must be begun 011 th e 6th Octobe r and
completed on the l Sth October when t he r epor t must reach tis.
To he destroyed at once.
Thus long before t he Gov ernment began with domicili a ry
searches in the quarters of ad herents of the Communist Part y,
the latter had prepared for coming events and made hou se-searches
among t heir own fol lowers.
(I'bl)/O SdJerl)
The Karl Liebknedit House in Berlin, decorated [ot the Communist First of May .
In November 1932 a trial alarm was carried out in Berlin. On
the 23rd an order was issued that all organizations in Greater
Berlin wer e to he r eorganized within three dnys on the basis of
ill egal procedure. The connect ion between the various organizati ons
and p art y offices was th en only to be maintained by co ur iers. The
mee tings no l on ger took place at permanent poi nts of assembly
hu t only a t so-called temporary points . The leaders of the mass
organi za ti ons were no longer elected hut appointed by the
Communist party without the members lear ni ng the 11UI11C of Ihe
leader , Instead of t he r egular func tionaries dummy represen tatives
sat in t he offices, while the real leaders s tayed in an un known
place. No one was even allowed to know who t he courle r was .
Each orga nization had to se lect a ru-nt ra l spol. suc h as a shop,
t o serve as :l post otf'i co. lnxl r-ur l o r 11:11111' :-0; uud addl'l' sses,
nmuhr-rs Wl'J"(' wit'c1 f'rom l hnl l iuu - 011. III HI'rlill , 1'01' iu st unc,
li lt : 1I111111H'I's l'1'1III 1 I III 100 \\'1 '1'1' Il SI 'c1 fill' r Helnr )' c'pll s, lilt' muulu- rs
from 101 to 200 for street cells and from 201 to 300 for count ry
cells; fo r ins ta nce t 2- 1I)/\, meant s lreet cell 106 in subdistrict 12.
The mor e t h e pressure on the Communist Par ty increased, thr -
more speedily we re all vis ihle par ty orga ni zati ons seeming ly
disbanded and withd rawn to the realm of illegal procedure. Order
fo ll owed order for th e purpose of rende ring the enti re orgnnizatiou
completely invi sibl e. After Ado lf Hitler had been appoin ted
Chancellor, this wor k of mystification was carried out with
specia l ene rgy hecause they felt th at the decisive momen t was
co ming near. At the heginning of Fuhruary the in vi sibl e head
quar ters issued t he following instructions for t he st r ict ca rrying
out of illegal mcasurcsr->
a ) The members of t he co urier service a re to be trai ned with nil
possibl e means. Communica t ion between th e couriers and t he uuil s
and a lso between t hemselves must work smoothly.
,b) T he secretaries of th e di st ri ct lcud m- s mu s t al ready pr ovid e Ihl 'HI '
selves wit h secret quar lcrs di strihu tcd in a ll pa r ts of t he t OWIl .
c) Every quart er of th e town must selec t quarters for t he co urir-rs
which must be kept absolutely secret and only repor te d 10 till'
distr ic t lea der s.
d) Presses for the pr in tin g of illegal l ea fl et s, etc. must only li p uxr-rl
once in the same p lace: In p reparing manuscripts, typewritr -rx
belonging to neutral persons, a cquaintances etc. ar e to b{' II S1' 11.
e) The ba lances of all postal cheque accounts of the orgonlzat lou s nn-
to be withdrawn. Payments may no longer be made int o tl u-.... l
accounts.
f) The weapons of the r ifle- shooti ng sporting organizations :l rt ' 10 I ll '
kept separate ly in private quarter' s.
g) Known officia ls of the p olit ical police and the officers i ll ('Il:tr gl'
of poli ce stations are t o be carefully watched when tl u-y 1110\, 1'
about in t he t own. If ther e is anything suspicious , tilt' di xfri r'l
le a de r i s at once t o he informed by courier or t elepho ne. ( Hfi l'i :II'i
of the p oli ti cal police who have t elephones in thcl r privute (1": 11' 11'1''1
- the numbers will be found in the te lephone hook - a re II I Ill'
frequent ly r ung u p anonymousl y in the ear l." mor n in g und 1:1 '" ill
the evening and also during the 'ni gh t , in order 10 :ISI'I'l' lai ll
whether they ru-e at home, In this way it cnn h e dt,(ltll't'd wlu-tl u-r
action is bein g taken.
The observation of the various poli ce ln-n d -quurtt -rx is :lIsll
esp ecially val uable. If li ght is huruing ill th e vm-luux roums dllri ll lo:
the evening or al ni ght , it is a sign lhu t puli r-e f'urra- s an' lu-Id
in rendinuss.
Shor fl y aflt'l'wll l'd s xu-let Ius t rm-f iuns \\'1'1'( ' a J.{aill isslll 'd fo r 11\1'
final Willdill fo: lip HI' 11 11 ' 1'01'1111'1" p:lI'l )' IIllkl ' S, j '; \ I ' r .\' ollic' !' 01'
l '\'t ''' y sll ll ..idiurv HI'J.: :ll d ....uliuu Ilad 10 IH' \' :H'nh 'd III II 1u-r- All
IIl1d dl 'fllI "IilHl i l .Ii utnl , nhuvr- nil , 11 11 rir cuhu I
\ \
etc. were to be dest ro yed immediatel y, and th e member s were eve n
no lon ger to f'rcquc n t their usual heel' saloon . :\{r etings of sever al
persons were nol 10 be h eld ; in any case the number of those
present was never 10 exceed fin>.
Even privat e qum- t cr s were to he clcurod of part y matt er. The
lunctionar-ic s len th eir a part ments and di sappeared withou t
reporting t heir change of res idence t o the police. The protection
of th eir a part me nts was to he t aken on'!' hy th e fight i ng
a ssocia t ions and t orrori st groups . A represent ati v was appoi n ted
for every pa rt y fun ct io nar v in case he should he a rr r-stcd ; eve ry
cell wns made independent of central print ing presses etc . in it s
prop aganda wor k, bein g pr ovi ded wit h a multipl e copy ing
appara tu s of its own . The Blain part of the work wa s trunsfvrred
from private houses and t he st r -eets to t he ruct ories. the
unifonn front orga niza ti on s cr ep t into t he fa ctori es.
But they by 110 menus r estrict ed th emsel ves to such mea sures
of tec hnical organizat ion. T he training of the members in
cons pir acy was cu r ried on w ith the gwa tes t l' l ll' l 'gy. The rul es
of th e consp ir acy were impressed wit h cs pccia! int cnsit v Oil those
members of th e part y whose task it was to carr y Oil th e wor k of
di sintegr a ti on and espionage in side Lhe Na t ional -Socialis t pnr ty,
for th ey had ad opted the pl a n of di sintcgrat iug and undermining
from with in the Xutionu l Social is m whi ch it was difficult to a tt ack
bv force. In Fch r uar y l H;-m, th e cent ra l fi ght ing managing
committ ee in the Huhr District issue d Ihe following orders
r egarding t he cons piracy to all local a nd fa ctory managing
co mmiltecs :-
1. The co mha l ling o f Fooli sh lul k a nd hoa sl,in g is an iru pnrtunt ta sk .
Every member must observe t he pri nci ple thai every OtH', ev en
he h imself, do es not r equir -e to kno w more of the orga niza ti on of
th e comspi r utot -i ul work t han is actuall y ne cessary fo r h is
own wor k.
2. Cautio n i n t el ephoni c co nversutions. The telephone is not sui ta hl e
as a ll H' HIl S of cc tumun icn t lon in con spi r at orial wo r k. Except ions
are on ly permi ssibl e whe n th e conver sa tion i s conducted in a
prearranged co de . 1\' 0 more letters mus t he s ent 10 duuuny add resse s
than is in keeping with the s ta nda rd of li ving of the re al owne r
of the address.
it Cyphe r codes must he very curef'u lly used, esp ecially in communi-
ea ting addr esses.
4. Couriers a nd revolu tionary wo rkers cnfrust r-d wit h s lH'dal ta sk s
must he qui etly dressed a nd bohu ve llu-tnscl vos :!t,(,(!l'lliJlg t o llu-i r
surr oundi ng s.
5. ;\[e{'li ng p l:wl's nn- 10 ln frt 'qlll ' lIll y d lHlI gI'IL
Or gani zati on ruuh-r-in l und ,...p,l'i :dl ,\' lilt' 1l : 1I 111 .'i .u ul :ltld l'l'ss l's of
(O-WOrJ..II''1 1I1:IY 1111 lu- 1, I' pl ill pd " Illt- bllt III11 St Ill'
s tor ed ill sa fely in r ooms speciall y re n te d by the fighting managemen t
fo r th is pur po sc. Mat er ial must not he ca rri ed ab out unnecessarily i ll
coa t pockets. Addresses. ill so far as th ey ca nnot he commi tt ed to
memory , must be recorded in cyp hcr.
All funct ionnr ics who cooperate in cer tai n task s do well to avoid
al l suptu-Il uo us personal re la t ions with ea ch other . Mutua l cont ro l
wit h due ca ution, which mus t not he a ll ow ed to beco me a punic!..)'
fear of sp ies, increase s th e sa fe ty of th e work.
Comra des, t he sit ua lion is ver y s er ious, hut we a re ready to Il H'l'!
it. Our .but ble-crv is: Down wit h th e brow n pkl gllt" across hn rri etuh:v .
a nd 0 11 to soc inllsui by rcvolut.ionat-y I' li'ghting. Hed Front.
On the basis of the exp eri ence gained in Russia and f or t he mosl
part u nde r th e direct or de r s or the Communist Intcrna tiouuh-
a com plete sys tem wit h J"l'gard of conspir a tor ial met hod s wn x
se t up, of whi ch on ly a few point s, a s ex plained in th e classes fll r
funct ion ar ies, arc cited h er e:-
1. In qui siti ve pe op!o tuu st be t re ated a s sus pect. Comr ades III list tin!
he scnbime n tul in deali ng wi t h ea sily ofd'e nded H I' hol l l'JlIlfI ' l'td
comrades, never speak uhou t th eir own work , let th e oll u-r t -t un
cont inue t o pla y th e part of the offe nded p ers on an d poi nt 11111
to him that ev en th e best comr ade doe s not re qui re to 1\l IU\\'
everything.
Pseudo ny m. All members of th e orga ulzn lion a rc ohli ged to huvr -
a p ut- ty name. Any one wh o is dealing wit h various di st rh-t s a t llu-
sa me ti me mu st usc a dif fe rent name in each d istri ct.
a. P un ct uality. The co nsp ira to rial work demands cxlrnm-di uurv
punct ual it y in th e ca rrying out of a ll work undert ak en, howI" ":!"
s ligh t.
-J. Il legal resi d en ces. The addr esses o f ill egal re sidc uccs III list nul v
be told t o trust worthy co mr ades. Care III us t be tuk cu ill
l ights ther e, a s t hi s a tt r acts t he attention of th e neighh oll l''i. '1" ']1'
phones are unsuit ah le for ill egal resi den ces as COIIVl' I'S:lIio IIS r-uu
he overbeurd, On ly initi ated co mrades may be ndm it h-d illin 1111 '
ill egal re s iden ce . Behave quietl y, and go out und in :I S lillh- lilt
posxi hle.
; 1. Signa ls a nd s igns for the sa fe ty of th e ill egal n s itlt'IIt'I. .\
mus t he ag reed upon , to h e made . fo r iust nu cc, with till ' r-urlniux
01" pot p lan ts. to show whe llu-r the illl' ga l l"l 's idl ' IlI'I' is rh-ur. .... 0
th a t the visi tor can se c f ro m lilt' sfn-r-t wl1(' 11I1' 1' tll l'I'I' is HI I\'
dan ger or not. .
Ii . Add resses ill i llega l resi den ces . II mu st hi ' e-on...tantl y I'I 'il l'l":I kd
that neither ndd rcxs cs 1101' lIot t'S ttlay lu- kr-pl ill i l1 q '::1 1 I"t ' Si tll Ill' I' 'i .
Co nu'n dr-s mus t lea rn hy lu-nrt ll u- atld l'l' ssl' s, liun-x ;llld tll't :IiI"l
rr-qui red f'nr lhe \\'0 1' 1.; .
7. l' n 'pa rn l illils fur ilh-pul lh-hu vluu r itt 1111' ...II'I' l' ls. 1111'11 1'
In :l 1l ll'l'I itl g, :I puiu t ol' 11..... 1 111"1)' III' 1111 i 11 "":: 11 1 rr- ..itllIIII',
..II pOI 'I' \' I", mu ..1 I,, ca n ' flllly ill ord,' 1' I.. ." 1' 1' Ih:11 1111 ' \'
!'IIIlI11 il l 11 11 11 1I liJ{ h t '> l' n 'l' liS II t-hu-. \\' 111'11 ,\'11 11 /-: 0 nlll 111 10
\ \
Written material is the most dangerous enemy of a conspira-
tor ial organization. In cases in which a written statement is quit e
unavoidabl e it must be written in cypher. There is hardly any thing
so character is tic. of the underworld ch aracter of the Communist
party as t he general us e of cyphcr codes by th e res ponsible
functionaries of the party, of the communist youth of the fighting
organizations, etc. The fact that they used cyphers, assumed names
and a secret language is the best proof of th e treacherous and
cr iminal intentions of the communists.
The cypher ing first begins with the use of assumed names and
ca tchwords for cer tain party grades, political opponents, state
departmen ts, etc., which it is not desired to mention openly. Many
ki nd s of assumed names were in usc in th e Communist party
. before the March revolu tion. For inst an ce, the f ollowing code was
found in the possession of the commun ist Ade le Stein:-
the street always convince yourself that there is no spy there,
but do t his without attracting attention. Pay attention to th e dress
worn by passers-by, in order to he ab le to r ecognize th em again.
Pay particular a t tention to young p eopl e, for th ey are much used
hy HIe poli ce. Examine thc s tr ee t hy lookin g .into a sho pwi ndow
or hy light ing a cigarette or by crossing th e street (looking back
to see that yo u are not foll owed hy a vehicl e or a sp y).
H. Exchange of greetings Oil th e street. If it ca nnoLhe en tirely avoide d,
comrades sho ul d at least not greet each other on th e street or
otherwise in the presence of ot her people.
9. The conspiratorial minute. In th e ca se of ever y illegal meeting,
a so- culled " eons pir ator ial minut e" must he ob served .hef' or e d ealing
with the affair s of th e organization. During thi s "conspir a tor ial
minute" a discussion is to take place to decide whal is Lo he sa id
in the event of the meeting being broken up by the po lice .
Make use of crowded means of transpor t.
12. Some general rules: -
a) Addresses, ass umed names and det ails regard ing th e aff airs of
th e organizat ion must not he communicated by po st or tel e-
phone.
b) Do not give away any photographs.
d) The illegal worker must no t pose or afl'ect a mysterious air;
his behaviour must be normal.
f) The mode of life must be adapted to the se t to wh ich the
owner of th e id entity paper is supposed to be long.
g) Do not drink too mu ch , do not let anyone impose upon you, etc.
III hiding ill Berlin bejore his .m est
( A(>lil. 1<) 21) .
Max Holz in four different disguises.
As a "ptivite citizen " in Vienna . . . and as a dynamiter in 1921.
/ 1/11 ,,/1 ' II" { i , /,1111 ' 1 I ~ 1 1 1 1 I i ll Ceut r.d
1,1111 1/11 ("", I,. / 1)) 1) .
F riend V
Friend X
Friend Z
Frit'lll( \V
Fril'ud Y
Trade Union Sectio n
Political leader
Editorial ofl'ice
Organiza tion leader
Agitat ion propaganda se ' Iion
7
" " I X 1 X 2 3 4 6 7 9
keys, \ Ve give below an exa mpl e of the Communist Party 's
dirccti ons for cypheri ng iss ue d in Septembe r 1nil2:-
Th e alphabet i s divided i nto five group s of five letters each i n the
foll owi ng way:
Berl in N 24
9'>'>181 8 n
E EL
used in cyphering, \Vc wi ll now cypher
AIl CD C
FG II I K
L xr I'( 0 P
QRSTU
V \V X Y Z
The lett er s ,J. X, O. O. a nd sz are missi ng, b ut Ihi s is
of absol utely no im portance, for t he sense of the words
can always he ga thered wh en t hey are rea d a nd is
a lways clearly r ecogni zabl e. Even t he figures are never
used in th e or d inary way, hut , instea d, a wor d of t en
let te r -s is sel ect ed in which each letter m ust only occur
on ce, for inst nncc . th e \...ords " IIe il Xlosku. u" which gives
the figur es from 1 to 0 read from left to right.
In order to ge t the bnsic n umbers for th e cypher, the date of any
event is tak en and used as the hnse of t he cypher, For inst ance, Karl
Marx was horn on th e !lth May, 1818 ; this gives us t he figures S51818
and we now a dd t h e miss ing figures so that we oht ain the fo llowi ng
row of ligures.
and th at is th e ke y which is
the fo llowi ng address: -
Wal te r Marks
"'> IXIX n467
HVKL Dl KXI'(IlL
\Ve obtai ne d th is row of letters by, ill the wor d Wal ter , begi nni ng
wit h th e l et t er \Y: 'we h ave counted haole I'iYC lett ers t owar-ds the be-
gin ni ng of the ulphabet wi th t he aid of our key (a nd if we h ave not
enough lett ers to count h ack 10 th e hegi nning of the alphab et , \YC
count on from the letter Z in th e direction of the lett er A), so th a t
\ V become'S R, .A becomes V, L become s K and so on . All lett er s th at
are crossed out or underlined mean figures so t hat in thi s case the '
underli ned E means 2, a nd t he u nd erli ned L means 4 (see tlgu r e key
" HeH Xlosknu"] .
Anot her method ofte n employed consists in th e key wo rd, for
in stance "Strassenhahn" hei ng wri t te n vertically. A hori zontal
ser ies is written to the r ight of ouch lett er in al pha be tical order.
A squa r e is formed hy every thirteen let tvr s. The cy phcr th en
reproduces each let t er by two f igur es in fr act ional f'orrn (the
ill tcrscction of the vort ical and horizonta l lines).
A practically almost unsolvable cv pher is prepare d in the
following extremely simple way, An y hook is taken which contains
011 any given page th e whole of t he iH) le tters in t he nlphuhet
ill severul conse cut ive sentences, T he leiters arc transferred
hy dots I II 11':lIIspal'l '1I 1 pa pt'!' .uul :l cy pher me ssage is th en
frcuu ,,\O l ll t ' OIl I' in k : IO\\' , Tlw pupr -r wit h th e dill s is
l aiel 011 IIIl' :11 11 1 t ill' I t'ttt 'rs n -quin-d ex l r.u-tc-d Froru lilt'
wi -a- !\ I' Il "lI , I" " 1I"t , F i g ll rt ' s c n n , Ill' COli 1",';1' , a lso ln: 11111 int o
Also th e foll owing catchwords :
Mu nicipulity - off'icials
Ebert - SPD
IHl r sill g - Heich shanner
Immcrtreu - criminal po lice
w eL - navy
According to secre t instruct ions iss ue d by t he Red-Fron t
Fighting League of Greate r Ha mhurg which were t o he adopted
generally la ter all , the following assumed names were t o he uscd :-
KP D - \VFD (\Villwlmshurger F ufihall -Verba nd OB)
HIID - a llotment garden society
J AH - embezzlement
Revolver - photogr aph
Cartri dge - p la te
wa lk ing s tick - film ro ll
HFB - uniform as soci a tion
courier - our fr iend
defence ma n - s por ts ma n
cri minal poli ce otTicial - dog
In East-Prussia the f oll owin g assumed names we re laid down
among othcrs :-
Mer-cantile technical school - Rcichswchr
.loint class - Reichswehr garri son
Class - Hei chswehr barracks
Professional sch ool - p ol ice
Teacher in professional school - poli ce officer
In the autumn of 1n:12 another system of assumed names was
adopted here and lherc:-
Courier - anno uncement
Spy - gr umbler
Cypher - rul e of th e game
Police - doctor
Legal - old
Il legal - new
Dole-o tf'ice - group - Bridge cluh
Heslgnation of ch urc h member shi p - ful ls top
Public meeti ng - coloure d ribbon
The so- called importance of t his mys tifi cation which is after
all lacki ng in ski ll does not become evide nt until it is r egarded
in complete connection wil h the Communist cons piracy. T hese
catchwor ds may appear shnplc and somewhat naive, but t he effect
of thc carefully though t out real cypher sys tem of Ihe Com munist
Party, buil t up in accordance wit h :111 ru les or the art of
cypheri ng, is aslonishing, GO\"('r1II1Il 'u l d l ' l' ll rl ll H' lI 1s sucet-ded 011
several ocenxious i ll ohlaillillg po., sl' ''isillll of lln- kr-ys 10 suc h
",llit'll "' 1' 1'1' lluu , I l l' 1'1 III I" W . i l l l ll l l ' l l i a l l ' l y 1'1' 111111' ( ' 11 II,\' m-w
"J
A. Passenger Ca rs:
cyphe r in a primiti ve way hy t aking a catc hwor d for each number
or various ke y syst ems ca n he utili zed in a complicat ed wa y.
An ill egal orgunizat ion is j ust as dr-pc ndon t as a legal organi-
zation on a svstem for th e circulation of news that works WE'll .
The delive r y of message's. or ders, circulars. literature, et c. is fir st
nece ssary in order that the organi zalion may become a living
whole. W e have alrcadv seen th a t since abou t Sept ember
the Comm unis t Par ty no longer made usc of the' German Post
Office. They had organized a part y post of their own wit h
assumed addresses , agenci es an d cour ie rs . The co ur ier service
r epr esen ted th e n ervous sys tem of th e part y. It s function s extende d
far beyond t he smalle r sphere of th e communication of news , It
became a component part of th e di stribu t ion of lit erature and of
the counter-work and wo r k of di sintogrnti on . Or dinary and spe cial
couriers shar ed the more or less secret functi on s. The co ur iers
we re cons t antly under way he tween t wo sec ret par ty offi ces, using
bi cycl es in Berlin and, in the p rovinces, mot or cycles with side
cars or even motor car s. To th e cour ier himself th e sender and
the recipient wer e to remain unknown. By th e in terpol a tion of
several courier s t hey completel y lost any gr as p of the ex te nt or
th eir own doings. The lowest unit of organi zation or th e party,
which was the so-called gr oup of fi ve in a peri od of ille gal
mea sures, r eceived all messa ges by word of mouth through the
part y courier.
It was obvious th at they made use of the spo r ti ng organizations
of th e red sport un its in par tic ular for th e cour ier serv ice, as f'or
exam ple t he motor cycle sections of the "Fich lc' Workmen' s
Sporting Club. They bore the name of " Red Caval ry " . The motor
cycli st s re ceived fi ve pf enni g for every kil omet er travelled. An other
special concession which they enjoyed was the grunt of a r eduction
of from 40- 50 % on the pri ce of motor spi rit fro m th e well-known
"Derop" tank stations which, as is well known, was then a Soviet
Russian firm. This cheap Hussian oil was al so issued at the
de livery agencies of th c part y papers.
It was only possible ill part t o ascertain what 1110t or vehicl es
were used by the Communist cour ie rs; in many ca ses stole n cars
were probabl y u sed and t he numher pl at es alt ere d. But in any
case the following courier veh icl es wer e as certained in Bavar ia
in February 1932 :-
ditto.
Dr . Kur t Kelt ner. Wilrzburg.
Hans Lir-h l, Wiu-zburg.
(For d)
(Chrysler )
[Hancmug]
II x 02.\2
II N 0690 (DRW)
II N
tJ U 7002
II U 07
II '" 0787
B. Motor cycles :
Count ermanded t rial number plate. To
he ar-res ted when met nnd report sent
to th e p olice in Niir nber g-F fir th .
Geo rge Friedr ich St re ng , mechanic, I10he
Mar-ler S. Xiirnherg. (b orn 15. 11. 11 in
Niir nber-g].
Fr-iedrich Ertl , He gel strnsse il!I1, Nii rn-
herg (ag i t a tio n propngunda leader of the
I';:'lVD Nor thern Bavaria), The number
plule was sa id to have been lost. To
he ar-rest ed when m el and report se n t
10 th e polit-e in Nii rnberg-Piirth.
A single cxnmplu may he se- lect ed f rom t he mass o r facts
regar ding the cour ier ser vice of the Communi st Part y :-
" On lhe Srd Mnrr-h . th e express cou rier of the Ger mnn Com.
muni st Pur ty, n mun culled accused in the en closed docu-
ments wa s t empornril y arrested hy the i n Bendorf. When
he was sea rched i t wa s found th nt had co ncea led in hi s
s por ting s tocki ngs five leit ers from th e Cobl e ucc central o ff'ice of
the Comm u n is t Party d utr-d 2nd Ma rch . 19:1.1, The cont ents o f t he
leiter s dealt wl th th e polit icnl si t unli on i ll Ger ma ny which , it is st a ted,
now demands i u tc nslf'I cd work 0 11 th e part of th e Communis t Pa r -tv
for the fuIII 1men l of th e-i r task s. But th e work is to 1)(' conti n ue;}
in se cret and th e meeting'S held und r-t- th e fi ve- mu u gro up syst em. Th.e
work of the Communist Part y must not awake an y pa rl iamentary
ill usi ons, and on 111(' other hand i t must be poi nt ed out thaI thi s
goy er n nwnl cannot be removed at t h e polls, Action must he taken to
disarm th e S. A. .-\diol1 must lu- undvrl uk cn ill tlw f'act ori es. and in al l
fight ing th e quest ion of t he fighting uniform fr ont must he put in
r-un crete form. T he remarks conclude with the wor ds: "F r iends, the
hour ha s now come to break do wn lh e terrori sm of ou r opponents
with eOll ragl:' and hol ducss and hy s uita hle means and 10 give a
hi gh er form 10 th e s (r ugglc of llu- work ing cl a sses ."
\ Vi lh repur d 10 th e communicnfions between the indi viduul groups
uf fi n - or ot her uni t s of th e Communis t Put-ty organization, the
foll o win g dl'l ail s nrn gi\' Pll in th e letter: The post is no longer to
Ill' hul uul y (olJl'i ('r s. The f irst p oint for th e establi shment of
is to lit, i ll f'ron t of th e railwav st a tion of Ehren-
hrr-ilx b-iu Il l 'I WI, t 'lI : \ :11111 :1. :10 o ' l' l l H' !, Oil Ihl ' 4t l; Murc h. The
rt prt ...t lIl l1l l\ l ' " I 1111 ' t 'l'll tl'a l nff i t' t' i ll Cnhlt 'll C'I' will Itl' 1'l'('og:ll izpl! by
II "'1111 111 "" u ll' 1'1 t ' \\ 0 111 il l llu - h-fl 1lIl l lollllolt Ill' cuat .
cou nte rfei t number pl at e. To he a rrested
when me t a nd re po r t SP ilt 10 til t' poli e{'
ill Ntu-nhe rg -Ftirt h.
Knr! I. Ill rJlll q.wr, nu-rvhuul , ll . u-hsfr. 1'1 / 1,
Nihnlu- ...".
II N 6285 passenger car 1
II N 8070 (Chevro let)
111
II
In view of th e detail s in th e lett er th e witness , , , went to th e
rail way sta tio n of Ehre nbreits tei n on th e 4th March , 1933 , lI e himself
wore a whit e rose in hi s butt onhole, In r eply to th e s ummons in th e
lett er , th e accuse d Zimmerschi ed and Enge l appeared at Ehrenb reit-
stein sta tio n, Zimmerschi cd greeted th e witness , , , with the words
" Red Fron t" a nd Engel said Iha t he wa s Ihe couri er fr om Met ternich.
Lat er on , th e a ccu sed Kopping and Wirgcs a lso appeared , The accu sed
Zhnmerschi cd , Enge l, Kopplng and Wirgcs are th eref ore to he
re garded as gullty of having worked in t he sense of th e summons
containe d in th e lett er of th e Coblence Cent ral Offi ce of th e Com-
muni st Party da ted 2nd March, 1933, They were co uriers of th e
Communis t Pa r ty ,"
The short -wav e transmit Ier s belon ging to the members of the
"Free Radio Lea gue" wer e also made lise of for the int elligenc e
( '"",,",, ,,;,/ \I '" d /., ",/II.,1\/11" .'1'/"" .,/'" ;" H", I,,,
"I NO!'I" .It." .It.d /) .'1",,,1,.-, . ' t) 1 )
service. The training wa s in the hands of so-called "Red Technical
Exper ts". Read ers will recall th e di scovery of a Communist secret
tr an smitter in Berlin in December Hl32 which was used at that
ti me for propaganda purposes.
If the conspiracy is carri ed out strictly it is extremely difficult
to get at the illegal or ganization, to obtain inside information,
to learn it s intentions and to forestall its acti ons. Externally, it
has been disg uised to such an extent that it seems as if the
orga nizati on had di sappeared from the face of the earth ; it is
only now and again that it gives a sign of life by the commission
of some deeds on which occasions th e in tervention of the police
comes too late.
Bu t the danger for 1I political group organized and equipped
in thi s wa y will be the unreliable member s in their own ranks,
men who arc incapable of meeting the terribl e demands of a
real conspiracy, who wish to evade the pr essure of blind obedience,
whose consciences begin to prick them, and who therefore wish
to leave the ranks . The organization itself is full y aware of the
danger of such weak spots. It is bent on mischief, and is therefore
filled with sus picion of every member even in th e innermost
circle. It scents treason, espionage and resi stan ce everywhere,
and is compelled to act ruthl essl y against th ese people in order
not to be di sturbed in it s doings. The adoption of ill egal methods
is directly connected with the set ting up of a system of coun ter-
espionage, This sec re t party police represents, so to speak, the
watchmen who have to s tand on guard at th e gates of th e under-
world. Detailed lists of the suspected persons are constantl y drawn '
up by the central headquarters and communicated to all sub-
ordina te organizations, They con tain a detail ed personal des-
cr iption and often a photograph of the suspect and may lead to
his ruin, The method adopted is to vilify the politically unreliable
member personally, to r eproach him with some kind of swindle
or corruption and thu s to cr eat e th e impression among his
unsuspecting comrades that it is re ally a question of low cr eatures
detrimental to th e ideal Communi st mov ement. This refined
method of employing semi-official di sparagement and denunciation
is indubitably one of the most dangerous weapons us ed by
Bolshevism in the fi ght for power. Woe to him whose name is
a ll th e black list of the Communist Party! A few examples from
.uch list s will ser ve to elucidate thi s method of fighting.
Ii 111'1 1111, tluu, c/ o Preiss, 124h Skulitzer Str ussc, Berlin , wns II
nu 1111,, . "f II... purl y lind hns jolru-d tlu- Nutionnl Socinli st Pnrf y, II.,
"0111 '"111,,<1 \" ' 1111 II . lull on 1I1I'1I11,, 'l's a nd lIt1"lI1p"'d I" 1'1'1' na'),'
hi w. l" I " 11. 111111 I 1.1 ud .... y.
I'
I ' I .
I'
Personal descri p tio n : hor n 8t h Oct ober. 190i in Berlin, h eight
about ;') ft. 4 in. Slight bu ilt . ova l face, grpy eve s, t hi ck eyeb ro ws .
nose and ears norma l, light hrnwn hai r , sma ll scar on uppe r li p .
Photograph avai lable.
Hauer, 'Valier, 22 Htich st est russe, Ber-lin, is a poli ce s py. li e
associ a ted with comrades fr om th e Ka rl Li ebk nech t hou se and in th e
ce ll ln-t-r' sa loo n, 23, Lini en sf rasse.
Persona l desc ri pti on : He-i ght .5 ft. ! in ., horn 28 th December 1886
at E ut ritasch 1H':\r Leipzi g; gre y ha ir , bald pat ch . Larg e triangl e sca r
on h is head : fu l l-faced wit h a sea r on h is Iucc. Speaks Saxon dialect.
Beck, wulh-r , esplonuge ag en t of the Ger ma n o ff icia ls. an d sp ies
on the p r oletarian or ganiza tions in t he Huhr Dixtt-ict Oil th eir behal f.
Last re siden ce 18 \YC'ih C'1' Strussr-. Dortmund. which he ha s lef't ; hi s
present add ress is not known. II is a case of a clever spy with pit-ill y
of ossuruncc.
Persnn ul descri pti on : Hor-n 3 1st .Iuly 1896 in Cannsta tl IW:H St utt -
ga rt ; light b rown hai r : grey r-yes: h ei gh t ca . ;) ft. 7 X ln . : is cha uffeur
hy profession .
Fritzt', Ernst. 17 Hcr numnst russe, Berl iu-XeukSlln. F r it ze wa s
ex pe lled from the K.l\' D t hree years ago a nd joi ne d the Xufionn l
Socia list Pa r ty. He BOW visits meetings ill di stri ct s whe re he is 11 0t
kn own.
l h -scr ipti on : Height .:> ft. 10 % in . : po werfull y an d broad ly huilt ;
Iull -Iu cr-d with ro und clu-cks : b rown hai l' pa r t ed 0 11 th e left : age 2l,
Erich, Gl F r a nkfur ter All ee, lterlin 0 112. Ill' ul l ract cd
a t tcut iuu owi ng to hi s p rovoca tive nu l ure in th c KJV}) ; is a po li ce
und Xnal spy. Beware of his sis ter a lso.
Description: Hei ght ca . ;) ft. i X in. ; <l ark ha ir (br own when
combe d hack) ; clen n-shuvcu. hooked no se and neatly dress ed .
)Ius("r, Humann (alias Fold and Neuma nn].
:\liiuul. Eberhard.
Both work as spies i n th e Ku t tb us Yout h Associat ion.
Descr ipt ion: Moser : ca . 20 years of age ; b rune tte; .) ft. 6 % in . ;
narrow face ; par ted hair, Says he is Austria n.
Mun zel ; 18 or 19 ye a rs old; hei ght 5 f t. -t }l: in. ; oval face ; da rk
hai r , Photograph avuiluhle.
Nier, c/ o Schnddc re i t, 3b, An del' ,lC'rusalemer Kirche, Be r li n.
I s in tonch wit h the crinlin a! police . li e joined th e Na l iona l Socialis t
Party hec<J llse he enjoys more adva n la ge' s tl W I'l' , Il l' PlIl l H'ZZlt' d
4 marks ont of the cell ca sh bo x.
Des cription : Bol'l1 :!ls l .I alluHI' ,\', I HlH ; h y prufj ' ssioll ; Iwigh t
fi fl, -I X ill. ; SlIIoo t h III'IIWII ha ir. , olllhc'.1 11l1l'1, ; InowlI j' )' l' S wit h dark
rillJ.:'s r Olllld tJll'lI1 ; wl' lI l l n"'I 'l l "Plll ' UI IIIl .j '
I I
0 110, and hi s wife Frie da , fi() Gart enst ru sse, Her-lin. \\' :1"
already in th e bl ack li st for October 1929. li e was t hen expelled Irmu
th e party in Kolberg for emhczzlement. He now sel ls ar ms in Herf iu
together wi th Gerha rd Heimer. Born 21st 1901 in Kol be rg ; wifr-
horn 19th Sept ember . 1906.
Podulskl, Ph ili ll)J, X Pl cnit zcr \ \ ' eg, \Vustl'rhnusen.on-t he-Do ssl' .
, Ass ocia tes wit h mvmhcrs of th e x atlonu t Soc ia lis t Party a nd wi ll
betray members of th e Con u u un !st Party to t he po lice,
Descripfion : Between 2M lind 30 yea rs old ; hei gh t 5 ft. 4 X lu.:
f'air -huircd uu d cl eu u-shavun : sca r on the ri ghl ha nd side of his 1' :11" ' ,
It is impossib le in individ ua l cast' s to deci de whether till'
ac cusat ion of emhczzh-nu-nt is reall y justificd or only serves ; 1'"
a menus for a political att ack . If t he dr- tni!s in the hlack Ii ... 1, 0 1
wh ich we give more hclow, reully rr-pr esunt th e fact s, t his throw....
an unusually si gnifi cant l igh t on the had characters who aplll 'ar
to he so numerou s in th e Communis t Part y.
L'ion'mbt'r - December, 1932. Const distriels.
' ''ilIi. Hamburg, was hea d cashier in Hothenburusnr! all d
eml n-zzlr-d ea . 75 marks th e-re. III ru-der 10 conceal his emlu-xzh-uu-ut
he pret ended that th er-e had heen a burgt ur-y.
Des cr- i pfion : Ft. 1 i n .; fa ir -hai re d; growing ha ld : full as hy p:dl'
fa ce nud hyd ro cephulou s head.
Bnrbers, Hlehurrl, denounced hi s f'vl low wo rkers to 111l'
m unugcment a nd th e cu stoms office .
Xo dcscrip t lon 0 1' photogruph uvn ilu hl e.
Boll mann, LUbeck , emhezzl cd money for nvwspupcr-s :1111 1 !l,tdg. ',
a nd di d subver-si ve work in tl u- pa r ly hy sp n' alli ng fa! , ., 1' 1111111111 -.
a ho ut lea ding comrad es. Prohahly al so a spy, as lit' hu s 11I'1'n ' 1' 1' 11
in th e company of super -ior cr imi na l po fiee offi cia ls .
Description : h eight 5 f t . lOY:; in.; ge tt ing fa t : bet ween :11 11 1
as year-s otd; li gh t br own hai r; grey-blue c'y. >s . Xo phot og-mph nvni lubh -
Borgmann, Hans. Lii hec k, police sp y: sys h' ma t it':J1 ly c1i s..t' l ll i llakd
t- umours about leading pa rty func tio nar ies,
Dccrtpucn : bor n 17th .Iu ne, J906 ill Stu rua rd : lu'igh l r, fl. Ill ! , i u. .
light brown hair; blue eyes: eyelids uf'teu in fl a uwd ; droopi llg ,-;110 111111' 1"1.
No photograph a vniln hle.
Buss, EWlll d. August, HO!H'rl, lI :lIll hlll' g, j'o llllHil s "oll s la ll! -;w; ll ll l,',
by !l-l lin g .. hop l"I'I'pl-!'S Iha l ht, is jOlllllli , ...iollt d iI \' ,!I ll ' lUI. OIl1 d r. \ It
a ll d has h" .' ll :lI d. ' ill lh is W:lY 10 dll'al 11lt' ll l 0 111 '0 1' l'Oll ... idt'l'll l dt' ' 11111....
!)(, sC'I'iplilltl , h l lrll \1111 Ap l' i l , I H\[1 i ll l\ i l 'l ; I w i gh l .'01 , rl 1' 1. fi ill , ;
IIHlI'll\\' pillll'h 1111' 1' , r.. il lIa irl d : hill .' . ' )'1 ' .' ,
1I\ llI llI l dl '
I \
Feldten, Hurry, has embezzled about lliO marks in mass
organizations.
No description or photogruph avai lable. .
FI'obnert, " 'illy, Hamburg, uniform associa tion ; mad e ':I th
general lists and stole a rubber belonging to
It is suspect ed that he will commit other swindles w Ith. th e aid of
this stamp, and it must be therefore taken away from him wh en he
ma kes his nppoarance.
Description : burn 12th J uly, 1894 in Mcnie l. No det ail s or photo-
graphy avail abl e.
Flseher, Neul11 iins te r, embezzl ed party funds amounti ng to about
200 marks.
No description or photograph available.
F ischer, Wilhclm, also calls himself Fritz and attempts
to swindl e comrades by sa ying that he is an emigrant : says that he
was persecut ed by the police owing to . a political murder: has
been condemned lo 10 years' penal ser vit ude bu t succeeded 111
escaping in tJollingen. In r ea li ty he is a Nationa l Socialis t.
Des criplion : 1301'11 17lh February, 1902 in Cla us thal-Zelle r feld.
Det ails lack ing. Ph ot ograph available.
111 ," ,!,i".,1 ("'"/1,,/1,, ,. ,1 ( ./1 ,/ 111 .1... (/of.ll k /i,1)
I" II... N. /li .." ,1i .., ;,,1, I /01 .",,111 /1, '/1 ,11'''' '1111' , 1l., lill.
In view of wha t happen ed during thc Bolshevist r evolution
in Russia, th ere can be no doubt as to what measures t he
Communist Party and it s Cheka would adopt against all the ir
opponents in thc event of their seizi ng th e reins of authority.
"Amon g the circumstances inv estigated hy us, st ree t fighting is of
a very piti less character, in the sense of lhc ph ysi cal destruction of
the en emy. Any inclinati un to hu mauity deal ing with th e cl ass ene my
whi ch se izes the prolct nria t d ur ing the armed stru ggle gives rise to
super fl uo us difficult ies in the fight and, IIIHll,r unfavourable condltions,
r esults in a ca tas trophe for the r ising. " ')
Communism undcrstunds no thing but a ph ysical destruction
and annihilation of its opponents.")
" It has al ready been pointed out in an ear lier passa ge that one
of the most pressi ng tasks of the ris ing, of whi ch the sol ution will
at once pro vide the i nsurgents wit h great advantages, ma y be the task
of di sp osi ng of th e leader s of the counter-re volut ion: the ca pture of
the staffs, the arrest of the most import ant gove rn ment officials
(ministers , po lice presidents, etc.], gell ing rid of the r ea ct iona ry
commande rs of bodies of t roo ps , of the leaders of anti -revolutiona ry
parti es, etc.
This gell ing ri d of the lead er s is posxihl e if care fully prepared
divers ions which include terrorist ic act s (phys ical destruction and
ar res t) are undertaken in good tim e." ' J
The Communis t Pa rty considers as ils opponen ts not only Ihe
police, th e defcnce force and th e officials, but also the ent ire
nat ion of all classes not incl uded wi thin the narrow limi ts of the
Communist organizu lion . In particu lar, the fa te of all those whose
names arc on the black lists of the Communist Part y would be
re mo rselessly sea led. Such bl ack lists were drawn up by no
means onl y for gove r nment offi cial s lind members of national
associa tions; on th e coni rary, they includ ed Ihe names of respected
citizens and other perso ns who, owing 10 th eir character and
Ihe esteem in which t hey arc held by th eir fellow countr yme n,
const it ute a hi ndr ance in the way of thc Bolshcvization of
Ger many, In ma ny cases such bl ack lists hnvc been seized upon
whic h many a peaceful ci lize n would fi nd h i own name. Fo r
instance, suc h a list wa s co nf iscated in ' icrs tein in lhe Oppcn-
hcim district and also in ot her villag es in that di strict. The citizens
whose namcs were on Ihe lists of th c condemned were to be
a r rest cd as soon as pow er had bccn seized and then " polished
off" . A similnr lis t was found in the rooms of the distr ict
' ) ,\. N," I,,' ,u " ' lpr Io, '",a ff,,"', Au f'stnud", 1'. 212.
' I Iloid ," " , 1'1' " II . ," " 1 :!17.
' j ,"1,, ,'1 ' 1" ' '' ' \\1111", '1, A"f,'a'H' '' , pp . ' If. n ud . 17.
I I
man aging co nun it tcu of t he Communist Party fo r th e Ruhr Di str ict
a t 16, Hotter Stra ssc, Essen, wh ich conta ins th e following
rcmark r-e-
" We now r equi re quan titi es of photographs, hut we cannot ge t
hold of th em at present and are forced to try ou r luck wit h th e s treet
s na pshutte r. I hel ieve tha t ' x:e ha ve now got pho togr aphs o f fifty of
these pest s,"
The fifty "pests" , that is to say int ent iona l or unintentiona l
opponen ts of Bolsh evism, wer e th erefore not only no ted by the
Es sen terrorist headquarters hut had also been phot ographed
t hrough (he agency of a street photographer.
This was en tirc lv i n accordance with the Bolshevist prin ciple
of ruthlcs snessi->
" In dealing with th e out spoken opponents of th e revol ution. it is
neces sur y to a pply th e sever est r-evolu tiun ur y d isci pline a nd even
t errorism, The degr ee to which ter rori sm is Lo lu- adopte d is p urely
a question of ex pedi ency. Thi s al so npplir- d t o th e qu est ion of
hosta ges ." ")
The drawing lip of hlack l ist s and Ihc "oppone nt wo rk "
altogether is one of the most impo r ta nt spherr-s of acl ivi t y of
th e Commu nistic intell ige nce service, a specia l appara tus for
collec ting a nd dist r ihut ing news whic h gra d ua lly mer ges in to
Bols hevis t organiza tion fo r di sint egra tion. es pi ona ge and h igh
trcnsou.
F ro m t h e vorv s1art , th e Commun is t Part y de voted speci al
ul lt-nlion III t he in tclli gcm-c se rv lcc, if for Il O otlu-r r r-ason tha n
hec uuse it is af'tcr all t he age llt in Germany of an alien and ho stile
power und, among nth c r- t hings, a lso servcs 10 provide in formati on
fo r t he Sov iet Un ion. TIIP more t he Couununist Part y fel t t he
nppro uch of the fatal hour , t he mort' int en se was Ihe or ganizati on
of all de tnlls of thei r intelligen ce se rv ice. An excelle n t i dea of
th e way in which H was orga nized a nd wor ked is provi ded by
the followi ng lin es of guidance issued hv headquar ters f or th e
int ell igence service in times of cr isis. J rep roduce them wor d fo r
word and wit ho ut cuts. in order to gin' a co mp le te idea of t he
syst ematic met ho ds a nd th e unscrupulousnes s of thi s treach erou s
wor k :-
A. Tus k!';,
1. Preliminary r emarks: All th e t ask s dcn lt wit h nbo ve whi ch a rt'
til hi ' ca r r ied out in " peacefu l" ti nu-s an' rr-Iuhu-d to tlu- ir (11 11
extent . In ('nnfnrlllily with ll u- illl'n'a sill g at'1i"ity of tilt' r-ufirr-
("las." of work er- s in ;Jl'1I!l' sil ll:lI i" II' , IIII' of IIH'

se rv ice a lso .l' xL('nd hoth quuutitn lively a nd qua lita t ive ly . " 'ith ill
th e SCOIH' of th e entire tasks of the intelfigence service certain
co mt' , mort' to ti lt' f ro nt and iru-rense in impor ta nce. In
add if iou t o this, th ere urc a ls o a number of f resh ta sk s.
1. Tusks wh ich co m e m o rt' 10 the Fron t.
a) Ouestlou-, of milit nrv both tu ctir-a l and t echni ca l.
(Pla ns for the ad va nce and employuu-nt of th e Rclchsweh r
po lice and defvnsive asso ci a ti ons, ihf" concentrat ion of t h(' i ;
forces , their tac ti cs. :tIHI th e sl:ltt' of their training' and
a r ma ment .] ,
h) Polit ical re.l inhilitv of a ll hocti le fo r ma tions. ISymptoms of
disint egrat ion, of tho ("a USt' S of differences and
d issa t is fa cti on in the vurious fomuul ons. in order to enhance
t he propaganda work.)
(') DiscoH' ry [and in indivi d unl I"a..; t' s vvc n int vrr uption] of th e
nr-t wo r k of cormn unir -ntions of ll u- vnr-mv [t ch-pbone. teh-gr uph.
a nd espvciull v polin cuhlcx. with n ' gnr;I 10 t hei r posi tion and
t he most . po i nt s for nttueks. \\ ir ell'ss inel uding
hoth the p ublie h,roa dcast ing s tn tiuus and a lso t he sp ec ial po lin'
Ill"o:llka"i tl ug xt ufi nns].
d ) The cren li nu of new a nd th e dr-velop nn.nt nf old fron t ier
(for th e (Tossi ng of t he frouli cr by individ ua ls
l or t he exchuuge of p ri nted mut ter an d pa r cels in hot h
dir t-ctlons],
c] Defence (more s evere met h ods in th e t re atme nt of th ose vx-li n
art' di sr-over r-d 10 In.' s pit's un d agt ' llls provo cntcur-s}.
f) Mi sfnf'ormin g of oppo m-ntx hy a ll po ssib le' mea ns.
:L Frf'sh ta sk s,
a ) Collec ttcn o f mat eri al and pre pa ratio n of diversions a nd ac tio n
by par ti sa ns, (Provis ion of s t r uc tu a l pl a ns of impor t an t ar t
cel ,ltres and indust r-i al plant. Deter mina t ion of the most fa vourable
o f a tt ac k, a nd t he laying down of t he technica l det ails
Ior acti on ag a inst these objeclives.]
II) Provisi on of th e Ilf.' cessary in formation for the work o f
(For the dl sarnuuueut of individual a nd small gro ups
of police and other armed persons, s eizure of s tocks of arms
and th e uti fizuf iori of favourable opportuni ti es fo r purchas ing
urms.]
I' ) :lIlll. nrunni zufiou of terrori sm 011 a la rge scale
I II tlu- Ioruuut on of spec inl groups. (Dr awing
til.' 01 lish :lIl ei Imuiliurf zufion with the hnh ifs
0 1 "pl' I' I:d lv 1111 1' 0 1'1 :1111 1'1'lIl dt ' . J
III TlId .. HI 1'lIl i U'I !I 'ltll ll'lIt II I 1111 ' Ill il il a r v ll r J.:: lllil.:lI i o ll wllid l wi ll
I ... 1Il' lIb d I II 1111 101111 II I 1' 1I1I1p ll ll i , ', II I' ' I' lf p lllll 'dinll II IJ: lI l1i
I I
zations (meeti ng plac es and offi ces of th e enemy, police
stations, bar rack s, important buildings, th eir local situation,
st r ength of the defence and favourable point s of attack for a
coup de mai n an d for system:lt!ic a ttack).
B, Methods 01 work.
The en li r e i nt elli gence servi ce work assumes (downwards), when
th e situation becomes acute, a gener al charact er to a still larger
extent than fo rmerly, and demands {upwa r-ds] a st ill greater r efinement
and specialization of t he activity of th e sec tio n, and thus an especiall y
careful and also t echnical t r ainin g of the wo r kers, In gene ral , the
workin g methods wh ich were already ado p ted in "pe aceful" time will
also h e r etained t o their full ex tent in the new sit uation. The centre
of grav i ty of their im porta nce is, however , shi fte d in th e following
direcfi onsi-e-
1. As the situation becomes 1110re acu te, voluntary assista n ts ap proach
the organization from all sides with offe rs . t o supply mat erial.
For t he most par t they apply to official qu ar ters (sec re tar ia ts,
editorial offices, a nd wall-known frien ds ). The reasons for thei r
vol un ta r y coope r ati on are of very di ff er ent k inds (the i r own
precarious position, indignation at th e s tate of affairs, differen ce
in office or in t hei r organizatio n and, not lea st of all , are-in surance
in case th e working classes triumph). The mor e acti vel y th e
working classes come forward, th e grea ter will he the vol un tary
cooperation in masses, and thus va l uable ma terial will be supplie d,
2. In the work of the section itself grea te r im portance wlll have to
be a tt ac hed to th e u tilization of agent s whose r ecruitment in times
of increa sing struggles is especially full of promi se.
C. Organiza tion.
1. Prelimi nary remarks. On the occurrence of a r evolutionary sit uati on,
a military organiza ti on will doubtless once more be cr eated which
wi ll have at it s dis posal strictly disciplined and firmly organized
cadr es wi thin th e organization on the one han d, and wh ich , on the
other hand, must lead and direct t he compani es a nd self-protection
organizations that will he fo rmed. The detail s of the or ganization
of thes e leading military corporations wi ll be in ac co rdance with
the sit uation aris ing out of t he revolutio nary po sit ion. But the
various formations 'will u ndoub tedly al so require , i n order to ca r ry
out their tasks, an i ntelligence service which will have to ca rry
out ta ctical enlight en me n t. I n t his con nection th e ]p:ult' r s will have
to be selected from among th e workers i n llre old in t elli gen ce
service by which the tr ai ning of th e I1I' W service is
to be ca rried out. Thus, 011 th e urr -uflou of llu- mi li tary orga ni-
za tion, th o fn!lo will J.: pu-ln ru will [u- Pl'l'il'IlIlt1 : -
a) 'I'In- xln fi ounry SI' I'\' i l ' I' whh-h tll'lIl with the
eulin- 11 ). 0\ 1' Illl' ll1 i nlll 'd J.:r oll p of wit h till' of
li lt. l ul'l ;. :11 .' u li t.t h k ll ll H' 111 0 1 li lt ' ludlvbln ul fUl'lIll1lioli s.
b) The mobile news se rvice which is li nked wi th the for mat ion
in connection with which it has been formed and which has to
provide for the tactical enl igh tenme nt of this for mati on on th e
one hand, and, on the ot her hand, will be summoned fo r the
clo ser ex ami nation of deta ils co ming to t he kno wledge ' of the
st ati onary intelligence service either th r ough r epor ts from age nts
or in oth er ways.
The t asks of the intelligenee service thus include military espio -
nage and sa bo tage, h igh treason, support of t he armed rising, prepa-
ratio n of mass terrorism, and, fi nally, rendering assistance to
t he "Red Army".
The intelli gence service is, alongs ide of the military fighting
organiza tions, the most important componen t of the ill egal pa rty
apparat us, which itself, again, so long as th e part y is not
fo rb idden, constitutes t he frequen tly disguised core of the official
Commun ist Party. The prep arati ons of the Communist Party fo r
the impending arme d r isi ng led to the fact that, alongside of th e
news se r vice and th c fi gh tin g organizations, a number of ot h er
specia l format ions we re also built up which no lon gcr had to do
wi th gene ra l ag itation and propaganda, but were exclusivelv
de vote d to th e d ir ect preparation of the revol ution. Alongside
the in tell ige nce service, me nt ion must he made of th e illegal
pa r ty or gan iza tion in a nar rower sense and fur ther of the " Am"
(Ant i-Mili t ary) or ganizati on an d th e so-call ed "O.S .N.A." which
we will deal wit h later .
The ill egal part y organizati on in a narrower sense wa s formed
in accordance wit h the instructions issued by headquarters at the
beginning of Sep tember , 1\l32, out of various departments whic h
were always indicated by letters and whose members worked
under ass umed names,
The foll owing secti ons existed: -
1. Defence, - letter ed A, charged with the supervrsron of the party
functio naries a nd the furt her examination of new members.
2. Cour ier se rvice, le ttered J , wi th t he us ual funct ions ,
a. Literat ure, le ttered L, wit h the speci al fu nction of establi shin g
l endi ng lib r ari es for ill egal lit eratur e.
4. P olice, l ett er ed K, with t he function of subver sive work among
the police.
5. De fence force, lett ered \V, with the corresponding fu nctions.
n. N.S. D,A.!' ., h-fh-rr-d Nazi. es pi onage and s ubve r-sion in t he Hitler
l\1 O\.' I' Il H' llt .
7. Unit (BI'I I ' .'1'11111 Fi ghti ng L('llg Ut') It' ltl 'l'l'd E. For prr'pnrntlon of
I l' rJ ll d .t.! II d i ll ll
\ I
l\'o.XV
1\0. XVII
;\0. XV
No. XVTII
;\0. U. 13. X
1\0. J{. B. XX
xo.n. H. XXX
~ o I. A, XXXX
8. Milit ary poli cy, lett ered R, preparation of the armed rising wit h
the foll owing sub-commit tees r-e-
a) " Rising" working gro up, lettered AAK.
b) Ma na gi ng Com miss ion, lett er ed LElKO. whi ch works strictly
conspiratorially and co ns ti t ute s th e r eal brain of th e armed
ri sin g. The members are For mer officers wh o fo r m th e general
staff of t he r evolution in thi s ca se,
c) Miscel luncou s sub- co ll1 mitt ees for th e Nat ional-Socialis t Party. -
The Sl ahlhei m. th e -issue of subver siv liter at ur e. f or dea ling
wit h specia lly diff'icult task s (" shock h ri gade" }, an in formation
exper t and a communlcutlon and li ai son exper t.
In pur suit of the gr owing preparati on fo r the r i ~ i n g the
su bs idia ry orga niza lio ns of th e part y we re a lso r eorgalllzed and
di sgui sed , a s is s hown hy the fo llowing ci rc ula r : -
Int elli gen ce se r vice
Lower Rhine Distri ct
Secti on 25.
List of the numeri ca l index of th e sections .
Poli tica l Of fice of th e Comll1 unis t Party in charge of
Lamber t Horn
Orga ni za ti on Of fice of th e Communis t Par ty in charge
o f Ha ns Fladung Xo. XVI
Cult ure of t he Comru unis t Party in charg e of
Il a ns Flad ung
Hep re sent a tive of Lambert Horn , It udi Hen nig
T ra de Union Ko nrad Sk re nl ni
Suh-Distriet has only one n umber
K. g. d. F. in cha rge o f H
Red P r ov iden t So ciety in ch ar ge of Web er
L\lI. i n cha rge of Arnold Krone
,\ 11 ul hr-r Suh-Di strict s u nde r their resp ecti ve numbers.
Inl ell igence Service Xl uth. and Peter Kling eu No.25
~ r orga niz at ion Er ich GUnt er OherbiIk No. 2{;
Ta ctica l App ara tu s Prinz OberbiIk No. 26a
Opp onents Secti on H. No.2i
Associa tion (RF 13 .) ~ o 28
The last a c tive gro ups wvr c given th e fo r m of grou ps of fiv e.
The whol e s tr uctu re of th e organizali on was fr om lop to hot tom
caref'ul ly di sguised a nd rigid ly coor d ina ted . In parti cu lar , tho
supreme managemcnl was t o be concea led unde r so mn nv di sguises
that i t co uld con du c t th e en t ire prepnrn tio us 1'01' 1111' r ising
undi sturbed. without i t heing poxsi hl III :1I1 :1l'1, III' 1'! '('lIglliz!' i t.
No l Yet sn l i sf'i cd wil h 11 11' st ru c III'! ' III' Sllt' h a ll ill(' ga l pn rtv
orga n iz:; lion, l lu- COllllllllll is l I'arl\ nl OIlC'(' h, 'gall 10 huild lip
1'111'1111'1' 1I11' :1I1 S 0 1' I'r oll'C'I iOIl a llel s \,,-c'i:1I s,(t iOlls whi rh \\,( 'I'!'
xt rir-l lv a el :q ll, eI I II li lt' 1" ' q " ill' I II' " 1 II I nil "" '111 11 :11 urn n-rl r isin g.
At t he en d of December, 19:i2 , in structions wer e issued for
the immediat e fo r mat ion of specia I Organ izatio n Protect ion and
Int elli gence Sec tio ns (O.S. N.A.) . The O.S. N.A. we re ent r us te d with
th e f unc tio n o f ass is t i ng th e intelli gence se rv ice in t he case of
spec ia ll y diffi cult t ask s (sect io n G of t he O.S.N.A. ) ; a nd f ur t her
with ca r r yi ng ou t a perma nen t protect ion o f t he organizat io n
[sec t io n O.S.) a nd fin all y wi th prot ecti ng th e lea di ng f unctionaries.
th eir dw ellings. th e meeti n g p la ces a nd o f' fices of th e par ty , poi n ts
of assem bly. e tc. (se ct ion F.S. ).
Willi Miinzenberg,
the "red Hu gen berg "
(Photo Gross)
T he. idea o f th e O.S.N.A. was 10 crea te a n uhsolul ely r eli abl e
lit e orga n iza t ion whi ch was to work as a s peci al organism not
ulon gs idc of hut i n the pa rt y. Abou t 10 % of th e members were
10 be en r oll ed in th e O.S.N.A., s pe c ia l impor tance being a ttached to
l hc length of ti m e th ey h ad bee n members of th e party and to
ot lu-r pr oofs of rel ia hil ity. Its organization was to be comple te d
on t he 20 lh December, as they intended t o a ppe a r f ully equi ppe d
o n Ih e scene of civil war in the comin g weeks. Close co mmun i-
"a lio n of a personal ki nd was es ta bl is hed bet ween th e O.S. N.A. and
l lu: Hcd F ro nt F igh te rs Lea gu e. Sec tio n lea ders 0 1' l he O. S.N. A.
\\'P J'( ' altal'lll'd 10 th e sec t io n s tuff's o f the Reel Fron t Fi gh ters
I.('a g ul:.
' I' h I'r :lC't i"a l wurk Ill' 111l' O. S. I ' ..\ . ma y Ill' ga t hl' r l' d I'rom a
sillgl, - ill 111111 ', (In IIIl' :!Kl h Fc-h r uury l h Conun uni s t and
1111' 11 11 ... 1' , 01 Ih, ' II " 1\ \ I'all l L,'eI,'r"r \\,as a r r l's lt' c1 i ll 1\lIr('III1 ,, rg .
II " \I n 1"11 1101 I II I,,' 111 I' " ~ ion "I' i uvtru e l iou-, lrrun li lt' ( l . S ..'\ .
lead ers, a list of the Nuremberg police stations and of the National-
Socialist Party and S.A. leaders, and further of documents in
cypher and a 08 ar my pi st ol. It theref or e appeare d f rom this
that in February 1932 this extraordi nary fi ghting organiza ti on
of the Communist Par ty was als o in f ull working order, Finally,
parall el to the ill egal party organi za tion, the so- call ed "Am"
org anization (Am = anti-milita ry) was built up as the shar pest
political off ensive weapon; it was also previou sly described as the
M organiza t ion or also as th e G.K. (mixe d commission).
The import ance of the Am-o rganization is obv ious fro m the
fa ct that the leaders h ip for the Heich wa s in the hands of Miin zen-
berg and Schne ller, while the presumptive head of the ill egal party
organization, Kippenberger , was obvious ly summone d to give
advice, The supposed leader of the Berlin di strict council is sa id
t o have been th e Yugoslavian' subject Dr , Ka rl Theodor F. , . . ,
who made use of an ass ume d name.
The str ucture of the "Am" organiza tion cons isted of di strict
committees an d sub-district commi ttee under whose orders th e
so-calle d "act ive groups" were placed who had to fulfill the mo st
danger ous and most di ffi cult task s connected with th e pre pa r ation
of the ri sin g. The sphe res of th e work of the "Am" organization
wer e cl osely r el at ed t o those of the O,S,N,A, in a cer tai n r esp ect
but had a stronger military emphasis, The follo wing sphe res of
work wer e dealt wi th with specia l energy:-
1. Espionage and su bversio n 01" th e par ties of t he Righ t.
2, ditto in the parti es of the Left.
3. di tto in the P oli ce, Army a nd Navy.
4. P rovi sio n of weapons an d explosives.
5. Defen ce against at tacks by the sta te or by opponen ts,
6. Spying on publi c a u t ho r it ies, indust r ial u nde rt ak ings, ,in telli genc e
se rv ice.
7, Recruiting wor k among former m embers of the Army an d P oli ce.
In the middle of Febr ua ry instructi ons we re once more issued
to develop the work among th e former members of the Army with
the greates t energy. Out of the m a re liable s taff f or the civil war
army was to be formed whi ch wa s at th e sam e time to form the
backbone of th e "Am" organization,
In the "Am" organi zation too th ere was a certain overlapping
with th e circles of th e Hed Fr ont Fi ght er s !. paglle, Th us va rio us
elements of treason and violence WPI'C thrown logclher and mi xed
until th e invisibl e head qu ar ter slul'f lu -Id ill IIH:ir hands an
explos ive for milit a ry purposes. or whi rh 111 1' I'rfl'ds wp\"C a
men ace In thr- whuh- sl1'11 <:1 1II'C' or IIIl' Ilt-il' h. El' l'l',v lhing was done
10 hrin l-: n lu ru l 1111 1'lI l ly d"I' i iu u , TIll' 1'I"I '\ ' III'lIlol'y wurl or
\
organiza tion in th e sphere of political work was completed. T i ll '
organiza t ion was r ead y to undertake th e full y prepared I'isi lll-:
They wer e also quit e clear as to what had t o be done nt IIIl'
mo me nt when civil wa r brok e out. De ta iled ins t ructions oxisl, 'd
ac cor ding to whi ch th e preparatory organiza tions wen' II, I...
re organised during the s tr uggle and afte r it s successful co nc lus lu
and to be adapted to the new sta te of affairs, Afte r powl 'r II l1d
bee n seized its undisturbed enjoyme n t wa s to be secu r ed. ' I' h
ger ms of th e Che ka and of the Red Ar my wer e con ta im-d in til"
illegal insurrecti onary organizat ion s th emselves an d 1111' " WI" '" I II
f ructify on that day. .
With regard to thi s th ere is also authe ntic mat r-riul nvui luhh-
emana ting fr om the Communis t headquarters of whi ch I l'I'I"'lIdul'"
an example textuall y and unabridged:-
The I nt ell igen ce Service du ring the Ar med l\i s ill g,
A, F unctio ns,
In th e a rmed r rsing , both at t he start and al so du r in g I itt' ,fighl ll' '
,t he wor k of th e in telligence service is not el im inat ed hUI, 1111 II,,'
cont rary, it s f unct io ns a re further augmented. It is th en 10 "011" 1'111' 1110 '
on t he ques tions deali ng with th e direct pol it ical and m i li tu r ""' "
throw of t h e enemy and hi s fo r mations.
Thi s m eans t he following tasks, in addition t o lhll s, ' ,, 11" ' 111 11'
-men t ioned i-e-
1. The stationary intelligence service : s nppression of th e 1'1I1' llIy )II' " ,
discovery of secret p ri nt ing p resses, co nd uct of ma ss 1"ITllrislil ill
co n j unct io n wit h t he s pecial groups and, s ubscq ue u fl y, SII I' I " " I " "
th e revol ut io na ry t ribu nnl s by [be prorlu ot iou 01' sui t nhh - "' lIl,', 101
2. The mobil e intelligence service: ta ct ical (' ll lig h ll'nulI' lIl 01 11 11
organ iza t io ns of t he figh ti ng for mu tlo ns , sCla l"l'hiflg 1111' 111,1>11 ,' ' " 11 1
p r ison ers a nd assis ti ng the co ur ts mar t ial.
II . \Vorki ng Me thods.
For t h e wor kin g met hods during th e fi ghtiug Ihl ' Sill" li'li ' " I
guida nce is t o be t he goal to be a imed a t. '1'0 a l'h il' \'" i l , :11 1 1111 ' 1111
are j us tified. Details must dep end upon t he si t uut i ou al t lu - 111 """'111
and Ihe s peci al circums tances. T he poinl s thut :11'1' :111'1': 11 11' "1" 11, JI ' "
:I S follows:- .
1. The p ress ing necessit y of lwill g iu f'uruu-d /"l ' Hal'd ill g II" , "II"III \"
1'1:lIIS dr-uumds l lu- m oxt ex h-n si v USI' 0 1" ag,,"l s a lld rr -Ii ul rh- 1111 '11
T his I'lIl a il s thr- dl':l rt i llg III' :I lal' gl' 111111111.,1' o f purt y Id " lId I "
poxil i oru Iha l I'all ilol h ' sl' i z..d ill t l u- IIl'di ll:l l'l' wu "
:I. ' I' l u- I'lI l'i d il v wil h wl rir-h dl' l' isi oll s IIIl1 s l I ll : 1:11(1 '11 111111 11 11' """
sl nnt ly " llIlIlgill l\ il llill ioll Illal il ' s 11 11 ' slIf,' 1"I I1 ,'l i,," i" 1ol IIf 1111 111 "'" 1
ot . ' lI l1l1l1 I I U ..
t
h l ll l l 1...1\\" " ' 11 thc' nppH l ul1l Hll d Ih t' "11 1111"1 ' 111111 at
, ,
decisi ve question. l h-nc nne lim' of cou uuunica tlon is not enough.
because it cnn he on ly too l'as ily ln lcrruptcd. \ Vha t is necessury
is the cs luhlis luncn t of two (' I' t hrr -e puru lh-I lin es of couuuunlca tion.
3. Duri ng th o figh ting tlu- pnl'l1Iy wi ll al so emplny ('\' pry form of
cunning, even th e di ssr-min ntion of Iuls infor mn tiu n. II is there-
fore pa rt icul a rl y importunt that all lu f'unuu tion n -ci-lved should
he carcf'ully exumlucd wi th rcgurd to its cor rectness .
form the Ex t raordina r y Couunixsiuu (Cheka) whi ch wil l ca r ry out
the severest measures to combn t till' ,'onnl er-revolulion, ' l'Iu- Ih, tails
of th e orga nization for this cun no t ypi lu- for eseen,
2, Th e moh ile int el ligen ce service wi ll h..come a pu re ly mili ta ry
int elfi gcnce se r vice with the progl'l'ssi \'. , dev elopment of th e HI'd
Army, with all th e fnnct ions assigned 10 lhe intellige nce service of
a I'l'[.; nl nr army, From that poin t ouwurds it wi ll wo rk ind e-
pendentl y wit h its ow n direc t connections (agcnts).
The olf' lc iul , e ve n if secre t, li n es of g uidan cc 1'0 1' th e int ell igence
se rv ice d u ri ng Ih e a I'IIwd ris ing leu\'(' not h in g t o he d esi r ed a s
r egards unmi sla kahl e clcu r n css. Duri n g th e ri sing Ih e s ta tionary
in telli gence se rv ice i n co n j unct io n with l h u s pecial gJ'Oups i!I to
la ke ove r l h mana ge meut o f mass terr ori sm. wh ile the mobile
in lc ll iguncr - sr-rv ice ill couju nct io n w i l h th e s pecia l gr o ups is to
sa id pcrfr-c l lv fr ankl y Ih al a ll m eans, thai is 10 say to rt u r e and
murder o n a vus t sca le a re to hl' e mp lo yed , As a r eward f o r
l hc ir ha ngma n' s wo rk d uring t he f ighl ing t he s lul ion ury intel li -
ge nl:e se rv ice, o n ti ll' d a y uf' te r powe r has lu-cu seized , is to
beco me a C1wka, a n or gan izali on o f wh ic h the inhuman c r ue ll y
is hi s to ri call y ul teslcd hv Ih e Russi an ex u m ple. The mobile n ews
serv ice, on IIIl' o t her hand , is to lake 0\' ('1' the wor k of military
es pio na ge ,
In con s id ering Ihi s docu men t a n d th e Comm u n ist pl ans it must
nev er he Forg ot ten that a ll th e members of the pre-revol u t io uu ry
in lcl ll gence se r vice of th e Co m m u n is t P a r ty a rc fu lure Chekis l s
a nd whol esal e murde r ers who IW\ ' e a per fe ctly clea r id ea o f their
Fu ture " t as k" . IL ought to he made perf .c tly cl ear t o these r eckl ess
a nd unscrupul ous polit ica l c r imi na ls th at the authorilies are full y
infor med r ega rding their murd erou s int enti ons a nd th at they must
r egard the s pa r ing of th eir lives a s a gift from the ne w Germany,
At th e beginning of Fr-hr uary the Altenburg local group of
t he Com m u n is t Part y r eceived a n orrl er thai all yo u ng men who
h url performed milit ary se r vice were to re por t to th e di strict heud-
quarters or Ih e Commuuist Party o f T h u r ingia a t Erf u r t b y the
15t h Feb r uary. Similar in s tructi ons were doubtl ess r eceived by
Ih c o t her lo cal grou ps of th e Co m m u n is t Part y, A secre t m ee ting
a t which sold iers were to be present wa s to h a ve been held in
Dresden in the house of a ce r t a in Bonde mann on thc 22 nd February.
A\ the sa me ti m e t he Hed Front -Fi uht ers Leagu e in Hambur g
issued the foll o wing proclumution.-c-
" Work r-r a nd unt i-Fusolsts of ll unrhurg ! Hil ler 's b rown S.A.
mu rd err -rs IlI'c' on th e mur .h l Hed Humbu rg is be ing mobilized ! Poli ce
offil',' rs V il li Illll ure prol et arians in uniform. Do not let th em usc
y O Il wruu lil li, I II fin' on the work i-rs , O il yo ur futlu-rs. broth ers,
111 1111 11 '1 11111 j 10 '1 'Vc' wuru )'011, wi ll reruu in " red" in
Berlin
( p!Jvto: I1vrll ",."m)
W hat 11',1. still poss ible recently:
Fifth District Conference of ilie Berlin-Brandenburg section of the
Front. Fighters l.eague in t he Assembly Hall of t he Plllssi.ln Diet,
C. Organisa tion.
Dnping li lt: fi rst stagps of l lu: fighl ing the form or org a niza l ion
will remain t he same as dnri ng the prov ious ppriod (sla liona ry a nd
mohilc in telligence se rvice). When puwvr IH'( 'n Ioll.,olidat cd in
la r.gt: ar eas (dislr i(' lsJ and wlu-n IIll' II,," ,\ I' III\" h:", I"', 'n orga nizl"l,
the cha ra cter of holh hr:II11'h l'S (If llu- illl..lligc 'lll'" wi ll IH'
changed.
I. Th e' s Ia liuun ry inl ..11 ig"I1"" " ' I' I' i,'", Illlgll1 " I1 I.." I' y l lu- h,'sl 1111 '11 ill
l lu IIrgall il: llillll 1Il, ' rgl'" wi t h III,' 111" 1111 '1IIIIp 1'111111 "" rill'
1"!Tlll i. 111 lIod 1'1 110 tI" , " " " " 111 11 III 1"""111"1'"1 Hili 1111 v II IIi"" wi ll
Red
(,
7
spit e of all ter r ori sm. The Red F ro nt- Fig hters League is on th e
wat ch. Alt ho ugh forbidden for years, it is now stronge r th an ever.
To arms, a nti -Fnsci ts l The day is at ha nd wh en our victorious Red
Army whi ch r equi res no pol ice pr ot ecti on will use it s ar ms to driv e
th e deadly ene mies of the work ing classes to the devil.
Hcd Fr ont-Fighters League."
That was th e shee t light ning th at presaged th e Bolshevis t
revolut ion . The avalanc he was on the move. Was it go ing to
cr us h the Ger man nation?
" Red Front" mass meeting in the Spottp slssi, Berlin.
III. Treason.
The natur e of Commun ism and t he ex te n t of it s acti vit y ill
Germa ny ca nnot be ri ghtly es ti ma te d if one do es not compit: tr-l I
take int o account the internati onal characteris tic of Marx ism. ' l' Iu-
Ger man Communis t Par ty is the only one in Germany wh ich i
a for ei gn , alie n an d hosti le group. It is part an d parcel or II Il'
Soviet Union; as regar ds organiza tion and finance, it is d iri -ut l v
de pe n de nt on Moscow t o whom, accordi ng t o the st nluh-s, I
owes theoreticall y and practi call y unreserved and uncoud il ionr -d
obedien ce. The whole wealth of ideas of t he party, th ei r whoI,'
agita tion and prop aganda, all their or gan izatio ns and ac t iolls a I'"
direc ted agains t th e in ter est s of Germany a nd calc ula te d III
promote the interest s of the Soviet Union. Wit h the conc,' plioll
of t he Soviet Un ion th ere i s connec ted n ot so much th e id, ' a of
Russia, but th e concept ion of a s ixt h pa rt of the ea rt h's slIr l'a""
which is con tr olle d by the Commun is t lnternati on al e. Thcr stood,
a nd still sta nds, behind th e German Communist Party, no t so 1I1111'h
the Sovie t Governmen t, but the Komint ern and th e COIlIlIlIlIli. I
Party of th e Soviet Union. As a result, however , of III(' 111'111111
posit ion in Ru ssi a, where th e Communis t Internn l ionnlc ,:x,'n:is, '
an unr estrict ed de sp ot ism and k eep s t he Sovie t (;0\'(' 1'1I 1111' 11 1 i II I '
s la te of dep endence, ther e run co un tless thr ead s lrom l lu- ( ;"1'111 1111
Commun ist Par ty in Ber lin to the Soviet Russinn Govr-rt uur- ul ill
Moscow. Of great impor tance fo r t he judgment of the COlll llllllli t
Purt y's tr eason abl e work is, above all, in th e I'i l'sl pl lll'I' , II '
s ubject ion t o the Commun is t Interna li onal c, to Ihi s ,I" ",bh
Marxist ic mortal enemy of the German nat ion .
It would take up to o m uc h time to quot e th e cndl"ss I'.X lllllpl,
of the Soviet ob sessi on of the Ger man Commun ist Pnr ly. II w II
su l'f'icc when I say that not a single copy of a uuwxpnpvr. 1111'
a single pamphl et , gramo pho ne r ecord, or hool or piC'lllrt,s \\ II
prod uced, not a sing le film, th eatri cal perf'ormu ncc, 01' 111""1 illl{
n nr l . gene rally, not a single meetin g or 111\: { ~ l l a l l COlllllllllli \
l'a l'ly eye r took place but th at Ger ma ny W: IS in su lh-d alld 1",lr ay",(
i ll l lu- mo st nhom in nhl e manli er, l lu: Sllvi,' l Uuiuu , 0 11 IIH' IIIIH'1'
ha nd , 11I'ill g ,'x t l'avaga n tl y prn isvd s l,.\'-higl1 alld l'I'pl','s"III ,'oI a
t lu- 1'1' :11 Ful lu-rl uud Ill' 1111' ( i" 1'1I11111 "' " 1' 1,'r s, COlllll llllli III ill
(;"I' III:ln,\' "'II 11 11,( i ~ ill il s I'SSI'II "" .u u l ..rI" 'I\ 1111 II II i II lPl'I'll\J1 "d
n url Ill' ' 11l11I , ' d 1,, ' 1111 ' III 01' Ia ll ol a ll ol I"' old ,'
\ '
')
It is quite natural that above all things th e Intelligence Service
of th e K.P.D., in fact th e whol e organizat ion o f milli on s itself ,
was in the Secret Service of a foreign country. The result was
t he incredible and unbearable co ndition of affairs whereby a
foreign co untry had a t its beck a nd call an organiza tion contai ning
a million al ien subjects, whi ch let i tself be misused as t he bet rayer
of its own nat ion, Thanks t o the Communis t parl iamentary groups
in the municipa l and stat e pa rliaments , ult imat el y in th e Heichstag
itself and in the Rei ch st ag commit tees, Moscow was always
excellently informed re garding th e int ernal occurrences in the
German Rei ch, The fact ory cells ga ve details of German industrial
works; the cells in th e fact or ies of military importance, in barracks
and on ships, were well -di sciplin ed and poorly paid agents in th e
service of Mos cow. T Ill' whole of Germany was interpen e trated
by an army of agen ts and spies of t he Commun is t Int crnal ionale.
At no t ime or her h istorv has Russia herself conceive d and
crea ted her in dns t r ia l and mil i tary works. II has al ways been
forei gn co untries whi ch suppli ed th e ideas, the processes, th e
in ven t ions and th e exper ts. The F ive Years' Plan and th e
industrialization of Soviet Russia made it cspc ciully ur gen t fo r
her to ob tain exact deta ils or Germany' s la tes t technical and
scien tifi c achi evements . For th is purpose all th e Communis t
fac tor y and trade-union organizations with th eir many hundreds
of thousands of more or les s unsuspecting members were eng age d
in the ser vice of the Soviet-Russian factory esp ionage. It was a
question of a ce n tr ally formed and syst cmut ically organized secre t
service system whose members h ad to proceed under def inite
ins truct ions and on the basi s or cer tain q uestionnai res .
\ Vc give below an example of suc h an espionage q ues lionnai re: -
Is t here a sp eci a l sec uri ty se r vice in conne xion with th e fir m ?
If th is is not th c case, h ow arc th e premi ses guarded ?
Do es a co mpa ny supp ly men for th e gua rd ? Name of company '!
How s t ro ng is th e security se r vice ?
What a re th e h ours of th e working shifts ?
How s t ro ngl y are the ga tes gua rd ed
a ) during th e day ?
b) hy n ight ?
What is th e poli ti cal a tt i t ude of the securi ty service
a ) in general '!
h ) as an organizatio n (F ascis t organiza tions ?) ?
Ar e there an y H.G.a. [Hevul ul.iontuy T rude Uni ons Opposlt ln n} rom-
radcs or a gents amongs l th em ?
Is t he sec u r i ty s vrv i.. al'llll'd 'i Stall ' uul urr- "I' nrr us, ill 111, ea s, '
of flr e- a rtus, if I'"ssihll' , c':dihl'l ' "I' 1':011"1'11 .
AI'l' th .. w..al'''I '' a I \\':I v' " i1 l'l'i," " I " lItv II I IIi..:hl '
1,\ 1
Tota l number of pi st ols ?
Total quantit y of ammu nit ion ?
Where a re th e r eserve s tores o f wea pon s an d a mmuni t ion sit ua ted?
(to he marked i n ske tch )
Ar e members of t he secur ity se r vice massed as a reserve when
th e wal ch rueu on duty a re heill g r eli eved? \Vh e re ? (to be marked in
sk e tch).
l Iuv e t h e wat chmen dogs wilh th cm ? How many?
The nh ov e questi ons shoul d h e go ne into thoroughly and accu-
ratel y nuswc rc d even wh en watc h and ward co mpanic s are employe d.
Ar c lh erv any speci al fir e pi ckets on dut y ?
Whu! is th eir st re ngt h
a ) by ni gh t ?
h) hy day ?
\\'hat is th e polit ical a tt it ude o f th e men of lh e fir e pickets
a) in ge ne ra l ?
h) as an orga uiza l io n ?
Ar c th er e any politi cal r elalions between th e fir e pi ckets a nd th e
securi ly service?
Is IIH'r e a COIII III on numugement ?
\Vha t a larm-conlrivances a r c th ere in th e fa ctory? (li re- a la rm s,
s tea m or elect r ic si re ns. Exac t posi ti ons to h e marked in sk etch).
Ar l' !'Ill'r l' d ir ect pol icc-nlnrms ? \\ h..J ~ arc t lu- al arm poin ls ?
l l ow fa r away is th e nearest police s ta tion ?
Whnt attitude di d the fir e pic kets and Ih r- security ser vice adopt
on th e occasion o f fo rmer st rikes ?
In case of ac t io n, -w h n! do.s l lu: H. G.a . wor ks mn nu gcmcnt co nsi de r
im por ta n t ?
All questions arc to he gone into thoroughly and utmost care must
he taken.
On 25th April, HJ32, in th e fir sl cr iminal divi si on of the co urt
of appeal a t Frankenthal, the tri al was held of Er ic Steffen ,
Karl Dienstbach and F r iedr ich Ochle ns chliige r who were charged
wi th works-espionage al Ih e 1. G. F ru-bcnwerkc at Ludwigshafen.
The evide nce showe d that for so me ye a rs a ce n tr al office for
industrial espionage had ex is ted in Berlin fr om which th e in di -
vidual Communi st sub- dis tric ts received in structions fo r getting
hold of the works' secre ts of th e ind ividua l industrial unt ertakings
in Germany and to pa ss those secre ts on to Ihe central office
in Berl in .
The eviden ce showed that t h object of th e activity of the
uccused was works' espionage, planned on a l ar ge scale and
:linl ing a l lhe hc truyul of secre ts for th e purpose of compet it ion,
nnrl Ihnl ill I'n Vil li I' or th e Sovi et industry. All processes connected
wil h l ilt' ('l'lldlll'tillll Ill' a mmo nia, ca r bamide, me thane, artificial
rr-xi n, ,,'" nl " "l1ll1l"' i""d i ll l lu- IIp-gr adi llg Ill' th e raw mat erials
('I'I ''' 'lIt III 1111 II II I I l I r ~ , q ll:tll l ili,'s, nunu -lv, ch ir-f'Iv , cha rcoal
and tar and withi n th e compass of the building up of a chemical
industr y wit hin in the Five Years' Pl an. According to Schmidt's
confessi on , many important sec re t processes and patents were
betrayed to the Soviet-Russi an esp ionage whe nce they were passed
on t o Ru ssia . According t o Schmidt's sta temen ts, industrial
espionage is of two different kinds: the theoretical and the
practical. All members of th e party working in industrial under-
takings are pl edged to th e first. They are instructed to inform
their party of all important events and changes in the working
of the wo r ks which come to thei r notice. For practical espiona ge
which aims at gett ing possession of val uable manufacturing secrets
only a small number of spec ially gifted and trustworthy members
of the party are employed. Steffe n's case was obviously one of
pr actical espionage . The trial en de d by Steffe n, Di enstbach and
Schmidt be ing sentenced each to 2 year s' , Oehl enschlager to
5 months' impriso nment.
The att it ude of the culprit s is revealed in one of St effen's
intercepted letters whi ch r an as foll ows : '
"We don 't call it espionage, but eco nomic assistance."
In the r ep ort on thi s case th e "Bayer ische Sl aatszeit ung" , No. 85
of 15. 4.1931 mentioned, among othe r things, that the fact that
in a singl e Ger man large-sized undertaking between the years
1926 and 1930 no fewer than 134 serious cases of fact ory espionage
wer e di scover ed, and that in th e year 1927 alone, some 3,500 legal
actions we re ne cessitate d by su ch cri mes, ought to make both,
authorities and private undertakings, consider th e matter seriously.
A further example of works' es pionage was brou ght to light
by the t rial of th e electrician Fri edr. Thiele for works' espionage
car r ied out by him at th e I. G. Farbenwerke, near Bitterfeld in
February, 1931. Thiele was sentenced to 3 years' penal ser vit ude.
Thi ele was president of th e I. G.' s workmen' s council and a
member of th e I. G.'s works' council. His fell ow- accused wer e,
without except ion, members of the Ger man Communist Party
and th e Revolution ary Trade Union Oppos it ion. Thi ele t r ied to
get hold of the whol e manufacturing process of the Bitterfeld
works of the I. G. Farbe nindus tri e A.G. and to obtain poss ession
of det ails, especially of the production of magnesium, ni tric acid,
phosphorus and light metal. The knowl edge obtained by such
spying was to re ach the central office of th e Ger man Communi st
Party by roundabout ways and eventuall y Soviet Ru ssia. In the
de facto as well as in th e legal appreciat ion th e judgment
proceeded from the fact th at the o n ~ i n govC; I' II I1 11mts, es pec iall y
Soviet Ru ssia, have bee n tr yin g 10 )("")1 Ihl'llIsl' lv('s wull post ed
as to what is being 1I1 :1II1I1':lI'llll'l'd ill (;"I'III:llI y .uul whut mel hod s
of produc tion a 1'1' Ilt' illr-: II SICI. II li S, i:l 1'1' 1' 1' 1' 1' . 10 ruu kr- II SI' of till'
members of the Ger man Communist Par ty, bec ause the latter
conside r it their duty to place themselves at th e di sposal of a
countr y which serves them as a mo del in political , economic and
cult ur al resp ects and whose example th ey follow as a matter
of course.
That the individual aut ho rs were ac ting on the instructions
of the German Communist Party is proved by th e fact that the
Cr iminal Poli ce succeede d in di scovering, but not arresti ng, th e
supposed leader of th e ga ng , a man li ving under an assumed
name . This man wa s a member of the Communist Centr al Office
in Berlin and, in thi s capacity , an agent of the Ru ssi an Intell igence
Service, who had been in struct ed t o find out details of the working
of the German industry, above all things of militar y importance.
We have proofs of thi s.
H is cl ear, even fro m th ese fe w examples, how cl ose the
co-opera tion of Sovi et es pionage was with th e Communist organi-
zations in Germany. Thanks to numberless poli ce investigations
and tri al s befor e th e Supre me Cour t, il has been proved that
1. a foreign sec lion of the Muscovit e G.P.V. was working
in Germany and that 2. thi s Sovi et -Ru ssian organizati on controls
and manages th e Commun is t es pionage in Germany.
A ca se is well known of the Soviet Russian Secretary to the
Embassy in Pari s, Bessedowski, who, in th e beginning of 1930,
had to climb ove r the walls of th e Paris Embassy building in
or der to avoid bein g arrest ed by th e Che ka age nt Roisemann.
At tha t tiine, th e Berlin as well as th e Hamburg Sect ions of the
G.P.V. had "fly ing detachments" a t th eir di sposal.
Names do not pl ay an important part with th e agents of the
poli ti cal demi-monde. The y change fr om day to day without the
righ t name being known at all. This is especially true of one
of the most danger ous G.P.U. agents in German y, Boris Nikola-
je wit sch, alias I wanow, ali as Krassnopolski. In February 1933,
th is Boris Ni cola evich came into con tact wit h a number of highly
suspicious persons, e. g. th e Ru ssi an Communis t Volodiya, the
Huss ian J ew Scherzmann, th e Ger man Communist Kuns t. Just
hefore 27th February Boris Nicolaevitch went back t o Moscow.
The G.P. V. agents are no novices in th eir professi on. They
pro cee d with the grea test smar tne ss and have acquir ed the art
of pro tecting th emsel ves against police observatio n. When caught.
such an aHell1 ref uses to sp ea k. His obs tinacy goes so f ar that at
times, as, for cx umpl c, in the case of the Communist a lt o P., he
avoids n os r-xnminut ion hy couuu itliug suicide .
' I' l u: 1'1' 01' ." iuunl af{f'lI ls ap proach a member of thc German
COlllllllllli I 1' 1I11 \, II l1 d II" to i nd uct - h iru 10 gd 1' 01' 1111' 111 II('WS
( 1. IIne!): Photo Horlmunn}
Promin ent Reidi st tu; Members of the Ger m.1n Co mmunis t Part y :
Wilhelm Pieck ; Ernst Torglet ; Ill/go Eberlein,
quu n l it ies of suhv c r sivc lit e r at u re, wr-upons o r ex plos ives , in a
wo r d. a ll l he tools of a well -eq u ipped I\o lshl',is t.
If Ollt' l' ons id crs l hc cx tcu d of tl u- Conuu uni s t net of espionage
0" " 1' lht - w lu rh- of Ge rma ny, o n r eali ses that h ere a
m il liun orga lli z(,t1 1;l' l'In:1I1 na tion a ls ha n ' worked fo r Ih c militar y
i ll ll' ltigl' lI"t' " 1'\ ii' " IIr :1 forl'ign pow!'l' . nud it is q ui te im possi ble
III di "'plll ,' 11 11 I !I:lll gl'mll s q un li lv of Co m mun is t
(lvi ng
di scovered a n d
dwelling gre a t
fo r the pu rpose of se ll in g his own fa the rI a nd , a n d protected
himsel f aga ins t pol ice inves tiga t ion s bv m eans of numerous f a ls e
a dd r esses, f'nls e nu mes , go- be twecns a nd cumouf' lug cd meeting
pla ces. The um plu f' ees and al lowuu ccs of Heichstag Members
made s uc h per sons f' iunncinll y independent a n d permitt ed them
to util ize es pccin l ly impude n t m ethods .
Whenever a Couuu un ist spy was a t la st
urrcst ed. thl'r t' wer e r egularl y found In hi s
out of the wor ks in wh ich he is engaged . La dy- typis ts a n d
em p loyees in t he drnwiug-o f'fi ces a r e Freq uently a pproached . The
victim sta r ts working for 111(' Moscow es p io nugo volunturily or
compulsorily. TI ll' News U pa rin g St Ht ions a r c found in ill egal
flat s with a dummy owner . Suc h wa s the case wit h the Co mm un is t
Member of ti ll' Hl' ichsl a g .J. Sch. who was working in a flat
s u pposed t o 1)(' occu pied a cc r tu in :\11' . Bm uu , who, howev er.
had dep arted 10 Hu ssi a loug ago. When lids Int elli gen ce Head-
quart ers was ru id r-d l h poli ce found cou ri e rs pa rcel s con la in ing
a r eport on I he Ilpr li u- Kn rl s ruhcr Ind usl ri cwvr ke .
A s im i la r part wa s pla yed hy the Conun unist Lnndtag Memb er
Siege l. who wa s u pp r oncl u-d hy llu - cha u ff e ur J ohannes :\1. and
th e locksmith Kurt I ). wi l h informal ion I'l'garding l he German
f'ronti er prot ect ion. II I ' J'( 'I'('ITl'd them 10 IIIl' Ih 'i ehslag Member
Kippenbergcr. who n -cui vod a nd paid IhI'SI' ag enls. II
is known 10 1I11' cou r ts l hul l he ruunuuc r of 1\1(' :\I' WS Clearing
St ati on pu s sed Oil l hc l's pio nagl' mn lr-ri ul 10 Hussi a via th e h ead -
quart ers or th e Gcrmun Co m muni st Par ty .
Soviet-Hus sinu l'spionage is inl l'J'(' sll'd nol only in German
pu lents, induslrial fa elori l' s a nd cl u-micnl proe('ss(' s , hut es pecia lly
in the Rci ch swehr. Il u-ir u r uuuucn t a nd Ir a ining and in a ll 01\1('1'
matters in conncx io n w il h l lu- defence of II\(, cuuu l rv . It is tho
m ost s ha mef ul chu ptur in li lt' h is turv of lhc Communist part y.
so rich in lr ca cherv, thai l lu-v ser ve d i n 11\l' rniliturv es pio na ge
sec ti on of a fore ign po wer' The betra yal of mi li lury secrets go es
hand in h and with li lt' wo r k of d is in te gra l ion in Ih e Ge r ma n
army a nd na vy . a nd hl' l r a yal Sl'e ms 10 hI' a l'ru it o f Co mm unis t
di sintegrat i on. The Cuuunu n is t es p io nngc lri c- s to ohtuiu i nformati on
about the organ izul ion nnd l he a ru uuucnl of lh Ge r man army
and IW"y, es pe ci a lly nlmu l l lu- l:o ns lrnclinn Ill' gll ns a nd men-of-
war and other milit ur v dcl ui ls.
Between J une a nd Decembe r no fewer th an 111 main
tri al s were held rill' t rv uso n. .\I mnsl 1rIo pt' r sll ns wer e sen tenced
for the betra yal of mil it ury secrets .
In most ca ses Cnmmuuis tic subver sive lit erutu r pr epar ed
th c betrayal, So m e of llu: c ul p r i ts acte d o ut Ill' pu rely Communi sti c
co n vic ti on. As Ih ey themsel ves decl a red , Iher e was for them no
fatherl and ; in case of wa r . Ih ey would s ide wit h ti ll' Sovi et Union
against Germany . Bill , of 't i -u cnouuh. l lu- urol iv for l n-Iruval wa s
personal profit. Hi gh hrilH' s wert' tholl gh xr-Idnm paid.
In one ca se lh e hrilu- wa s :I new pn ir o r I" "" howeve-r ,
l eaked out and l lu - IIt 'W OWIl( ' r or II ... ... , d,... I'I t'(i \' I'd a 10llg xl rr -I ch
of pr-nu l sr-rvi t rul.
Aga i n alld a gai ll, 1111 ' Il ln ' :lIh 01 " IOI oli a gl' I'o lli tl hi' Ira t' I'd 10
so nll' COlll lll ll li i I , II IIII' 1I, to'l , III ' 11' 1,1, II I'd hi iuun uu il y
It is a matter of course that the Ino G.P.V. worked wi th all
the tricks of cunn ing conspirators operating under as sumed names
or fals e addresses, four or five at a time, with secret lodgings,
forged passports, secret codes, di sguise s as commercial travellers
or tour ist s, last no t least wi th provocation , counter-espionage,
denunciation, t er ror ism secret cour ts an d all the other more or less
cunning means of a well thought-out organization of the polit ical
underworld.
If, from t ime to time, all these things are reminiscent of a
fantastic detective novel , it is true that here, as often, facts are
much more fantastic, more complicated, and more gruesome
than the most daring fancy,
Out of the wealth of authentic material only a few cases ca n
be quoted,
As is well known, th ere has existed in Germany for nearl y
ten . years the so-calle d "Bed Providen t Society of Germany",
a section of th e International Red Provident Soc iety; known by
the Russian abbreviated name of "MOPR", to all outward seeming,
an organization for humanitarian and almost charitable purposes,
whose sole official function consist ed in giving help to political
prisoners and th eir dependants. But this society, like every
Bolshevist organizat ion , had a second, ill egal face. The deficit
in it s 1931 budget amounted in all to 231 ,000 marks which was paid
by Moscow. But the whole of th e Soci et y's expendi ture amounts
to 3,iOO,000 marks which wa s also paid by Moscow. The complete
organization is managed by Wal ter Sto cker and Wi lli Miinzen-
berg, the notorious "Bed Hugenberg", who, on his visit to Mosco w
in November 1931, re ceived no less than one million gold ro ubles
to spend on the development of Communist propaganda in
Germany, The secret organizati on of the Society organized, wi th
the help of the G.P.V ., passpor t-forging centr es, so that in Berli n,
Hamburg and Danzig no fewer than 5,000 pa ssports and 10,000
certificates were issued in the cour se of four years.
The Red Provident Soci ety secre tly stood in close connexion
wi th the Derutra (German Rus sian Transport Company Ltd. ),
which ostensibly, carried on a genuine tra nspor t business wit h
Russia, Kaolin, th e Hamburg age n t of the Derutra, was a t the
same time the repr esenta tive of the Central Commill ce of th e
MOPR for Germany. The forging of passports and the clos e
connexion with the transport company had a quit e definit e
purp ose: to free political prisoners and ge t th em oul of the
country, especially to Russia. l lorx l \ V I ~ S S I S murder er found
refuge in such a cr-n t ro ill I'l'a glle ' which wa s u u dr-r the
mnnagerneu t of 111C' Ukrn iniu u COllllllllllis l \\'a(lllili.
The hiding of prisoners etc. was generally effected in the
following way:
As soon as a Communist had escaped from prison or was expecting
to be arrested, he was taken by motor car to one of the various
frontier-crossing pl ac es , eit her in the nor th to Lauen, in the south
to Re ichenbach-Glatz or in the west to Meppen. Here he obtained
without difficulty a temporary frontier passport for one day, where-
upon he promptly dis appeared with the help of friends .
I n case of t hreat ening arrest , th e following cour se was pursu ed :
The r efugee went to Danzig, wh en ce he proceed ed to .Soviet Ru ssia
on {I Soviet ste amer. In other cases, the r efugee took the route f r om
Ste ttin via Sassnilz to Bornholm, where h e was landed at a definite,
so-call ed "conspirators' .bnse" of the i\lOPR. The sec ond way has.
up to now, caused no difficulti es; the transport of th e r efugees was
automatically and carefully organized and no failures have been
repor ted.
The mo re the revolutionary situation in Germany ripened in
the op inion of Lhe KominLern, Lhe more was th e "Red Provident
Society" committed to illegal action. Specially selected persons
were sen t from Moscow Lo Germany, among them:-
1. A cer tui n woman named .. , . . . . . who fr om HJ22 to 1926 worked
in the Balkans under the instructi on s of th e OGPU and later on
in th e commissary department of th e OGP U "on special missions".
She was attached to a special group which deals with questio ns
connected with th e Provident Soci ety.
2. an former old female assistant in the Razvedup r
and in the EKKI office for international communications ; she was
a member of t he 'speci al group from the slar t.
3. . a journalist, ex -agent of th e MOPR in New York, He
was closely connect ed with the economic section of the OGPU.
All these persons are in possession of foreign passports.
A Lithuanian wo man; a German; a Polish Jew.
In addition to iLs vi sible management the Red Provident
Society had a secret headquarters of its illegal organization,
cor responding to the ill egal organization of the party, Very
probably this headquarters was composed of the following persons:
I. Kill!'! Furtwendler , Social Democrat (left wing), member of t he
centr al offi ce of th e trade unions as well as one of the heads of
th e stati st ical section.
2. Dr. l luck huul er , Cotogue -Wc rmc tskircheu, wh o was in to uch for
ruuu )' ,' lIr s wilh lh c EI\I{ I ill co unecti uu wilh Ihe MOPH. He
"lI jo,'" d Ih ,' f ll ll "sl ('o nfid pllc l' of l he 1o: 1{ 1{ 1. As lu: is ahov,' 1111
11'1'''' Oil , Ii i I', 'r Oil "'PillS of 1-: 1'1 '11 1 illl l' OI' III Il "p,
3. Paul Baumann, Ludwigshafen (exact add ress and profession un -
known). As a rule, mon eys for the va rious part); funds were re-
mitted throu gh him.
4. Giinlher Hoppe, Berl in : cuoper uted wit h the for many
years.
5. Meta Kr au s-Fessel, Berlin, woman j our nal ist.
6. Dr. Paul F ricdldudcr, Berlin, panel doctor.
7. Erna Hall e, daught er of Professor Hall e. She was one of the
managers of th e central ofl'ices for the Mnrxist schools in Berlin.
8. Hahncn schild , fun ctionary of the :-'I OPH and of the Int ernational
Workmen's Provident Societ y (lAB), Berlin, \Veid enw eg liS.
9. Poged e, Berli n, Genters trnsse 52, party func tionary.
10. Wanske, Bert in-Pankow, Brem er st ra sse 25.
The Comm un is t member of the li ei chst ug, Si egfried Red el, at
the same time manager of the \Vorking Community of socia l-
political organizations (Arso} , wa s the liaison officer between the
official management and th e secret h eudqua rt ers.
Two exa m ples of libera tion of criminals:
a) \Villy Simon, li\ ',i ng in Berlin NW H7. Sieme nsslr asse R. was
suspect ed of taking part in the mu rd er of thc scho olhoy Norkus. \Vhen
on 24th Junuar v 1\l;]2 he was silting in a saloo n in the Wi clef-
strusse serving as a meetin g pla ce of th e part y, a mall is all eged to
have come up to him and to have said Ihat he would have 10 be got
out of the country as he was s uspected 01' haying murder ed Norkus.
The stranger gave hi s name as Lan ger. Th l'Y went in a taxi towards
Griinau, cha nging taxis at Baum selllll ,'nw(' g. Ill'. Simon. was hidden
for a few weeks in a se ttlcment . On 1:Jth the unknown man
brought him a passport made out in the name of Kurt Biirwald. The
description corresponded with his own. Th e passport was
Issued -in Berlin. and Simon Ira n'lIed wil h il to the Soviet Union.
.il) Panl Michnefi s, ha ving his last r esid ence at \ViLtstock, Ring-
memcr strasso 4, was a memb er of the Conuuunist Youth League and
on l st October 1I):n got m ixerl lip in a shooting uHruv wil h S.A. peopl e.
I-l: went to Berlin. Whil e he was reading a Communi st paper on
Bulowplatz, he was ac costed by a man who stated that he was a
member of Ihe BY.B. M. sa id he was al'raid of being urrcst cd. Afte r
a few days the str anger gave him a passport mad e out in Ihe nam e
Ed. Fischer . Th e personal descripti on of the lctt ur agrl'l'd with
his own down to the dat e of hi s birlh. Tlu- passport W :I S dall'd from
Berlin. Aft er he had received a ra il way-l i' ""1 and IL\J. :W Ira \'dJin (.; -
money, he wen t to Hussi a via Til sit-l\ i;ni gsl,, ' rg wi t h Ihis passport.
\Vilh und wilhonl li lt' s nppor l o f II.. 1I('d Pruvirh -nr- Soei(' 1 '
muuerou s (' ('IIII'I ' S for f:lls il'i"nlillil . 11" ' 1" , . l:,j" isli, 'd h.\' IIII' (;"l'Il1all
Comm u nist P arty . Forgeries wer e made o f entrance cards for
election meetings and confe rences of all kinds, admission-tickets
to police dwellings and barracks, S.A. idenjity-cards, police identity-
car ds, even coins and bills of all denominations which were
man u fact ur ed in Comm un is t f orger's dens. A forger' s den of
this nature was discovered in Au gu st 1932 in the so-called Gange
dis t r ic t at Hamburg. when Hi fire-arms, 3 military rifl es , s te el
ha wser s , rubber truncheons, iron truncheons, daggers, knuckl e-
dus ter s and ammunition were f ou n d in the s ame building.
A similar di scovery was made in Stuttgart. This kind of
" fi n a n ci ng" the party by fraud, f orgery or expr o pr ia t ion , i. e. theft
or robbery method, is, moreover, a traditional Bolshevism in
wh ich Comrade Stalin had exce lled .
A p opular trick consi st ed in the numerous German experts
empl oyed in Russi a " l os in g" their passporl s which were then used
for Com m un is t agen Is travelling to Germany. A special " Bl ack
Ca bin e t" at the G.P. U. in Moscow was working this trick, and at
Ihe same time, s u pervised the members of th e Ino G. P. U. a br oa d,
of whom we have already h eard. The following method of
pr oced ur e was adopted for the procuring of foreign passports:-
A Prussian nati onal, K. B., was engaged at a fact ory in Len ingrad.
On 15th October, 1931, K. B. gave his passpor t to a man named
Batygi n and empower ed Ihis mall 10 arr an ge with the Aliens' Of'Isce
for the prolongation of hi s (K. B.' s) certificat e of residence. Th e vali-
dit y of that certificate havin g duly been extended, K. B.'s passport
was r eturned to Hat ygin who ther eupon decamped. There was a
cer tain resemblance between K. B. and Batygin,
Th e di scovery hy the police, a t Berlin-Wilmersdorf', Kaiser-
ullce 48a of the huge h eadquarters for passport forging on
:!t\ lh Nove m ber , 1932 is still within th e memory of all.
The following details are taken from the police r eport on
Ihis affair :-
" . ... This coll ection was 11 0Ils('d in a cupboard with 1'0111' sh elves
a nd containing all the necessary mat eri al for forging purposes. On
llu- ceut rnl s helf two transportabl e boxe s were f'ouml, cons isting each
01' eight drawer s .hilled with forged rubber stamps.
Th e stamps wer e neatly arranged under varying head ing s and
svrvcd th e purposes of German consula tes ab road, fronti er traffic,
pass por t offices, and of that section or the Poli cc Headquarters in
11( r lin wlrich issues for eign r esident s' licences, Among them were
slru u ps or vuri uus olhl' r sec fionx or th Berlin Pulice Heudquurtvrs. of
II", poli( '(' lollllillisim lil',' SI'(' lions 01' 1'1Ir('i gn ('ollnl ril's, or the J'(' gislry
,1I !'i(" 's of III" 1I.,j,' I , 11 101 flll't'igll ('lIl1l1lri, 's as w('11 nx uuuu-ruus fa"
sill, ;I"s ;, " 01 1I1I1I I' " I hll',ill" " l'irru - ; '\ llog,' III ,'r '.:1:1 101 11 01 ",1' 111 101
h' l
11 embo ssing stamps of th e sor ts named were foun d in th ese boxes
together with photograms of inland and for eign passpo r t s and pass-
port st amps.
A specia l fil e cont ained numerous bir th certificates, police testi -
moni al s, school and t each in g certifi cates, poli ce registratio n papers
and othe r impor t ant pa pe rs for person al identifica tion. Other in-
of t he passport t ogether with th e durat ion or va lidit y of th e passpor t ,
regulations or det ail s r egarding the dealings between cent ral offices
and local fr on tier station s are dealt with by minist eri al decr ees.
In vesti gati on s sho w that th e forgers have usually f or ged passports
issued by the passport autho rities by taking out pages, especia ll y
those contai ning the name and descripti on of the person of th e owne r
of th e passport together with th c dura tion of vali dit y of t he passport.
new pages wit h fo rged conte nts bein g su bs tit uted. The passpo r t forms
used for thi s pur pose appear to have been genuine.
The for gers did not limit th eir acti vit ies to the production of pass-
port s but ihir th-cert ificates, unemployment and tax car ds, an d cer tifi cate s
of employme nt wer e al so for ged, th e si gnatur es of th e ori ginal of'ficiuls
bein g for ged by tracing thcm ove r.
The organization of th e for ger s was di vid ed into four se pa rately
locat ed groups. In the above-quo te d case only th e "Office" of the
pas sport forgers was discovered. The other three div ision s consisted of
the so-ca lled "Works hop" in whi ch th e tools are made, also a
"Drawing Dep artment" and " Phot ographic Dep artment" in which
drawings of st amps and photograms of passports et c. wer e made. A
"Storeroom" in which spare mat erial and passports ready for issuing
wer e stored, comp letes th e pic tu re.
The orga nization discover ed in Kuiserallee 48a was run by two
per sons who were of Commun ist convictions,
They were th e tool -maker Karl ' V., thorn on 7. 5. 02 at Charlotte n-
bu rg, and th e paint er Er win K. , born at Neu -Ruppin on 6. 4. 06.
Though these wer e arrest ed , two others were able to make good their
escape. They occup y ill th e Communist Party high and important
positions and may be described as the men at th e ba ck of the pass-
port for ging acti vit ies.
F rom enqui ri es undertaken as a result of going th rou gh the
materi al found, it ap pears that within the Communis t part y it
structions have been give n to th eir members r equest ing th em or th eir
relatives to obta in fro m th e passport authorit ies passpor ts which wen'
l.hen used by the passp ort for ging organization.
The necessary forms, documents, stamps ele. for such Iorginj;
headquarters are, as a rul e, obta ined from Ihe authoriti es by
means of th eft.
From lit ' sl' nll' llI;1' o f l he S II I' I' I' IIl" Cour t of X. I:!. 1\1:11 , 011
Walter Nes t h-r, l lu- loll tlwi llil 1':14' 1 1I 1:1 \' Ill' " 0111'1 1111 "11 :
/ l )
./ CO""'''"I ", /'.I H,,,,,/ Workshop, discovered on 28. 11. 1932 in the
{I .II ..r }\.. 11 ,11 ,/ 1,.111111. 1/111, mctclumt , /le rlin-Wilmersdor], Kaiserallee 48.1.
71
Ha hn, watchmaker in Cherunitz, member of the German Commu-
nist Part y, arrested. Seven forged stam ps 01' dis t ri ct administratio ns and
many copies of official documents confiscated. Hahn escapes t o
Lening rad.
Nestler admi ts haying made copies and so ld pass forms to the
German Communist Party.
On 28. 2. 1933 the negative of an official document was foun d
at 25, Lindowerstrusse, Berlin . In the cellar there was a complete ly
equipped photogr aphic dark room.
Fi na lly it may he mentioned t hat th e smuggl i ng of P.G. U. agents
into, and of refugees out of , Germany, the smugg ling of ill egal
mat eri al etc. necessit at ed a special sectio n of Com munist work.
tha t is to say, th e organiza tion of a protec ted a nd safe fronti er
traffic . For th e most part this took place through so -called
"spo nsors" over defini te par ts of the fron tier. T give her ewith
ex tracts from the worki ng plan of the German Commun is t Pa rty
for the second qua r te r of 19:12, r egarding instructions for th e
sec ur ity of th e Saxon-c-Czccho-Stovu ki a n hord cr . It is proposed
to arrange fo r wo rking cells and Revolu t ion ur y Trade Un ion
Opposition groups in th e fo res t undert aki ngs of t he fro ntie r
dist r icts , the following sub -dcpnr tmc n ts being no ted:
UB. 2 : Thorwa ld District.
UB. 4: Fores t Dist ric t Kiihnheidl' -Ansp nmg--Riibenau.
U'B. 8: Cro ttendorfer Forest.
UB. 9: Heroldwald, Schoneheck er Wa ld, Auerbachcr Wald, Diihler
Waldo
Crea tion of strong local groups in th e front ier district, es pecially
where a fr onti er is crossed by r oads and rail ways.
UB. 2: Kleingiel.lhiibcl , Hosenthal X, IIellendorf X, Olsengrund X,
Olsen, Ftirstenwulde, Rudolphsdorl'. F iirstcnau X, Gottgetreu,
Geising +, Liiwen hai n +, Rehef'cld X, Launes tci n X.
UB. 4 : De ntschgeorgenthal X, De utschkatharinen berg X +, Satwng X,
Ansprung X, Pfall'rotha-Schiin f'cld X, Sayda X +.
UB . 8 : Johstadt X +, ,Tllgel X. St einbach X, Wildenthal X. Glashii lle
- \ Veiter es X.
un. 9: Schonberg X +, Hen nebach, La ndwiist X. \Vcruilzgriin X.
Eubabrunu X, J iigersgri in , Steindobra, Soh l-Mu hlhausen X +,
Bad Elster X +.
+ = Rai lways: X = Roads .
All the detai ls quo ted combine In make th e Ierrihl e pi cture of
Ihe th or ou ghl y organized , ce n t r n l l y di1'1'( ' 1I'd. i111 plldt 'l l l (' s pio n:lgt'
wor k, possessi ng a th ous.md r. un ific. u inns . of l lu: (;('1'111:1 11 COIIl
munisl Pn r ty .uul ils ('011:11('1':1 1 t1 rg:ll li l': :lI itl IlS, ill IIIl' iulr-rr- xl s 0 1'
a fO('('igll 1'0\\'('1'. 10 I", ~ : I I I , ,'" :III 1'111 '111.\ ' P0\\'I ''' , II", COlll ll lllll is l
7 ~
Internationale in Moscow. The idea is monstrous that this net-
work of fraud , spying, forg ery , subversion and force has lain
for years over Germany wit hout the gov ernment ever having made
a ser ious attempt to br eak the net in whose meshes th ev have
long enough been unwittingl y en tangled. '
It became very obvious th at the intention was to concentrate
the G.P.U. work in Germany more and mor e, to prepare it more
and more for the coming decision as on e of the most important
inst rumen ts of the armed rising and of the coming dictatorship
of the Communist clique.
7
BEWAFFNETE
AUFSTAND
IV. High Treason.
The next stage of th e im mediate preparation o f ar med
ri s ing consis ts i n t he s ubversion o f th e and, Firs t a nd
for emost, of his organiza tions for aLLack and de l ence. Impor ta n t
objectives of the Communistic subversion work wer e S.A., S.S.,
Stahlhelrn , army and poli ce.
The fundamcnt al document about th e str a tegy and tactics of
thc armed ri sing whi ch ill th e yenr H)28 is said to have
published by oue Mcvcr, a nd w.rittc.n by th e n.otorJous
Comm unist t errorist and expe r t 1I1 subversive lit erature Heinz Neu-
mann who uses the assumed name A. Neuberg, contains a
th corv of the work under " Figh ting Forces of th e Bourgeoisi e" .
The I;ook of Ncumnnn-Neuherg " Ocr Bewaff'net e Auf stand , Versu ch
'einer th eor et ischcn Darstel lung" is one of th e most
ments for th e training of th e Communist
for military purposes. Taking th is book as a ba: ls. the truimng
of the future sol dier of th e r ed army and Cheka 1Il Germany has
heen proceeded wi th. Besides this hook, the lib,: m:y oi: :1 ..
vist terrorist had to contain two other works - Di e I1J1 htarpohY-
schcn Schr if' Ien von Engels un d Le nin", pub lis hed by III t(' ,1:11a 110-
naler Arheiterverlag, and the equ all y ill egal book of Kippen -
I I
Alfred Lanuer "Ocr \Yc" zum Sicg - DIG Ku nxl des
ieruer a las c L , n . , . .. ,
hewaff'netcn Au f's tun des", said to be p uhl is hed hy 1'. ZlIl'll' h.
Puhli slu-rl by l lu- sa III(' linn . IIl'hillei whir -h. lIallll'.:II ly. :1. ClIllI
ru unisl IIl' galli z:'i1iClIl lOll) ,'I1\', 'r , 111, ,1', ' :lpl" 'al'l 'd III IIIl' I11t'g:II
I I
monthly magazine " Ok tobe r", Militiirpolitische Zeitschrift , edi ted
by Erris t Schnell er, Member of th e Reichstag. Amongst th e coll a -
borators of this strictl y secret leaders' periodi cal are a number of
a ut hor s who sign th ei r co n tr ibutions with pseudonyms, e. g.
"Adolf", "Theo" etc.
Naturally all th e rul es o f conspirat ors were ob served when
sen ding out these periodi cal s whi ch are seldom de spatched through
the post , or, when they ar e, i n a misleading envelo pe, normally hv
co ur ier to intermedi at e or fa lse address es. The car d-inde x of th e
s ubscr ibe rs is written in cypher and made sa fe many ti mes over so
that th e di stributing ce n t res have no t yet hecn dis covered, no r has
it be en po ssible to confisc a tc and destroy these pa pers.
NCllberg-J\' eumanIl sp eaks of the necessi ty of the work of sub-
ve r t ing th e army, th e me tho d of work being as follows:-
" The alt it ude of Ihe r evol ut ionarv prolela riat In l,he ,im per ialist ic
war in keepi ng wi th Le nin' s pr incipl e is the tru nsmutut ion of thi s wa r
into civil war . Towards the ar my , whi ch is (,he most impor ta nt factor of
th e imperialis tic war, th e a l lilude of the par ty and of t.ho whole r evo-
lutionary prnletnr int must he such t hat th ey work for th e complet e
s uhverx ion of t he .imper iul ist iu army and th cgoing over of masses of
soldiers 10 the s ide of th e r evolulinnury proletnr int . That ,is th e aim and
object of th e work of th e party in hhe army. bu t it is uchi eva.hle only
with the complete victory of th e pr oletarian r evolu tion. As lon g as
th e power is in th e hands of th e bourgeois state, Ihe bourgeo is ar my
will r emain on e or the deci sive co mpone nts of th at sta le.
It is th e ta sk or th e pr ol ct nr.int, no mail er what th e pol.iti cul sit u-
at ion in th e countr y may be, 10 suhvert th e -hou r gen is army as far as
pos sible a nd to r evol utlonize il.
l
)
Alfred Langer expresses himself in very much the same way:-
" One of Ihe most important preliminar ies to thi s fi gh t is tir el ess.
obsti nate. sy stc mut ic work, shr inki ng from no terrorism, within th e
ar me d for ces or t he bourgeoisi e, a cont inuous r evol uti onary educa tion
of th e scldi er -masscs.t' ")
T hc German Commu nis t Party has, in th e spiri t of these theo-
r ies, is sued many times exact directions for the work in th e nat io -
unl ass ocia t ion s, army and po lice. The alr eady well -known il le-
ga l s pec ial organizations, especia ll y the intelligence service, the
1'II 1'1IIy o bs ervation section, t h e a.S.N.A., the H.F .B and, above all,
I lie Am -orga niza tioIl carried ou t the work of su bversion.
t\ ri rculu r of Ihe Am - orga niza t ion co n ta i ns t he foll owin g
1':1 ra gra I' ll :
I ) \ I "I.,,' 11. , II, \ ,II, " "" Au lvt.ur.!", 1'. I S7
\ 111, " I Il l., I II I \\, f' 11111 ""f-". " ,
I I
Cell.
" At first , it is necessa r y to ge t th e wrong idea out of the hea ds o f
comrades t hat all poli cemen arc bl oodthir st y hounds. Th ere arc nn tu-
r.all y swine amongst th em and these sho uld he parti cu larl y no ted . At
demonstrati ons as well as 011 other days, th er e ar e always chanc es of
arguing with poli ce offi cer s. For ex-am ple, th er e was such a po ssibili ty
at th e last disturbances in Moahit. Observat ion sh owed that such
chances are made 'usc o f only dn a few cases. \Vhat subjects sho uld he
di scu ssed with poli ce officers?
F'irst o f all, o ur progr amme and demands in gen eral. T he n th e
conver suf ion will , as a rul e, turn to t hc present si tuation. Stnikes -
me etings - ill egal dcmonstrn t ions etc.
In harmony with the theoret ical pri ncipl es of Neulierg, ho wever.
th e subvers ion of th e ar my. poli ce and of th e na tio nal associa tions
was undertaken by th e Am-organisa tio n professionally. At th e
sa me t ime, th e wh ol e organiza tion of Communism was used for
thi s tr easonabl e activit y.
I qu ot e th e following sentences fr om th e circula r of th e Ger -
man Communis t Party, In format ion Sec tion, r egarding the work
among the re la tives or member s of th e ar my.
" Besides work a mo ng th e Fascist forma tions. work a mong membe r s
of the army is absol utely necessa r y no t only where they arc stat ione d.
but wher e they have th ei r ho mes. With us , it is no t only th e task of
individuals, b ut of t he whol e org aniz ation.
T he officers ar e r eactionary almost to a man . Wi th t he rank a nd
liIe th e following attitudes have heen observed: with so me (fa ir ly large)
bodi es, dislike of th e Nazis, who ar e r egarded as competi tors . Besides
thi s eve rywhere keen in ter est for eve rything th at happen s in th e Soviet
Union, There is a cer tain amount of diss at isf act ion wit h th e pay . The
syste m of promotion is a furth er cuu se of di scon t en t.
In our publi c meeti ngs, every where wh er e we Lome into con tact
w,it h workers. th e mat eri al ment ion ed her e must he ex ploi ted to the
ful l.
I n our newspa pers for factories and blocks of hou ses. espccially in
undert ak ings vital i n war. and in army garrisons, these Fac ts must be
published and co mmented upon, special r eference being made to thei r
val ue for th e ib our geois ie in pr eparing for war an d civil war."
Thi s document is a st rik ing proof not only for th e t heoretical.
but also for th e purely pr acti cal , tr eason abl e work of all Commu
ni st organizatio ns, however harml ess th ey may see m.
Th e following qu esti onnaire is uuo ther proof '. I I was di str i
buled amongs t th e member s of a party cu n f'erencn held in Ber lin
at th e be ginni ng or Februa r y. In;I:1 and had III I " , g il'I' 11 hnck i m
medi at el y af ter bein g fi ll r-d ill . It rpad s word for wIII' d as fol l" ws :
"L l ave you l l lOlI glll ho w illll'"r lall i ,t iI,,, II ... 1, :,,'11' I II I ", 1111''' 1' 111.. 01
or 111 (' pia;. 0 1" 1111 ' 11l11l1 gl'lll iI' III Illl ll cl 1 11111' ,1 l1 d I II lUll\\' t lt l' 1.,..lill g...
"I' I I... " Ia " \\ hi, hI li " ," , I,"lt"" " " " I II '
I"
\Ve want to hel p you:-
1. Have yo u any acquaintances or r el at ion s in opponen t organi za t ions
of a ny kin d, of whom you know th at t hey ar e al r eady u ncer ta in or
sympath ize with u s ?
2. Do you know 'any tech ni cal work ers, engineers or che mists in
undertakings vital in war or who work '1n r esearch institut es?
:-I . Have you any r elat ion s, ac quai ntances or schoo l fr iends .in co ncer ns
vita l in war and peace who co ntrol the li fe blood of such co ncer ns?
4. Have yo u a ny conne xions with t he Socia l Democra tic P ar t y, Reichs -
banner or free- trade-union fun ctionaries ?
5. l l uve you any connc xions wi th members of the S.A., S.S. or
N.S.D.A.P . or with th e Teno, Stahlhelm or members of th e
Arbci tsdienst ?
6. Do you al ways ke ep your eyes open For provocateurs a nd agents
wh o work in our ranks?
Do you k now that I he poli ce are tr yi ng might an d mai n to smuggle
d ements of l.his mut ur e into th e par ty ?
7. Have yo u a ny ac quain tances who do bus iness wiLh such peop le ?
8. Hav e you re flecte d th at umpt een co mrades 'have fr-iends h ips wi t h
member s of th e army and navy?
Have you any such friends?
Have you girl fr ien ds or acquaintances who ar e employed by people
who are of impor tance to us ? Don't think that your in formation is
not import ant. Even th e smallest bit of news is va luable.
Kame.
No.
Day.
Wi t h unsur passed ene rg y and minuten es s of detail , opposing
o rganiza tions wer e spied up on and th e way pa ved for th eir sub-
ver sion.
Suc h qu esti onnaires we re frequentl y distr ibuted, with th e ob -
ject of th eir being collecte d in some central off ice, gone through
and made use of. They were carefully st udied wh en it was a
mat ter of spying upon th e police for ces , th e S.A. an d 5.5. The
following sheet of questions was dist r ibuted by th e head office of
the enemy observation sec tion to all member s of th e Int elli gence
Ser vice and the ene my obser va tion sect ion with th e r equest for an
immediate answer :
I. Is Ih er c a sectio n of th e N.S.D.A.P . in your loca l gr oup?
a) A s lor m troop of th e S.A. and S.S.?
h) Numln-r of th e troop and it s stre ng th.
c) ;\'a lll" "I' 1111' lead er.
d) \\'10 :11 H I"I' II ... su hd ivisio us o f t he tr oo p, Ir oop s o f run u. -rs , iutvl li-
{'11l1 1 , 1,11111 ,'If' , '!
'" I I.. I I 1111'" III I'd sec' l i"I1 '/
17
Scv l in u
Ske tches produced at t he trial of Emil Vogel for hig]: t reason.
For [urther sketc hes. see page 80.
7
-1
e
e
7' )
10
10
to
I I
I

... .... .. . . . .. . . . .. . . . . .. . . . . .. . . ... .. .. . .
. . .... .. . .. ..... . .. . . . . . .. ... ... . . . . . . ... . I I. The Army
A. The orgunizntion of the Ar my . , .
1\. The imporluncc and pari played by th e Army .
C. Anal ysi s of classes re presen te d in th e Army and its id eology
11. T ill' pol i t icu l, off'i oi al and mat erial po sition ' .
It I. TI ll' d r ""1 0\ Ih ,' n isis o n Ihe Arruv.
.\. F'II11hll ''' ' ,d :d " olll racl i,:l ion s in ":Ipil :di s l
I I '1'1" , , 11,' , 1 " I II ,,' ni si s "II 1\" ,
, ,, II" " I' 11,, 01 oI i i" l q :r: di ' " 1 It "'" w.i l h i n
I. Strictly confid ential. Not s uitable 1'01' the normal r un of bus iness.
Details of course 1'0 1' t he military la sks of the ruvol utionur y proletariat.
Content s : page
I. Intr oduct ion
= .
Nat urally, i f prope r ly conducted subversive work is to produce
vul uahle r esult s, spies IlIUSt be properly t r ained . Thi s tr ainin g was
carr ied out in s pecial rn ilit ary co urses of th e Am-orga nization , for
which very detailed in struct ion s were dis tr ibuted lry th e Head
Of'f'i ce of the Am-managemen t as lai c as February . 1U:33.
3}D

, \
't ..
.
,,-
B. Wher e arc t he stocks of arms ke pt?
How st rong is the guard of th e hu ilding wher e the arms are kept?
C. Ar e th er e any machine guns, ca rbines, machi ne pistols, 08 pistols
&c?
If po ssible, give number .
F ur the r ob servat ion and reporting on the op ponent fo llows na t u-
rally from the obser vat ion. Money from the fu nd of the ene my obser
va t ion sections is at t he d isposal of the cornrude concer ned on hi
stating for what purpose.
The comr ade concerned wi ll re ceive fur the r inl'ormat ion 0 11 re-
por ting .
A. How is th e organization armed? Ar e the members of th e organi-
za tion trained in mili tary fas hion? \Vh er e ? If possible, stat e tr ain -
ing ground.
2. How man y pol ice stations ar c th er e in your distr ict ?
a) "umber 01' the station.
h) St rength .
c) 1\ um e 01' off icer.
3. Is th er e a Nazi barracks in your sp here of work ?
h) Number of men. How armed, carbines, machiue-guns 'i:c. ?
c) Have we any cnnnexions with th e Nazi ha rrack s through our
liaison men ?
d) W hat opporhmi ties are the r e for atlack?
4. Automobile par k of th e po lice and auxiliary poli ce.
a) W here ar c the pol ice cars garaged ?
How arc they guarded ?
h) Wher e are I he S.S. and S.A. cars garaged?
How are th ey guarded ?
e) Ar e t h ere any ar mour ed cars near the pol ice sla tion? If so. how
many are there and where ar e they garaged?
fJ . Do the I'or mations of t he S:A. , S.S. and Stahl helm wor k t ogeth er ? ITow
do th ey work toge ther ? Is t her e any possibi li ty of gelling subversi ve
li terature int o th e sections ? . If so, to whom should it be d eliver ed?
Give exact addr ess .
The chiefs of the enemy observation sect ions must at once ex pel
re liable co mrades for certain de fini te reasons. The expulsion of th e
men in quest.ion must .be made known to all me mbers. The dut y of
th e ex pe ll ed m en is a s follows: to ga in entrance into opposing organi-
za tions, all neces sary precauti on s being observed, organ ization of the
in telligence service.
;
B"SlIlls o f l lu: C"lI l l1l1 llli s l ,' s \, i" lI:q..(l' 11:1\', ' Ill" '1 1 ill I I I :III Y
(:I.S" S, P. g. ill 1111 ' t rin l "I' 1':lIlil \' ''''1 ' 1 1"11' I l i gll I"":I S"II . 'I'll"
s l, ,' I,' 11l' 111'1'1 ' 1" '\ II"dll" 1'1i \\', '1'" 1"1I11c1 ill V"I-:" [' 11 :11 .
II. Stri ctly conf'ide nt.i ul. Not suita bl e for th e nonmal run ofhusin ess .
Det ail s of course.
Th e work among th e poli ce.
A feveri sh acti vi ty of th e Am-subvers ion organiza tion developed
nl l lu: ('III) ,d' 1\1 :1:! und beginning of 1933. It was intended t o work
i n l r-nsi vr-!v :1 111" 11" th e pol ice a nd a r my members on Christ mas
lr-uvr-. '1'1... " II' I.. "I' lrivn ds or t he poli ce a nd a rm y we re s ubjec ted
10 1' 1" c' i u r l t1I 'I IIII, 'c1 I' Vill f.: , III II II' lIli ddl .. Ill' .lu nunry 1\1:1:1 a
18
16
17
17
14
14
15
11
11
12
I:{
4-15
1- 3
26
18-20
23-25
21-22
lG-17a
Th e lin e of propaganda.
A. Gen eral political points of view .
B. Capit alist and prol etarian military poli cy .
C. Wat chwords and parol es in th e ag itation .
D. Part demands
Means of propaganda and methods of work
A. Gener al means and methods .
13 . Sp ecial means of agitati on .and propngnn rla .
C. Methods of distribution of lit erature
The forms of or gani zat ion of wor k among soldiers .
The military organ izatio n .
B. The or ganization of th e cntr ance of r cvolut ionar v eleme nts
into th e Army .
C. The work am on g former sol dier s .
The organizing of th e revolutionary work a mong sold ier s .
En closures:-
1. 'HI e formati on of th e Army.
2. Est abli shment of offi cer s and ot he r ranks.
3. The social ,s t. anding of member s of th e Army.
4. Li st. of lit erature and tabl e of payments.
I. A revolutionar y ta sk.
(F undament al altitude)
II . The poli ce. .
(History - Formati on - Appli cation - Clas s warfare -
Mat eri al politi cal and official position) .
Cr isis - Gr owt h of th e revolution.
(Eff ect - th e poli ce during and after th e armed rising)
Line of pr opaganda.
(Gener al points of view - politi cal lin es of dem ands)
V. Means and methods of propaganda.
(Speci al means - method s of di str ibufion of literatur e)
How to influen ce th e Ar rnv
('I,he gell ing of agents - bas.es) .
Work on th e ma sses.
(The ideol og-ical struggl e - mobili zation of the masses)
VI.
IV.
III .
IV.
VII .
Cont en ts.
V.

...
1;:'
VI.
J
VII.
11 /.
." r.
It /I.
-11
1
1"
Cr iminal Cases :
Sur vey of Communist subver sto n ac tiv ity in army and pol ice between
Janua r y l st a n d December 31st , 1!J:l 2.
Total
Nu mber of po li cc i nv estigations 1225
Numbe r of cas es ha nded over 10 the Pub lic P r- os ecu tor , .. \liH
Number of a rrests , . .. . . . . . . . .. 21!J
Numbe r o f pe rsons senten ced . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16H
" I." I "" 1i1,'I, Il m , .lisu ibutc ! ill II. . I r lll }' .",.1 I I. U"I' .
Acco rd ing to th e above, there wer e in 11.)32 i n all 1.225 Commu-
nist att empt s at subversion inves tiga ted by th e poli ce of which
ro ughly two thirds were among t he police forces. In this one year
there wer e thus almost 100 cr iminal cases of su bve r-sion handed
over to th e P ub lic Prosecutor. I u spi te of the not ori ou slv com-
plica ted and pr ot ract ed proceedi ngs in the Supreme Court. no
7(iH
r)fHi

\I I
"y, ' r '0 1111 ' 1'lIhl i .. I' r" " ' '' II I.. r
Police
Number of poli ce investigations
Number of cri minul cases hand, 'd
Nnml u-r " I' :lITcsl s
N un ulu-r "f 1,,' r '''II ' "' II I CII , ,d
Ar my
Number of pol.icc in vestigatio ns Hi i
Number of cr iminal cases handed oyer to the Publ ic Prosecut or i)li ii
Number of arr est s HH
Number of per sons sen te nced i f,
meeting of the functionari es of the Am-o rga niza tio n at the com-
mand of t he Berlin-Branden bur g di st ri ct took pl ace, and amo ngs t
other things th e foll owing stateme nt was mad c:-
It is o f Ih e gr eal est va l ue t o ge t ho ld of Iormcr members of the
ar my. T he y must ihe used t o ge t conncxio ns wi t h so ldi crs u nd er t he
colo urs. I n th e eve nt of an ar me d rising their m il itary kn owl cd ge mu st
be used by np po in uing th em lead ers of se parat e groups.
... ... . ... . .. . . .. . .. It is fur bher co nfide ntially stated that ot her
methods must h e select ed fo rgctt ing n ew co nnex ions with t h e army or
pol ice. The ex is t ing relia bl e co nnexions must ge t the names of mcm-
bers of th e army or po li ce off'ice r s who IHlYe committ ed some cr ime of
whi ch th e autho r it ies arc i n ignorance. These m en ca n limn .bc for ced
to co-ope rale by th rcnt cni ng to in form t he comma n d ing off icer o f th eir
offen ce.
This sp here of Communist work is littl e known to th e gene ra l
publi c, so th at it has been possi bl e for the impress ion to get uhroa d
th at ar my and police ar c immune agains t suc h attempts a t suhver-
sia n and that th e German Communist Party had given up t he idea
of undermining these two mos t import ant pillars of th e sta te and of
th e nati on. The truth is exactly th e oppos i te. What has ac tually
taken place on thi s fi ghting sectio n may be compare d only to an
incal cul abl e fl ood of subvers ive attempts of all kinds which un-
i nter rupte dly inundat ed th e ar me d for ces of th e CO Ull tr y. No
poli ce squad, no poli ce station, ll O barracks, no war ship wa s spa re d
subve rs ive tr eatment. In suf fici ent publi c a tte ntion was direct ed to
this pro cedure of th e Ger man Communist Part y un til it was lao
late. Thus it is th at it has been possi bl e only recen tly to get a clear
sur vey of th e exte nt of Communist attempts at subvers ion in army
and poli ce, and th at naturall y on ly so fa r as cer tain fact s have
come to li ght.
How over the whole field of Communist activit y, th e Bolshe -
vization in thi s spe cial secti on increased from month to mont h
and reached it s highest point in the first quarter of 1933 may be
seen fr om the following table:-
fewer than 169 persons were sentenced on account of subversive
work amo ng ar my and police. On an average, th en, last year , there
were 3-4 cases of subversi ve work per da y, a sente nce was pro-
nounced by th e Supreme Cour t every other day, and every week
no fewer than four arrests were made.
B. Police
1. Number of police
investigations 144 30S
2. Number of ar re sts 26 25 (?)
C. Tot al
1. Number of police
inves tig at ions 256 H7
2. Number of arrests 50 61
278
301
411
1. 1. - 31. 3. 1933
9(l
157
:lOS
167
1. 10. - 31. 12. Hl32
I , Number of cnscs of
distribu tion of
subversive l it er nt ur e
2. Number o f cr imina l
actions institut ed
1. Number of eases of
dis tributi on o f subve r sive
literu turc
2. Number of cr im inal
actions in stitut er!
I. Among t h e army.
1 pu bli cn tion in 10 oases
10
2 pu.hl ivn l ion in 4 ca ses
8
:1 p u hl lc n l in u in 2 cu ses 6
'27 I' ll Io li, ' a I io n i ll case 2i
" \ "' 1 1011 1 " II
"
IIf ' lIhvcr sion 2
;,; \ ,1:1
C. Total
A. Army
1. Number o f ca se s of
di stribution of
strhversiv e lit cratur e 141 110
2. Number of cr imi nal
actions insl itut ed ;,S 32
B. Poli ce
In February 193 3. th e subvers ive acti vit y in army and police
rea che d its highest po int. During the year 1932, ther e wer e roughly
40 cases of di stribution of subve r sive lit erature within the army
and i4 amon g th e poli ce. These figures ro se in Frbruary 1933 to
!i :1 a nd 130 r espectively.
Wher ea s th e number of cases of distribution in the army had
incre ased hy more than 25 per cent. it had almost doubled among
Ihe poli ce. For t he r est, the following are the figures of cases of
di stribution in February, 1933.
III th e above fi gures, too. th e almo st douhl ed number of cases
of distribution of sub vers ive lit erature within th e police forces is
specia lly str iking. The number of cr imina l proceedings ins ti tute d
had also almost dou bl ed.
139
36
1. 1. - 31. :t 1933
112
24
1. 10. - 31. 12. 1932
A. Army
1. Number of po lice
investi ga tions
2. Number of arrest s
Thus the number of subver si ve attempt s in vesti gat ed by the
police was almost doubl ed between the last qu arter of 1932 and
the fir st qu arter of 1933 and the number of ar rests wa s cons ider -
abl y larger. The number of poli ce inv estigati on s made on account
of subver sive attempts among th e police forc es an d that of the
arrest s mad e in th e army for th e same r eas on are spec ially striking.
The commo nest form of subversive work within armv and
police is the distributi on of subver sive literature of all kinds, i llegal
brochures, leaflets, cell periodicals &c. In the year 1932, 1,3Wi cases
of the dis tribution of subversive li terature among army and police
were known officially. In 235 cases subversive li terature was con-
fiscated by the police, and in 620 cases criminal cases were handed
ove r to the Public Prosecutor on account of the di stri butio n of lit er -
ature of that class. Again the great mass of thi s lilcru lurc rall s to
the share of the police (885 against 482 in the army).
A considerable increase of Communist activit y abou t l lu: cud of
19:32 and th e heginning of l!l:!:\ ma y Ill' l'rurn llu- rollowing

25. 12. 1\)32: "Alarm! Look out! Pol ice Officer s, l ook ou t!" P u t
int o th e l ett er -b oxes of th e Hambur g pol icem en ' s homes.
12. 1. 19:13: Anmy sol die r is r equest ed in Becskow 10 get weapons
and Iit er atu r e for th e Ger man Communist Par ty on pa yment.
As we have alr eady seen, th e work of subvers ion went h and in
hand wi th th e betr ayal of mil it ar y secr ets.
F ro m a judgement of the Supreme Cour t in th e ye ar 19:3:3 :-
I n July, 19:32, in th e co u rse of u se arch by the po lic e in th e ,h ome of
th e accu sed. th ere was foun d unlock ed. in the r igh t dr awe r of hi s
writing d es k. under Communist pap er s and p ubli ca tions , a ske tc h r e-
presenti ng th e verti cal sect ion of a mili t ary building. Accord ing t o
t he st ate ment and expe r t - opinion of Captain N. N., it has heen
ascert ained that t he drawing r epresent s th e t ro ops' ,1> uild ing XY of the
barrack s in ZZ, oncupi ed by the X Company of the Boi chswe ur I n-
f.antry Reg imen t X. It is true th ere are a f ew uni mporl an t differ e nces
,bet ween th e s ke tc h found i n Ihe accu sed' s hou se and th e authen ti c pl an
of t,heharracks whi ch su gge sts th e th ou gh t tha i Ihe ske tc h has been
.mude fro m memor y or .Ir orn th e descr i ption of a [h irr! person , bu t
th er e was no d isputing th e st ate me n t th at il r ep r esent ed the .bar r acks
men tione d in Z.Z.
Char ge of th e P uhl ic p.ro secutor ag ai ns t th e lock smith X. Y. in th e
year 1933, on acco un t of the Ol'ganiza Li on of Ihe Hed You th F ro nl, th e
holding o f mil ita ry co urses and dr ill , orga nizat,ion of a r evol utionar y
int ell igen ce ser vice , dr a win g u p of a pl an of th e position a nd black
li st s.
,7
1:30
T0l al 183
16
1
1
130
II . Among the pol ice
1 publicat ion in 1(j cas es
1 publ ication in S cases
1 publi cation in 4 cases
1 pub lica tion in 3 case s
11 publ icati ons in 2 r as es
75 publication s in 1 case
.inscr ip tio n
1 att empt as s ubve r-sion by word of mou th
The -foll owing exa mples sho w how th e agen ts generally went to
work.
22. 12. 19:32: Sev er al parcel s of the leafl et "Down wit h Schl eicher"
were deli ver ed a l Ihc Kommand anlur and to th e [l th P ion eer Ba ta illion
a t Ulm,
25: 12. 1\):32: \Vach t -Truppe Berl in : 4 par cel s of lca tlcts wer e t hrown
ov er th e 'barrael; wa ll. " Hall o ! Ha llo ! Th e ('()I1lr:ull' s
of t he Caval ry Dct nchmen t eall ing. "
1. 12. 1\1:\ 2: !' ,'a flo 'l s " n il l h, ' ad": """ ' l " SIII II,ggl l' d iuto li lt' 2r d 10 1' -
IH'do.h,, :" hnlf ,I'! " liila al Liilu-rk ,
2:\, l :l . 1\1:\" , " T h,' 1' "l i.', ()fn" " I' " t," lI ' lI l', l" d 11 ' 1" "11.(-11 I h., I' 0 sl 10
11 1I1I1I ,,"" 1'"l i " "II " '1I 111 11 1 1.lIl di ,'I \' d i I I Ii <l l k d
The Iollowdng hect ographed document, among other th ings, belonged
to th e pl an of th e positi on :-
" Plan of posibion:-
1. Make a sk etch of the principal entrances into t he town, size in sqr .
metres.
2. Put in poli ce barracks, how armed .
:1 . How many men in each barrack s?
4. Wh ere ar e th e fl ying squ ad s stationed ?
5. Anmy barracks, depots, gar ages ?
6. \Vhat ar e th e strateg ic parts of th e town ?
7. Tramways, depots.
8. Factori es and works with des cripti on (gas, elec tr ic ity . &c), st r engt h
of per sonnel , an d of our influen ce, is th ere a cell ?
9. Post , t el egraph, railway, .motor vehicle parks, ae ro dr ome.
10. Motor car firms , tel ephone numbers, .how man y ca rs, wh er e, what
ar e th e politi cal opinio ns of th e driver s and th eir social posit .ion ?
11. En emy or gani zati on s, th eir strength, th ei r distribution in the s trees.
\Vh er e are th eir lead er s to be found, whe re accommoda ted, sub-
leaders, points of alarm. agent s and spies ?
12. What is th e social composition of th e population '!
13. Political opinion s. (Mak e use of th e el ection r esult s.)
l ol a) Our influen ce, stre ngt h of t he party, our orguninzati on a nd all
organizations .aff'Il lat ed.
b) Points of a larm.
c) Where housed?
d) Stores ?
e) \Vh at means of transport ?
A list with exact figur es mu st be. give n with e ac h item . List: as per
sa mple enclosed.
In th e black list wer e included, amo ug other things : addresses a nd
tel ephon e number s of the pol ice off ice rs , ar my officer s and so ldiers ,
civil servants, judges, legal off icials, member s of ene my associat ion s
and or ganizati on s, th eir meeting places and quarter s, addresses of mo-
tor car owners and th eir politi cal party, list of number s of mot or car s
wi th political opinions of th e own ers. Information of the supervi sion of
ene my org aniza ti ons. Lists of names and a ddre sses to be ar range d for
th e most pari accor ding to streets.
Case of th e turner Heinri ch M.. Hanover , on whom wer e found in-
str uc t ions r egarding th e organization and ac t ivit y of th e spe cial sect ion
for work a mo ng armed forces.
The numerous ju dgem ents pr ono unced by the Supreme Cour t
whi ch are t o be found in th e archi ves of th e Leagu e of Ger ma n
Ant i-Communist-Ass oc iat ions permit of a deep insigh t int o th l'
treasonabl e re sults of th e Communis t wor k of su bve rs ion.
Subver sive literature has fr equ entl y hcen pul int o l lu: I'lIlr a llCl's
of police s tulion s or 1111' 1('111'1' Ito\ ,' '; o r floli cl'lIli 'lI \ hn nu-s . II
ha s (11'1 "11 lu-un flll"llI' d II l1d,,1' IIII' d,,"l' Ill' I'I nl .;, wrl l lru 0 11 w.i lls.
.,
, ,
thrown into the wells of s tai rc a ses or even into lav atori es. Lea flet s
a nd proclamations of subve r sive character have often been posted
up or even attached to t he wall s of military hospital s. Dur-ing the
army manoeuvres the subver siv e or ganiza ti on worked with inscrip-
t ions on walls, claque gr oups, transparenci es and literature through
the post. Attempts wer e made to sa bo t age and cr ipple th e military
f'or ces of the country.
T hus, for example, during the day se t a side for the " Protec tion
a gainsLgas" in January, 1933, a leaflet in the apparent form of an
off icial announcement and with a circ ulat ion of 20,000 was post ed
ea r ly in the morning on the walls of h ou ses. The organization
dcpruuuent of the central committee of the German Communist
Party r emarked, in thi s co nn exion. in a con fide nti a l circ ula r about
"expe r ie nces gained and lessons to be learned in th e action again st
gas and air manoeuvres ": -
" It must be possibl e for us. by virtu e of still vhettcr mohiliz ation
work. co m pl ct clv 10 hind er th e exec ut ion of s uc h wa r man oeuvr es by
th e power of mass movem ent."
The lype for leafl eLs an d subver sive literature of thi s kind is
co mposed by r eliabl e members of th e party. Harml ess and ignorant
unemployed then take it Lo a busy beer saloon where it is handed
over to a liai son man on giving a password. Gen erally the
transpor t goes on s till further without th e individual links of the
cha in knowing the beginning or end of th e chain. Printing is
do ne at ni ght. mostly in small economica lly dependent printing
es tablish ments ou payment of a bribe. All tr aces are imme-
diat ely destroyed. At th e hour agreed upon. a mot or ca r is driven
up and loads the print ed matter whi ch is brought to it s destinati on
in due co ur se, drivers and vehicles being ch anged on th e way. The
l iter at ur e is al so fr equenlly sent by means of cour ier s to inter -
med iate places in small parcel s from various post offi ces and th en,
naturall y, with a dis gui sed address and mi sl eading envelope. The
dis Lri b ut io n to the lowest subversion unit is ullimaLel y mad e from
th e quarters of an uninter ested party. The a gents never carry th e
l it era ture in th e form o r a parcel, but always loose in their pockets.
Fre q ue n tl y th e subve r sive literature bears harml ess and a ll.ructive
o utside cove rs , e. g. "Tech nique of Love, by van del' Veld e" , or
" A motor cy cle for you, too. Lat est n ews f ro m th e Mot or Show",
a titl e whi ch co ncealed the ill egal peri odi cal for th e Third Army
CoIII Ill:t nd . :\ 1' <1 ye a r of puhl icat ion, No . 1 of F ebruary HI:\:) .
111111' " lllln ing th e camou flage of th e subvers ive lit erature
lia s 1" " '11 Ilia I,,' S(' (' II fr om cases in whi ch such pamphl et s wer e
Ilidd" 11 "\I 'l l II I Illa ll'l dlllXI'S or l'ig a rc t te pa ckets and give n to lilli e
c'lli ld" II I II l.11 " I II ",'rlai ll ad<1 I'I' ';s\'s .
SlJ
\ ) III "1 .1 , I ( " , 1"1,, "1 L1 ' c Illis " t rktohc r'Ynnn ber , n co ver with the tit le "Xcue
\' e11l 111 111 1 I ,1111' <I ( l U ll 1lid ", l, lillkh " W,I , usc.l,
troops a nd th e keen est s upervi sron. It is quit e ce r ta in that th e
formation of Conu u unis t ce lls wi t hin the poli ce' for ce has made
considerable progr ess. In t he year 1931 , at an unknown place and
time, a confe re nce of r ed pol ice t ook place.
A r eport of thi s fo und in th e military ga ze lle of Ihe German
Comm unis t Part y " Oktohcr" of December, 1931.
'
)
') 1
7
The F irs t Reich Conf ere nce of th e Rell P oli cc.
K, Oppe l.
Have not subver sions of wh ole for mat ions nnd cindividu ul offi cial s
takcn pl ace through out Prussi a dn th e last few week s as nev er bef ore ?
Did nut Iwo sq uads of pol ice in th e Berlin " Xl nik iif'cr" barrack s r efu se
10 go 0 11 d uly ? \\' as not the " I nte r na tio nnlc" sung in po l-i ce barr acks ?
Did not a wh ol e platoon in t he Bo uc hestrussc Bar rack s rcf' us e 10 go on
dut y ? Did not the Berl in Linden unit refuse to tak e pa rt in fi el d
cxcrcises?
JIuve th er e not been wild sce nes and rioti ng of t hc squa ds in th e
Berl in Wrungcl Ba r racks ? IIuvc not d isci plinurv pun ixhmunls been in-
flicted .i n vari ous Berlin po li ce stati on s on o ff'ic.iuls wh o r ebe ll ed against
s al ar y cuts ? Wer c not thr ee offi cers di smissed from th e Wr ungel
Barra ck s in Berl in o n nccount o f Commn nisl s ubve rs ion ? This select ion
must s uf fice for the present. La ck of s pace fo r bids us t o re peat a grr-ut
number o f cxpre ssion s of opinion fro m offi ci al s in all parts of th e
Rei ch with r egard to r evol utl ouarv workers. They would make yo ur
ha ir st and on end, lIcrr Sev crlug-Grocn er . And a still la r ger number
of Inc ts we arc saving up 1'01' l at er oc cas ion s for very obvious r ea so ns . .
The holding of this eon fer cn ce in tr oduces a new chapter of th e
r cvolut ionury anl i-m il itari st work in German y. It is of hisl or ical im-
po r ta nce because a t it - in the words of one of its own r eso lutions -
" for the first time s ince 1\J1\l. .mc mbers of th e ar med for ces of th e
bourgeo is slate hav e co mc together in ord er to deb at e as to how they
may usc Ihe weapon s, gi l'l' n th em for fighting against th e peopl e. for
fi gh ting for Ihe people. The con f'er encc r epr cse nt s th e transition fr om
Ih e hit her to al most excl usive agitation for l he cre ati on of a defi nit e
revolutionary organization ill th e poldcc ."
Ex-soldi ers and po lic emen , many of whom hav e been di s-
missed wi th out a claim 10 a gove r nme nt po sition, appear to he
specia lly s uscept ible to agit a tion.
At th e beginning of 1\)33 it was po ssible to obtain a glimpse
int o th e fil es of :>'11' , Kraus. Commun is t distri ct leader and membcr
of th e Re ichstag. These paper s con ta ine d a list of police officer s and
army so ldi ers s ta te d t o be "con vinced members of the German
C0ll1 1l1 111lis l Parl y" . These ext rao r dinar il y impressive fi gures of
1', ' <1 : II'III V 1IIl ' II nru l poli ce offi cers a re as fo llo ws :-
The lowest subversive unit , t he active group, is appoint ed to
a definite place, e. g. a barracks, or th e men 's quarters in a po lice
station. Thi s place is then worked on uninterruptedly, syst em-
a t ica lly a nd deliberat ely. The member s of th e ac ti ve group are
sup posedly non-party. They also se rve as spy ing organization inso-
much as they gain th e confide nce of the official s over a game of
car ds or a gla ss of beer .
Rec ently the German Communist Party organ ize d spc ri nl gir ls'
clubs whose member s wer e th or oughly tra ined as s pies. Tltl')" w('n'
then se nt 10 variou s place s of nmuscuu-nt 10 a('\ :I S dl'''oj' s 10 IIIl'
troops and fr equentl y 10 III(' ofnl'l'rs :I S w('11.
Suc h a !ll'n('tr:ll ing :llId "OIlI\"'('h"II "il " "nl" 'l' r"i ll' work "'"lld
1101 rl'III:1 ill wi lho ul df,', ' I, iu "pi il' of IIII' 111111" ,,1 r,' li:t1ti li l.\' " I' IIII'
' Ill
News from th e garr isons.
Our " Cr oss-wor d Puzzl e Journal " has had th e eff ect of a b omb. Our
comr a des were d el igh ted , t hei r off ic ers fu rious . T h is t im e we can
publish l ett er s .f rom many ga rr iso ns f ro m wh ic h we ha ve hith er to had
no repor ts .
P. , , .. 1\. . .. .:-
"I IH'rl ,dihl,' cond it ions exis t here . Ca pta in ;\1. , Li eute na nt
Sl'h.. '" a lld !'l' ginll' lIla l sp rge ant major Sch of lilt' .. . . Com-
And now, wh at means were used for the purposes of sub-
versi on ? Even if we disr egard the handbill s, pamphle ts , posters
and ot he r liter atur e which wer e specia lly pro duced and used
for th e purpose or subver ting the ar my and pol ice fo rces, if we
take no noti ce what ever of the inc alcul able quantity of pres s
pr oduct ions and of Communis t literature whi ch al ways serve d th e
additi onal purpose of disi ntegrating the ar med forces, th er e are
ma ny hundred pro duc tions of that sor t.
Wit hin th e ar my th e foll owin g wer e distributed :-
"Die Rei chsw eh r ", t he r evoluti onary soldi er 's j ournal , 4th year of
issue, No , 2 - in 43 cases ; 4th year of .issue, No . 4 - in 32 cases,
96 copies a ltoget her .
The bookl et " Ma n l iebt de n Verrat und ve r achtet d en Ver rat er " in
11 cases. Pr.i ncipaldistr ibut ion ce ntres Ber l in, Koni gsberg, Sa xony
a n d Bresla u,
The bookl et "Der Feirrd ste hl irn e ige ne n Lande" in 22 cases.
T he bookl et " Rote St ur mfa hne" in 18 cases.
" Die Rei chswehr und die Arbei terschaft" in 31 cases.
" Technik der Li ebe" - b y va n der Vel de , in 12 cases .
The foll owing cases of di stribu ti on we re discovere d among
the police :-
"Der Polizei beamte" , No . 2 J ~ 2 in 21 cases.
" To the mot h ers, wives and fi ancees of police offi ce rs" (h an dbill) , in
11 cases .
" W as Goc r del er nich t schafft e" in If) case s.
" Pol ize ibeam te! Ko ll egen l" (h an dbill ) in 26 cases.
"Ob jun g - obult" (h a ndh ill) in 22 cases,
A typical pr oducti on of subversive literat ure is the "Wehrkre is-
Zeit ung" for the th ird dist ri ct of the 3rd Command, 3rcl year of
issue, No . 1 Febr uary, 1933, bearing t he ti tle : " A mo tor cycle for
you too. - La test news from the Mot or Show".' ]
A few examples of th e co ntents, taken a t random:-
I. P oli ce officers: II. Ar my sol d ie r s :
Berlin 270 Bcrl in 4:10
Thuringi a 140 Thur ingia 120
Danzig
-?
Danz.ig 12 <l _
Br emen 78 Br emen 41
Porncr un ia 14 Pomerania
Hamb urg 181 Hamburg 71
Snxony 231 Saxon y 70
966 7H
The fi gur es qu ot ed are cer tainly r igh t to a hi gh degr ee. In ter -
esti ng is abo ve all th e te r r ito r ia l di stributi on whi ch abo ut cor -
r es po nds to th at of th e Ger man Communis t Par ty it self. It
.-
Jlrchlte lU
0"0 Die be l Zllrl c
The illegal periodical " Oktobet'
in its nell' app earance as "Modern Architect ure
cannot be deni ed th at th e n umber of policc ul'f'icers or Conu nunixt
convictions was exceedingly high an d di sqll il'l illg, I'sl' eci:ll ly w lu- u
one cons ide rs thai l lu: gr l'a l mass or I"IIil'C '1I 11'1I did 1101 l'ollSisl or
co uscious l' Ill'llIil' s of l\ol sl lt' l" isllI 111 11 of " IIl'lIl r:II ofri, 'i :IIs" of l ilt'
Hl' plddit' ,
I)'
4) 1' 11 101 , I" ,
11.1." ~ .II 1' 11 11 11 " 1
I' I' d" ,, ~ ( ." " Hl'rl in, S. C) . Ih , 1\ i peni cketv tr. Rio . I' rinll' d hv
" ,. Ik, lI l1, S. r ), 110, " " pl' llIcI,I" I I . Xh,
pu ny are pi tiless sl uve- dri vers. W e have t o do extr a drill for ever y
t rifle, such 'as a h utto n mi ssi ng 011 the pants or a nail out of a hool.
H5 per cent o f th e lroo ps h u ve already ih c cn in cl in k. Ca pta in " I. .
is a not ori ou s d r unk nr d. A co mrade go t 1-1 days e. b. for say ing thi s.
At the au l.umn manoeuvres in Si les ia thi s fe llow beh aved like a swine .
At 1'\ he f'orhnd c th e soldi cr s to go to th e lat rine a nd str uc k
Lance- Corpor al .T . in th e face fo r all empting to di sobey the order.
But what d oes th e Hitl er govern me nt thr eat en us with' . Hitl er is 1'0 1'
nat ional co nscr i pt ion. That means goo d-by e to our hopes o f a gOl' cr n-
ment j ob.
All sen ior co mr ades, l ance-corpor als , N. C. O.s etc . should stop th e
bullying of re crui ts and st ick t ogether wit h th em li ke comrades uguinst
th e sl uve-dr.ivers and the officers.
If yo u don 't gel fair lr eatment. yo u mu st. all of you, 10 a man,
ref us e to go on duty !"
The "Cr oss-wor d Puzzl e Journal" r ef erred to i s a sor t of
ca mouflage d subvers ion product. The cover sho ws a pi ctur e of a
cross-wor d p uzzle with th e heading: "Competi tion number
10 pfennigs. Puzzl e Corner , Berlin. Obta inable a t all booksell ers,
s ta tione rs a nd newspaper s ta lls or through th e po st." The following
is pr inte d on the fir st page o f r eading matter: "Journal for the
Comman d III di stri ct" foll owed by an i nvita t ion t o parti cipate in
an ti-Fascis t propaganda a nd th e an ti -wa r cong re ss . The publi sh er s
are again said to be Pilger & Co, but the address i s different :
Ber lin,S.W. es, Puttkarner str. 19.
Several h andbills were di strihuted during the autumn
manoeu vr es 1932 and in addition, det ailed directions for subver sive
work in th e Ar my, under the tiLle: "Rote Munbver-Kritik".
This do cument cont ains th e following practical hints :-
Gelling into touch with soldi ers .
Admiss ion of sold iers into r ed quart ers.
Accos ting sol diers during fi eld exer cises.
Exploi t ing m nnocuvre in cident s f or purposes of agit ation.
Di stri bution of subver siv e lit er atur e inhilJet s, ba ggagc wagon s, 1"11 k
s ta tions, ii n th e field. at r oad cr oss ings and s trcct heru! s.
Di stribution of suh ver slve l ilera l urc rhildr r-n. Sri ' k ing up of
po st er s on power circ uit pylons ; orun u izu tiuu ,d' "halll ill g d1Ol'Il SI' S wit h
th e foll owing wor rls :
" \Ve gr ee l you sold ier s, 0 111' c lnsv- h rnt l u-r, wi t h t hrv c ,I" ',rs I'llI'
Re d Fron t."
Subv orsi vr- palllfllilC't s WC'I'l :, l ur wrvr-r, 1'1I111i :-.l lt'd q ui l r- 0 IH' ll ly
100, as. 1'111' I'\alllpl l' , I,)' llil' <:1'1111' :11 ( :I1III1I IiII l'( ' , d' lilt' 1\ .I' .ll .
" I li l ' l\COil 'll s\l'( !t r 11 11,( di e' ,\r l ll ' i l f'l' " 11:1 1' 1" T Ilt' IlIlIst i ll lllllr l:l ll i ill
') 1
st r u III( 1I1. , d sll h \'l ' r si ' 1I1 ul s ill thi s s pl"' i:1I ho wever. w ert'
th e i Il t' g:1I I'III-periodi ca ls. s.u u cl i11il lS pr iII led m u t lcr 100 , hut
mostl y luuu llii lls with ca r ica t ure s, prinl cd 1'1'011\ wax sheets, and
letters to th e edi tor inciting th e re a ders ill l he fillhiest manner
agains t nat ion all y minded o f f'iccrs uud so ldiers.
As ex am ples for th e Army, we Illay men l. io n i -r-
" Die Rci oh sweh r " , a newsp aper for r evol utio nary sold iers .
" Ocr Rot c Kraftl' ahr er " fo r the Co mmissn ri ut .h nr rn ck s a t Lankwit z.
" Ocr gull' Kumerad", soldie rs ' j o urn ul for th e Th ird Command.
" Die \ Vacht" , a p eriodical s peci a lly for r evol uti on ary so l dit-rs a nd
N. C. O.s.
" Dus Ho! e \Vach t-Regimen t" , soldiers' j ou rn al for th e r egiment on
guar d duty in Berl in.
"Die rot en Sand-Hasen".
" Del' Beob acht er", so ld iers ' j ournal for th e ga r r iso ns of Schles wig-
Hol st ein a nd East Hanover .
As exa mples for the Navy:-
" Ocr Rol e Reich swchrsoldut " , per iodi cal r epr use n tin g th e i nter ests of
th e Ar my..
" Die Reich smarine" , ga r r ison journal at Ki el.
" Die Rei ch smarine" , r ed j ournal for th e half-f'Iofillus.
Exam ples for the poli ce:-
" H. P . Z." - Hanseati c Poli ce Offi cers' J ournal , periodical of th e r e-
vol utio nary poli ce off icers of Humburg, Lubeck an d Brem en.
"Unterk un fts-W ac h t" , r evolut ionary poli ce officers' jou rnal of th e
15-20 W . B,
" Borer P oli zei-F'unk", journal of the l ower and middl e r anks of poli ce
in specti on No. 6. - December, 1('1 32.
" Del' Fe ind ste h t im eige nen Land" , j ournal of the r evolutionar y young
workers of Ger many.
Besides the r egul ar publicati on s illegal subver sive handbill s
an d pamphlet s were sm uggled into the ar my, navy and poli ce
for ces from time to time :-
Oc tober, H132: "Manoverzeit - frohli ch e Zeit !"
The handbill ends with th e foll owing word s: " Lo ng l.ive th e common
f igh t of the workers, pea sant s and sold iers for a fr ee , so ciali sti c
Germany !" .
No ve mber , 1(')32 : "Oi l' Hcrhsumanov cr", a n imperdnli sti c demonstrntion.
November , 1('132 : " Pol ice o ffi cers! Coll eagues! Organize th e a n ti- Fnscist
co mmi Llees in th e bill et s."
Chr istmas, 1932: " Po lice of ficers! Hunger! Br ead! Refu se to go on
dul yl Mu t i ny l Join t he wor k er s." ." .
Fnl.ru nr v. 1\1 ;\;\: " Die r oten Schupozell cn a n das rol e Ber li n : HItl er
,:h:lIll';' llor. I )" r .-vo t u uou ury work a mo ngst th e lnwer and middl e
1'11' ,[. or II,, ' 1',, 1i,'" Down wi th t he Hi Ilc r gove r n me n t! AIII i-
I"" , I I 11 , 1'0" i I lu - "I' d"r "I' I lu - hOIl I .
' )
February. 1933: " Schu pol Augen auf, nachdenken , wohin geht del'
Kurs !" 13 d ead, 7 seriouslv wounded in Dr esden . In cases of affrays,
shoot in the air! Use side 'st r eets when worker s hav e demonstrations.
February. 1933: " Pnlizc lbcumte! Koll egen !" Hifler cha ncellor. He is
going to ban th e Communist Party. Defend yourselves . Com hine with
th e anti-fascist workers! No shooting, no striking th e working people!
Refu se to ob ey orders. Provide th e working class es wi th weapons for
th e final af fray! Answer with open 'mutiny. form action committ ees!
F ebruarv, 1933: "Mur lnesnldut cn l Kla ssenbruder !" Hitl er oha nccllor . ..
\Vhat ' can we do Lo stop it ? . .. Exampl e of the " 7 Provinces"
(Open mutiny).
Fchr uur y. 1933: "A ppell d el' roten Schupozell en ." Pol ice offi cers sing
the Int ernat ionale. Our fight is yours ! For th e workmen' s and
peasant s' republic, Red Front! The r ed poli ce of Berlin.
Febru ar y. 1933 : " Hitle r Kanzl er!" What wi ll become of the army?
\Ve ar e fi ghting with th e r evolut ionary working classes for the
worker ' a nd peasant s' republi c! The r evolutionary soldi ers.
Febr ua ry. HI33: " Hitle r Rei chskanzl er ." - Shoot in th e a ir! Pas sive
r esi stance ! Join th e workers !
The r evolutionary soldi er s of the III Command
22nd Fehruary, 1\):33: "A.n .C.-Tour" against Hitler . Fascism, S.A.
t er ror! Sec ure th e weapons for th e ant i-fasci st fi ght. Send u s full
details of all that happens in lh e bill et s.
Ver y popular too , wer e th e small adhesive pr opa gundu label s wh ich
wer e k ept loose in th e pock et , and wh en nobody was looking. with a
swift movem enl of th e hand stuck on barra ck do or s. walls or in
lavatori es.
November, 1932: "Police offi cer s!" Support HIe working classes in their
fight! Refuse to prol ect str ike-brea ke rs. Fight against culs and fight
for the increase of your pay by r efusin g to oh ey orders. Join hands
in the common fight of workers and pol ice offic er s! Vol e for Li sl 3.
December , 1932: "Poli ce Officer s-Coll eagues" - Giving power to
Hitl er means .... salary cuts. no fran chi se . . . . Answer by refusing
to ob ey orders.
Dec ernher, H132: "Will Hitl er come to power ?" - App eal for forming
a united front.
J anuary, 1933 : " Police officer s!" An eye for an eye! A lool h for a
tooth! - Don 't shoot th e hungry! No rubber trunch eons against th"s,'
left in the cold.
J anuary, H)33 "Alarm." Look out, poli cemen! Loo k oul !
practi cal solidarity. Don 't str ike you r fell ows! DOli" sllllol!
The Hcvolut lona ry Pol i,'" IHfit:i:l1 s or I1:1111 hllI'g.
T hc Iltll11 CI'OIl S s u hve rxiv 1":II'II'Is n ur] 1I 1111d h ill s , d,' sl il ll'd 1'111'
l ite S . A. . u u l S .S. W"I', ' wri l h -u i ll 1111 11'11 II II' :1111" x l v l \\'" 1lIl 'lli ,,"
The double face of Red Pacifism, (reproduced from "Eni f esselung del' UnterweIt"
p. 241 which contains details of the shown publications. Th e-pictures in the middle
show the editor of the" Weltbiihne", Carl von Ossietzky, who was sentenced to
18 months' imprisonm ent for betrayal of military secrets, and ex-Reichswehr Lieut.
Ni<}, .1I<1 Sdiet inger who joined the Germ..n Communist Party.
')7
IIll1 v " ,'>1111 1111, 1111111"", 1','r ill ol ic- :i1 "I' 1',, \, 11111111 11 11
I
" 111101 S,S.
: 11101 \ ) 1' 1' S.A. 1'1' ,, 11'\ '1 1''' S .\ ' 1 I t I III .. 11 \' III I Illlllt 1" 111' 11'1 1
Nurl h W (' s l Irist ri c}. ' ,
The s pec iul d uuger o r th e s u bv crsivc \\'111' 1 ' 11 I
. . . , . , I II II ' :11'111\' a li I
po lice cons is ts o t Ih e lac l th ut i l W ' IS des tin ed I .: \ , ' . . . . , . II 1' 1 'I ,\," ( e e l S I \ c
lnstl' um.en ts .ol power in the hands of th e gov cr nnll ' lIl. Alruos! a ll
subvers ive lit era tu r e en ds with th e demand: " DOI1't t ri l
f , ' . ' S 1'1 (e vour
t shoot ? Ref use to obey or ders ! Jo in the
r ed fr ont!'
The hi st ory of r evolutions sho ws h ow t r erncndou sl v important
t he t o ob ey or ders may be a t a decisive moment even
thOl.lgh It. may be only a small de tach me nt of troops. Treason i s
a n infecti ou s di sease. The ex ample l eads to tempt ation rumour
exaggerates the eve n t, str en gth ens th e ranks of th e anarcssor and
has a demorali zing eff ect up on th e def en ce. 00
On th: other hand, the work of subversion, even if cons ide re d
as a f.uncti on, was, h owever, st ill organized in th e cl osest
WIth all other communi st ac tions : subvers ion and
of ar ms . providing of explosives,
mil i tary or ganiza tio n of r ed terrori st grail ps etc. , all th ese
hand 111 hand, like th e clock wor k of an in fernal machine
WhICh is dest in ed a t a suita ble momen t to bl ow th e enemy
fortr ess into th e ai r .
98
v. The Armed Rising.
a) Mobilization.
The fi r st chapt er or t hc pr epa r at ions for civil wur i s concer ned
with in tell igence service, t he employmen t of secr et agen ts an d spies,
an d wi th t h e buil di ng lip of an ill egal org ani zation. These differ ent
ac tivit ies ar e cl osely connecte d an d are under one lea dership. They
a im a t fi n di ng ou t aho u t the ene my, discov er ing his pl ans, r evealing
his wea k spots , a t wear ing h im down and maki ng him as i nca pable
as pos sible of puttin g up a fight.
The secon d chapter of th e prep arati ons for civil war is lo gicall y
counec ted wi th th e fir st and deal s wi th positive work in th e Commu-
nis t ranks th emsel ves. It aims at se tt ing up a gai ns t a wea kened
opponent. a s tro n g, well -disciplined, well -or ganized , cour a geous,
resolute and, finall y, well- armed Bed Front .
]I' things come 10 a cr isis nnd th e day of armed r ising approaches ,
t he gre ates t emph asis i s t o be laid on procuring an a de quate s upply
of ar ms an d ammuni tion . Alt houg h t he a r med ri sing must always
an d eve r ywher e be a mass act ion an d must only give the enemy th e
final death bl ow, neverthel ess the r es u lt dep ends on th e fi ghti n g,
ma n t o man, in th e open street an d on t he barri cades. At th e l ast
res or t the f'al e of th e Revolut. ion depends on the terr ori st. gro u p.
" Now revoluti on is an art just li ke war an d ot her ar ts and is su bj ect
t o cer ta in. rules. Any pa r ty wh ich negl ect s t hese r ul es brings about it s
own dest ruct ion. The rules ar c logicall y d educed fr om th e natur e of
par ties and th e eirc mns la nc e.s of th e partic ul ar case. They ar e so cl ear
and simple thai I he shor t expe-rienee of 18.18.has made th em famili ar to
t he Ger mans . F irstl y, one should never play wit h th e idea of a r ising
u nl ess one is prepar ed to def y all the co nseq uen ces. A r isi ng impbies
r eckoning wi th unknown fa ct or s th e val ue of wh ich may change eve r y
day ; t he r'ight in g for ces t o wh ich one is opposed have th e advan tage of
org anizat ion, d isci pline an d tradit ion al 'auth or ity enti r ely on th eir si de .
Unless strong for ces ar e br ou ght ag ains t them one win b e beat en and
dest royed . Secon dly , when on ce th e r ising has begun one must net wit h
th e grea te st det el1Il1inat.ion and se ize l:he off en sive. The def en si ve mea ns
d ea th .to an y a nmc d r evolt it is lost befor e battle i s joined. Sur pni se the
ene my when his tr oops are di spers ed; t r y nnd get dail y new, eve n
thoug h small. su ccesses; ma int ain Lhe moral supe ri ori ty whi ch th e firsl
succc+ssful r isin g has given you; bri ng all th ose elements over t o yo ur
side who ar e at fir st uncer t a in but who always follo w the s tr ongest
99
III d 01 ():lIIIIIII ,
.I, I ,,"d:l" " , .I"
" " .I I i l l 111111', '
" ,
101
' ) Compare, fo r exa mp le, th e legal ac tions ugu ins t Koh nen of Augus l fl,
l!lilO; Sei de l of Oc to ber 14, 1930; Mellin an d accomplices of March t il, 19i1 l;
Aud chm and accompl lces of .June 6. 1931; Frolich of J uly 17, 1931; Wilms
o f J uly 22, 1931; Wiirpel of August 4, 1931; K opp and accom pli ces of
Aug ust 21, 1931; Sakows ki of August 28, 1931; Manns of Dece mber 15, t 931;
Eise le of .lunuary 22, I Pel zer and accomplices of Fcbrunr y 1\. 1932;
Es tennann of February 9, Hl:-l 2; Lochrke of Fe br uary 26, 1932; Zeller and
accompl ices of Mar ch 1, 19:12; Schneege and accomplices of May G, 1\):12 ;
Meyer a nd accomplices of March 23, 1932; Becker of Apri t 5, 1\1:12; HofTmann
of Ma rch 11. 1932; La ng he im of April 2\1, 1932; \V en ninge r of Ma y 11, 1932;
P fa ff a nd accomplices of J une 7, 1\):12; \ Vysch ka of .June 14, 1932; Lenhardt
and accomplices of June 21, 1932; Hahe nmiiller (Gr oll), Oherbriick and accom-
pl ices of Jul y 9, 1932; \ Villu weit and accomptices of July 29, 1\)32; Kri esel
a nd accomplices of July 29, 1\)32; Pirmann of Augus t 17, 19:12 ; Bchring and
.accompliccs of Oct ob er 26, 1932; Li edtke of November 14, 1\):12 ; Bude an d
" 1 I 11. I" t 1
Ii I ii \I, ' lgilln l Ill' l lo llnud.
()II '\ 1," 1 \l\ h, \ \1:\2 : 1 r('\IIh ,'1' wi l h ":II'II'lclg, -; W:IS f" llIl d ill
111l ' II IIII SI' III a workcr i n :\la ril :nl ,ul'g (S:I"" II.\' l l"g" l\ll'r w i l h ,>I h,'1'
\\'(': '1)" 11" "I' t he SHIIH' ki nd. a ll o f wh i rh had 111'(; 11 SIUl lggkd i n to
(;"l'mHlly .
On J anua ry 20t h In:\2 o n t he Be lgia n-Dutch fr ont ier near
Mucseyck the unempl oyed Herbert Rotter o f Moers, Alber t Foerste r
of Mee r beck a nd Robert Ruckert of Moers we r e a rres te d bv th e
Du tc h poli ce whil e a ttempting to smuggle wea pons fr om Be lgium
into Holl a nd, and 16 Bel gi a n pis to ls and 115 car t ri dges wer e taken
fr om them. T he smugglers who were all keen members of th e
K.P .D. admi tt ed that the wea po ns were to be introduced throu gh
Holla n d into Germany.
T he pr esident of the Hamburg Fiscal Of fice state d in a repor t a t
the beginning of 1\):32 lh at many wea pons h ad been ill egally intro-
duced hy sailors . Also th e Presi dent of Police o f Hamburg e xp ressed
the opiu io n th at Huss ia n sh i ps were smuggling in a r ms.
The miner Hobert Pi lz of Ai x-la-Chu pe lle . who wa s closely
con necl erl with th e K. P.D. was se n tenced in Mny 1932 to 7 months'
impr iso n men t for smuggling ar ms .
T he fr onti er s ta t ion of Liegnitz of the s late poli ce succeede d
in Marc h 1\)3:3 in a rres ti ng (j Co mm unis ts in Seide n he rg . Siles ia,
w ho , in a ll ia nce with Czecho- SJovakian Com m unis ts , wer e hringing
a r ms and lil er atur e fr om Czec ho;Slovakia in to Ger many.
The most import ant so urces of a rms a nd explosives ..." er e
never t heless the a r mamen t fac tories a t home, t he shops wher e
weapons a re so ld an d th e chemical co ncer ns, all o f which wer e
sys te matically st ol en from by the figh ting organi za t io ns of the
K.P.D. a nd their wea pon-procuri ng sections.
One ge ts th e bes t idea o f what was go i ng on from t he ex tra-
ordinaril y numer ous tri al s before the Supreme Cou rt" ), whi ch o f
Mil \ 11111 11I 11\' 1111'11 1011 '\ ' dg ll ,111 I \1111 III 111111 III 1111
:iI ,' I 1'"'1\\'" "I' 1"\'111'1 1"11 '1111 1111 I"
I lIlId:l"" , " IH'"r,' <I ,' 1'lI ud:"", I' (' hll l dll " , hllldll '
hnhl u " ' )
"'l'},le \\'a y to Victory" says f ur ther co nct:rn ing l l u- ar llied ris ing :")
\ Ve not believe in un un armed h ut .in an urmcd risi ug . Th e
m ost ,b U: Illll g ce ntral ques tio n o f the r is ing is the probl em of arminu t he
pro let anat . " T he questi on of ar ms must in the first pl a ce b e so lve d
by th e m asses th em selv es, vvho m us t provide t hemsclves with what ever
we apons t hey can get hold of.
One a d d dnde f'in itely to Lenin ' s li st o f e xa m ples of pr imitive
to the prolc tariat . To "knives, knuckle-dust er's. rags
so aked p etr ol etc. one per h aps "axes, bricks, boil dng
for o n t o t he besti al raging in th e workin g cl ass quar -
. si mple han d-grenn des of dynam ite" t o nncn tion onlv th e most
of t he al most inf l nite possi bili t ies uvailuble everywhere for
t he ar uu ng o f th e p r ol et ari a t .. .
It is who work in chemical fa ctor ies a n d in mines and
ha ve t o 1.1andl e po rson gases and explosives, or who ha ve to tr an sp ort
,o n th e r: u l ways a nd wat er-ways th e bour geoi sie' s in st rument s of murder
for th e sa ke o f t he -ir freedo m, they m a ke use of th ese
,g Iven t o th em they are only doing th eir duty ."
Then as Ne ube rg') frankl y says :
. "The a rmed r i sing to des tr oy th e apparat us of governmen t a nd to
se ize power for t he prole tar.ia t t a kes hhe form of a ruthl es s ar med
st r.uggle ibet wccn Llie m ili tarily o rga nized part o r t he proletariat a nd its
ull ies on t1.1e one hand and th e li kewi se mil ltur ily organized f orces of
th e govcrnmg cl asses o n th e ot he r .hnnd."
Alfr.ed co n ti nually emphasizes that the p role tar ia t mu st
'no t wa.lt u ntil It IS p resente d with weapo ns fr om so me quarter or
"o ther ; It must rather pr oc ure t h em itsel f in every conceivable way
- by th eft, r ob ber y, murder , e tc.
. T he Communis t pa rty in Germa ny acte d accor ding t o th ese pri n-
cIple.s. Apar t fro m the de live ry of a r ms from abroad - either bv
courrer fr om the east or through smuggle rs f rom th e west - th e
Comm unis t fig h ting an d t er r ori st organizat ions procured all th eir
themsel ves. The th eft of explos ives and wea po ns was th e
f' a vo ur it c m ethod o f self-armi ng for the prolet a ri at.
T he smuggling o f weapons was a perman ent " br a nch" o f the
h.. P. D. On many occasio ns th e Cu st oms of fic ials hav e been a ble to
, ' ) "Dcr Weg ZU I11 Sieg." Die !, uns t des bewalTnet en Auf standes by Alfr ed
pa ge I Quo tat ion fr om Knrl Mar x, Revo lution und Konl er r evoluti on
) ibidem , page 47. '
'j A. Neuhe rg: .,De r bewa ffn ete Auf'st and." page 192,
100
I' ,
I II III , ' \," 111 111 " " ,, II" I,,, III III ,II li lt I I , 01 " 1
01
"
1" ' (' n llll ' I,"" " II III 1111 ' pll li, ' (' , \\ ' 1' " nll lll ll " 11111111, ' II" " 1111111," u iul is
"II I'I'I"I ' d 1IIl' I'Is o f I' x p lo si l'l' s II lid I II' I IIS \\"' 1' " I I " ' " I IIII \' " I II'l'i,' d 11111.
Vni r ly wul l - k no wn is lite grl': i1 l ri ul 1,1'1' , 11'" III ., SlIprl ' lll" COli I' I
of a ccused of stenliug ill Fch ruury 1\);\;\ 1'1'0 111 n Ar my
Depo t onc heavy ma ch inc gun, ill) li ght ma chine gun s nnd 217 rifl es,
The grea ler part of th e accu sed , par tic ularly P , , . , and Met li n wer e
gi" en long sentences of imprisonment. The accu sed wer e n ea rly a ll
memher s of th e K.P.D, or closely alli ed to it. Only in th e case of
th e a r my em ployee P, was it impossiblc 10 prove th is . Cer ta in of
th c accu sed, su ch as Linda u, Wi ed emann. Tha ler a nd othe rs. ad .
milled in the prel iminary exa mination thai t hc weapons were to
be procured for the " Par ty" , One may take i t therefore as proved
tha t th e th eft took place a t th e instance of th e K.P.D,
I n th e cas e of th e t hat cher August Hahenmiill er and
of Erf' ur t the deliherat e att empt t o procure explos ives and arms for
th c K.P.D. was al so proved .
On January 3r d, 1031 52. 5 kg. of amllloni te were sto len in a most
cunning way fr om th e powder-magazinc of th e cha lk-wo r ks in
Oepitz ncar Possnick in th e Er fur t disl ri ct. although [he magazine
was buil t inl o the r ock and d osed with three doors, During th e
tri al it was also r eveal ed th at in th e per iod from th e \"lth to th e
1(\[h January 1031 7 packages, eac h conta ining 2.5 kg. of am.
monite, 80 blasting ca rt r i dges an d 4 metr es of fu se had heen stol en
fro m th e lock cd ma gazine of th e limeki ln owner, Ludwi g Ful dne r
near Elxleben. On the 2(jth of Fcb r ua ry 1\lil2 ;1;1 military r i l'les
convertcd into spor t ing riflcs, 3 in fantry rill cs. !) car hi nes with
about 750 S-car tr idgcs, 250 mod el 88 ca r tr idges and a mach ine-gun
hell with about 250 Svcart ri dgos were Found in lh summer hut of a
cer ta in Gro f in E r f ur \. The expl osives fr om Oe pi lz wer e con veyed
to Bcrlin a sho r t time a ft cr th e theft. Severa l of the accused in
F ebruary 1031 conve r ted, or tried to conver t, th c s to len ex p losives
into ammuni ti on whi ch coul d be used by th em. A part icul arl y in-
acco mplices of Novembe r 18, Mehs and accompli ces of Oct ober 1:1,
1932 ; Strack an d accompli ces of Novemb er 18, 11l32; Lucker of Oct ober Ill.
1932; as also the indictme nt bill aga inst Hohl of May 25, 1932 ; Land and
accomplices of .Iune 9, Biebusch and accomplices of .Iuly II . 1932 ;
Hasselbrin g and accomplices of .Iuly 11, F unk an d accompl ices of
.Iuly 12, 1932 ; Heyer a nd ac colllplices of .IuIy 15, 11l32 ; Schu mache r of
August 1, 1932; Hermannski a nd accompli ces of Aug ust 6, 1932 ; Neube rt
and accomplices of Augus t 12, 19:1 2; Thies a nd ac complices of Augus t 12,
1\1:12; Hug o of August IG, 19:12; Koch and accomplices of Augus t 14, 19:12 ;
Gcissl er and ac coru pliccs of Augus t 18, 1Ilil2; Bemin of Augus t 25, 19:12 ; Hesse
of August 27. Kniich el a ud acc omplice s of Sep tember 7, 1932 ; Sche lins ky
and a ccompl ices of October 11, 19:12 ; Kr on enb er g of Xovember 2:3, 19:12 .
102
1', " " 11 1",1
11"1 ,, ,11," 11' 1. was a IT,' st" oI "11 l lu :!:\r ol , >\' ( k l" I,,'r 1\1 :\1 " I II" , , I:lli ,, "
i ll B,' rl i ll oil his a r r ival fr om l i e h ad wi lh him Iwo t ru n ks
fill ed with explo sil' es. When hi s hou se was t he re u po n seurehc d con-
s itler uh ln quan t ities of Co mmu nist l it er atur e wer e found as well ,as
mu l eri uls ,f ur mak ing In s tr u men ts etc . 1'01' commi tt ing ou trages as : 0 1'
.inst un ce, fu ses, .bl ust ing curt ri dgcs, fu se-cor'll, drawings of
ammu nition a nd car tr idges, hand-gr enades, hund-g r- cn ud c lu ses, r-l c. I he
ex plo sive whi ch was d iscovered, ohl or uti te :l, been 1'1'0111 t,he
mueazin c of th e firm of Stusmilc h on th e IlIght l rom 11.1.' : ",Ih 10 l hc hlh
1\);\1. The tin bo xes . di scove r ed -in s
'ma de ihv h im co r r es po nded ill Size 10 th e cr oss-scot -on 01 ,I ,r .lIl\\ 1 .111
ami th e'r efur e wer e parti cul arl y adapted t o be fix ed toa nul. In. Sh:l PC
t h ev wer e in fac t s im il a r 10 whul is used for blasting rail s. A p er -iodi cal
a lso f'ound e n titled " Str ate gy und Ta cl.ies of Civi l \ Var , I ,
Purt isau s' Wunl'ur u" , wh ich h-ult especi a lly with th e blm:ill g .lI p 01 ra lls.
Ue hc r.bri u-k con f'cssed I. ha l h e lnul h elongud 10 a curtu in tlIr,cle whose
a ims wer e pollti oal and ineluded proour in g and ev ent uallyuslng explo -
sives.
Il uh un mii ller was se n te nced 10 -l vcars' se r \,it ude , and
5 year s' loss of civil right s, Ueherb ri ick t o 8 years pcn a l servitude
and 4 years' l oss of civil righ ts.
In pa ssi ng sen tence th e Suprem e Cour t sta ted among oth er
things; - .
. I' U I ' 1 '" ,I' " ct i vi l v in col lc c ti nu and " T he ex tr uor dinury ex ten t 0 e ici II uc , sa. . " .
distribut in u explosi ves (over 1 rwl . of explos ives an rl abo ut :1 ,000 hlaslJ.ng
ear tr -idues "wer e fo und in 'h is possession dn addit ion 1o oth er cxpl os.we
.a ud h is def en ce IhaL he a n d hi s compu nions ..were working
for def ence agai ns t Fasc ist a t ta ck s pr ov e Ih a l Ue be rb n .lck was
min ed 10 mak e lise of th e explos ive s ucc umu lnted by him a t t h e n ext
opportun i tv or 10 allow hi s compa n ion s to u se th em - and th er eby t.o
en da nger prop ert y, life a n d limb of oth ers : iLal so proves .t'hat h e h ls
a ccompl ices who brought him lhc exp losive s and sent on h is JOu: -
n ey s, wer e co ns pir ing .by co nsu l ta t ion and a ct u al p re pur ul ions 10 do this
at ' a give n moment ."
An d fu rther : " II was n ot on ly at Buthmunn' s (one of th e accus ed)
in stance bhnt a n orgun izutio n was formed wh ich dir ected fr om Berlin
Ih e pr epara tion s for armi ng with expl osive s . . .
11his grou p h ad it s ccn t re in Bcrtin, bu t appea led f or help. in
cur ing weapon s a n tI ex plosives to o t her l ocal g:oups, of the III
IIIany di ff er ent places in t he Rei ch . But th e a1l1n 01, the
st,art etI and from Berlin was n ot m erel y del en ce aga lllst th e
s upp osed threat of Fascis m , . ,
103
10
1-"/'/"\11"" ""II ,.,/"c! ill the Col.'" NiC<1/,III\ Ueberlniuk; , / 11,/.11 , O/II/,/i( ," ,
H. 'llIlll lllI lI I'lugl tllllll lt 1+ln I'I 11' Ill ' 1111 111 1_ I I illl 111111' III l ilt ' IIldll
111 1" " II I 111 11 1 1111' d,lIlg" 1 III l lu ,'11 11" III 11 " " " I 1111 NII IIIIIII"
";", ' ia llsls ,I,y \\; Iy III a l'al'l illllll' lIlal' y IlI a jlll ll l ,"I" 11111" " " Ih"I', ' IIII'"
Iha l Ihll'" a h,, " 1 .lIl' l llIlIa ll ll werr - 11 ,, 1 III 11 '1 11i ,' 11111 11' 11' ii , d II glla lio ll III'
llu- muss es al t lui r I'VI' I'-i lll' l'l'asillgly,J<.pl' l'ssl ' d l'III1e1I III111 gll lllll" plll j" ' d.
O n th e other .hund bli ey were r esolve d under a ll ('il" ' 11I 1I IIIIII " ' S I" illll'ose
th eir wil l hy f'orce on those of 'lI differ ent poli t ica l "(l IIlI'I,'xion, even if
th e latt er s ho ul d form a co ns t it ut ional governmen t.
Those who are pr ep aring th e way for th e r evolut ion ,have two task s:
to r ec rui t soldiers of th e Revolution rand to obtai n weapons for IlH'
attack , , ,
Various pamphl et s and leafl et s publish od or appr oved and quot ed
1'1'0111 ,hy th e pur ty leaders dem and th e ful f ill men t o f th e Iall er ta sk . . .
T his coi nc ide nce 0.1' th e th eor eti cal disc ussion in th e "Oktober hej' n, ",
the Ne ws" of the COlIlrmmist P art y an d in lectures given to th e
local brunohss of th e pra ctical realizatio n by th e accu sed see ms to be
the r ea son why th e defending co unc il was more co nce r ned to -di sprov
any connec tion b etween l he acts of th e accused and ,the lead er s of th e
K.P .D. than to deal wi th wh at th e aceuser] themsel ves had actuall y don e.
The accus ed Ueberbriick .had. on hi s urr-lval with th e explosives in Ber -
l in, been in possession of an iden bity card from th e Z.K. Secretar y. Gut -
sc he and UebeI"br iick had , on each of th eir j our neys to Bre slu u to pro-
cure ex plosives . visile.d th e distri ct headquarter s of lhe K.P.D. Accor-
ding to th e acc us ed, 'Ihe ex plosives and weap on s in Erfurt and Pc ssn eck
had also been procur ed not without the kn owl edge of the pa r ty offic ials,
In t he tr ial of Ne uma nn an d hi s aceom pli ces jt wa s es tabl ished tha i
Aug us t Ma ier , heavily impli cat ed rin th is case also, had been th e "\Vumbo"
of fic ial fo r procu r ing wea po ns and ammun itions in the th en ex ist ing
pa r tisan orga niza li ons for th e chief dist ric t Berl in-Brandenbur g."
'Wh ilst t he Ueberb riick case gives one a clear view of the
poli ti cal ba ckground to th e th eft s of explos ives , th e follo wi ng
mor e plainl y sho ws wh at det ail s of ex plos ive techni qu e wer e tak en
int o cons ide r ation in suc h th eft s.
In the judgement passed on th e taxi -dri ver Kleme ns Sche lins ky
of Hagen by the Supre me Cour t on J anuary 6t h, 1933, th e follow-
ing passa ge OCCllrs :-
Th e exper t, a n ar tificer hieu lc nan t (r etir ed) name d N..
cer t ified in th e main pr oceedi ngs that t he explos ive in th e possession of
th e acc used, Wagen er , wa s a so -ca lle d " bris ant" ex plosive, that th e in -
st antaneou s fu ses wer e elec tr ic qu ick fuses, being nt tached to aluminium-
ri ng .bl ast ing car tr idges with doubl e-in sul at ed wi r e; that is to say t hey
wer e explosives within the m eaning of th e Explosi ves Act. The Cour l
is snt'isfied that N.'s sta teme nt is cor rec t. The examinat ion of fo ur
sampl es of eac h had shown th em to be r ead y for use. Th e
eac h con ta ining 75 gm., are of th e year HJil2 and ar e th er efore in ex-
tremely good condi t ion. For an y single explosion th ey would be full y
effect ive. The fu ses from th e El ectric Fuse Works Ltd., Cologne. fae-
104
'lory .in Troi sdorf, ar e each fi ll ed wi t h t wo ,1'1 III dll lllol, ,11 1I1 1,1,' d ti ll'
pla ted co p per wires and ma y t her efore be II sl'd al II 1I11 d, I \' ,, 1, ' 1 . ' I' l u-
fir mly fixed blasti ng car t r ilige, siz e No. 10 is th e 111 11,1 pll w,' rflll 01' i ts
ki nd .
Chlorati te 3 is used forblast in'g in qu arri es, clay-pit s, pota sh -works
and als o for b las ting u nd er wat er . Together with th e elect r ic under -
wat er qui ck fu se, br idges, traff ic f uci l iti es on river hanks, canal docks,
canali sat ion pipes, gas and wat er pipes and so on can be easily and
unobtrusiv ely blown up from 'a safe .h idirig-place. But it ca n also be us ed
to load and explode hand-gr enades, 'bombs, mines, etc. Attach ed to a
bla sting-car tr idge of 75 g. of chlor at it e 3, this e xplosive charge is equi-
vale nt t o a 'hea vy hand-gr enade or t he s he ll of a l ight f ield-gun. Even
the layman wo ul d r ecognize without difficulty f r om the seal ' Chl or utite 3'
th e d anger ous natur e of t he ca r tr.idgcs."
On account of th e danger of transporting explosives of t his
nature those person s who were to under t ake it were most carefully
pick ed in accordan ce with their reliability and courage. But , even
so, the transport ofte n took pl ac e in a most careless way and
ser iously enda ng ere d the lives of those in th e nei ghbourhood. The
exp los ives were ofte n carried simply in t he hand or in the pocket,
or even hung b etween the l egs. Weapons were also concealed in
t his way. In one case a linen band wa s ti ed round th e hips; to this
a second band was attached which led through be tween the legs.
To th e second band a cloth case containing a pist ol was attached.
On t he 27th December 1932 at 7.45 p. m. two police sergea nt s on
t heir beat in Hambur g-St. Pauli saw a r ed delivery-van HH-41284
stop in fr ont of th e hou se No. 62 Bernhard-Nocht-Strasse. Three
men unloaded a h eavy case and carri ed it into the house, whi le a
four th re mained behind the car. The policeman challenged the men
just as th ey were car ry i ng the case into t he cellar. Since t hey
r efus ed to an swer questions as to the contents of the case and why
t hey were transporting it , one of the policemen opened it and found
t hat it contained arms.
An ex aminat ion of t he cell ar ,into which th e case wa s being cur r ied
r eveal ed amo ng ol her th ings:-
2 Army pistols 08,
34 pist ol car tr idges,
1 pamphlet "The Way to Victory" by Alf red Langer ,
3 Communist leaflet s with th e Morse alphabet written by hand 0 "
the back,
18 unfilled collection lists of the "Red Mass Self-Defence" .
By means of th eft and smuggling th e K.P.D. and its figll tin J.;
organ izati on s had, acco r ding t o all appearances, provided them
sel ves amply with explosives and weapons. At the end of th e year
1932 t here could be no question of an uliscn cc or sca rcity of wcupous
106
Right :
Lef t above:
Mi ddle:
Below:
Weapons foun d in the house of the pensioner, Paul Sdui iiter, Berlin,
Sirsl euer Platz 3, Sept. 2nd, 1931. .
Armoury of the K. P. D. Bottr op i. W. dist rict group.
Drawing of expl osive bomb from the case Gro/3and accomplices. 1931.
Weap ons f ound on the property of the deceased official of the K.P.D.
Otto Kr,llIse in Sdiws nebeck, October 1930.
107
109
pi st ol
cunhine
magazin e
ca r tr- idge
2 cartnidge-cascs
dagger
2 pi st ol s
;\0 cartr idg es
knuck le-d nsl er
lir e-preser ver
pi ck-ax e
2 ba yon et s
1 rubber tr nne heon
il wo od en cl u bs
1 gi mlet
2 pistols
3 magazines
7 car lri dges
2 k n uckl e-dust cr s
1 pocket- knife
1 pi ec e of i ro n wi r e
1 spi ral sprin g
4 s tone s
1 wooden club
-l pi stol s
1 magazine with
ibnlletsand
6 ca r lri dge -cases
Weapons confiscated
1 pistol
7 ca r tri dges
1 sl eel .rod
2 lif e-preserver s
23. G, 32 The Nalional So eiali st 0110
Miill er was shot at in Li cht en -
ber g and th e foll owing weapons
were CO il fiscated at th e pl ace
whe r e t he deed was comm it te d
6. 7, 32 The following weap on s wer e
found and con fisc a ted in th e
house of Kr eit1off, Kolberger
St r asse 11
15. 7. 32 AI a ll allack pla nned on th e
N.S.D.A.P . colo ny " Fuc hsbe rgc"
memhers or th e K.P .D. wer e
found armed . The weapons
sta ted opposite were confiscated
20. 7. 3') Ar med Communis ts were di s-
co ve re d at an attack pl anned on
Ihe N.S.D.A.P . rosl uurnnf " m ac k
Ca t" in Mahlsdo rf', The weapons
s ta ted opposit e were confi sc ate d.
The s tones were to be us ed for
th r owing, th e wooden cl ub for
hill in g
26. 4. 32 On account o r a Swast ika fl ag
in Ihe Biescnhorst ncar Bi es -
dorf a shooting uf'l'r uy occurecd
.b et ween K .P,D. a nd N.S.U.A.P.
The weapons sta te d opposite
were conlisrutcd
I 011"0 111 1'1 to l. 1 l i v ",' gg" hand 1-: 1"1 ' 11: 111, ' lind liOO rOlllld. 0 1 ,'i. 1,,1
: 11111111101 110"
" '",Ih\' of nol l' is a find nea l' Boll r up -Bceld in ghauscn in March
HI:I:I "I which th e re por t s ta lcs:-
" I I " I't were found huried in th e r a il way embankme n t a milk-ca n
with 4() tins made up as hand-grenades, large quan tities of detonite
and a mmon- sa lpetr e, 6 "egg" hand gre na de s, a large sack with 66 tins
fill ed with explosive, 12 shor t tubes for hand-grenades, I zin c case
with a pound .box of detonite, a 10 cm, sh ell w il h detonator a nd
3 hand-grenades."
I will only extract a f ew typical examples out of an almost
endless official lis t of weapons confiscat ed from Communists in
1932 and a t th e beginning of 1933: -
24. 4. 32 When searching th e K.P,D.
r est aurants in th e Blumental -
str usse 1 pi stol , 7 ear tr id,ges, etc.
were found and eonr,iscat ed
108
ns lind h. .11 IIIC' ,' n " ill IIII' 11 1'1111'111 "lIl jo( II I :1. TIIC' ""d
revolul ionu ry al"llly WII S ItllI \ 101 , II ' 11 11 II IC' Iliosl d"ndl y
in strument s of murder. I)agg,,.., IlIh l,," l'II'"'I It'III I S, knu ck le-
dust er s. ax es , etc. wer e an ordinnr y \1 :111 , d 1111 ' "q lli l' lIl1 ' lIl of llu:
rank and file Communis t. In uddi liuu , c', "" y '111 '1111" ,, of l lu: riglll -
ing organizations proper and of th e parl y wa s IIlldollhkdl y supplied
with fire-arms and explosives. and the orgalli zalioll s th emselves
had in many parts of the country secret ar ms depot s, whi ch could
be used fil ou I to terrorists on the day of the armed rising.
It is obviously impossibl e to draw up a list at' 'all the arms
depot s and munition dumps of th e K.P.D. in Germany, Her e we can
only judge from the evide nce which has been given of the various
eases of depot s whi ch have been discovered. In spite of much
eagerness on th e part of the peopl e to r eport Communis l arms and
explos ive dumps, th e general publi c has hardl y an id ea of th e
enor mous quantity of weapons actually di scovered. I will there-
fore give some examples :-
In May, 1932, while se a rc hi ng th e hou se of the miner Bi erowski in
Beuthen , who was said to have been a member of th e An ti-Fascis t
Leagu e. th e police founel flO dynamil e b ombs mad e out of 1 Ih . jam
tins, 8 detonators, 28 dynamite blasting-cartridges, 191 rounds of
a mmunit ion , 2 rifle locks. a ma chine-gun case wi th oiled machine-gun
pa rt s, 50 de to na tors wit h fu ses , 10 pi cces of insul at ed wire with
detonators for electr ic det on ation from a di stance, 3 roll s of fuse and
a tin of dynamite. These objects were found in a cell ar, access to
which was th rough a trap-door on whi ch a sofa s too d.
Tn No ve mhe r Ihe house and grounds of the Comm unis t town-
co unc ille r Sp r i nge r in Til sit were searched, and in th e grounds was
found a pit- ;)() em . deup - -full or cl osed wine-bottles. The bottl es
co n tai ne d rifle ammunit io n.
Four Communi st s wh o ha d, in th e n ight of th e 18th Augus t. H):\2 .
sto le n 100 lh. or ammoniac and -l lh . or powder fro m th e explos ive
d ep ol in Dnuf'cnbnch wer e eondc mne d by t he Court or Jusli ce a t Tnier
to sen te nces of 2 to a ye ars' impr isonm ent.
In J unuur y 1()33, as a r es ult o r sea rc hing lhe houses o f :\ Com-
munists in Es sen , 12 gas-mas ks . 11 lear-ga s co nta iners , -l pa ck et s or
smoke powder . :\ pi st ol s wit h ammunit ion a nd subvers ive propaganda
wer e found. The gas- masks. lear -gas cont a in er s and Ihe powder h:ld
been s to len by on e of Ihe accused fr om hi s employer. The gas- masks
even tually found we re 25 i n number. The conte n ts of one of the se ized
te ar -gas con tai n ers wo uld have hccn su I'lir-icn l 10 put a whoh:
d epartment s lore. o r in l he 0lwn st rc et, an nt in- pol iee de laehult' 1I1
out of ac lio n. One pack age of smoke powder wo uld he c noug h I"
hide in fog a wh ol e street- pr ocession, The accused wcre sa id alre ady
t o have made exper iments with th e s moke-powder in r om of e pari s
of the town a t ni ght. In Fe br uary a ci gu r s hop was se urclu-d and
t he foll ow ing oh j eets we re eOll l'isf'a lt' d : I ri l'u-. 1':11 1"1'11 \IX, ;) pi slol s.
110
19. 1. ,II Hartstein Factory \V"illw.. i ler : :\1\ Auu n u n lt e car tr id ges
stolen.
2. 4. 30 Quarry li n Vic ht : :Hi hlaslin g stole n.
12. 5. 29 Steinfur th-Konlgswaldc: R kg. Ammonit e, 153 det ona tor s,
64 metres fu se stolen.
3, 1. 31 Vetsch au Explosives Ltd. : 982 bl ast ing car tridges No.8 and
20 p ieces No. 6 stolen.
27. 11. 31 Ma n nh ei m: sk etch es an d method of preparing hand- gr en a des,
de tonating cartridges, etc. with expla na tio ns stolen.
Clay-pit on th e Sc hmiickenhohc nea r Coblcnz : 45 kg. Ammo-
nit e, 60 deton at ors , 8 metres "T" and 60 me tres " black"
fuse st ol en .
Sal za Quarry, SiiBmilch: 15 kg. Chlo r a li te, 1.') kg. Ammoni te,
2,000 de ton ators.
16. 9. 31 Murkusmtihl e: 44 bl asting cartr idge s, 3 det onating ca r tr idg es ,
9 expl osive ca r tr idges, 23 det on ator s and 8 fu rther det onat ing
car tr idges .
15. 8. 31 In Cologne-Clodwippl 4: 6 dyn amit e cartri dges wit h deto-
nators, 7 det onat or s. 4 metr es fuse stolen.
28. 3. 31 Quarry in Goslar : 5 kg. Ammo ni te, 2 kg . gunpo wde r, fu se
stol en.
(,) Mi lll "1' " lh l , l it, Sc hri ficn, Engel s-Lenin 1'1'. 61 62 Intern. Arl Vt' I I.II: 11t '11i1l.
The sho r t summary shows t hat t he K.P.D. has take n to heart
Lenin's t eaching: -
"The bomb has ceased t o be t he wea pon of th e isolat ed ' ho mh
t hrower' . II sec ures the esse nt ial wea pon for th e arming of the peopl e.
The methods and instruments of street fight ing must be modifi ed in
accor du uce wi lh the change in th e tec hnique of wa r." 'J
II I
Some apparentl y harmless, but very dangerous, weapons captured by the S. A. Sto rm 6
and exhibited in their museum. Cane-gun, cross-bow and ilon club.
T Ilt' , I , c h u ruclr -r of Ih. , 11I' l' )l :t l' lIt io li 1'01' a I'I SIII f.: cu n
be S(' I' II II "Ill 1111 ' fact Iha l, 1'01' in stuucr-, lilt , pro( 'lIdll g of l';\ l' llIs iv('s
had 11('f.: 1I11 1I 11'l'ady in t he year I\l:!\) . Bil l a I'l'\V " xalll(li ' S f'rom Ihat
time IIIl1st suffice.
\V, '1" " 1 ""II , oI l'd
:1 pl'I,,\
:I f. "lId, Id f( l '
2 1' 11,1.10, '1'
k n uck l u-du st ur
bayonet
!l. 1. 33 Weapon s fou nd on a search
carried ou t in Spandau because
th e R.F.B. was sus pected of
continuing ill egall y
5. 9. 32 A bayonet an d ot he r weapo ns
were fo und and confisca ted at
a shooting affray in the Butt-
mannst rasse. The dog-whip was
used for hitti ng
3. 8. 32 Wea pons fo und at a meet ing of
ICP.D. men for terror-ist ac tio n
and ,in searching th e K.P.D.
rest aurant Gerichtstrasse 17
14. 1. 33 Weapons found on t he occasion
of an attack by ab out 40 Com-
mu ni st s on the N.S.D.A.P. restau-
ra nt Reuth er , Boyenstrasse 12
On searching the house Tegel,
SchloBst rasse 20 a revolver was
found
22. 2. 33 On th e closing of K.P.D. r est au -
rants in Ber lin weapons we re
found in many places and con-
fi scated I)
29. 8. :12 Weapons fou nd on the occasion
of a fight and shooting affray
between K.P.D. and N.S.D.A.P. in
Charlottenburg, Ront genst r asse
2:1. 7. :12 'I' ll ., Io llu wi n j; wcre
l'ound in seart:hing ICI' . D. r esluu -
rants in GorIi t zer St rasse 58
and 7a, Heic he nberger Strasse 124,
Glogauer Strasse 29, Liegnitzer
Str usse 18 and Piicklerstrasse 50
27. 10. 32 On searching the dwellings
of Michaelis, Ritt er st r asse 124,
and of the workman Reimann,
Fiirste nstrasse 21
1 b a yonet
1 li fe-preserver
1 dagger
1 broken rubber
t r uncheon
2 pistols
1 dagger
14 ca r tr idges cases
1 ca r tridge
5 defor me d bull et s
1 revolve r
3 ca r tridges
5 ca r tr idges cases
3 bulle t s
1 stee l ro d
1 dog-wh ip
1 'infan tr y ri fle
2 carbines
1 ibay onet
463 ro unds ammuniti on
2 daggers
1 ll fe-pres erv er
1 ar my pi st ol 08
10 rounds of ammunit ion
2 loading strips
1 re volve r
1 pist ol 6.35
1 pi st ol 09
4 cartridges
1 r evol ver
7 ca rtridges cases
2 rubber tr unch eons
1 re volve r
6 cart r idges
11 pist ol s
6 r ubber trunc heons
2 bayone ts
2 swords
2 a ir -gu ns
5) T he 1st National Socialist Re voluti on Museum is an exhibit i,?n of
weapons. T his mu seum has been organized hv St and art c 6 of thc Berlin S.A. the pre
mises of the former An ti -Wnr Museum, Ber lin C, Ii!,I"nst ra Ilc, corne r of Parochlnlst rnbc
III ('onsi d l' I' i ng IIII' luu] : .. I \\ " 11 " '" IIl ld "' I' III xivI's l ll lt ' IIIIISI
remem her l hu l the 1\.1' .1) . had :111'1 '11 ," ,jl" I' I"I' V s l rirt d i rr- ct ions
f or r emovin g wea pons Irr un IIII' 1':11'1 " rt ,.,I:IIII":I III<; , dwellings, and
offices. In transfo r ming il st'lr inl" al l illl'f.::i1 an ti ('o nspira lorial
or ganization it was clear thai wc upu us nnd 1')\ ldosivl 'S were the
most import ant things th cy wi shed to hide suf'el y . It is th er ef ore
quite ce r tain that th e poli ce h as, lip to now, s ucceeded in fin di ng
only a sm all po r t ion of the Com m unis ts' a rms and a mmuni tion
which r eall y exis t . Eve n now th e greater part will be hidden in
disused mines, in all otment garde ns and woods, in the beds of
ca nals a nd r ivers waiting for th e day of th e armed r is ing. The
co u n tless a ssail It s a nd tu ur tlers com mi tte d by th e K.P.D. on S.A.
men a nd police off icers prov e co ncl usively that Co m m unism in
Ger many was a n ex t re mely det ermined a rmed force at war with
t h e whole na tion.
Ne uhe rg, whom we hav e already qu ot ed several times, ri ghtl y
mai ntains tha t the a r med r is ing does not begin with street-f ighting
but with th e period of immediat e preparati on f or th e gener al
at tack.")
" One must remember thut , i n the wides t se nse of the word, th e
rising does not beg in with Ihe a ttack of th e figh ting organizat ions of
the proletariat (Red Gu ard). but r ather so me days, even weeks , befor e.
It begins wh en the ti me fo r the genera l att ack has been fixed an d
when the party is wo rking a t feve r ish speed to win oyer th e tr oops,
to arm the proletaria t and the seml-prnletnriun elements for the
decivise struggle for po wer. It begins when th e masses ta ke up the
fight of t heir OWII ini ti at ive agains t the fo rces of t he co un ter-
revolution."
In this sense Germa ny was , si nce the middle of December 1\)32.
in t he perio d of the Communis t r isi ng . T he re with the nccessify
. a rose - th e indi sp utabl e nccesslt y. iaccordlng 10 Neuberg (cf'. p. 1
- fo r t he Commu nist P urt y t o cr ea te i ts own pr ol et a r ian ar med
fo rces. Acc ording to Le nin's th eory of r evoluti on, th e organ . of l lu-
rising must he the Red Guard as a r med mass organization of th e
P role taria t. Ai the' moment when the par ty ta kes over the immed i-
ate preparations f or the seizure of power such a mass l'ight ill g
organizatio n must be c r ea t ed. This moment occurred fo r th e K.P. Il.
in th e la st half of Hl3 2, a nd so it began to organize th e Red
as the Re d Mnss Sel f-Defe nce (R.M.S.S.). According to Cunu u u nis t
reports th ey had succeeded i n Hl 2:1 in orga nizing abou t 2:)0, 000 HI'''
Guards men i n to p ro le ta r ia n " h undre ds". ill l hr: COI II' Sl ' of : 1 1" ' \ 1'
months (cf. op. ci t. p. Iii ). One 11 01" '" II O \\' for l ht' S:lIlll' res ult .
6a ) op. cit. 207.
112
I loll' the"Red Front" lived.
II
III "IIIII1 C'c ' lillll wl t h III(' 1I111i Jo'a ri I III 111111 11111 11111 1111 ' 1,, IIl l h,'
r ed IIl1 ilt 'd 1'1'11111 w il h l lu- 1111 11 Jl al'l y , '11, ' , 01 l it I"'" r n l u : Will 111111 '11,
th e Allli -Jo' asGisl I"ighl illg Leaglll' was I"\ 'C 'I\ III \' oI " \I 'I"I ,,'d as a half
military, hal f propagandis t fighling ol'l.;alliwl l'lll
The peculi ar condit ions of st reet-rightillg 1"11111 IIIl' lechn ical
military point of view brought it abo ut l hu l, hl'sid,'s suc h mass
organizations, special t errorist groups, vary ing ill st rengt h I'rom
10 to 200 men, were for med partly of party member s to ca r ry out
special tasks in th e intricate battlefield of towns,
The leader' s staff of all such Communist fighting organi zations
had not only to be militarily trained, but al so politically trained
and r eli abl e, In ac cordance with th e th eory of civil war, th ese
leader s should, as far as po ssibl e, be tak en fr om th e ill egal Ger man
Red Front Fighters' League. Contrary to the usual conce p-
tion, th e Red Figh ters ' League was not so much a military as a
political nucleus, not the organ of direct fighting but an elite
organization and
"at the same time the r epresentatives of the idea of ci vil war
and a strong means of propaganda for this idea in the working-
class as a whole'")
Altogether the following scheme of organization for the period
of armed ri sing emerged: The Red Front Fighters' League was to
be the central nucleus of the K.P.D. and leaders' unit for the other
fighting organizations ; the Anti -Fascist-Fighting League was to
win over and train the broader masses of th e people for the fighl
against Fascism, th e Red Masses Self-Defence was to be an immedi -
ate mass fighting organization; and finally, as military backbone
and shar pest we apon of revolt , the numerous terrorist groups with
their purely military ta sks.
As i s well known, th e Red Front Fighters' League was forbidden
after the disorders of the 1st May, 1929 when its membership,
according to Neuberg, was about 100,000. From many sources of
information, trials, actions, and publications of an ill egal nature
it is clear th at the R.F.B. continued to exist ill egally with an \III
known membership. It organized leaders' meetings, military train.
ing courses and went in for "defensive sport". It supplied the-
men for the Am-organizations and the O.S.N.A and worked inl eu
sively to subvert army and police. Forinstance, in the Alt ona di . , rid
in January 1933 a subversive pamphlet was found with the he ading
"Red Front" and the badge of the RF.B., in which the police wert-
called upon to disobey orders. Also in different places in Saxony
'l) Neuberg p.179.
114
Plct ut es ..ril., Ned Front Fighters' N,I/I)' . 11"1 lin, M.I\, /') '(0 ,
II
I 17
1'1'0111 SIIIIIJ.:l II I,
M"'till g"II . II
"lIl1si sl, ',j 01' 11"
T'lu- Whil l' dr luchment cons ls tr-d 01' Ihe gr ou ps
Ess lillg.' n, Cllll lls tad l, Ba cknang, I'lochingen and
slr en,gll, Wll S 11111 II (I ml 'l\, Tht: H"d del :I<'linl"1I1
With what th oroughness military training wa s ca r r h-d thrOllgl1
we call see from the Bui es a s to " Au x il ia ry Trench Mortars ill II ...
Armed, Hising" .
T ill' III 111 11 111111 usu nll v 1. 1Id. 101 111 l' III 11 \1' '" ,' :lI ll' d 11 111111 11 '
s q u:l d \\' 1111'11 WI' I'" h ui ll " I' ;\(' C' Ol'd ll l ' 10 11 \1' 1'1'i1l1'i l' ''' bi d d o wlI
by l ln- II':ldc' r s of t he BY .II . i ll :-"" 1'1. 1\1 :1" , 10 1111 ' "
pri nciplt' s . l he Ir a in ing squa d c' o ll " isl III a ll III'wl.l joi ll" " 1111 '111""1
of a Sto rm Troop dis tr-ict nurl is dh' id"d iu lu gl' OIl PS Ill' f i v.-. '1'1u-
p eriod o f training is Iwo mouths. Frru n IIIIW 111 1 tl u- l'o ll l'l h
o f e very S t o r m T roop musl he a Indllill g squud. Ht' glllalillll s a s I"
com m a n ds and o r ders a n d n l l u-r dt' l:I i I s Ill' o rga II iZ:I Iion w r-...
distribulcd in lhe so-ca lled " Weh r polif is ch Sc hrif' Icu rc-ilu -" r. :!
and :1. a n ew e d i tion of the hookh-t " P r o lc t uri s c lu -r
Kommnndo- und Bcf'ehl sor-dnung f iir prol eturisch o \ \11'111'
ve r bl i ndn"."]
" In th e armed r isin g enemy strong pain Is, e. g. bur r uc k nml r a il
wa y s ta t ions , will hav e to be taken hy f'orcc, In st ea d of al'lilh'r y. 1,1" '11<"
morlars or lur ge-cal lbr o 'ir un tubes will be used . .
The two types of auxil ia ry bomb-throwers , viz. th e tr en ch mori a I'
and th e murtar in th e shupc o f n lur ge-caj ihr ir on t ulu-, an' 1111'1"
for e to a hi gh degree s uite d to hast en or 10 r ender pn ssihl t ln
conquest of forti fi ed point s, The moral erred of s uch minr-s fill. 'd
with high ex plosl ves is so gr eut Ihal an ene my who is p"lil i,':rll y 1101
hctrogcncous will probably s ur re nde r a fte r n Iew heavy mint-s lui v
explode d. In add'ilio n to Ihal , one must co ns idr-r l lu- " XlrllOl'dill :1I il l'
strong destructi ve ef fec t of heavy mines wilhin a narrow ,'olnpl. "
of buildings."
In th e instructions o r the R.F.B , "Why Def en siv e Spnrt?' l lu -
f o ll o w i ng exercis es a re o r dered :
Physi c:al dr ill - Spor ts - Boxin g - Shootlng - Cr oss -"ollllll'\'
marching - Field Exe rcises - Ca lculation of Distance's - I'ra, 'III' O'
in holding dcmnn str ut ions - :'\Iap-r eading - Fi nd ing OI II" S wa y 1" ,
co mpass a nd sl nrs - Mors cn de - .Iiu-jit su .
In co n nect io n with th e theoreti cal training I here was JlJ'lwl iC ' 1I1
military drill which took place under the greatest se crr -cv . S IIl' II
"Manoeuvre s 01' the Red Ar my" did not always pass od a s 1111 '
future Red generals and instructors would wish, as 1/1(' I'ollowilll'
ex a m p le from 15th and l Hlh Octoher I9:i2 s ll ll ws:-
lifi
The m ure the gene ral s i t uat ion, in the opin ion o f the K.P.D. ,
changcd to an " immedia te r evolutionary situation" the s t ron ger
was thc e m ph asis o n purel y milit ary training . In the winter of
19:12-:i:lthe political training of the RF.B. members was a ccordingly
seco n d t o military training. The members were trained particu-
la rly in " defe n s i ve s po r t" a n d in the u s e and theory of arms,
Par ticu la r emphasis wa s laid o n the hlocking of s tree ts, the raising
of barricades , on shooting and throwing hand-grenades . According
to t he alre ady quot ed works o f Neuburg, Langel' etc., the future
leaders o f the army for the Bed rising wcrc tru in ed in the s tr a tegy
and tactics of civil war b efore , during a nd after the ri sing itself.
The training wa s carri ed out in accordance with s pec ia l
"schemes for a ri sing" whi ch were publi shed by the m ana gement
o f the R. F .B . in the middl e o f Dec ember 1932. The leaders them-
sel ves say a bou t thes c s chemes: -
"These sc he mes must be th e basis for th e id eological work of ou r
gro ups of fi ve, of th e polil ical uni ver sity o f our org an iza tion. Thuy
must he th e main th eoreti cal weapons in all th e 545 groups of l lu-
nucl eu s urganiza tio ns and Irainin g squa ds , as well as in th e reser ve
formal ion s. in th e vnurses whi ch . under eo ns pir a t iuna l condit ions , a1'1'
or ganize d in th e f uctor ies hy our sho ck tr oops. Our pr cseutution
foll ows cl osel y Neuburg ' s " De l' bewaffnet e Aufstancl " and articl es in
"Oktohe r" ' 0 t hat th e lack of th ese hook s ill no lon ger of ,im-
parlance. It is ul th e sa me time your t ask ,is to co mmun ic ntc to us
any exper ience you ac q uir e in yo ur tr a in ing wor k a nd to mentio n all Y
defects or uiistukes in our sc he mes. Continue th training 0 thoM'
co mr ades wh o s ho w a keen int erest Ihrough Further specia l ,'o nrs.s,
make th em propagandi sts and agitators for our Army of Fruedum... ,
It is absolute ly neeessnry lhal all I'I'''Olllli ollal' ' parlies who un'
preparing 10 secure the political pml"'1' s ho llid pOlldl'r till' I,:ssons or
lh e prol elarian ri sing in H"val on I , I :! , " I ..
8) Neuher!: p. 20i .
in .l anuurv ru ul Ft'1 ll'lIal' V 1\1:1:1 111'11. 1" ItII"1 a ll d plat':ll'ds
' d is t r i b u t e ci i n whi ch poi i,'" a lid a I III W" I " " Id Il' d u pOll In a lly
thems elve s with the ILF.B. A SIll' d:i1 .'dillllil III l lu - " llt ' d F rr m t"
m a y b e l aken as an examp le. II lll' g il l" wi l h IIIl' words " Mnh il i-
za t io n . The Red Front League ca lls yo u !" 'I'll a I is q u i te in har-
m ony with Ne ube rg 's directi on s , a ccor d i ng 10 whi ch : -
" In thi s peri od which begin s with th e apprnuc h of lh c gener al
battl e, in th e peri od of prep a ruti on fo r th e a t t uc k on the Sta te, th e
Party must conce ntr ate it s at tention on th e ta sk of subver ting and
winning over th e troops." 8)
a n d thi s al one m akes it p ossibl e t o "con ver t impcri al isti c war into
ci vil war" .
11 9
II) Fro m a co nfiscated membership book o f t he o f Supreme Co urt
o f t he 10 , 10 September 1932.
12) Hot I JIIII. 11 ,1 P, C scdicnst, carl ' ill Fe bruarv 11)33.
Treasury
\ Mnlllll"U' 1I1t
1l1
L nl 'hi ' l ..",l ll " r
_ i
\
Iet

IIII IIII IIII
I comradeship = :i seclions
1111 1sectio n =
The most import ant unit o r the League see ms to h c the grou p
consi sting o f 8 men, who , as f'ar a s possi bl e wou ld wo r k i n the
same fa ctory o r live in the sa m e bl ock or hous es , and thu s he ahl e
to k e ep in consta n t con tact.
The "Sold ie rs o f the Bed F r ont" must separ nte thems elves from
the Ge r man com m u n i ty a n d submi t unconditi onull y to the Com mu -
nist Internution al e. Proof of thi s is the Red milit ary oa th of the
R.F .B. whi ch i s as foll ows :-
11
)
" We cl ass -co nscious prolet arians swear 10 usc a ll our s treng th in
the fi ght for the fr eeing of th e workers fr om cu p i tu lis t exploit a tion,
oppression a nd per secut ion.
In iron discipline and wiLh the s tr ictes t ob edi en ce we submit to all
orders and r egula li on s which may be necessary in th e fig hL for Ihe
interests of the prol et ariat.
He who is unfaithful t o th e Red Front or betrays th e interest s of
th e prol et ar ial will suf fer th e deep est conte mpt of Ihe working cla ss
a nd th e most se vere sentence of rev olutionary justi ce,"
On the 15th January 1933 there was a great r ccruiting drive to
build up Youth S t or m Troops . The you n g workmen ?e
quickly mobili zed and systcm a t icall y trained for the armed ri sing. )
After the party organi sations had turned ill egal , the groups of
8 were transformed into groups of 5 . A circular lett er from the
1'1111 1' 1111111 I.lI d\\I I-: I.IIII-: , 1 ' " ' 11, ,, 10 111, IIt,I , " . )'l lillg"1I a nd
\\' " il" lIdor l aru] wn nhnut Ill) I. " " \ I" , "It Id, "" '1 " ,\1'1' ,' furt lu-r.
runner s, 3 mot ur-cy cll st s an d \l III IIl dl lllll l '1' 1. I
The discipline of Ihe major it y of th ose wh o took par i was
extre mely ba d. As th e exe rcises gradually took up mo r e and mo r e
lime, t he or ders of th e l eader s wer e only r eluct antl y obeyed an d in
some cases not obe yed a t al l. The fi eld training must be conside re d
as \' (' r y poor . and Ihe leader s especia lly , being fo r th e mo st pa r t
yo ung and un kn own , seemed quit e ign orant of milit ary operatio ns.
The hi gh command was held by an unknown youth of 23 to 24 abo ut
fl.ft 6 in. in height with blond hair and a haggard face. The manoeu vr es
must be cons ide re d as a failur e. As ap peared nf'Ier war ds, th e Red s never
occ up ied hill :l2G ag ains t whic h th e Whites had adva nce d, but hetd
hill :-1 -1-1 .8 about 1,:100 met r es so uth of Deizi sau . Ilill :144.8 lies about
2 km. so ut h- wes t of hill :l2(\."
The Red dctnc lu uc n t "o ll,"'Io'd 1111 1h , 1.. IIt 110 1" 1,,, 1' :01 !l u' c lork
under great secrecy on th e C OIll Il I OIi III It ) IIlal 'l' h,'d Ir lllli ther e in
col umns to Undcr l iirk hcim , illellill g"II, IIl'iihl , ill I III' d ir ect ion of
Deizi sau and then along the road to Denk endor l' 10 aspol nort h-west
of thi s r oad and abo ut 1
1
/ 2 km. so ut h of th e cross-road' Essli nge n-
Deizisau, Esslingen-Denkendorf. Ther e a camp wa s se t up ncar
Frtedri chsmuhle, Here the de ta chm en t a rri ved a l abo ut 1 o' clock a t
nigh t und immediately retir ed to rest. Through Ihe towns a nd villages
ma rc hing was in loose order. At 3 o'clock th e a lar m was so un de d
and th e who le detachmen t W Il S drawn up on Ihe ro ad between
Deizisau and Den kendor r. The div isi on ,inlo groups and sec t ions
follo wed. The 4 sec lions wer e for me d into 2 fighli ng l ines whi ch k e pt
nt a dist an ce of 400 to flOO m e t r e s fr om euc h 0 111('1'. The posit ion and
th e obj ecti ve were as follows: The ene my ha s occupi ed hill 326 in
th e Lau er Hii lz lc, a bo ut :I k m. sout h of Zell . Hi-d ha s fir st to di s-
cover by means of patrols Ihe posili on a nd strength of th e ene my
outpos ts a nd th e posilion of th e enemy . Hif'Ie-f'ir e will be indicat ed
by th e cl apping of hands and Ihe fl ashing of elec tr ic torch es and
ma chine-gun fir e hy ruttl vs. Since up to 8 o' d oc k in Ihe morning
no contact wilh th e enemy had been found th e man oeu vr es were
suspended and th e det achment ma rched ha ck 10 th e ca mp in th e wood
ncar Beckheim in loose order . There tea was made, a re st was taken ,
s por ting exe rcises were ca r ried ou t and a t 11.30 a. Ill . lunch wa s
prov ided . Towards 2 o'c lock Ihe var iou s local group s marchcd ho me
in loose or der.
118
When it wa s s ti ll legal the R.F .B. had adopted the following
organi sation :_ 10)
10) Hichtlinie n ubcr de n Aufba u del' O rganisatio n und Au sfuhrun gsbestimmunge n.
Rot Front Ve rlag. Ernst T halmann 1929.
Leugue :'I la liagt ' lI ll 'lIl III nil dl 111.1 I , ," l" II h uh s t' n l I'II l1 11d
on Fehruu ry :!fll lt , 1!1:\:\ , lo y (' II l1'l l'I' , 1'1 11111 IIII' sigllil'iea rll:t' of
this basic fig h ling unit of 11 1I' I\Y. n ,
"It must be clear to every leader lla lll i ll lla is S,' IISt' l h.. gro up is
the decisive forma tion. All work must he cnrrh-r ] lIul wi l h the help
of the gro up. The grea test init iat ive and Ih.. grl'lIlo'sl responsibility
lie with th e group leader. A very efficient int elligence and alarm
service must .he orga nized fro m gro up to group and within the group
itself. Th is must make it possible to hri ng l hc group into action at
an y time of the day or night. Through its individua l member s the
group it self must he able to join up and mobili ze wi th the othe r
masses and orga nizations of workers. This orga nization combined
wit h firm dete rmination on the pa r t of our staffs and leaders will
enab le us tu prove in lhe comi ng weeks that our enemies cannut
destroy us and that we are 'in a position to deal them t he decisive
blow."
A deci si ve turn in th e work of the organization of the R.F.B.
was ' not iceable at the end of F ch ru a r y 1\J:l:i, since it was now
t ho ug h t that the cr i tica l hour had The R.F.B. had t o show
t hat it was equal to the t ask of l eading Ihe other mas s f'iah tinz
t> :>
orgaruzut ions. For th e second ha lf of Febr uary the Red Mass Self-
Defence was placed under the lead er ship of th e R.F. n. and thu s was
fo rmed a well -pr epa red m ass organizat ion po li t ically and mili tary
reliable in it s leadership. The st ree t ba ttl e co uld begin.
Al ready a t t he begi nning of December 1932 th e leaders of the
R.F.B. had r ecognized that the deci si ve h our was r apidly
a pproaching. They ca lle d a secret conferen ce of the ent ire Reich
organ isat ions a t Brunswick which was held so secre tly and wi th
such precautio ns that not until so me weeks lat er. when the reso-
l ut ions and di r ections of this confe re nce we re passed on to th e
lower grades of th e H. F. B., did t he officia ls of the state rea lize that
it h ad been h eld. This Re ich co nference issu ed a "call to the Ger-
man working class" in which the " General sta ff of the Socialist
Ar my of Freed om" urged the Red fi ghter s to remain in a "stat e
of intense pr eparedness " and calle d upon t o prep are fo r the poli t i-
cal ge ne ral s tr ike "as th e fir st s tage of th e armed r ising".
"Wor kers in Ar mament Factori es, Railway an d Transport Worke rs .
Proletar ians in Mines, Fac tories and Fa rms . Policemen and Soldie rs.
Unite all th e offensive and defensive elements of th e working
people in the defensive revolutionary battle of the ma sses against th..
Fas cist general di ct atorship ."
This last appeal for ar med r evolt derives it s terms and pIa ns
f r om a detailed r esolution of the Rei ch confe re nce in whi ch th e
fo llowing passa ge occurs:-
120
' 1111 II I II "' " I pia." a "'adill,g pari ill al l asp"" ls Ill' III" dai ly
.Ia \ " I' ll,' H.F .II . III li st t-:rllw 10 all ,' V , 'II greall' r mass Ilrgani
wl"," I I ' " I1St become the urg all izatillll Ill' al l I' roll' lariall s fit for
urt iuu. - Fo rwa rd 10 t lu- fuifil ll", ,,t of the t hrue months'
piau (i. e. ti ll the end of Fch r uury 1\):1 :1) . - Forward in the figh t for
the dict ator shi p of the pro leta riat. "
The resolu tion lays down further Ihat the lower units fo r
partic ula r t asks should take l he leadership into their own hands
e. g. in the practical fig ht against se n te nces of the courts, against
forced sales, in s t r ikes, demonstr at ions, etc.
In a politi cal speech " comr ade Paul" declared that th e red
figh te rs must " lead the fi ght for a free social is t fa th erl and" .
"The 12th sess ion of th e E.1\: . K.f. proclaimed tha t a pcr.iod of new
wars is at han d. We are therefore faced with the ques tion of
intensify ing work among the masses ahov c all amo ng I he S.A., Rcichs-
banner. Slah lhel m, Reichswehr and pol ice. We must also -in tc nsif' y
our efforts among the ra ilway workers, the workers in industri es vital
in war and among the unemployed. We can prove scien tfically that
ther e -i s no other way out of the cr isis hut Ihat of re volut ion. _ .
We are for defensi ve pr eparations. for the fight for Sociali sm.
Bell er and mor e vigorously than before we must popul arize our dead
lead ers, the her oes of the revolution. We mus t work up such a mood
among the workers that they grasp the idea that riflcs must he in the
workers' hands. Only th e proleta ria n revo lution can defeat cap italis m
and overco me war and the danger of war."
I n the speech dealing with th e work of org aniza tion it is state d
among o ther things that th e il lega l ce ntral p eriodi ca l of the B.F.B.
must in futur e a ppear in an edi tion of 300,000 and Ihat on th e
ann iversary of the Ru ssi an Re d Army on 23 th Feb ruary 1933 the
R.F.n. would transfer 10,000 f unc tio nar ies as a " gift " to the K.P. D.
In the speech th e followi ng passage occurs:-
"There mus t he greater coope ra tion. ' VI' have addressed a circular
let ter with 4 questi ons to all dist ri cts. The ans wers to thi s lett er have
been rece ived fr om 22 dist ricts. 17 t elegrams of gr eeting to the Bed
Army wer e sent off . ' VI' have rece ived 20 telegrams expressing
confidence in the league management. All that shows solidar ity
bet ween the centra l organization and the distr ict leader s. 'VI' sta nd
now befor e the gr eat offensive; this must thun der like a storm through
Germany. We ll1 usthe the .hest helper s of Ihe Party in the fight
against the Versaill es Tr eaty in th e indust ri al str uggle."
The close solidarit y of the R.F .B. with the Red Ar my of Soviet
Hussia is s tr ikingly proved by these ex tracts . The "gift" of 10,000
off ic ia ls shows in the same way as th e circula tion of th e periodical ,
its organ , Ihal t he R.F.B. was organi zing r evoluti on in Ihe
gra nd s l vt
I I
H .<1111' adds 10 Ill is a III 1111 11' 11'11 ' OIl [ , ' n'I ll'I' 11I e; cir-
cular issu er! by lilt, Wiir11"1l1lH'1 1.: III 1' 1' I .Ii II I ' I t I" II I ' I I .
with the wonis:- ' ' " W I I<' I ll'g ll l S
"Red sold iers of Freedom. j oin 'li p for II ... l ul l i l nu-nl of th e t hree-
months' stor m plan. "
then it .hecome.s quite. clear that the RF.B. was l hc mos ] important
factor In .the immedi ate preparations for r evoluti on in Germany
that It had succ eeded, in spite of it being forbidden , in becom-
mg the best organized fighting troop of the civil war.
?:he directions of the Wurttemb crg dist ri ct dealing wi th the
and organizational ta sks which t he It .F.R, in accordance
the of the Reich confere nce, had to fulfil are
Imlme.d ':llth the mo st violent radicalism. They show that the
orguniza t ional and propaganda work of the "Red Soldiers of
Freedom" is aimed at the politi cal and tech ni cal " arrni nz of the
prol etaria t for the civil war". The mo st suita ble wav of armiruz th e
civil war troop of the K.P.D. for th e final lies in "anti -
am ong soldiers, policemen, railway-guar ds an d
111 the bourgeOIS def ensive org anizations", in the prep ari ng of th e
rev olu lion in th e fact ori es, particul arly in the vi ta l on es the
?nes important in war, in getting hol d of youth, in physical train-
In? and th e study of def ensive technique, and in training for
mi lit ary purposes under th e newest revolutionary instructions.
The secret district conference of the R.F.E. of Hesse-Frank-
furt .?" th .e 17th 18th December 1932 which took place i n con-
necti on WI th the Reich conference iss ued a similar appeal.
"Every proleta rian who is capable of def'endinz himsel f and has
the fighting spirit should be in our ranks. Get him for us . Fo rward
to th e attack! There ca n be no peace or tranquillity until the r ed
fl ag of the freedom of the peoples flies over us who are the Red
Army of a free socialist Soviet Germany!
Red Front !"
It was stated at the same conference th at t he subversive wo r k
of th e R. F .E. among t he police had by no means been un successful.
A from Pf'ungstadt dec lared th a t t hey th e police
on theI: Side. If . prop agan da bills we re t o be posted in the nig ht.
t he police were Informed beforehand. Duri ng th ai time the latt .
kept out of the way.
r epr esentat ive of th e R F.E. from Mayence gave th e im-
pr ession that he was a police official. He explained among other
things that when th e police we re called out one should make 11
note of those who did not ac t r uthless ly. These should be th e fi rsl
122
10 1If ' 11 1'1'1" I" Ilt' d wi l h xuhversiv 1111I11'1 1111 , III "' d C'1 III W i ll t lu -u)
ov e r I " II,, ' "rgalliza l io n.
0 11 lilt' :.!Ml h December t lu - NII I I II W, I )l isl ri C'\ lu -ud
quar ters Il l' th e K. P. D. publi sh ed " lIrgl' lIl i ll 1I'I If'II IIII S" whic h cnllcd
for the cl osest connection between II\(' worl ill l lu- nnd ll u-
militar y work. The masses were 10 h" 'a ll l' l! upuu 10 prot ect the
par ty, and th e pr eliminari es for th e rc ""l lIlionary situut inu wer
to be accelerated.
At t he end of January H)33 the questi on of pr ocu ring ar ms for
the coming ris ing wa s alre ady bein g discussed a t meetings or the
off icials of the H.F.B. On the 31st J anu ar y the leading R.F.13. member
Schuber t decl ar ed at a secret meeting of leading offi ci al s at the
par ty headquarter s of th e K.P.D. in Hamhurg th at a general str ike
was inevitable. He said that the pre li minary stage of th e armed
r ising had come, and mi ght at any moment lead to the armed r ising
itself. The terrorist organizations of th e seabo ard provinces wer e
to t ake action as rapidl y as possible and the unemployed might.
for instance, begin to procure Fuel by force. Jt woul d do no har m
if direct collisions with t he poli ce to ok pl ace in thi s connect ion.
The "Data re lating t o the launch ing of and reporting on our
193:3 offen sive" publ ish ed by th e R.G.O. is entitle d: "Make all
pre par at ions to be r ead y" , and continues :-
"Even ts a re occ ur ring a t increased sp eed .. Ther e is not much l i nu-
left. All fi ghting prol el arians must j oin us. The Communists arc
r eady to ta ke advantage of all occasions to organize the masses a nd
th us make possible t he victory of the prol etariat. The revoluti on ary
cr isis may r eall y occ ur a t an y moment. "
The organ of th e R.F.B. in its 36th ill egal number of th e ni nth
year of i ssue' "] (incid entall y with an allege d circulation of 500,()()O)
is still plainer :-
"Mobilization Order. All young worker s fit for military sc rv ir
a re ordered t o report themsel ves for se rvi ce in the formations of I l u-
r ed Youth Front. General examinat ion is from to-day until 111C'
15th March. Enlist at once .
We are going to attack with Luxemburg, Li ebknecht and Lenin.
To a ll former comrades of the re d army of th e Huhr-Distrl ct l
To all members of th e proletari an "hun dreds" I
Ho ld meetings everywher e, or gani ze yo urselves and j oin th e union
of Red Front Fighter s' Lea gu e."
" l Another organ of th e R.F.B. "Der Hot c Frontsolf1a t", dcnling wit h t he
politi cs of proletnr inn defence, pub lished by Kurt Hei ss , Berlin,
Ber-lin N\ V., ' l' urms trnsse 87. Th ere is also munusuript mah-ri ul surh liS
" G"ll UI' 1\,, 1'''''"'11 Ill'ljf ,n a n" and Ih e a lready nu-u t iuru-d " \ V.' hrpll li l is lIII'
Sc hrifll'II I,' i l\l' '' IIl1 d Ih .. numerous sub ve rs ive wl'ilillHs (1111' 11 ' !'III1ILsIII'd hy
till: IU' ,II
r: \
0 11 the 2[J l h F" hr ll:lf " 111:1:1 II II' 1,, 11"\\,111' ":-;1ll'e:ia I (' di lioll " of
the "Hole Front " was eiis lri h ll le.d :
" 0' .
rgaruze a conti nuu us nlu rru s,' r vi,' (' ; " r t-:alli z(' day and nig hl
and gu ard.s! Wat c h l he S.A. 11.... 1' slll" " IlS.. . 1I "lIl ai ll logl'lh,'!
In s lee p III groups, defend yourselves in grouJls and di e fOI'
fr eed om If necessary. Organize yo urs elves in t he tri cd forma tions of
th e R.F.B. Hall yrouud them. "
The eve r plainer. They consider it no longer
to disguise th eir r eal intentions. To-morr ow they will
fi ght On the barri cad es! "Der r ol e Ma trose" writes: _
"To arms! The vic tory will be ou rs . Reload yo ur r ifles, pull the
of yo ur hand-grenades and off to t he barric ades . .. ha ng till'
fascist murder ers and incendi aries . . . do not shout "Germany awake"
but " workers to th e barricades"! Forward to vic tory!"
The final pr ep arati on s were feverishly made. In the Ruhr
Di stri cl a system of success ive stages of alarm was ar ranged:-
" Differen t stages of ala rm are indi cat ed 'by a number 50 100
150 or 200. ' ,
When 50 is signall ed, ever y member of the R. F.B. IIlUSt remain
at home. The co urier service has to stand r eud y in orde r t o mob il izr-
the whol e and t o a la r m th e party as events take pl ace.
Whe n 100 IS signal led , patrol s of si ngle gro ups mus t be on till'
watch.
.W he n 150 is signalle d. the whole orga niza t ion must get r eady for
an d, each group of five must be conc en lra te d in a d we ll ing and
w a i t fo r fu rt her or de rs. Apart fr om th at , the i ns truct ions for Ilu-
numbe rs 50 and 100 ap ply.
When 200 'is signalled, ar me d patrol s will al so h e se n t out ill
acco rda nce wil h part y orde rs or th ose of th e R.F .B. lead ers.
At each of the vario us s tages of al ar m th e gro ups of fi ve have
t o ge t int o tou ch with each other and at th e same time to supp ly
th e l ocal par ty headqua rt ers wit h information abo ut th e sit ua tio n.
F ur ther, the cl osest con tact is to be kep t with th e s ubdis tr ic t h ead
qua rte.rs by means of additiona l courier s ta tions to be kept open day
and ni ght." .
On th e 25th F ebruary 1933 th e couriers of the uni on lenders
took the orders of the day to all di st rict s ta ffs : _
"We, .the cen tral headquarters, in vite all leaders and co mr de'S
to d o th eir utmost to ge t all that is possibl e out 01' th e org unizntlo u.
We show that we can re deem ou r oath a nd carry out 1111'
r esol ut ioris of th e last Rei ch Confer ence Ihal We' s l1O' uid lie th e Ill'si
servants of th e r evolutionary party."
Words a re f oll owed by deeds. Till ' ul nrui is g iven hy th e leaders
of th e R.F.B. : the a r me d ri sing i.s 10 1:I1u: placc a t Ih .. .' n d 01'
F ebruary: -
124
' I II al l S,.:lioll Sia ff 1
0111 "11,(lIl1i 7.ati oll, Ih. whuk- III t lu - "' 0 " .1 11' ,'111 fil lOll' ,,, 1111 111 Y
servlrv. is t'on f ru ll ted by li lt d. ,j i vr- III I . 1:11111'1' 10:" , 1,"l d" ..ss 111111
de tr-rmluution. At any IlIOllle'1I 1 all Ih, ' l..ll d l 1' 1111,, 1 Ill' "apalll, ' of
mobilizing th e masses through l lu- III'!o:all i wt illll . II is 1111 ' olll y a
quest ion of calli ng upon l h musses III d"r ,'I,,1 11 11 ' 1\ ,1 ' . )) . a lld
the r ights of t he wo rkers , hut w e m us! a lsll sti r III' IIH' ha ll I,' of til ..
ma sses and dir ect a mass ul luck aga illsl III,' I,'a s"i sl di"l al llrsh il" ' I' l n-
Leag ue headquarters a t thi s decisive 11I01I 1C'lIt ex pec t eve r y h' ad O' I' uud
co mrade to do hi s utmost and to risk hi s lif e in the sl r llgg le for oUI'
class. We ther efor e order : -
1. The whole organization must bc constantly r eady for im mt'dialo'
action.
2. At any moment the party may be forbidden or other hru tul
mea su r es adopt ed.
3. No thing can or may hinder our wo r k for a mi nut e.
4. As long as we remain in perman ent soli darity and arc in sepurnbt
connected with the working masses we are inv inci ble.
fl. Sa fes t protec tion of operations and communicatio ns and t he'
mainte nance of co ntact are in dispensib le conditions.
6. All discussions and big meet in gs are forbi dd en . T l u- chl r-f
command and th e lea der' s orders are not to be qu est imu].
Whoever disobeys them is a traitor.
7. Maintain continuous co ntact wi th the Reichsbanner , th e [ u r mn liur t:
a nd head -quar ters ; th er e th e atmos phe r e is favou rable . COollt'l'alill ll
should be organize d in this respect.
8 . The national front is not so united as they would have li S lu-lh-vc ,
Large numbers are di sappoi nted, others wi ll becomc so. T hC'I'l'I'III'l '
propaganda among th e masses must now be i nt ens ified wit h 1111
possible energy.
9. Ruth less opposition against isol ate d acts of t er rori sm . ' I'Iu: 1110, I
deci si ve battle of the masses on th e broadest fro nt.
to . Organization and defen ce of the working-class qu a rt ers. Wa lt' ll
pat rol s.
11. Insure the safety of the apparatus of organization.
12. Deput y leaders are t o be appointed everywhere. Mass d istri hllti' II'
of materials and the sa le of news papers.
13. I n this decisive hour every leader and co mrade muxl shll ",
whether he is r eally r eady to fig ht on fea rlessly a nd to ni uk e I lu-
utmost sacrifice. Report on everyt hi ng th r ou gh tlw lJui e'I"' sl
chan ne ls .
Leaders and co m r ades, unfurl th e ba nner of our ma ss uc t iun.
For war d to the most advanced outposts. Show th at you a n ' fi t-:hl ,' l's
and al so , if the re vo lution dem ands it, that you cuu di e as 1t" I'III' S ill
battl e. BOlllld for ever to all leaders and eo mr adcs, IIU I'
COl\l mOIl plc- d!o:. ,: -
FOl'ward, lon g li ve 0 111' victory.
L(' at-: "I'
AfLer th e lou gud for SIICCI'SS of IIIl' r lsillg, th e H.F.B. , wa s to
receive its great reward. lL wa s 1101 10 pl ay the part of a Bed Army
in Germany, but account was to be tuk cu of the fact that it consist-
ed of picked men and it was destined to become a Chc ka or G.P.V.
in th e future Soviet Germany. The Red Mass Self-Def ence Organi -
zations, the so-called "Red Guard" on the other hand, and the
Anti-Fascist Fighting League (KgF) were to form th e Red Army.
Even in its uniform the Anti-Fascist League gave an indication
of its plans for the future. Its members wore black Ru ssian blouses
with dark red collar-patches, black breeches and leggings, shoulder-
straps and swordbeIts, and dark-blue yachting caps. On the collar
there was a red Soviet star mad e of metal.
I n spite of the important task it was to have in the future, the
Anti -Fascist League was by no means so well organized and dis -
guised as the RF.B. Right up to the end it was able to carryon
openl y and was not forbidden.
In 1 of its statutes we read:-
"The league is called the KGF. Its object is to bring together in
one organization all ant i-Fuscist forces 10 form a broad anti-Fascist
mass movement. It will train its members for the fight against
Fascism and wiII carryon this fight with the most suitable political
and organizational means ."
There is no doubt as to what means the I{gF thought "suitable",
Quite naturally there was only one "suit able" 'means of carrying
on fight , and that was the armed rising.
In the first months of 1932 the KgF hesitated between two
purposes, to win a broad measure of support among the masses
and at the same time to cr eate well-trained closely organized fight-
ing units. In its work among the masses it even went so far as to
form worncns' and girls' detachment which appear ed at "anti-
Fascist congresses". There were, for instance, in Jena in September
1932 six squads, one you th squad and one of women and girls con-
sisting of fr om three to six groups of eight or nine members each.
In addition to that there was a cyclist squad, The purely military
aspect was, on the other hand, most clearly shown by the custom
of not carrying papers, but tin ident ifi cation discs on whi ch the
number of the group and of th e man were stamped, and which
they carried on a string round their necks.
In the autumn of 1932, the transformation to ill egality was
begun in the case of the Anti -Fascist League also, but propaganda
among the masses was not abandoned. As late as Dec ember 1932
"Das Sturmbanner", the officials' organ of the KgF wrot e:-
"The revolutionary wave is rising. - The masses ar c learning
to widen the str ike movement , and to develop it to lar ge scale political
strikes and evcn a general strik e,"
126
. ' U l li e HI' 1\ a r u l with lilt' prill cipl l' , I:liel
III .10 , " , ' 0 11111' 1'11 011 W.I I e .. . .. ,,' . I ' I' " 1" :ll l opl l' eI '\
d ' I , II . lIe,je ll Co ni cre nce I II BllIlI S\\ IIJ , I u. . \h
0\\ II I ) ", I to th e end of Fuhruury 1\);1:1, In th e course 01
Ihrt:u 1110 111lis Jl an np I' lied an d new sq uads
whi ch f, () , () () () new mcmhcr s were to )C em 0
and local groups organized. . .
The similarity the 1\:'0, t
Of

of the year is very striking. This m tea ntr to be ready for the
had bcen given out fr om a common cen re
action by the end of February. . . . ,, ' ,
Tl 1933 brought t o the fron t the necessity tor r corgamz-
I C ,,' it ill eual form, in st r ict accor dance
ing th e Anti-Fasci st ,m s R FB and in th e ille gal party
with what had been one
f
s c.t 1t'p as th e fundamcntal unit
. ti TI c "roup a ive wi
orgarnza t.on. .1 ::, 1 well The dir ections as to organizations
in the Anti -Fasci st League as : . J 1933 lay down
issued by the lea gue at the begmnmg of anuary
the following principles,
ibl dccentr'l1ization of our forces
"Tocether with the greatest POSSI e . tIt the
" , rk among the masses, ther e mils Je a
so as to ext end our \\ 0 t ti of the whole organi zation on
sallie lime the greatest concen ra IOn
the tusks to be fulfilled ," d t
J nuar they had got so far as to be prepare
let hidc hehind
t

safet y of
begm. League , q" . , I uote the order as it appears
the organization and tto district hcadquarters of
in the announcemcn ie
th e Iaazue on the 23rd January:- .' I t
::, ., give any information a IOU
"1. No member of the organization may
it to an outsider, . tI e or"anization members and officials,
2. Except at the 1 f . "t either in restaurants
tl ust be lIO (hSCUSSlOn 0 111 e I
iere m " '" r tram-cars , or elsew ier e,
or in the streets or III railway carfla"es. 0 t or to give
3, Members of the organization alre who say
. f ti money or any ot rer assrs .
111 orma ion, . roduce a membership book.
that they are .members, If out that such people,
In conne ction With that , I may d f indenti-
id d ith ery conceivable forge paper 0
e WI a::n for their ' wanting shelter and assistance
fication, glvc as a re . offence and expect heavy
that. Ith::
t
swindle, only to
. feelings of some of organization members. ove
p . arn members against sueh people,
all things , we w ., k public appearance whether
4 WI
er the organization ma es a ,
. ienev . ublic social evenings, members
at mucl ings, demonstratlO?S, or ainst the activity of secret
must he s pec ia lly on their guar ago
IlVo"lIl s nud ngcnt s provocateurs.
127
f., III . 'V'" I\, I'll f' I I IIlIl I hI t 11 11" '1111111.11 IIIII till I 1111 d n 't 'I,UIl . n nr]
COIII ' lI a ll d . III IIII' IIppOill"'c1 1' 1111, I .. I II" III ' " ' 1/ 11 110 11 n rr - 10 hI'
olH'yl'd, IlIfonHll fiulI , 'Ofllill 1111 11'11II"" ,to 1"11 \ I", ""lI vl ' Y"d 10
the propcr official ci t ln-r thl'll lll-:h II,, " II/d .1 "'1/111'/ 01' Ihrol/({h
such members as ar e persuuul ly IU IO W II I" l l u- III/II I ' 0' i nf'o ru mtinn,
Final Remarks fo Comrades, Ll'lld,'l' s .uul SI:tf l's,
The se directions in dica te the least that fIll/s l I", d01l1' 10 ens ur e
th e safety of th e organization, without creati ng a spy psychosis. The
greates t safety for the organization lies in its activi ty, its hold on
the masses an d its foun dation in t he fac tories , If, from now on ,
me mbers or r epresentat ives of th e d istrict headquart er s are de tached
to in sp ect etc., we sh all in each case anno unce th ei r arrival in due
time, and, i n so far as th ey are not per son all y known to yo u, they
will be supplied wit h the requisite i dentity paper s, which will have
bee n arr an ged beforehand wi th the in divid ua l local headquarters.
Ready for the attack!
Reich Headquarters.
We poi nt out once more th at for special reasons we requi re the
following from each local group: - one address for letters, one
address for parcels, one informa tion office for cou riers and, at the
same tim e, alter natives, so that, if need be, we can use the alterna ti ve
addresses. These ad dresses will soo n be fetc hed by messenge r or
communicated to Reich headqu arters in some other way to be
arranged. "
Two days later t he first shots were fi red a n d n ine per son s were
killed. The offic ial r eport of the Police P resident in Dresden on
what occurred a t t he m eeti ng ' of the An ti-Fascist League in the
"Keglerhei m" on J anuary 25th, 1933 s tates:-
"The chief speaker was the Communist, re tired lieutenant Friidrich
fro m Baut-zen. He spoke in such an infl ammatory way tha t t he
audience of 800 be came more and more exci ted . At 10.35 p. m. the
poli ce of fi cer on duty decl ar ed the meeting disso lved and calle d up
police r ein forcements. As the speaker protest ed against the meeti ng
being di ssol ved, those present were once more loudl y informed that
t he meet ing 'Was dissolved and ca lled upon to disper se. But although
thcy at firs t only protest ed by gcs ticula ting, resist ance became greater
because th ey were exci t ed by F riid rich' s behaviour. Gro ups, chie fly
in the gallery, sho uted in unison that the peopl e were t o kee p their
seats. Ther eupon th e officer commanding the po lice mount ed 011
a chai r and ordered th ose present once more and in a specially
loud and cl ear voi ce to l eave t he hall . Gro ups of men star ted to
shout again in unis on , and, at the same ti me, beer -glasses, cha irs, etc.
were thrown at th e police from the gallery facing the pla tform; one
or two shots we re als o fired from th e galle ry . Ther eupon the police
made use of their r evol vers, firing chi efl y at those wh o had shol
from th e ga llery. It has been proved beyon d doubt that the Com-
munists fir ed at th e poli ce from two different points in th e gall ery,
128
11" ,"",, 111 tlu- gil I11'1' , luul 1.. IIIal ..oI I",fol'l' 1111' fhilll( "f Ih ,'
'
.. . 1. ci vcn 10 .. asl fi ...,. 11111 li S till' )lolie'.. wrre
1," 11 , , II.. o,tI.' r , ., 0 f ' I
I I led wi th va r ious o bj ects nud Further s hots were II'C(
a I-: II III ' ''I U ."1t " . . . If I f ' t
f II "' , llery the police officials had ugum , 1II se - t e cnce, 0
1'0111 II ' r"l. , d I' ..
I olvers ') I of 29 policemen present use t lei I' weapons use I u-rr rev ._
a nd fired in all 36 shots.
Of those who took part in the meeting 9 were ki lled, but only
4 of them die d of gunshot wounds.
The ill egal An ti-Fascist League had fo ught it s first battle. It
h a d come out of its ambush and had shed t h e fi rst blood. 'Val' had
begun.
h Government was formed with On the 30th January t e new . . ue
Adolf Hitler at its head. On the same day the AntI-FaSCIst Leag
iss ued its alarm orders:-
"To-day at noon the new government was formed. The greatest
W th f issue the following vigilance is urgently required. e ere or e
orders:-
1. All League squads and mass formations are to hold
themsel ves in readiness until f urther notice. . .
2 Every local group and squad must at once estabhsh a courier
. . . E I I group must at once have a in formalion office. very oca
dummy address which will on ly be :01' these d
All that is sl ill necessary for orgun rzntton must be jllOtect e.
4. from enemy interfer ence. Comrades must also conceal their
membership books. d
5. Only memb ers of headquar ters who ar e
f.
as gi:l;n
comrades with special papers of identi icalion may e
information as to th e state of and measures adopted by the
organization.
6 Strict discipline and obedience to the orders.
. I t n will be continued 7. If it should be forbidden, tie orgamza 10
illegally. .
8. Comrades must r emain absolut ely cool and display nto
Precautionary measures must be taken at once 0 pro ec
9. houses of the chi ef officials. Remember what happened after
the 31st July in Kunigsberg. .
10, Take off uniforms and badges at night, . . ,
D t stand about in groups in front of officia ls ho uses ,
11. watch the house, place comrades in the vicinity and patrol It.
12. Headquarters must also be search ed a.t night .in
We stand for th e political mass stnke against . It er s . IC a .0 1'
13, . Th . ti n of "poli tical choruses" and dISCUSSIOn slu p. e orgamza 10 ,
groups in th e fa ctories is of extreme " ". ' ."
14. Immcdiat e contac t is 10 be esta blis he d With th e comr- ad eshi ps
und sec tions of th e Rei chsbanner who are al so prepared fo r
uctlon. - Thcy must be lold wh er e th ey can r each us, tha i
. I I t", ,,111 wi th thcm uuuinst the nut ionul Fas cis ts. \ V I " al'" r(l:1( Y 0 b e
12")
15. Hes id e s l l u- hun I'S 0 1 III, ,III . r 101" 1111 11 111 11' W, ,, I" ' r s ' ...s l a u r n ll ts
and dist rlbutt on cculrr-s III " " 1111\ " ' 11. 11' " " Oil' I hi' gila I'd ," !.
After reading and discussiulo: 111i , dll"'"I1' III wilh Ihe i uu ne dla te
leaders it must be at once dest royvd .
1I" lId y fill' Ihe uttnck l
Dislri<:l l h-udquart ers,
Safel y protected on all sides, ready to take any acli on required;
the Anti -Fascist League crossed the invisible fr onti er between
peace from war. On the 1st February 1933 it was at war with the
German nation.
At the same lime the formations of the "Red Guard", the real
r evolutionary army, were also made ready for the attack. The
K.P.D. had already in th e summer of 1932 begun to form these mass
organizations, which were, so to speak, the revolutionary regiments
of th e lin e, It was the kernel of the Anti-Fascist Action which had
been called into life by the proclamation of the central committee
of th e K.P.D. of the 25th May, 1932.
H
) The germs of such self-
defence organizations were of course already in existence. There
wer e for instance:-
1290 members of the Anti-Fascist League and 183 self -defence men
in Essen; 1622 members of the Anti-Fascist League and 1132 Self,
Defence men in Duisburg, etc. (Circ ular of the local command of the
Ruhr Distri ct Ant i-Fascist League , dat ed 18th May, 1932 .)
The spir it whi ch animated these Red Mass Self-Defence
(R.M.S.S. ) organizations may be seen very clearly from the
following r emarks of the illegal central organ of the Anti-Fascist
Leagu e, dated June, 1932 :_'5)
" Bitter hatred and furious anger against the Hitler gangs - those
are the most important weapons of the working class. One must not
allow them to be blunted by individual acts of terrorism. Infect the
whole working-class with your hatred and anger ...
Organize thi s mass self-defence! By m eans of the masses drive the
brown pest from the streets and from all workers' quarters I Then
you will have laid the foundations for the final judgment on these
cri minal exploiters of the people, the reactionary barons and their
swastika band of murderers."
The armed rising - the Bolshevist mass murder - was to he
born of this senseless rage against fellow-countrymen and of II
blind hatred of the overwhelming majority of the German p ople.
Mass t errorism and civil war had already been decided upon a the
goal of the Red Mass Self-Defence. What had been proclaimed
already in August 1932 by the central organ of Ihe R.F.B., "Die
Rote Front":-
" ) Cf. "Rate Fahne", issue of 2G. a. :12.
U} Cf. "Ra tes Sturmbanncr " , No. 7.
130
Barricades in Moabif in June, 1932.
"The mass terrorism of the working class lind of the ol h" 1
exploited classes must be opposed by the terrorism of l lu- Fas"isl
organizations. To organize a fighting front of millions I ollly
way, not only to treat the bourgeoisie in the separate ski r mlshes 01
the civil Will' but to destroy terrorism altogether lind, at the saIII"
time , to d estroy the foundations on whi ch the capitalist exploiters rest . "
At the beginning of July 1932 the official rul es as to thr - r,o r
mation of the R.M.5.S. were issued by the Party. Her e we find
st ated.")
"The Red Self-Defence is a part of the great Anti -Fa scist uct iou IIi
the millions of the unit ed militant "Red Fr ont"
Th e Red Mass Self-Defence is neith er an organizatiun 1101' a so i,'I,'
but a non-party union of .all workers . . ."
Groups or squads of the R.l\LS.S. t hI' : "
rules t o be fo r med in ever y factor y, In th e dol e o I I IC"S, III
ever ; bl ock of houses and in th e country. T he ta sk of Ih e. Itill .S.S,
had alr eady been set as "to fight fo r the com plete of . all
strike-breaker and t errorist organizations of th e NaZIS III Ilie '
tori es and Labour Exchanges."
" It is fight ing to clear Nazi cells out of the faclori es a nd tu Ioll il"
up Self-Defence squads of all workers in all factori es nnd Laholll
Exchanges.
The R.M.S.S. is fighting agai nst Fascist terror on till' , 11'1,,' 1
agai ns t S.A. beer saloons, S.A. Homes, S.A. hases and for Pl'olo,,tioll,
of the dwellin gs and beer-saloons of the worker s, and ot the work vr
property, l hrir press nnd Cooperative Societi es.
I I b II 7 1" 32 Sec al so "Hot el' M . ISSCII S II> \
16) HIIII". 101 ..t l . am ur g . . , .
sc h urz. ,"."' LI",'" n rtt" I 1I1',t Sch ne lle r.
I \ I
111111 '11111 11 II ' \ \ hll "uuld
dod '1"11-1 lu. 1111 dlllll 'd
\II , I II I\, alll In ",d.., 10 1101111
111 11 " hy illtlll"II"llI g Ih,' , ,1\
,,1.,. 11 11 thl
pi 1'1 1111, til l
ri si II
' I' lu- s l" ' a k,' r s po ke from I ' I" ' d 1101.' ,
T he co urse whic h la sit'd sr-ven hOllr , wa 10 Ill' (""I"'IIlt'd III 10'"
weeks.
The fo llowillg books W"I'I' n'I'o llllll"IIl"'d hy II...
"Del' \ Veg zum Sicg" - " Kr it' gsl h" Sl!n dO' s VI. \\" 'I\I'''"I-:I't''''''''
" De l' hewn flnul e Aufstund !" - " :"> l ili liir is" lw S, 'hr iflt'n" hy
Lenin - "Hcsohliisse des XII. EkkiI'!t'1II1ms" - " Solda lt' II- F i h,' \"
" Die n eue ,ruppc" - " (' 1' Strn uenkumpf'" . (I' ol ir , 11 "\'''1'1 )
The judgment o f the f ourth divi si on o f t h e Supreme e""1" 1
agai n st P laczek o f the 3 1s t May IH 32 and against :I u d :u -
cnmplice of t h e 3th Sept ember 1932 s how how this l ru i ni n j; \\':1
put into practice.
I n th c judgment a gainsl P la czek a leafl et o f th e " Hed Fronl Fi gh l, 'r
Uuion \Vilhelmshurg" is r eproduced . Thi s Ieaf'l et I':d ls for IIII' :11 111'
nct ivity which 111<' accused l lol ert wa s cb arged with : duri ru; till ' I" 'r i"d
i n wh ivh th e I'l'volulion was be in g organized groups of live ,'oll lr :lIll' s
th l' wel\ . k nown s ma ll esl u n ion in th e H.F .I3, - mu st COIIIl' log,' l h" I' 10
" :Il:'1"
ir lJ
k nowl edge of th e a r t of t he ur mod r isi ng (Eu gl.'Is \' ,' ni ll , :"> li l ,
l iirpolili seh e Sch r iflc n) and in addition t o th a l to se e t o t.lu- pr o vis ion
o f arms" . , ..
The jndgment again st Meyer arul a ccompli ces m cn t inns 11I1I .'h 111 :11.'
rial from th d isl r icl comm a nd Up pe r Sil esiu of th e H.F.II ,fl'lIl1l 11\1' V,' :II
19:11 whi ch al so mcnti ons co u rses und trnining evc n ings and I'a l b \0 '
politi cal and wa r truining on th e part o f UH' nion JIIcmlll'l' s. .. , ,
The j udgmen t o r th e Hi gh Cour t 15 .T 2-l.:1:.! ag a ins t lIa rlll'll . 1 1 ,,'I.,
,I. 2o:{./:11. - a ga in st Roscher and 1-l b /15 .T . i!O.:I1, - 11 "10"\'
deal with si mi lar proceed in g . Bul th e tr niuing r ll llr,, 's wlu r-h 1111
j udgmcn t r uf'cr : 10 d cu l pr im a r il y with th (' ur nu-d rbi llg rr om a 1'111 11 1
ca l po in t o f vi ew, wheruus th e l'OnrSI'S arran ged by th e H,F .II , ,It'al \I 1111
th e sa me question c hie fly from it s mi l it ary as pl" \.
The t h eor il icul l ' aeh i ng wa s s u p p lemen l l:d hy fil' ld ,'\"1'[' 1 ('
and marche s . The training in the u s e of wcapons wa s <III C\ lIi'" a
high l e\'l'1. TIHl l' aral, ellum pi slol , the lh t' 1I:III1 I.gl"'lIa d ,'
rifle I11 l1d el !IH, e a r h i nes. machi n e pi s tols and In a l'lI il ll ' g,"1' \\1'1"
s t u d i e d , I n slrn el in n in 111(' us e o f the wl' a p " us 11 11
I'a rri ed o u t on ly uu(\pr the stricles l preca u tions ,
II \V:l S s e l d o m pn, s ib le a ctually III "hs(' n ' e sh<l <l l i llg l'r:ll'li, ' , 1111
the pnr l of I,'rrll r i sl g rllups. as for ins lnn,'l' lhal <I f til ,' 1" 1'1' 11 11 I
g r o u p Npul'alh ill KiHII whil'h wa s Iwld i ll 11 11 ' "(' l lnr , d
t h e hnrr:wk , ill t i ll ' 11:1l'1,('liiUl'rs lrn l.lp :!;\ , Fil'l"c'n Ullifnrlll, ' d \1'1'1
11
ri st s IlIlI k 1':11 I nlld Iinl w i l h Ii .:!:! Flolu'rl rill" 1> , IlIlI g rill, " allil I I ..
pi'; lol" III II II' 1IIIIIII IIdillll g , I n ' l' h <:<llIl n ll l lli, 1 dllub', ' 1':111<11 \I I I,
AhOH! a ll l hey d isell ssed l he forcps of police pr esen t in II a mlmr..:,
Ha mburg and Allona - \Vandsbeck (a r ms. number of armou r pd
Hamhur g . , , - II nr.buq ; , . . - \ Vandsh eck , . .) and ab I h o w 10
pr o,:u r e weapons f indi ng and robbing enemy armament l!tpo ls. E
amples w giv cu from I ()2:I,
Reli ahle informati on was gi" cn that. allholl gh a t Ihe mOIl1<' ul IIII'
danger 1.'1' an ar med at t a r' k hy Ihe K,p.n. wa s lIot i llllll ilH'lIl .
iI was !'t'll Ih nl IlI'ad'lnar l,'rs W,'I't ' IlIal, illg in,'r..a s..d prl'(laralioll
for l.he a r me d ris ill g, Th,' s p,' a k., (" "II'l'ha , i/, 'd lind th,' It'adl.'rs had
givl.'n particular atlt'lltioll 10 IIII' :11 1': ' "I( "l n" 1I 1 o f 1111' a nd IllId
' I' Iu- II.:">I. S,S. i1> 011(11111 /11" ' 0"1",,,,," l" ol' ,' l(allila '111011 1( IIII'
e m ploy,' ,' s urul l lu- wurk iu j; IIlId dl ,' ,I. , , ,d ,o " all amollg 1111' s ru ull
shopkeeper-s : h ul il ,' 1, 11.1 ,' " \I I II II 'alII I .. Fas, :ist s hil l'
keepers who s u ppor t ti ll' ;'oo: a/.i a gilal iou
Ho w is t lu: H,:"> I.S,S, mohi l izr-d ?
' I' lu: :">I nss Sclf-Dcf'e u ce sq uads ar c 10 lu- ulu r nu-d ,hy sq uad h ciu lq uur
ters a nrl, wh ile pcr lur min g Ihe t a sks ul lnl u-d 10 t hc m, t h uy must oh.. y llu-
urrlcrs o f th e !l'ader, who has 'been appoin ted by th e squad crmuuu ml
fo r t he pr-rfor muncv of th e parti cular t as k u nd er t a k cn."
T he h a d g e of t he was a penl a gon pointing downwa r ds
(the Sovi et Sial' ) with a si lver background on which was a ris l
c lasping a r ed l' lug. The inscr- iption wa s " Hed Mass Self-Defence".
The e x ler n a l form of o r ga n i z a t io n was kept as close as possihle.
The members w ere given n o m ember hip cards and had no sub
criplions 10 p ay, The H.i\ I.S.S, was subdivided i n m u ch the sa nil'
way as th e HY. B.: groups o f fi ve , comradeshi ps and sections, Grea l
e mphasis w a s l a i d o n d i s ci pl i n e and p u nct uali ty, Squad eveni ng
meeti ngs l o ok pl a c e regular ly fo r pur po s e s of m ili tary inst r uct ion.
"On l hc ll l h nn rl I :II.h J unuur y 10:\:\ a military-poli t ic al course wa s
hel rl in th e St. Pa uli q uar t er of Hambu rg, a nd wa s attended by. 2:1
K. P,I>. f'un ct iu nur les ,
The fo llowing s u bj ects werc d iscusscd :-
I. Prr-parn tion fo r Ih e a r-med ri sing,
2, Armed ri sing a s an a rlo
3, ' I' he si tuut ion in Ih e se ubour d provinces and th e strength o f the
enemy .
The m ee ti ng d iscu ssed in de ta il th c rul es of st ree t- fig h t in g. lh,'
disar m i ng of pot ice pi ckets . sur p r ishig of gua r ds and th e occupation of
i m po r ta n t sl ralt'gic points. pa rti cularl y th ose in th e su b ur bs. The usc'
o f va r io us weupous wi-r e al so d iscll s1> ed :-
Fi n ' arms. luuul -gr cundes, homhs. mines an d, f ina lly, gas.
The n .cess u y o f making maps o f th e st r eet s (det a ils of houses. roof.
and co u r tya r ds. a nd position and nature o f police s t a t ion s) wus
es pec ia l ly mphusizvd. These maps wer e 10 be con ve ye d to th e Party
organiznI ion .
hll"yl'll ' . 1\('1' 1 f.:llal'd, w hll III IIII' 111111' 111'"' lhe' poli"I' WI'I'P I ('pi
husy ill allotlll'l' 1'111'1 or lit" 10 wII
. In Allgu s!. aft er lit e 1I1:ieh sl a r-: 1'11' 1' 111 1' 1 , IIII' r-: ro llps or riv e n-
ceived the name " Sta r" , l ite sl n 't'\ .sq llad \\'1 '1" .' ulll'd l'rum 1I0W Oil
up "
enn,ant , and town di s lriel s " 1\:11 111 1'1'''. Til t squad Ica dl' l's
orgamzed t he service of co ur ie rs and fwd 10 Sl' l' Ilta l mo rc defen sive
spor t practice took pl ace, In accordance with Ihl' in str uctions of
the R.M.S.S. t he house defence and factory divis ion s were given t he
fo llowing concrete t a sks :-
Active struggle against all Nazis by t he organization of mass act ion
and the avoida nce of individual terrorist acts.
Concentration on Ihe nearest Nazi bas e. The ar rangement of bar-
racks for the squads in r eading rooms, purty beer saloons , gar dens etc.
The soun ding of alarms by horn or whist le signals.
Thr ee stages of alarm were la id down, accordi ng as to whet he r
it was a ma tter of big national socia list action, of local dist urbances,
or, finally, of small incidents "which co uld be dealt with hy t he
st reet squads themsel ves" , These instr uctions state lit er all y :-
."At the first alarm stage A, the house squads move to the ir pl aces
which they have to secure by sendi ng forward, if possible, cyclists and
-motor cyclists to in sur e aga inst all eventualities. The necessary orders
for action ar e issued aft er a short time. A,t the highest alarm stage our
comrades must provi de themse lves as far as possible with haver sacks or
rucksacks and the necessary food. The squad leader must also provide
tool s, axes, picks, spades, elc. All house squads must try to form in de-
pendent cyclist 'groups."
By the end of September there were in Berlin about 500 squa ds
of th e R.M.S.S. wi th a varying member shi p up to about 80.
In St uttgart t he number of squads was already about 50 , The
best organized were t hose in the seaboard provi nces. Here a t t he
end of February 1932 there were about 13,000 Anti-Fascists in 260
squads. The allotment garden owners squad in Altona - Lurup
n umbering 220 men represented a considerable fo rce, Almost t wo
thir ds of the squad members were non-party, e. g.:_
Sailors division 450 men, 60 of them K.P.D. members, SI. Pauli South
350 men, 95 of them K.P.D. members, Centr e Distr,ict 1, 125 men, 330 of
th em K.P.D. members.
At the beginning of February 1933 th ere were i n Hambur g bout
150 house squads with about 5,500 men. Of these about 2,500
co uld be used for any purpose. As regards the t ech nique o f
the house squads had reached a high state of ef f' ic ie m.y
particularty on account of t he well-a tt ended shooting eve nings.
134
' 1" 11 '11 111 ' I II II' d('('i si vl' h uu r 1I1'1' ''" i''''lI'd 1111 ' 111111 " Il, jclly
was 11 ,1' 11 M ' .' . lI r ga llize d unti l ri ll:dl ', II W I' III\' , II I l lu- 'lIicld1l'
o r ,la llulI"y \\1:1:1, it was i ucurporu l r-d i ll 11 11 ' 11 .1" .11. 1111 1111'
unde r sl:lIlliill g t ha t the leadi ng po si lillll s ill IIII' II . I. S ,S. wo uld
be held by mil itarily trained H.F.B. III (' III I I(''' S. Al'In l hnl l i uu- IIII'
or gani za tion principle of the group of live wa s s l r i cl ly apl' lil'll.
Three groups of five made up a sec tion and tlJrI :e se c ti o ns a xl urr u
troop. Representat ives of the O.S.N.A. were a t tache d 10 th e SI 0 ," I I
troop commands. T he ranks of the reorganized H.M.S.S. \\'t,,'t'
quickly organized, the order be ing is sued that all male IlICIlI 1I""".'
the par ty and affiliated organizations , who were capable 01 111 111
tary service should j oin up. In this wayan immedia te co u cr-u
tration of the Communist forces u n der the R.F.I3. was to be broug hl
about. As a kind of reserve to this Red Guard, the ordinary l\l: lss
Self-Defence (M.S.S.), consisti ng of all the members of t he party 110 1
fi t f or military service and t he women, was called up. Evrry
member of the two fighti ng organizations had to pay a wCI! ltl y
subscription of 5 pf'ennigs. The uniform for the reorgun izt-rl
R.M.S.S. was to be a black shirt with a black ti e. On th e 2;, 1h
January 1933, a march past of t he R,M.S .S. groups or f'i ve
took place in front of the Karl Liebk nech t House on the Biilowplal1.
in Ber lin. In Greater Berlin alone t h e new mili tary organiza I ion of
the K,P.D. had a ttained a strength of nearly 13,000 members. The
or der was issued that all organizational measures should be con
el uded by the 23rd February 1933 -'---- the anniversary celebrated by
the Red Army of Soviet Russia.
The German Yo u ng Communists League (K.J ,V.D.) ha d :11.' .ill'
por tant part 10 play i n t he preparations for th.e 1: ISlllg,
si nce it brought together all th e yo u thful and act ive torcc s III l lu-
movement. Accordi ng to its pr ogr a mme, it was bound to uruh-r
take subversive activity in the army a nd navy and to cnr ry 011
military es pionage, Apart from t hat, it formed an i mporl a n !
cadre within the Bo lshevist defence force and was mus t curr-f'ul ly
trained. I take t h e fo llowi ng exampl e from a pol ice r eport 1'1'0'11
Nuremberg, dated October 1932:
Apart fro m questi ons of inter na l organization and po lltics or th.
day, th e r egularly held group evenings and "educa tiona l" l cut urcs d"lIl1
chiefly with mili tary subjects (ar med ri sing, civ.il war, .,
In the field exe r ci ses, among othe r things, act ion 1I1 thc c\,(:11 1 0 1 1I 1'"IIl ' 1'
attack was spe cia lly practised.
A new method is the holding of week-end courses in s mnll 10WliS .uul
villagc s,lIt wh ich l lu: pn r t icipunts ap pear under t he 1I11 1111' of SII II II ' 1I 1'1'1I
.r un tly hllrllll. " , s ll t' i l'l y, Th us a short lillie af(u th e YIl IlIl f( Cll ll l l ll ll lli s l
L,a guI' . hllVill' itsr-lf th e nume of a nut iunul Sl' i" ll l:" sOl'i l' ly, h l' lt!
/111 ' 11/-: lIl i ll;": , 1" 1,' 1, 1/ 1" 01 Ih, ' ""1110111 111I1ill.1o:
111101 C'I'IIIII' , III Old, "
"III\' nrr- 111111':1 10:"
' " f'lI \ il/a g(' \\ "II
101 II " a ll po :,silolt, rOl'nl S 01 '1,,1"111'"
t i, r: I", "'
'l'h, " ""
10 1111 :,," l lu-i r f'ntls . '1'" 1I1i , "lid 1101
' 11 I 1111 '1lsc) l'(,III,ill" with "i"I, ',"", IIl1d
COli 1111 I ('( .' " l'\
poisollt'd in order to get mOlwy 1'01' IIII' 1": ./' .1>.
The Cornmunlst tt'l'I'ori sl groups lilld al s" IlIlItI(' pl'I'l'al'lIllo"
for whol esale poisoning. At 11ll' ('nd ' If Mal'l '" I ll:l:\ II r. ,01
'
" . Ie and 1
1
. 11) of co pper ulphutu wen' ('onfl s('at,'d 11""11
SOl rum cvu nJ(,
u group in Dus seldorr. Half of thi s quanlll )' wo."1t1 h:,I\ "
i)ecn sllffici ent 10 poi son th e whol e o f Diisseldorf. III'
were memhers of thi s terrori st group who were working " .1 ('10,, '
co n tac t with the Anti -Fasci st Fighting L,eagu<: .: Augll st /1111 ;":1:111
Heinri ch \\' ei sziehr, llaus \\'i enke. Saal.wa eht er OIIIe ,,1 ,
The parcel with lhe poi son was t'irst hidden In the ruhlll
s l
., III ' 'I
of the hous e Beerenslrasse I a nd wa s then tuk cn uu l a;"::."11 1111,"
pu! i'nto another hiding.placc. " Finllll y il r ea ehc'r/ I JIII;..:r:rI
dWdling, wlu-r il co ul d he <:llnfl scal ed,
1\,,,, 1/1 ('01/' or'he f f .lmblll ): I..lb oll/ f"l/c,m.
I I
b) Mass Terrorism.
'1'1 I' ' l ies of th e terror-gr oups in COIIIH' I t io ll with ('''III
11' ac 1\'1 tl . . I I . I
muni st demonstrations were s ubject 10 s t r ic t allf
orders of th e terrori st headquart ers. II was Iltt'se IlIlt'.III\( gil'''''' ,
were vst emancany em ployed, a ccording til 1111: 1:II'III':rI
demnnrl g o f s t r eet- fi gh ts, ail e o f the mall )' o.,dpl' s 01 Ih;: d;I,'
of th e t error-ist headquart ers, 1'01' th e ea r rYl ug oul 0 c t
monsl rati ons, s t a tes :-
" Ea ch "ro llp o f fi, c is asslgne d a ct' r ta in s pol wlu-r Ih,' y 10 :1\1
10 'I : 1"11' a t a gil-en lime. Al a gi\'l' n siglla l IIu-
of h:lve to fo r l;1 immediat ely. :IS qui ck as lightning. inlo s ,/ lla ol
10
_ _ N_,.." , ' " , ',' II" """1, ,, 1"1' ,,' II".
\ "'", f "/11/1111111 ", , ,,,I,, " . , lu- IIIoJ""1 ",
t lu - \\ ""1, " 11 01 """I " 11' :" Ih, , " \111"" ""/1 'I" I" III" " \\""1' ,1''' '' 1'1,
Ill i"h "r l'li flh a /l ol :'Ila'li/l SI ,,' I "' I '" 11" ,,,1,, If'
Aparl Irrun Ih c abovc IlIelllioll C' " 11111 o' .... " " I1I'OIlS. llu- 1\.1' .1>.
formed. partly, a s we have s een . fro'll irs 011'11 '1" 'llIb" rs , 1I11/
lI
cr o llS
terrorist groups in order to be ahl e 10 1111'1'1 II,,, ""qllil'l 'IIIt'lIl s of all
armed rising and of the technique o f s t reet fi ghl ill g. 'l'l w so-ca ll l' d
Scheringen s q ua ds hecame known at the beginnill g o f F ehruary
BI3:l ; they consisted in Berlin o f 100 men and in Ilannover of ).lO
men each. There were e ven hl/'ger sq ua ds in Harnhurg a n d Co
logne. In these s q ua ds were hrought together ex-m em bcrs 01'
the Red Youth Front. and th e RF,B. It so mc tinws happened Ihal
the membcrs o f th e Scheringer sq ua ds wore S.A. uniforms. Oth-,
wi se the uniform cons is te d of a blue ca p, a black Hu ssian hloust' .
a soft black coll a r wilh a ti c of the sa me colo ur, !lIne!,; breeeht's.
shoes a nd leather leggings , Swor d- bell and s ho ulders t r a ps . On Ih,'
left arm of IIw s h ir l th ere wa s a r ound hl ack c lo t h ba dge with Ih(.
words " Sc her inge r quad" in r ed and the s q ua d numher in Homan
numeral s. The parti ular task of the Scheringer sq ua ds was s u b-
versive a cti,'ily within th e S.A. and S.S. ; Ih ey were pla c('d und('r
the com m a n d of th e RF.n.
As earl y as th e beginning of 1932, a SO-ca lled " H:UllIlIe r s qua d "
was founded in honour o f th e shot Communi st H:lllllll er. Othe-r
lerrorisl g ro u ps were named in .th e s a me wa y. The lenorist groups
were a lso used for g uar di ng m eelings. They held s hOa l ing praclic!' .
In parli cul ar, s hooli ng at ni ghl was prac t i ed, i n or de r to destro\'
the enemy in th e dark. Co un tless littl e ler rori st gro u ps of fr OI1l ii
to 8 men exis te d in a ll induslrial town, . n. for in stance in Nurem
herg Where th e leadpr s wer e J ean "'ohlfahrt , Karl Ri en1l'r.
Hi chard Sc h umann and Franz Tanzhurger . The memhers or
th e t el'l' ori sl groups were pa r tly ex-com ie ls . who had previous/ .,.
heen en fellced, a for i ns ta nce, lh e abm' t' -m entioned Frail;
Tn nzherger a nd al so ,Johann Lu nz, J ngl'/s frn sso 1;);1 ,
Nuremberg. The lalt rr h ad atl empl ed 10 mllrder th e polic'('
ill speel or 011 dUly a t a demonstralion on lh e 11th .Inne Ill:l:!.
H e missed in speclor a nd kill ed a cer ta i n F alknel' . :\1'1('1' 1/11'
deed, Lunz s llcce(!up d in ('seapi ng 10 Hu ssia. allhough he wa
already wa n te d by th e po liee 1' 01' a s f'r io u lheft. A si m ila r all " n pl
to murder a mount ed poli ceman wa s cOlll m i tled hy TanzI" I '",.
Who wa lal er a r res te d for hurgl ary .
These a ttem p ts at murder wen' hy no m eans th e pc rs o nal
o f th e tw o cr im inals, hut were an imporl ant pa ri of lh e ta sk s 0/
th e terrori t groll[ls. As h as frelfll f'ntly been s ho wn in hi gh II'I'a 5011
case hefon' lh e Su preme COll r t. th e terrori t groll ps anrl gr o ll ps 0/
136
or dct a"hll ll'lIl , ..\ 1 t lu- ""'" II,,,, ,\, It I "' I " 1.0' " lIlp l"y, 'd whu
arc 10 gUlIr d l ln: ill K II "" I ' K'1l1I I t lu- p"li, 'O' ; ill ,'a ", " I'
danger t hey '111 11 , 1 illl lll,' dill "' ly 11.. 1111' lit " '111 1111 \\'11I,'h i_ l h.,,, III
disp er se at o nce a nd d isapl lI':lI' 1' 1'11111 ti ll' d lIlIK" 1 '''Ill ' Wh" 11 dis pl'rsi llJ.( ,
however, th e groups a rc a lways I .. I"',,p l"g1'l h" 1 ill 1,," sO' rllrl UlIlilll1.
l3eforehand, a de finit e r ou te is I.. I", 1,,1 l it,' d"lIlonslra lill ll,
a s al so 1'0 1' th e guard or cycl is ts .
Ea ch grou p, a ccording 10 order has to s(' nd lh u ruport, innu.
d.ia tel y it 1s comple te d, t o the l eader or t he sq ua d .hy courier. Hie lc.uk-r
o f the squad to lh e leade r of lh e storun-r lctuu lnnc n t, Ih e stOI'JU
deta chment of th e di vi s ion, th e di visi on to th e s ub-group a nd t he s u h
g r ou p l ead er 10 th e grou p-leaders.
Ala r m devi ces must be pr esen t everywhe r e: b ugl er s, sir ens , lnu d-
s pea ke rs ete.
The co urie rs hav e pro ved t o be good. The groups a rc instruct ed
t o us e only reliable co mrades for thi s fu ncti on a nd a lso t o p r ovid e
for cycles, li ght etc. Ne w sy ste ms of cont ro l will be emp loyed and
the in struct ion s co ncerni n g th em a rc to be stric t ly obser ve d.
In cases o r al ar m a new meeting-place for the rel ay-couri ers i,
a l ways 10 be arr an ged. The cour ie rs arc to keep up hou rly co mm un i
cati on hebween th ei r base a nd th e b lock. In speci al cases t he cou r ie r,
nat urally act Inune diutuly."
The practical executio n of su ch plan s a nd instructions is
s hown in an except ionally typi cal case:-
" On the 26th. Fehr uury 1933 Hambur g was in t he mi dst o f II
li vel y elect ion- pr o paga nda, About 8, 000 to 10,000 per son s took pari ill
a demonstr ati on o r l he S.A. (stor m det a chments) in [h e fore noon ; ubnut
15,000 p ersons took par t in a march or t he Ir on Fron t at noo n . TIll'
d emonstrat ion of th e " Black-Whit e-Red F ig h ti ng -front", at wh ic h Vi c,'
Chancellor Yon Pupen s po ke. was visit ed by fr om 8.000 to \l,000 person s.
In spite of th e out rages p lanne d by t he Co mmu nists, against whir-l.
ex tensi ve safeguarding measures wer e taken by th e p oli ce, Ih e d:o
en de d h ere in co mparat i ve qui et , apa r t fr om a few single cases of
shoo ting. Minor ca ses of fi ghting, smashing of windows of va r- io us
business premises a nd of th e Kur sladt buildin g, occurred during tilt ,
who le of th e da y. Among th e more se r io us cases th e fo llowi ng art '
t o ,be m cnt ion ed :-
1. At a bo ut 8.20 a. 111, S.A. men wer e fi r ed a t 'by Co mmunists, ill Lovk
st edt erweg, whereby S.A. men wer e in jured by sho ts I hrll ugll tilt'
pelvi s a nd th e upper thi gh, The culprits escaped. III 1111 cnurx
uf th e in vesli gati ons made by th e cr iminal pol ice, h u wr -vrr , II u-
ma chine-maker \Valter Hobert Hohde, p re te nd ing to bel o ng to ""
part y, born \l. 3. HJ13 in Kleiu-Gru huu , was ""
sus pic io n, a nd wa s rccog nize d hy OlIO' or 11 10' inj ur r-r l 1111 '11 as 1111'
cul prit.
138
., I 11111111 It ,10 a. m. :I ll S, \ '1".111 '. 1 1,,111111111 eliot! \VII I. Iltll l' lit 1111
1\ 1111111" '1' I'I' S l r as' t' , ,\ .... till ' S ,\ IIl 1'II 11lt'11 111'111 1 Wt' I I' Jll'l 'p:ll ll1 I 1ft
aolI'IIIII' " upon Pfi skr' s be,' 1' s:oI " " " I, "'1" ""1 11' I, I' til"
,h"t, we rr: fir ud 1' 1'0111 wil h iu, wl u-rr-h v II \ \1 1111111' wa . IIljlll'l '" :0
shol through the jaw and an S." , Illa ll II \' a b"l illt" I II ,' all ol"III""
3 members of t he Hoi chsh unue r \\,,'1'1' ' "'1',, 1,' '' , sl r" "fo: h
suspec ted of h ay ing commi tted t h e c ri uu-.
:;, At 12. 10 p . lIl. Ii or 8 well-dress ed young pl'0I' I,' "IIIt'I','d 111, ' " I,'a l1,"11
hurg" b eer sa loon . Fulkcn r ied 45 , fr eq ul'nl, 'd by til e "I
Ihe N.S.D.A.P., ov erturned several tabl es and fi r ed a t r.u nl .u n
whereby 2 Na tio nal So cia lists, who wer e on t h e premi ses, wen- s ll, oI
t hrough the n eck and the abdomen r especti vely. On e of tl H' persou
injured died in hospital. The cul pr its escaped unrccogu isvd , bill
later on the joiner Alexander Adolf Emil Schwert, horn :! 1. 1I . 1
in Hamburg, member of the comm u nis t ic "House defence cor ps"
was arr es ted on strong suspicion and 'bro ugh t before th e COIII't.
4. At about 10.40 p. m. meeting-place of th e N,S.D.A,P ., !\rii g"I"
heel' s al oo n, Brodschrungen, was fired upon ,hy a Co nu n u ui I
lerrorist group, whereby one sho t en ter ed the premi ses anti ca ll"' "
slig h t damage.
A policeman who appeared was shot at and wounded i ll Ih,
u pp er Ihi gh . Ot her po l icoruen took up the pursui t, whereby S' III'"
firing took place in which one of the culprits, the do ck -workvi
.lo hann Wil helm Jasper, .born 1. 18\l8 in Mcldorf', wa s illj ll l',' 01
by l wo s ho ts through th e l eg.
F ur t her , the following were arrest ed:-
1. Franz Hesse, blacksmith, born 2:1. 0, 1904 a t Schwert e,
'J Walt er Adolf Bcnnies, tailor , born 5. \l. 1911 at Hambur g.
Richard W csselowsky, ordinary seaman, born 4. 1\111 al
Konigsberg,
! . Ernst Adolf Lou is Wendt, metal-wurker, horn lB. fl. 18\18 at Altoll a
in Allona .
The fo llowing art icles were found in t he possession of t lu- I'('I'S" "
arres led an d co nf is ca te d: -
1 army pisto l 08 , 1 l a r ge Ma us er pistol , 1 livc-homh, Suuer pisl o '
a nd a n u mber of cartr-idges.
Lat er on, two more la r ge Ma user pistol s wer e fo und w hic h wr - ,.
thrown a way dur in g Ihe fli ght. Dur ing Ih e shoot ing 1' 11 111' 111 01'1' 1"'1'''111
were in ju red who a pparently h a d n othin g to do wi th affai,' "
(P oli ce reporl. )
A da nger ous terr ori st gro up was captu re d, uf'lr-r :I shllll l illg
a ffai r, in Diisseldo rf, Kel ner St rasse, on the 20th..lull !' IH:12 a l
11.15 p, m. After searching a fe w h ouses a nd llIakill g a Ir-w a 1'1'1 ' 51
it was possib le to cnpt ure a whol e armed terrori st gr llllp of l ilt'
K. P. D, Anu u u; nl lu-rx th e following pers o ns beloll ged \ 0 I hi s gro ll p
Karl 110 1'1'11 1:11111 , Ih-in ric h Hessh nu s. .lnsvph l Ies xhuus, l h-iu r h-h
.Ii irgl 'll s "I, '
I"
140
tin von kommuni :,It"
gescha ndder Gr b.I. II
" 11,'111' \I I 1\
III 1"11 . '.'"t 'll eol' of 11 )(- (' VC 'I hU'lt 'a 1111-: Itl lI II 11I11Idl "1 fit' I 10 \\hl, '1t
"""I 1111, '" hrn tx a lso 1lt'lolIg, '1'(' :11 ,' ,,"hll"" I" I" " , I I" '"" /11' III
d"I" II"" , whic h dl 'I'fl1y 111'1"" '1 llu- 1'111"'111 ,,1 lu -ur t 111'1 II ' "11 '1 I" ,
1ll'IJlI'd, \ VI' lir e ill peril nnrl Oil t lu: dC'f"lIs ilt ' II 'll ill I llu : 111111111 11,..1,
Your da ugh ter has r vpeut edl y had st' , lIa l illl, 'r"IIII1',\I ' wi t h Ih,' 1""'1'11
murder hundits. The yo ungest ' ca mp provtlll" s III,' '1'111'1, 11" '11 .. I
\Vedding in a most Insolent ma nnnr, V\'r y well IIII'll, \ \", I Il 'I"' p ' III,'
cha lle nce, The cup is fill ed to th e hrim. FroUI In-day till '1',' 11 /111
sc nd all th e J ' a zi bandit s. whom we knoll' , 10 wlu-r. - IIU,' wnnt -, III " lid
us in Ihe Third Reich, \Ye draw your a tten tion to tlu- 1': Il' I 111/11 al "
YOUI' Nazi 'I>r a l ' will hn vs In lake thi s JOUI'III' y, \\'hl'lllI'I' ri gllt III
wron g is not a matt er for us to j udge. Our pati ence is ,'xh:lll sl, '"
Ca ug h t together - hanged together,
There is no rcturu in g to th e working cl ass.
It is alread y too lat e,
Thi s is not meant us a threat, b ut a nolifi cali on In Ilu - pan'lIl III
he pr epar ed for so me lhi ng, .jf not to-dn y, th en in a 1'1' \1' da y" \V ,,
must s tic k 10 our oath, in spite of eve ryt hing.
Bnlh your scam ps , as well as Ihat :\'az i g,' l I'l'ady fill' .\'''"1
j ourney 10 th e F ift h Rei ch, It is fiv e minul es to t wel vr-!"
Smashed window of Berlin store, Tombst one des, 'CI','foool b)' CO/ll /l " " I/\/\
The suuu- 1"rl'ori ,1 g r o u ps al'l' al s o pl'ohahl y for IIII'
srnu ller a"lioll , a , 1,,1' 111\) dt' s/'e'l'alioll oJ <'1,111', '11" , alld
lilt , "11111 /0: fin' 10 adl ", '1i ('1111'111 " ill :,, '
II ... 1" 1111
11
1" 10: " '1""1 " I Iii .. 1,,01 " " " 111 11. 11 11' 1' f'I" :!1'
" 111 11 1'I..
"ThO' si\ :I""II "l'd 11',,1' ,' 111"111101'1 ' ,,' '10 " " II, d 11'"" '11 " " S' f1 ':l d" ill
Ch" lIlnilz, II'hi"h II':lS ill t lu- \ " ' " 11 11" "I l \l;ltl , arl"r Ih,'
<Ii shandlll elil o r tl u- Fl' lInf -fi ghl ,' I" I.,'a glll' " 11 11 ' dll li,'s Ill' fhl'
s qua d included milit ary tra ining, ,'sJlI', 'iall y in Ih, ' li S" " f fi re -a r ms
a nd explos i l' es, lh e procuring of s uc h urui s and inslrll cl illn s fo r th ei r
us e for act s of sa botage a nd Icrror ism . For Ih, ' I'1I 1'I'"S" of Iu l t'illi ng
Ih c ta cti cal and s tra l'gic t ask s, th e leade rs o r Ihl' sq ua d gave the
members ca reful mili tary tr ainin g; twice a week lesson s wer e -given,
by comrades who had seen acti ve se r vice, ill the handling of fir e-
arms a nd explosives, es pecia lly in th e a Uachi ng of the latt er to
hridges , railway-junctions, and huildill gs, as a lso in milil ary movements
Oil th e fi eld, For teachill g pnrposes re\'olvers und military regulati on s
Ior th e us e of fir e-arms were used, whilst ex ploslvr-, a nd th e
halldlill g o r tlu-rn were ex plai ned ill object lesson s hy mean s of
illuslruti oll s, In order 10 provid e th e defen ce-squad with th e necessary
munitlon , for Iheir iIIcg:1I a" lil' il ;es, of ex plos ives were "ani ed
0111. The po rt uhl, fi r e-a rms with wh ich lhe " st orm-squ ad s" \\'1'1'1'
armed , o,'igina te - a t least pa rt of th "1ll - fr om Czecho-Slova kia;
besldes th at , it was int ended to Iry 10 ge t arms fr om Bel gium, The
" ned Defen ce -Squad" , whi ch did not only funcli on in Chemni lz, hut
wh ich a lso had groups in ieveral places of Ihe Che nlll ilz di str-ict ,
Ihal a lso gave th eir lIlelllhers a mil it ary tr uining, ('s pec ially ill th e
' li S" 01' ar ms , :IS till' "U.Pi l) . Ch emnitz Divi sion" .
Such lenor isl o r initi aliv!! g r o u ps were al s o rt' cruil ed from th e
raIl ks of th e scl f -dl' fe nce cor ps and organi sed into n fi ghting-group,
w h ic h h a d lo perfo rm s pecia l duti es in the ca se of s t reet- f ig h l s
a n d demons Ir a lions.
F or instance, within Ihe Hous e -hlock Defence COl'pS o f Cann-
s la t! a s pecia l grou p o f r eli ahl e " da redevi ls " was formed whi ch
was 10 hI' set a gainst Ihe police motor-ear's , i n order to hold th e
g ua r d in check with pist ols ,
Such terrori sl gro u ps o f'Ie n li e in r ('adines s in s o me pl a c e 0/'
olh er in th e case o f a ma ss ed Cornmunl st ac tion , The of the
s t ree t ac t io n issue th eir orders f or the inl ervention of these g r o u ps
through cycl is l -c o u r ie rs. who oft en us e s mall wo oden di s cs with
a nurnhor hurnt int o them a s ba dges of identity,
The l el'l'ori sl g r o u ps ha ve a lso 10 t errorize the inhahitanl s of l he
and to hold them in f ear and s n hj e c lion, Among tl u-m u re
al so 10 h e found Ih e writers of anonymous lhreal ening fe ll e r s ,
through which th e politi cal o p po nen ls in the n eighbourhood an'
lo h e frighl ened, The following letter from the terrorist organi .
zution of " ' edding to a certain :\fl'. I3. , Pas ewalker Struss, is oru-
of the many exa m p le s :
III
which occ urred in Berlin in 1932, inlerrupting wi re less tra ns -
mi ssions, looting of shops and smashing of shop windows.
On December 3, 1932, large ga therings of Communists took place
in various districts of Berlin, for instance in the Danziger Strasse,
Admiral Strasse and Petersburger Strasse. During a large de mon-
stration in the Grosse Frankfurter Strasse the demonstra tors
smashed a show-case outs ide Nikolai's gunsmith's shop, and ma de
off with a number of arms. In Goldacker's adjoining provision
store a window-pane was smashed and a quantity of sa usages etc.
stolen.
At Christmas-time, 1932 , looting of provision stores became
exceptionally frequent in Berlin. It was obvious from the start
that these outrages were not perpetrated hy distressed members
of the working class, but were directed by a central Communist
action committee. Shortly after Christmas the criminal police
raided the workmen's home of the Communist Par ty, l!) Vetera n-
strasse, and arrested the instiga tor and nine youths there. some
of whom participated in the looting of stores in Berlin in De -
cember 1932. It was ascertained, without any doubt, that a
Communist was among this crowd who had collected these
youngsters at a labour exchange and led them finally to the
"Bolle Dairy" at 45 Schonhauser Strasse, after many unsuccessful
attempts at looting. It is significant that in this case none o f th e
culprits acted out of dire need. One of these youths, for example.
who had stolen 4 tins of sardines. sold one of them for 50 pf'ennigs,
gave the second away and finished off the last two with a couple of
friends. In nurucrous cases provocative hand-bills of the K.P.D.
were found, inciting the unemployed and youths to acts of theft
und robbery. The following is an example :-
To the Unemployed!
In Ber lin , Hamburg, Bremen, etc. the shop-windows of lhe big provi -
sio n stores are .being smashed day after day; in the to wns of the Ru hr
district the coal-yards are being raided and looted by hundred of un-
employed. These unemployed proletarians have realiscd that it is only
by revolutionary self-help that they can save themselves from starvatio n
and cold. They simply take what they need. Proletar ians! These
ac tio ns should and .must be a signal for the unemployed th ro ughout
Ger many . These stocks of provisions etc. in Ger many wer e prnd uI' pd
by workmen , and th ey belong to th e .workmen, to yo u.
This is no t t he rt, as the la w says it is. .hut on ly tak iug posscssi on of
th e results of yo ur own labours.
All of you who ar e slarving and suffl 'rillg fro III Ihl' r-uld , gall ... r ill
fro nl of Ihl ' 'hig s ho ps :lIId ,oa l.yard, and lal., whut yOIl 11""'1.
Mak, ' for III.' sllppli," ,"
I I'
As a lre ady men t ioned, many a ttempts were mad e by lil t'
te rror is t gro ups to obtain money for th e K.P.D. by r ohhery. Tul:
th e attack which was mad e in Hambur g upon Siihr t he bookmn kr-r's
o ffice in th e Wex St rasse, by Wall er Radat z. \ Villi Alb ertz nml
others. A pa r t of th e money was pl aced a t th e di sposal of th e COlli
m un ist organizat io n by the culpri ts . In a nother case in wh i vh
judgem ent was passed, it was s ta te d in th e r ea sons for t he judgcnu-nt .
on th e basi s of infur mat ion given by th e po lice in Ha mbur g, I hI
a ll t he par t ici pants in a robbery wer e member s of th e " Re d Fronl
Fi ghter League". F ur ther, the At torney Gene ra l maint ained, in l lu -
hill of i ndic tment in a criminal case agains t fo urteen meml u-r s of
a Communist terrori st group from Herford. th at th e accus ed did 1101
May disturbances 011 the He rms nnplatz, Berlin, i ll 19.32.
only di scu ss th e qu est ion o r civi l war at th eir meet ings . hut Ihal 1l1s0
ways a nd mean s wer e di scu ssed by whi ch a r ms. ex plosivr- i ll II I
money co uld be obta i ne d for th e pa r ty, and ror a time l hc plan wa,
di scussed of r obbing th e Herford br anch of lilt' Heirhs bu nk .
The pri ncipal duty of the i nitia t ive -groups. 110\\' 1'\'( '1'. W :I S III ,,, I
r id of their po litical opponents.
The cr imi na l po lice in Dobeln (Sa xo ny ) ron nd uul t ha t II ...
Commun is ts had a lar ge qu antit y of cyanide in rl'adinl' ss in II;jl" 'ln
with wh ich ce r t a in per sons were t o be poi son ed by tilt' Conl llllilli I
terrori st gro ups . The qu a nti ty or poi son - il wa s 1' 111'1' 1'1lIa s.'11I1I1
c va n i d - wh i rh III I' p o l l ~ l t'o ll risl' a tl' d w o uld hn vr: 1"'1'11 "11011 10: 11 I "
I;oi soll 1'1'11 11 1 1001 0 Ifl O pIrsoIlS. ' I' lu- m urt k- rous pi a II ... IIf 111 1' Il i'd...11I
COlllllll lnis l \\"1'1' 0 far dl' \'l'l o pl'd. l lrn l Irll sl " d :II.( I' nl w,..
nppl, i ll io'd 1,\ 1111' I 1'1) wllo wr-r 10 :IIl1 ninisl"r l lu- " nlo: llI" I "
t lu-i r 1111" 11.1, .1 11.1111\ III \ III" I ,'l1ll1l1 n' 1111111111'1 II \ 1\ it ""1' 1:11111' .1
I I
l hut l hr- \Vas slol" l1 l ,y I I 1\ I 'll 1111" liolllll'V "I' l lu: 1);''''1'111
distr ict group f'rotu a lirm wh i rh 111'11 \' 0 1 011.
It is quit e impossibl e 10 go illl" I'al'll sillgl,' i l"111 of endless
chain of assaults and murder s which t lu- COl ll lllllllisl lel'l'ori sl
gr oups pract iscd on policeman and S. A, men in l lu- co urse of 1111'
ye ar 1932 and in th e fir st months of 193;\. In th ese lust few months
th ere wer e days on which six per son s wer e kill ed and seve r al dozen
ser io usly injured, The civil war was actually in full swing, a gue-
r illa war and political st reet-fight , of which the poli ce and th e
member s of th e S,A. wer e hourl y vic tims.
A few of th ese cases, which h ave become especi ally well known,
mus t be r ecall ed to memory.
On th e 24th Octobe r , 1932, an attempt was made by the Commu-
nists Berner and Oessel man n to blow up th e hou se of th e gendar me
G. in Hemelingen , in th at th e accused th r ew bo ttles filled with ex-
plos ives th ro ugh the windows of th e gendarme's hou se, Fortu-
nate ly no lives were lost. When he was arrested on the 2ith Oct o-
be r 1931, Berner, who was armed, sought to defendhimself.
On t he 18t h January 1932 a t roop of Nat ional Socialis ls mar ched
fro m Wnidmannslu sl near Hermsdor f' , where th ey had held a meet-
ing , lhrough Sclionholze r Weg in Reinickendorf-Ost. Several sho ts
we re fire d fro m the neighhou ri ng colony of Felseneck. In an
attempt to capture t he culprils, t he Na tional Soc ialist P ro fess or
E rnst Schwarz and th e labourer Fritz Klemke we re shot. The
twent y-one year old National Soc ia list Bernhard Wi ttkowski and
th e employee Mandal a and also t wo police officials we re injured,
It was only after stro ng po lice r einfor cements had arrive d th at this
ni ghl bat tle could be en ded.
Some days lat er , on the 21st Janu ary 1932, at 11,30 p.m. in llu:
Gro nland colony, in the north -east of Berlin, eleve n Communis ts
we re arreste d who had fo rme d a t errori st group an d treacherously
lay in ambush t o fir e upo n some Na tio nal Soc ial ists re l ur ning f'rum
a meeting al Ho he nschonhausen.
" On the ir way home t he National Socialists wi sh ed to lake th e roulv
Ber lin- Hohensc hi)nhausen - Od er bruchs traBe - Landsb erger Allee to
th e centre of th e town . T he member s of t he terrorist grouJl me l at 11\1'
spot mar ked on the sk etch. From th is po int' couri ers wer e sen t on hie'"
des, from time t o time, to th e place wher e th e meet in g was held in 01'11
to infor m th e t er r ori st group in ,good time when th e lIIeding \ I
fi nishe d. Al'ler t he meet in g was over the terrori st groll p i nl eruled 10
make th eir way, as shown in t he sketch. 10 Ihe place wlu-r th e cri nu
was committ ed, ,in th e cutt ing, From II\(: s pol mnr kc rl " 0" Iht' Nul ionnl
So ci ali st s wer e to be shot at wil li ni m: pi st ol s, most ly !I nun . )0'1' 0111 l lu -
str ategical point or viow or l lu: COllllllllllisl s tlu- pial ' " was ""I')' 1':1\'.111"
11+
11 11" ,II " II II,, ' lIa l'I'OW ,'u lli llK 1, 'dtl' l'olllll, 11 1101111 " 11 1 KllI' II" 1I II ,, '
n nl nt II 11I10"UdillgS hid l l u-tn w..11 11'0111 11 \1' 1111 II 1" '0 ' 1111 10: \j " II" "111 , ' "
..ial b h , A,IIov . al l, II we ll eovercd l'I' II','a l wa 11\'111 1: 11 01 " t,,1' II" , "lIl l' dt
a l'lt'l' Ih.. a llad" Pursui t wo ul d hu v.. 1"" '11 lib "I nt"" 1I"'1o' , s,
The po lic e r eceived inf'ormut ion of Ihi s illt" IIl1o' d all,," \' III'
fore ha nd, The first steps which were t akv u W"I'" t lu - "l osin g 01' th ,'
Schonh nusenc r Stralie and tlie d ir cc tl ng of tilt: l'\a lio nlll S",'i a lisls to go
vi a the \VeiLl en seer \ Veg and Li ch tenberg , in order 10 kel :p th ose who
took par t in th e meeting a way fr om th e spot whur c th .. shooti llg was to
t ak e place. in case the effor ts t o capture th e culpr its s hould 1I 0t hI'
succ ess ful. Arrangements wer e then made for th e urrusts . A th i..k
fog ma de the action eas ier, so th at, at the spot market "x", th e urresl
of th e whol e terrorist gr oup wa s accompli sh ed so unexpectedly t hai ,
wh en t he searchl ights wer e suddenly turned on, heads of perspir a tion
wer e to be seen on the f aces of several of the te rri fied Conu uuuisl s.
Each of th e per son s arres ted carr ied a load ed pistol r ea dy cocke d.
II' we consider the except ional ri ghting stre ngth of th e terr ori st grolll
by it self - 11 mostl y l arge ca libr e po rtabl e arms load ed with 7- \)
r ounds, i. e. ab ou t 90 r ou nds wh ich could be fired ina very shor t lilll ..
_ .it can cle ur lv be seen what adisaster would have befall en th e lIlIS'II S
peeling Soci ali st s it' the attempte d att ack h ad been cur ri ud 011 1.
T'h e dcf' ence of th e accu sed was pl aced in th e hands of th e notorlous
par t ner of t he st.il! more not orious la wyer Lit t en, th e J ew Bnrbusch . " ,
th e He,d P r ovi dent Society. I n Ihe cour t of appeal nine o r th e a"" ,lI s,'t1
wer e sentenced to heavy t erms of 'impr isonmen t and penal s" I'\'it""io',
Un l'or tuna lely th e amnesty law h as co me to th e rescue of th ese
so thut t hese h esti al utt empts at m urder have r emai ned unpuni shed.!"!"
Zeid1enerkkirung.
X <i,. f tJt"4Amt
v ,Jo ... ... I,,"9.)O,., "" T$r.
I')) I'" Ii , "I"II \
I I
The murdered police captains Lenk and An/auf.
The murder of the pol ice cnptui ns Anlauf a nd Lenk in fro nt
of the Knr l-Liebknecht Ho nse in Ber lin on t he IHh of Augus t Hli3 1
will still he in the r ecoll ect ion of all.
" I n front of lh e slro ng hold of th e Communists in Berlin, on till'
Biil ow Platz, wh r-r th e Kar l Li ebk nccht Hou se with th c puhli sh ing
offices of th e " Ro te Fuhne" is silua te d, a very large cro wd of people
gather ed tog ether a bout R p. m. The Conuuunists int ended makin g a
demonstration th er e. The poli ce wer e attacked as soo n as they a p-
peared on th e scene . When the nine squads of pol ice which wer e th un
ca ll ed to cle ar th e Billow Platz hegan their work, sh ots were sud de nly
fired from th e houses next to lhe Babylon Cinema, se ri ously injuring
th e in sp ector of th e ith di stric!. Poli ce Ca pta in Anluu f and Po lice
Capt ain Lenk, as well as Poli ce Ser geant W ill ig, Both the police cap-
ta ins di ed un th e way to hosp ital. The poli ce th er eupon fir st t ook
ener getic measu res, and or de r s wer e iss ue d for all wi ndows to he
closed. Shoot ing was the re sul t in all case s of neglect to car r y out Ihps('
orders . T he police luul a four th cas uall y and were Iiri-d upon from
Ihc wi ndows and house en tr anc es. It was not possible to usccrtnin ti ll'
numbers of kill ed and wounded demonstrat ors. as lhe Couununi sts
car r ied off their wounded t o a pla ce of safely.
It was asce r tai ned that sma ll handbill s had !ll' pn posl,-d on llu- wa lls
of the houses and udvcrt isinu ho ardings in the neighbourhood of till'
Scho nh uuser Tor und th e Alexu nd er !'I alz . and r-Isr -w hr -r in r" ,'(-nl
l imes . hea r in g th .. thr eat : "Look out . pi ght :Ilt. hll ssar a lld ,It-alh' s IIl'a dI
we'n catch you! " We are illl'or lllf'd t hut " I' iglll'ad" a ll" " Iiuss nr" w.-r
til e nickn a mes gi,..n hy t lu- CO llllllllll ish I" 1::II'I:till vnla ul' :11I " St'r
geunt \Villi g." (Exlr: ll' t from P"l i,'" 11"1''' 1'1 )
Anol her proof of IIIl' uuuuu-r ill \\ h irh IIII' ifwilc'd
l lu- 10 m u rd ..1 !,.d i"I' " l l'i"I: t1 lil li " I... III III" \\,' lI d .
pai ll t ,' d III lo ti ' I' r, 'd k l lt'rs o il l lu- l' a \l ' /lI I'111 ill IIII' I"ri, ' drwll Slrli ,-
uu .l 11 01\ " '-; 11': tI.IP , ueur l ln- s,:laool ill \\' eiB('IISI' (' , " Lit' II I.'
11:1111 1I "" k,'" , set yo ur wut ch , l he It-F.B. is O il yo ur t ru ck l For
every \\'01'1 c r shot. two poli ce office rs will be tak en ! H.F .B. takes
revenge !"
When memher s of th e poli ce for ce r emoved hill s with politi cal
matter fr om wall s in th e Nehr ing Strasse in Cha rlo ttenb urg, further
bills wer e subsequen tly found posl ed to th e sa me pl aces be aring th e
words: " Greenho r n! If yo u dar e to again lear down our hill s, yo u
will fo llow your knavi sh co ll ea gues Anla uf a nd Lenk! Signed,
Comr ade Gr;esill ski , on beh alf of Zorr gieb el. "
The murd ered S. A. man,
Hermann Th ielscb.
The carefull y prepared attack by th e Communis t terrori st group
o n the S.A. beer sa loo n " Zur Hochburg", 17, Gne ise nau Strasse,
Berlin on th e \lth September 1931, took place en tirely accordin g
10 plan : -
" He r mann Tsch agc, leader of th e. s ub distr ict "Zentrum" of the
prohibit ed Red Front F igh lers Lea gue. who had hilhert o been in
hiding, car efully pr epared th e plans of th e shoot ing outr age, A shock
troop was formed wi th in st r ucti on s to sur r oun d Ihe S..-\. beer sa loo n
" Zur Hochburg" in the Gneise nau St russe, a nd 10 open lir e ul a given
sig na l. Othe r member s of th is shock t roop, besi des Tschiige , were the
hea d of th e organ ization, Er w.i n Riilsch, th e head of the lit er ar y sec-
ti on of t he R. F.B. , Emil BeilfuJ.l , an d th e Communis t Sc hoe!. On
r ea ching th e S.A. beer sa loon shor tly bef or e mi dnight on Ulh Se ptember
1931, the Commun ists first of all sho t down th e S.A. se nt r-ies Thiel sch
and See l ig fr om a di stance, as t hey stood in fr ont of th e saloo n, and
th en t urtu-d Ih..ir fir e on th e interior, severely wounding th e S. A. men
IlIl "III'..ld und Appholy sr-r iouxly ,in th e For-earm. Thielsch di ed shortl y
aft,'r I,,'i ll' :" hll il t,' t1 10 IIII' Ur ban l lovpitul, whilst th e physi cians sue-
147
1' ( ll' dl 'd I II 11\' 101-: 1111 ' l il t' 0 1 I I If \ 1111 II ' I I I I \ 111 1 \\ J1 \\0 11 11111', 1 I II
111 ,- li vr-r a llil I, jdll' -I" , "I 11,,- I'l l 'II I I ,,, ,, II' I 11 11 1\1-"'1", xt i ll i o 111' 1"
c" 11 1 u nli t ril l' "'"1'1. , 1I,' illll l.l lIlIoi , 11," ,-1 1\,-" , 1"'l ggl ,'1I 111', ,1' II" ,
fron tie r ,iu lo Hussi u with 111, - nid III II" , 11 ,'11 1' 1. " ,01 ",,1 SII" ;,-I,I' , 'I' 11('y
r etu r ner! of th eir IIWI1 rr l' l' -lI'i ll l" ( i" 1 "' '''' I 11, 1" 1. 11 ,, 1\"1' ,.1' , ' lil t! III.il -
full made a cl ean br east of el'l' l'y lll il1g, Th.- <'11 I1 I1 " " lill ll wi l h I\ y ,n.
was pr ov ed lip 10 th e hilt. Seho ul r cceived If, .1"-:11' " 1" 'lInl p!'l' vitudc.
and Beilfull the unux. imum lmprt sonment 1'''1' l", r SIlI1S 11 01
oI' age, viz. ten years."
A particularly diaboli cal cri me was perpetrated by a Commu-
ni st t errori st group in Bremen on the 10th JUly 1\);)2. On th e oc-
cas ion or a S.A. parad e, large number s of Communis ts gat he re d in
groups in the streets , cl earl y indicatin g an int ention to distur h th e
peace.
" Aft er Ihe po lice force had bee n pu t in to a rt io n, one of it s mem-
bers, wh en ex a mining th e gr oun d. round a sm all len gt h of iron pi ping
i n a little dil ch immedia t el y a djace nt to th e highway. The s a il) piping
was par tly wrapped in paper, und, on bein g li ft ed fr om the groun d,
exploded. teari ng th e po l ice off ic ia l t o pieces , A secon d policeman was
se ve rely injured . Three f ur lh er bombs wer e also found. It was inten-
ded to ex plode these bombs under S.A. van s. The bombs we r e made
of a mix ture of' chlo ra le of pot ash , powder ed suga r and black powder
in ir on pi ping, the en d o f wh ich wer e fill ed with fr agm ents of
iron. In anoth er part of Br em en, Couu nun lsts a lso took up th e
manufa cture of bombs ver y sim ilar in desi gn and cons truction 10 those
j ust described . One of th e acc us ed, whose name' is Schaibl e, of 2
Droste St rasse , Br em en, s ta led Ihat that he kn ew of th e making of th e
abov e-menli oned bombs a n d was t ol d by on e of the parti cipants, on
enquiry, th at th e part y headquarters must not have a nyt hing 10 do with
th e matt er in co nnection with which one could only approach th e
prohibit ed Red F r ont F igh ters Lea gu e.
The si milar i ty in the composi t ion of th e bombs mad e at va r ious
places and by differ ent per so ns leads to the co n cl us ion that th e in-
str uctions f or ma k ing such bombs hav e dieen issu ed uniformly by on e
cen tr al administration."
Only a few da ys later the well-known Bloody Sunday took pla ce
III Altona, on the 17th JUly 1932. Th e report is as follows: _
"On th e occa si on of a march for popul arizing th e S.A. 1110v('m cl1l,
fr om th e southern part of Schl eswi g-Holst ein throu gh Altona, vcr )'
serious exc ess es wer e committed by a dhe re n ts of a n li -Pascis l act ion in
th e vi cinty of th e Hamburg fr ont ier. The parti cipants in th e march,
well as th e poli ce acc om pa nying it, were shot a l by Ihe anli -Fasci I'
from the r oof s , ibul conies and dwell ing s. The poli ce r eturnud lilt' fi r <' ,
A barri cade had been er ec t ed ,by th e communisf g in th e Kli'inc' Frvi -
heit ; it consiste d of three coal -carts fr om wh ich fire wa s Opl'llt'd Oil
t he police. An electric Lramcar was stopped by lhe Conu uun ist, ill till'
El h Slrass e, th e conduc tor , ,!liver aud pa sscn ger s or,dc l'l'" 01'1' Ih" ,'aI' ,
148
11' 1
"lid Iii" la l l"l" 11"' 11 " II"""" III ' '' " " II "" tll,"o1, '" III II", 1llIl lIt' ,h,II,'
vlclnity 11 11 0 1
1111
' 1' s l r ( ' t' l 1' :1 1 \\'.1 l l\! 'l l lll lll d IIlt , l\ filII ' ha v
h it her l" h" ell Ilia d,' . E"" II Iii " S"" 11l1 1l"I1I'" l ,tl l' 1'" li. '" l'I",' sid" 1I1
Eggcrs liidt had 10 a , hu il to Ih t' " '1"'1' " ltI:lllI , 11 ,:11 II", d isl ur.h -
a nccs hudbcen care fu lly o rga ll ized, alld t hu l II,, 1'''''' ' 1' I" r, ,' s h: 1I 1 :11' 111 .
a lly .b een unabl e 10 d eal wi t h ,Ih e COlll l1 l l1 l1isls . '1'1", 1:" 'lIl1l1 l1 l1 'is l s lIi p, :rs
on th e roofs wer e well a r ranged, so Ihnt t lu.ir fi r e s\\'e p l t hu s l n:ds.
Most of th e injuri es canse d were th e r esult o f cross-s ho ls. Pr upnrr-d
b ull ets were al s o em ployed . F our Na t,io nal Socia Jis ls we r e k illeu. The
t otal number of kill ed 'was se ve n teen, wh ile o ver ri fty wer e wou n ded."
It is an ex tremely r emarkable fact t hat th e Comm un isj paper
t h e " Ha mb ur ge r Volksz eilung" on the previ ous da y (No. 163 of t he
16th July 1932) pri nted a n a r t icle with the Lille " W h ats's go ing to
happen in All ona tomorr ow?" In th e co ncl ud ing paragraph of
t hat arti cl e an indi ca ti on o f the co m ing terrori st att ack is given
i n the following words : _
" T he workers o f Alt ona IUII' e every r eas on 10 in cr ea se th ei r prepara-
t ions. Red Alt ona must n ot be leftunprol e, t cd against th e mur-
d ero us terrorism o f the S.A . The Mass Se lf- P roleel ion o f th e An t}.
Fascis t Acli on must .he pu t on t h e maximum al a rm fo o t ing in co m mo n
with the e n ti re class- ins p ired prol el ar ial "I' Allona 10 pr ev ent Altona b e-
co mi n g a secon d Ecker nfii r,de."
During the night o f the :31s t .Jul y H132, th e so- call ed " Ga n ge-
vier tel " in Hamburg was th e scene o f the foll owing di sturbance : _
"About 1.15 u.m. p oli ce officials n oti ced a crowd o f about 30 peopl e
appa r enlly Co m m unists - who rushed forwards shouting "The
Nazis a re on tlr e m ov e ! At t hem ! Go f'or them!" After the poli ce had
r ecei ved r ei nfor cement s, th ey p r essed forward, only to b e met by
a bout 100 person s with cr.ies o f ",bl ood hou n ds", and " wor ker mur-
derers" . whilst fi r e wa s o pened on th em o ut o f Ih e crowd a n d houses ,
a n d a h ail o f s to nes and pi eces o f iron descended on them. On e
member of the poli ce fo r ce was shot in Ihe abdomen a n d ser ious ly
wounderl , , a s econ d was sho t in t he l eg. T he former is in da n ge r of
losi ng hi s li fe, whilst t he s urgeons hu vo h een able to remove t h.-
b ullet from the leg of the l a tt er offic ia l.
It was on ly by li vel y f'ir.ing th aI th e pol ice were abl e t o h ol d lh e
m ob at h ay a nd 'br in g the two wou n de d o Cfic ia ls in to safely. Of tl u-
at tackers, one rnun was kill ed by a sho l, and fou r injur ed pe r sons wen'
taken to th e Ha I1hom Hos p it al. All t h e civil ians in qu est lon W OI'I'
badges of t he " An l i-F a sc is t Act ion". The d ead ma n had a wh is tle ill
h is pocket .an d was character ized as th e leader hy a woma n with whorn
he wa s closely co nnected .
In t hese c ir mun s ta n ces t h er e is littl e doubt th a t th e wholl' thillg was
a well -prepared and systemati c assault on t he poli ce Iorcr-s."
T he organized m u rder of t he storm- troop leader a lld
the po liceman Zaurit z 011 th e his to r ical :HHh of J un uu ry 1(1:1:1 s l ill
remai ns unforgott cn.
150
" 1' '' " 11\\' 1111-: 11 1(' p"'''''' S, ill ll 1",,1 l li ndvn l.ure a lltl 11 11 1"1
1111 11\1' :Hll h III' .l u u u ar y 1\1:\:\, l lu: SIIII'III T rOll !' :1:\ ,a
her "I' t: ''' "l llUllisls ill th e \Vall Slr as,,' ill t:ha rl " II" /l'hllr g, I lu - s
m en look 110 not icc o f t hem . A ll o f a sudrh-n uluurl 100 s h" ts 11': '1'" II, ,' d
ou t of t he windows o f l he adjacent housux, ' I' Iu- SIIII'IIl. I" :IlI,' r ' :1." "'10 111"
Ma ik o ws k i a n d the polic e ma n Zuuril z 1'1' 11 tI,' ad Oil l lu- s po l. 1111 ' 1,11 ' 1
thal th e fi re was o pened s itn u ll a n uou sl v lroru IIII' dOIl,.s 0 1 IIIl'
a s well as fr om Ihe win dows o f li lt: udjucuut h ou s(' s s hll\\'s \\' 1," 10 11 1
any doubt Ihat the ou truge was p l't' vi ou sl )' p lnn ned alld s.vs lt' IIl:II I1': d lv
wn rk ed o u t.
The st orm-troop leader Eberhard Maikowski, shot in Berlin 0 11 the 30th /,1111/,1/ ' \ ' / <)
The subse q uen t days sa w u umero us lids or u-rrori xu: 11 11 I h, '
part o f th e Red F ron t, some all an a lmos t ,s(':lIe' . II
will s uff ice t o mention th e ease in Dr esd en nlr e.nl y IlIClIl lOllI'd a lld
the va r io us a t tacks wi t h fir earms a l rea dy de'slTihpd, ill II'Iii l'l I
Communist terrori st troops ope ne d rire o n ' pass iug Nntio nnl S' ll' ia
li st formati ons.
On the 12th of F ebruary, sa ngu i uary l'ighlillg lo ok ill '::i
lebcn i n con nection wi th a 5.A . de mous t ru t io n. COllllUIUllSls 1:"111
on the one side , and 5 .A. men as well a s pnli ce 011 l he ol lu-r. Slio l
were fir ed int o a processi on of S.A. dcmonst rut o rs l'rmu III" C" " 1
muni st part y q ua r te rs, wher -eupon th e III" 1" 1111' "
st ormed th e house and th e a dj o ini llg sC' hllo l. llll" S .A. m u u W:I
kill ed a nd 20 persons sl'r io lls ly inju r r- rl.
Fina ll y no I('ss l hnn s ix li ves wi- r lost O il l lu - 1:llh . F ,' I II ' l l lli \
Hl :n , a ll Jll'o Jlk bpi llg ki lh-r] r-xrlu xi , (' Iy by CeIlIlIIl II IlIS I . 'J
1\ I II l si h UII 'II'\' Iq" H n ru l l lu- " 111 1 " , ( 10-1"1 ,, ,1' 111.1"
(' 11' 1'1' 11 II ' . ", - J' ,, 1'1 i<'l lli
I' ig li l (l"l i"l ' "rli,'ill is 111' '' ' ' 1I1 111'd "re' d IIl1 d H II , dlwl' I'" II '"
Scene during the fighting at Eisleben on the 12th February 1933.
in ju red mo re or less se r ious ly by the terror ist organisations of the
KP.D.
In con clu sion an abr idged selection of communist terroris t
ac ts and as sa ults which occ ur re d in 1901 is given below ; t his by
no means exha us ts the list or Bol sh evi st cri mes, but only gives an
idea of the manifoldness, methodi calness and brutality of the
methods or a rme d righ ting used hy the K.P.D. in Germany.
On th e 12th January 1\)31 se arc h in th e liv,ing rooms of t he cur ter
Werpel. (i-! GeOJ'genkir chslrasse ; co n fisca te d: 3 inf'antry r illes, 7 egg-
form hnnd-bombs wj] h fus es. 3 homhs, (j mn ch ine-gu n lo cks. 1 r cvol-
ver , !i machine-gu n hel ts. 7 dr ums, 4 auto ma t ic machine pist ol s, 4,249
rou nds fur infanlry ri lle 88.170 rounds for rifl e 88,597 pi stol car tr idges
9 mm., 34 Ver y lights and diverse accessor ies for weapons.
On Ihe 17th F ebruary 1\)31 th e mo urners at a fu neral in Rontgen-
t al. wh o subse q ue ntly visite d th e "Ede l we iss" beer house, were fir ed
upon, a nd Ihe pa in ter Theodor Am! as well as (he mail -guard Rudolf
Poh lmann wer e inj ur ed. Amt di ed as Ihe r esult of his inj ur ies . Gbul-
lets, H ca r tr idges, 7 car tri dge case s, 1 pis lol , (j sma ll -h or e rifl e cal. G 11J.
and vu r ious per cu ssion weapons were subseq ue ntly foun d.
On th e l :lt h :\larch 1\)31 N.S.D .A.P . men were assa ulted an d fir ed
u pon hy 1\.r.]) . men at Ihe co rn er of the Xlehlitz Strasse and \ Vm tel ms -
a ue ; 4 pis tols and 26 car,tr idges were found.
On the 2t\1h :\/a r ch 1\)31, a fter a :\'.S.lJ .:\ .P. me ct ing held at ~ : ,
13 er l'ineI' St rutl e in I-lohe nschon ha LI sen. thost' r eturn ing fro m it were
152
I I
The Commullist arm0 1/1y
discovered ill lugust 193 1
.1t85, Til siterStrasse, Her/ill .
:l lIad\I '11 a ll d lil. ' ,1 llP1l1l " .' \0 h I'l l nun 1'lI h , ullwiab who intr -
vvur -d wr-r .. 111 1'1' :11 1' 11 1,11 hy al' llwtl I, I 'l l 11 ... 11 :t " 1..101'1 , I, c- a r l r idJ.:l''i ;l lld
a 1;lrl r id J.Ws wr- rr- r-uul i ... -nl r-i l
Oil tho :.!ilh ! !I:II lln - l u ll o\\ mg a1'lidl ' " \\'I' l'l' t'ull fi,,; ('a ll'd i ll
c o n nection w ilh IIw (11 0111 :11111 u llin.. l'x plo,,; i\'t' ca'i t' :
box es o f cx plo si ves, !I IIIt'lrt s or f USI', I p;IlTt' l 0 1" 10 0 " . ' l'x p losi\'t's.
27 pi sto l car tri dgls. 1 impar-t r USt ' S, :! pistols. H c:Il't r idgt' s. :l ll d on e box
co nla,ining e xp l osives.
On th e 2HIIJ :\Ia y IH:H Stuhl hclm men ,,".t'rt ' s lln l H I hy K.P.D. IlIt'lI
011 the Sen ef'eld er Plut z, Head Coust uble Ziin kert wounded in ubdnn n-n
and d ied a ft erwards, Consta bl e Sch ot tst ed t WOIIIHlt. d in u pper arm. 1n
foll owing li p lIw cas e 0 1' Ziin kcr- t. t he followi ng a rti cle s wer e discovcn-d
in th e dwelling of Hermann Hecker, shoemake r , Fel d Strasse, Herll u :
W :ifill )' pi slol s OS. 1 Mauser p is to l, 2 pi stnl s of i ,6;J and 1 of G.a;)
ca li bre, 1i c hargi ng st r ips for nrmy pistul OH, l. :\.fH r ounds of H III Ill .
pi s lol ammunit ion. l 7n rounds of 7.0;) ru m . ditf o, packe t eac h co n-
taining 25 rounds 01' 6.35 p istol umnum ition, a pnc kct each cuntel niug
2f) rounds of 6,3.1 pi st ol n mmu nilion , :1 pac ket s each con t aining
[) O round s of pnrubt-Ihun ummunili ou . G-t roun ds of pist ol ammunit ion ,
arlll Y pi stol OH. 40 ro und of unuuun.ill on for xtauscr pisto ls. l;JO ro unds
o f i .fin mm. pistol nmmuniti on, :1 ca r t r idges fo r all 11 mill . r cvol ver .
In str-uct ion s fu r all k in ds o f wr-n pnns were al so found a t Be ck e r 's
hou se. The instr uotional t nhl cs ha d been issu ed by th e Hei ch swelu-.
Bet-ker was al so in po sses sion of IIIl1l'h pri n led su bver-sive rnat er-iul.
On the .lunu H1:n , 011 th e nc cusion of a furhi dd en demonstruflnn
of th e KP.D. in th e Frank fu rt cr Allee, He ad Cons t no!o Kuh feld wa s
futull y wo und ed by a shot in th e abdomen . He died on th e W:lY 10
ho spi tal. Th e I\ ,P.D. f ire d a bo ut 40 shots Ht t he policeme n. The in -
ves tig at ions in th e Kuh fcld case l ed to t he di scover -y of th e f oll o win g
weu pons. explosi ves a nd ammunition in th e house, K> Til sit er Strnssv:
1 c ase con ta ining 1i he ads of hnnd-gr cnades wit h ha n d le . 1 'r- ase ('n n.
tai ni ng a i um inill lll po wder :md a pistol ca ses, 1 case wi t h pnwd er t.d
1 con l a in i ng 1:1 drullI s for machine-pi slol s as we ll as
sloppe rs, 1 hox cOll lai ni ng 1\1 p isl ols of "adolls ca lihres . "ar ioll....
pi st ol ba rrel s. :\ pi slol ma ga zill ps anti 3 reserve spr ings, r ifle -locks.
5 sitl,,-a r ms. 2 side ar ms pOt'k els . 1 comp ass, i 6(i r ounds o f pi stol mil -
muni lion. :l for s por t ing g uns, 1 hell for a llI:tchiJlt ' -
pislol.... , 2 m:.l ga zi nes fur Or tgi es pi stols, 1 con la ining (j l H'a r iHIo:
blocks, 1 wi l h 10 mach inc-p isl ol dr ums :lnd 2 st o p per s, I c asl'
t'ont a ining 1 pi slol , 4, llwchinc-pistol , :l stoppt'l's. ant! 1 HUH'hill l'
gun lo('k , 1 cas e with :H flasks of ex p losi \"es (so d i u m) :Llld flH
carl ri dge s, 1 t'a se co ntai ni ng a ma chi ne-p ist ol cases, t machine-p i... l o l
barnl. 1 machine-pi st ol lock . 1 s piral spr ing. 1 ho ll , s pa re pari s f il l'
1 conla ini ng 2 pi s lo ls. 11 ha rr e ls wi l h fork s :l nd
(raows, twu frames. -t Pa r ahr llu Ill US. t ha ndhs. :! ma ga zi nl' s. 10 h and l.'
sea les. 4- ma ch ine-pisl ol d r ulll s. :1 s l o Jlflt r s. 1 C': ISI' . 'uII I:lining [, lc' :Jll lI' r
caSt 'S for Pal' alH'lI tllll OK, I bo x wi l li :!li 11l ;lCllill t.pi .'il o! a l i t!
2 sloppers. 1 ca s I' cont a inillg :\;, 1Il;lf'h illl' -p islol d ru Ill... a lld I bo x 0 1
Ill: u llll lP pi \dol dru u.... nml ;1 lo pl lI'r s. .uul I c a ... . , wilh :1 sa rd .\' lo pl\. ...
aml \' lIri o ll"; pa t'king mutvriul .
Oil l i lt' l si August W:H t he cu rp un ler 1,'l'it l Sl'I lI' i"Hlt'r wn ... lu-uh-u 10
deat h hy me mber-s of t he I';: ,P ,I>. ill t ile ' Iiil kr St rll S"l ' . li t' di "d fill
th e spot.
On th e sa me dat e, al t he cor-ner of Hu: Frnuk f'urtvr ,\ \I t' I' . mul tlu-
Muin zer Str nsse. on t he oc casion of a co nur vunti ou or 1\.1'.1>. atlllt'r l'lll ",
and ussault s on th e po ll ee , Head Lonstuh le F it' bi g W:IS s ho t uud S\' \' ,' n' ly
inj ure d. During the su.hsequ cnt exchange of shots Hudi ' I'o ffr-! wa'
shot throug h th e he ar t an ti killed. Pcr pulrutor uuk nown.
On the Sth Aug us t IH:H I\.P. D. men ga l h\'I'.'d on t he Biilo w 1'1:11 1
whe n p oli c e uffic ials we re viol ently ut ta ckud und -injur cd . F ri ll. 1\ 111-( 1'
was t ak en 10 t he No . 15 a mbula nc e slati on in th e Lnndsbc r jn-r Slr;l ..... I
hy civi llnus . where he was fo und to ha ve rvc ei vcd a hul let WOlllHI
Even in those days th e "s ulle n hat red and rage" o r l lu- Hl'd
Front was concen t rated a gainst member s o f t ill' Na t ion ul -Suci ulis t
move men t , in par ticular a gains t the S.A.lUcn . The K.P.D.
recogn i zed that -the rott en o f fic ial apparatu s of the It cpuhlu- W: IS
quite unahle t o r esist any ser ious armed r is i ng o f th e m us s es. Long
before the old s t a te, th e Bol shevi st s renli xcd that thp (il'r111:111
na ti on was not to he saved by the Weimar Hcpuhl ic. hil t xuh-ly by
t he fo llower s o f Adolf Hitl er , t il e onl y fact or of any real prollli st
and st ren gth in the gr e at st r uggle in r ccent yea rs. Thi s pxplai ll'
why the nominally neutral sta te lo oked 011 as helpless third purt y
in th e s t r uggle for lif e and d eath het wecu the SO liS of the unt iou ill
S.A, u n if o r m and the de adl y enemies of t he ponplc. wcarill g lilt'
Soviet badge. No fewer than 200 S.A.IIWI1 fell whil st (It'rt ' ll di ll g
Ger ma ny a gainst the Co m m u n is t Int eruutiouul c; 1n S..\ . :lllci
S.S,men were heatcn and injured fo r l ife hy lilt, COlll lllll ll is t 11' 1'1' 0 )"
is t troops, 0 1' otherwi se wo u lll ied or sl' l'ious ly injllnl(l. T Ilt' fi gll!
in whi ch th ey fell was no less h onourahle and vi la l than th e ( il'l'Il1 :lII
def enshe war of 1914 -8. with th e di ff('rPllcc Ill at o lhc' r s i d t...
of the barri cades were not m anncd hy h Ollollrahl e so ld it' rs I d : 1
forei gn nati on. hut hy cri mina l d iques of the lowpr on it' 1'''' :11 11 1
misl ed members of our own people in t h e o f a 1'00 111'...... . i ll
ternat ional group or .Jewish and in tl' llt' d Jla ls .
Som e a nt he ntic cases ta kcn f r o m the IisL of the (Il"a d SoI\ . alltl
N.S. D.A. P. a d herents, t oget hc r w it h pidlll'(' s or th e rall ('1) N: lIi ll Jl:d
Socia lis t !It'r ol' s . a n d sonw or Ih e !'pc! tt 'lTll r i ... ts, :u ( gin' lI Ilt'l o \\' .
The is"a l ioll a lSoci:lIist T ht'odor S a llt!t' I'S, horn :!tlI h
was th r o w lI f r ollJ !li s " yl'l t' dur illg :111 t'XI' lIl'sifl ll 1111 :!lIti !>(' l't 'JJlbl'l"
l H:W, 0 11 till' I1t' :11 I w i lh S O Il )( ' h l u n l o lljt'cl :l lI d tl H'1I ... Ia '\h l' d
,.... illl :l k nif.,. II I' c1 i l ' d of Id ... \\"0 111 1< 1... two d n .\' " l :tt n ,
15'1
II'
On the 3rd August 1932, Friedrich Schulz. member
of the N.S.D.A.P., born on 26th Jan. 1893, was
killed by a shot in the head fired during a Commu..
nisi attack at 1.50 a. m. in front of the house 67,
Trift Stresse, Three f urther persons were wounded
by shots and stabs .
Le] t : One of the perpetrators, Karl Blumreuter,
W.ll!-p;lperer. Berlin.
R ig h t: The perpet rator, the labourer' Will y Simon,
who fled to Soviet Russia.
Oil l it, 2 1
1
" 1.11I1/,11 )' 19.32 the sdioot-bo v t l erb crt
Norkus, M I'rlll,1'/" of' t lve l li tler Yout h, was attack ed
by )"oll ng Communists and kill ed by being stabbed
in six places. .
157
On the 70.April19J2 the S.A. man Fritz
Hellmann\ born !20
th
April 1901, was shot
dead by Communist terrorists at the corner
of the Christburger Stresse and Gretfswslder
Strasse.
Above: Two oi -the probable.'perpetrators, the
labourers W. Koppitz and A. Klein.
Right: Door of Eckstein's saloon, pierced by
bullets.
On the U ~ [enusry 1930
the student Horst W essel,
born in Bielefeld, on the
9
t
h October 1907, was shot
dead through the h;df _
opened door of his dwelling
in the Grosse Frankfurter
Strasse by Communist ter-
rorists.
Below: The perpetrator
Albrecht Hcbler, called
"Ali", who was sentenced
to 6 years' and 1 month's
penal servitude.
156
20) T he numbers of S. A., S. S. and B.) . caxcx liming the time the S.A. wa s for-
bidd en i ll Apr il I lJ] 2 have hecu include d i ll the ot her months in pro por tion. For the
vc a rs 192H- III .1t oll l\, t he uu.. arc give n.
Tolal
Total
200
360
881
2,506
6,307
9,715
550
7
1,922
87
Members
of the Part
I
Members I
[of the Party,
267
31
6
Hitler
b
17
1,060
75
Number of injured
6,466
357
I 8.A. men I 8.8. men I
I I
Hiller
I 8.A. men 8.8. men boys
Year
Grand Totals : I 170
I UU'y1:j I
' 1
1923 21 -
- -
21
1924 4 - - -
4
1925 3 - -
- :l
1926 4 -
- -
-I
1927 5 - -
-
"
1928 5 -
- - r;
1929 8 -
- 1 9
1930 15 t
- 1 17
1931 32 6 3 1 42
1932 68 10 2 4 84
January 1933 5 -
1 -
6
Year
1928
1929
1930
1931
1932
20
)
January 1933
'I'll. , 1,111 0 \\,11 11,: .u-r- urnt .. d:!I :1 wr th Nutirnm l SOl ' i: d i.'ils
IlIllrdt'll 'd :l ll d \\ 'l lI l ll dl' d It y CUlI l ll l ll lli 'ih II n \ ' I ' 111 '1 '11 'i ll \l pl i l' d I I,\' IIII'
Providt 'll! FtllId o f t lu - N.S.ll.A.P. :
T llhlt, 1II111l1U'r o! Nalinl);!1 1II11rfh'rt't1 :11111 in.lurrd
by Commnnlsts 1)('lw('('1I :11111 {Januuey],
Number of murdered
Grand Tota l: 20,319
The progressive ri se in the curve of murders is certainly the
most staggering proof of the Communist preparations for
revolution:
1928 - 5 killed, H)29 - 9 killed, 1930 - 17 killed,
1931 - 42 killed, 1932 - 84 killed.
During the same period the numbers of Nat ional Socialists
injured increased from 2,506 in 1930 to 9,715 in 1932 . What might
have been t he numbers to be counted on the days following t he
intended armed rising?
On the 29 th 1932, Herber t Gat schke, member
of the I\r.S.D.A.P., born 14th October 1906, was shot
by Communists in the Rontgen Stresse, Charlotf enbutg,
and died two weeks later.
Left: two of the probable perpetrat ors, Walter C.l 11/l ,
clerk, and Fritz Kollosdxe, labourer, Berlin.
Be low: The scene of the crime.
On the 2.Jth April 1932 , at ';.30 p. m., the member of the N. S.D.A.P. Udo Curth,
born on 30
t
h October 1909, was shot dead in fron t of the hl'w.e No. 64l\Jo'd;;elll
Strasse by Franz Mels, member of the Anti-Fascist Fighting League.
Right : The perpetrator , Franz Mehls, labourer, Berlin.
Cen t re: The probable accomplice, fitter Kat! Hoffmann,
Left: The escaped accomplice A. Weinitz, Berlin.
158
I 'i ')
TIll' hdnl 1' :' "lI il!lil' '' 'i ll l l l'l' l' d II\' llu- 1'11l "l"li llll 1IIllil'l' ill t l u-
sl r llggl l' ag:dll 'il Ctl l ll ll l ll ll i' ll l \ \'l' rI' allllll 'il lln- ' :l ill i' , '1'111' fllll11 will g
fi gures an' tuk eu fr om uu oniti :lI t'Ollljlilnlillll ,
'I'11l'''I' ", l:at i... t ir-s of llu- }Irll "i:lIl \Iolit 'l ' lInil-iab of all 1' :111\\ '"
kil h-d Ill' \\'ll ll ll t lt-d whi l e faithfull y t10ill g tlu-ir tlllt y dt'nrly pro "'I'
Ilu- :-; l (,:ll ly growt h o f red terrorism , whit-It ('ost tln' livcs (If Iii Cirri
d a is ill IH:!H hut o f :Hln in lna2,
Table showtug the number nf pulln lIrfl4'llll .. (Ilrllh't,th'.'
pollee, gendnrmerte, erjmlnul IJUlil'4' :11141 ( 'UIlIIIlIIII:11 h:IiIUr ..) kllh-d nr
wounded in the fight ugulnst till' K,I',I), frullI IHIH In maa.
c. The Final Encounter.
21) Altrcd Nc ubcrg : "Dcr Bcwa ffnerc Aufst and", p. 191.
21) AHn'd L I1I.:n : " I le r WCI-( Will Sicg". p. 17.
2' ) !\ ;HI r-. lar", bv Al fred Llllt-: cr : "D cr anm Sic g", p. 211 .
"T he Bol sh evist p r incipl es of organizat ion demand th e co mph-h-
suhon l ina t ion of th e mil it a ry (and fighting) organs. j us t as every otlu-r
organi zat ion of th e pa rty (fo r ins tance th e Parliament and 'I'ratl l'
Uni ou etc.] , t o the Genera l Par ty Lf'ad l'rship.' , 21 )
The actual dat e for th e attack was nnturall y not def'inih-lv
fix ed upon in advance, in keeping with the doctrine:
" The th eory of lixing th e calenda r day fo r th e revolution in ad -
vance results from a n incli nation to overest imate th e importance of
bureuu crutl c a nd mech ani cal method s of cond uc ti ng the revohuion. A
revolutionar y movement of th e ma sses does not devel op in nccordunc c
with th e ca le ndar. " ] .
The princi pl e of sur p r ise and ta ctics was t o be appli ed :
Take th e oppone nts by surpr ise as lon g a s their troops arc
scat ter ed. "]
Early in February 1 the sec re t lenders of th e armed ri sing
met. As re present utives of the 'K,Il ,D" t he lead er s of the Communis t
F ig h ti n g As sociations, Olhrich, Schnelle r 'an d Hu ns KipPl'nher gcr
att entcd the meeting. They r ec ei ved th eir order s from the Com-
muni st Int ernation al e th rough the lead er of t he West ern Sec-
ti on , the .le w Manuil ski . The grea ter part of the plan has become
known. The ri sing wa s t o sta r t in th e demohilized Hhinelund. The
signa l for the st ar t wa s to he the murder of th e Chancellor Oil th e
occasion of hi s intended vis it to the Rhinel and.
It wa s arranged that, simultaneously with the murder of the
Chancell or or of the Reich President, all the principal hrondcast ing
stations were to be occu p ied, f ro m whi ch the call to the masses
of the prol etariat to ri sc in arms wa s to be broad cast. At the same
time all important publi c utility works were to be immediately
hlown tip or shut down; puhli c buildings, railways, bridges, milit ary
At the end of February 1933 all preparations had be en "",<I "
to st ri ke as soon a s th c signal was givcn, The Hed Front nttu ck cd
on the whole front , naturall y under the respons ible li-ud crship of
the K.P .D.
216
Tot al
I 1,97fl
29
378
Commu nal
bailiff:
66
6
Cri mina l
Polic e
a)Kill ed
224
b) W 0 u n d e d
Gen-
darmerie
13 188
1,308
Protective
poli ce
a) Percentage of killed to the elltire police force = 0.25
b) Percentage of wounded to the entire police force "" 2.3J
Total
Year
Total
Year :
Prote cti ve I
Gen- I
Criminal
I Communal 1
Total
poli ce darmerie Police bail if fs
1918 1 2
I
1 3
I
7
1919 11 6 4 20 41
1920 229 4
I
2 9 244
1921 59 7 :I 5
I
74
1922 20 5 2 5
I
32
192:1 94 15
I
30 49 188
1924 4 I 2 5 53
1925 40 7
I
1 12 60
1926 52 7 - 4 63
1927 39 7 1 6 5:1
1928 53 5 - 8 66
1929 105 19 3 18 145
J930 Hi3 38 6 77
I
274
193\ 197 56 8 71
I
3:12
1932 189 :17 2 76 304
1933 24 5 I 10
I
40
,
, , , ,
1918
I
1 - - - I
1919 8 1 3 11 21
1920 93 4 - 8 105
1921
I
38 2 - 2 42
1922
I
2 - - 1 3
1923 9 3 1 4 17
1924 6 1 1 1 9
1925 I 1 - I 3
1926 - - 1 - 1
1927 - - - - -
1IJ28 1 - - - 1
1929 - - - -
-
1930 - 1 - - I
1931 7 - -
I
- 7
J932 2 - -
- 2
\933 2 - - I 3
160
161
bnrnu-I, .... nud po lil'" Wl'!"l ' 10 Ill' "' I' l/ l'd T lli' "'1'ITl' l 11l': ld
qu.utr-r-, of IIIl' Bols lH'v i.... 1 rt'voluli on W:I", 10 Ill' ill Crd d t! :11 11 1
Duren, hilt Ihe COll ll ll i ll l't' 0 1 ,\ c1ioll W:I'" /luI n il 10 IIIl TI u t (JIll'
place, so a s 10 ,l\ '(lid lh r- o f :1 pol il'l' rni d. TIll'
leadership was apparentl y to be ill 1111' hands of II I\' HlI xxi u n .11'\\'
Barricade erected in the Rostocker Strssse, Moabit, Berlin , in June 1932.
\Vollenberg who was to be assisted by another Jew of the name or
Lundesmunn. The name Bloch was also mentioned in 111i ,'i
connection.
The next stage of th e nsmg was to take place in th e indusl r ial
district of Upper Silesia, whils t Berlin was to follow s hor t ly
afterwards.
Notwithstanding the detailed descripl ion o f t he
preparations for au armed rising given ill th e prt' ct'din g p:lgt' '''' , lilt'
162
I ll' W S ti l IIl i ... Bl d.... lu-vi s t (, o ll s l'i rac.v wi ll Ilt'ril aps Ill' d i ff'ir-uh 1'111
SOIlIP 10 Iu-lir-vr-, beca us e om- cun on ly concei vt: s uch : 111 cxln-uu-
or c rimi n ul madness wit h very g rt' a l diifi cult v. TIll' :11 ,, 1\'1'
fact s arc nol only u u thenti c and can be vo uched for , bill nh... ol ut r-Iv
reliabl e mat erial p r oves t hat those or ders and dcci xions W I' !'t' 1101
only issued 011 paper, but were immediatel y put lntu o jn-rnli nu .
On th e 13th of Febr ua ry 1933 the general ord er had I't':lcht'd
the provinces. On t ha t date a specia l meet ing or COllftTPIICI' 0 1
carefull y chos en Communist leader s was obsorved ill Aur-. i ll
Saxony, at which the " big things whic h were a bou t to happe -n"
in as hort time wer e openl y di sc ussed. An a rmed attacki ng
wus formed out of th e most r eliabl e members of the
Special em phasis was laid OIl th e fa ct t hat a ll orde r s had 10 Ill'
strictly obeyed, as the decisive s t r uggle was at hand. The a r llll' d
revolt was to commen ce within a fe w da ys.
Shortly after wa rds the poli ce in Flensburg re cei ved inf'ormn Iion
that armed a ct ive grou ps provided wit h explosives h ad h ( ' (,11
formed, chiefly from among th e wor st cha racters to he found ill
the Hamburg d istrict, fo r the purpose of supporti ng th e revolt o r
Ihe proletari a t in the l arge cit ies . hy se tti ng fir e t o build in g..... ,
blowing up bridges a nd co mmi tt in g other ads o f vanda li sm um l
terrorism, and for s plitt ing u p the poli ce Forces. In lll :lII Y pl:l t" P....
in scr ip ti ons a ppeared on t he walls , such as "Wor- kers, pro\"idl'
yourselves with weapons!" etc., wr itt en with some indelibl e pniul .
A few da ys later the authorities in the Hnh r di st ri ct
information to .t he effect that the t err or is t gro u p o f lh c 1\.1' .1 I.
intended attacking the poli ce for ces during Ihe n igh t. T wo n-rror
isis were to shoot without warni ng at passing poli cemen f'rum lilt'
doorways, whilst two others were to st a nd in read iness to ptlllllCl '
upon the wounded officers a nd deprive them of th eir Wt 'apOll S.
The signs of an impending Commu nist revol t lu -cunu : turirr -
frequent and threatening from day. to day. On making a domieif i
ary sea rch for weapons in Cammin (Pom eran ia ] the polir-r- ct un r-
across a cyphered plan for the local armed ri sing. The Il'l'I'lIri sl
groups of that district were placed under the eharge of lht - Strlliu
Headquarters. Led hy the bricklayer Du 1Il :1I1I1 , a group of :,!; ) IIIl'lI
received instructions to ca p t u re lhe leading publi c off'ic inl... , f lu-
leaders of the national as socialions and nu -rlir'u l 1111'11 und 10
hold them as host ages. Puhli c buildings nnd impnrtun! jJllhlit
utility works were 10 lu- ocellpil'd , whils l 1111' railwa y hridgl' s wt-t'r -
10 he hl own u p.
A similar It'nw"i sl gro l 1J l W:l S di St'o Yl'n'lI ill HUl'sdlt'id. wfn-re
Ilt:lrl .V:L hlllldrl 'll wl'i gld I I! ' t1 yll :lllIilt ' W: I "i lOlll'i ... r-nh-rl .
I ( 1 "\
III il l a ltou l IIU' suu u- t iuu- wrilh-n iu- trur
ti ons for ill! revolt !t'ndt' r s wvrr- t'OIl l'iSI'll l l' d wh ic h l'o tlla i ll l' c1 ll n-
fo llowing se n tences: -
"AflIlCU mass action ill defen ce ugu ius t lln- Fasl is l 'I'1'l'mr ! Disarm
t he Fascist terr or ist troops! Arm th e wnrk er s nnd 11It' poor Ih'llS:l lI ls!
Autl -Fuscl st polic e officials, j oi n you r hr otlu-rs. th e wnrk r-r-s!"
A circ ula r issu ed by Ihe local KY.)) . group of II a II", about th e
end of February, wa s co uched in simila r words nnd s tated th a t
th e chi ef a im must he " to hreak lip the ter ror l"
Au order of the day addressed abo ut the same lime to the
milit ary leader s of th e local groups con tained th e following
in structi on s : -
" Do your very best to instruct your comrades in the use o r weapons
of all k inds fr om a pi st ol 10 a machi ne-gun."
In con nection with th e discovery of a te r r orist secre t organi-
sat io n in l l erdeckc. Sc hwcrte and Hag en , 43 Communis ts were
con vic ted of having been connected with direct pr eparations for
overthrowing the government party, They were well equipped
with fire-arms, ex plos ives and bombs, possessing 7 milit ary rifles,
42 pi stols, 8 live bombs, a mmuni t ion and ex plos ives .
From all parts or the count ry similar news was r ecei ved .
About Ihe middle of Fe br uary a secret di scu ssi on took pl ac e in
the qu art er s of a Communis t func tio na ry in Seid enberg, a t whi ch
it was decide d to cut off the town 1'1'0111 all conne ct ion with the
oute r wo r ld by dest roying the rail way lines, t el ephon e a nd t el e-
gra ph lines, to blow up Ihe post -off ice and to for cibl y open up the
f r on t ie r to Czecho-Slovakia. A similar plot was formed in Schon-
ber g, Ll ebuu (Siles ia] a nd Lands hut (Silesia) . The pol ice in Reck -
Iingha usen (West phnliu) made similar di scoveri es. In Bochum an
Am -organ ization wa s di scov er ed which was dili gentl y occu pied
with the manu fac t ure of explosives and the ca r rying out of explo-
sions. Explosives we re di scover ed in no fewer than 7 hi di ng places.
Also in l l esscn the K.P.D. developed ill Junu ur v and Fchruary 19:Ja
fe verish ac tiv ity in proh ihit ed demon strati on s and handbill di stri -
bution , in fo r mi ng fi ghting t er r or ist organiza t ions and sp ecia l
fightin g gro u ps whic h also indul ged in practi cal ac ti vity in dail y
a ssault s up on Nat io nal Socialis ts.
On the 2nd of February the Communists in Wurt cmberg
a tt ac ke d the fac tory in Mossigen. No fewer than 5 large thefts of
expl os ives took place in Wurtcmberg between September a nd
the 1st of March 1\1:1:1 . Even in suc h strictly rural di str-ict s as till '
fronti er province of Posen-e-Wes! Pru ssi a , the prupnru lions For
revolution wer e keenl y ca rried on . In Schncidcmiihl n s l Ol"1II
sec tion of 50 men was formed a nd th e men told to provillc'
164
wilh wvupoux. In t'xad ly the su uu- manner as ill
Si lt's ia I' ll' . til t, Scl uu-i demiihl terrorists recei ved orders fr 0111 head-
quurh-rs 10 se izl' hostages, occupy th e publi c utili ty wo r ks, and to
ca use as much destruction as possibl e. Similar in formati on was
re ce ive d 1'r0111 East Prussia where everyone was in hourl y ex pec-
tation of th e si gn al 10 st a r t.
Altona was again one of the most dangerous cen tres of revolt,
and not only the Red Fr ont Fight er s' League hut al so the Red
rine, a nd the Anti -Fa sci st Ftghting League.were well organized and
armed . The leadership la y partly in th e hands of functionar ies who
had r eceiv ed milit ary tr aining ill Hussia. In addition to fire ar ms,
swor ds a nd dagger s. Ihese terrorist gro ups had pr ovided th em selv es
with glass bottl es co nta ining acids. All these gr oups were in a
st at e of constant al arm. Some ti me a fte r the " Bloody Sunday"
pr eviousl y described , an organized att ac k on a large sc ale was
directed hy a s lrong part y of sn ipe rs against the S.A. premises a t
th e cor ne r of Sc hu umhnr gcr a nd Welden Str as se. No fewer than
200 t errori st s march ed up to cover the t racks of II", assassins. On
thi s occasion a school-hoy named lI ans Gra ac k wa s killed. On th e
:lOth December a simila r shooting a tt ac k W:I S made on th e
S. A, premises in 1:,) [) k Breite Strasse. About f)O shots wer e fir ed,
the S.S, man Ludwi g Sc harf being se r ious ly wo unde d. During Fe-
hruury, Swi ta llu, th e leader of th e K.P.D. in Altona, together with
l lui ns a nd Heschke, th e leaders 01' Ihe H.F .B., sys tem at icall y pre-
pare d th e over t hro w of th e national gover nment. All th e t errori st
format ions and groups we re armed a nd r eady for immed iate ac tion.
Special groups wer e charged wilh th e blowin g lip of bridges etc.,
othe rs wit h att acking poli ce sta t ions . Fro n. June 1932 till J anuary
1H:\:-I no fcwe r t ha n 3n cases of robbery with vio le nce and of bur-
gla ry occur r ed.
In Hanover, too, the prep ar ati on s f or t he re volution were
comple te. At the meeting of t he leadin g funclionari es on :l3rd
Nove mber 1932 , th e time for th e ri sing was fi xed f or the day OIl
whi ch Adolf Hitl er was to assu me office. Towa rd s th e end 01'
Febr uary 3,500 det onat ors and a large quanti y of explos ives and
fu se we re st olen from the chief forest er' s house a t Ba d Gr und.
Shor tly a fte r war ds a number of petrol tanks wer e forcibly opened,
wherehy about 200,000 li tres of pet rol we re lost . A fe w days lat er
an attempt was made t o put th e ove r la nd high-ten si on lines out of
neti on.
Till' revolut ionnry troop s of th e !CP.)). were taught all Ihe
ln tcs! illl!'I' O \"( 'II H'IlP( S in the a r t of street-fight ing .
" I II lil t, of .... InI'l li ght ill J..: WI' s hall huve 10 depa r-t in many
casl's f'rour uur llll'lho ll 'i :I .... hillu-r! o 1'llIpI O)" 'd ; Il n- arm.... uud txplosi vt....

....
..
4. ,f .l>. ,/ t . oHhiHI 'oj ,. , ,. ,, , 'T"'h,,.ce
I.t f ..." " ,,.l i ,,,1" ' 11
On th e 28th Fcbruury th e see ret revol ul. iunury 1\.P .l l.
h e ad quart er s i ssued th e foll o wing gener a l fi ghtin g or ders tn lilt'
terrorist a nd fi ght in g organizations: -
" Deal' Fr iend s.
We have discussed th e prese nt si tuu ti ou wit h ot lu-r frie llds :11 111
have come t o a number o f deci sions. Her ewith we muk e you ucq uuiu u-d
witb th ose of Int erest 10 you: -
1. III thc ,fight against "he Fusels t terror tu uke use o f urru s ill s" lt
defence.
;! . Di!-mr m t he l: a seisl tcrr ori st Ir oops.
3. Ar m the workers and poor peasant ry .
4. Chase th e brown s hir ts out o f th e luhour l' xl'h all gI' S uud llu- world lil-:
men ' s li vi ng distr ic ts .
fl. Anti -Fasc ist pol icemen ! .Join you r lu'o llu-r wnrkcr s.
G, Meet 'Fasci st terror ism a nd nss uul ts wit h slri kes. Br t':lI.. dn wll
t he Fasci st pr ohibi t ion of d emoust ru tio ns. - Fight for llu- ri ght 10
hol d mceti ngs, fr eed om of the press and llu - r ight to deutonsl rnb- .
Tn :l('cor da nt:l! with th t'se nl!t'lllpl s 1lI1lsi ,Ill' lIIatll ' i ll ull
di st ri cts 10 give exa mplt's o f 1111' disa r ming of S,A. IUIII . S.A
prtmi st' s. t'l c.. Hnd In IIwkt , Sil l'l l act ion pupill a I' :llillllll-: th c'
Sh' ps IUllsl bt illllll t'd i:lltly l:l kt'll 10 popul:l l'izl' Iht ' idt':l of s(1f 1'1'0
24) l ,o il- Id t II I th e of th e So vi et I lllitlll , [I . I t, 1. b ,ll ,Il t
fr o m Ne lll-l' ll-:': " Jit' 1 hcw.lll lu 110 "111-.1 .11 1.1 ". Pl" 27'1 d
IIII' , I ll " " Ill;lrl 'l'd lur :1IIat'i , :-. , ur, wlu-n lh e s l n ' l'l i 'i I' l ll p l)' , ad
V: IHtjlll-: Ihrllugh l ilt' hOllst's. ya r d.. a nd ga rtlt' ll.... T Ill' 1" 111' II u- r 1Il l'l llnd
i s quivkc r, IIII' l ut tvr suf'er and l 'a Il Sl' S Ir-wr-r I m i sl ' :-'. TIll ' 1llo it, uf ll u-
nn-ll uul rer un in s ,.. -it h ll u- leru h-rs ant i dl 'IH'lltis upon l lu- gl' ll l' r: d , i l ll
utiou uud lhc s upply of the 1\('I ' t ' s'\ :lI" y Ill a[(!i aI.
H
) "
\
Uriginel Soviet decorations exhibitied at the First Neiionel Socialist Revolutioll M11.\1'/1/11.
The large decorat ion in th e centre of the upper row beal's the inscription " FM gO\Jd
mal'ksrnanshfp"( !)
': . .:.i). ':,

."",.;;;' . \, $' a .. ..
... ", ' , : .- .,','
'f"'I""" ., '. \. , .... ... . ..ro" .... .....
. , .:,.. .: \ (" "" ', -.
Jln 10 1110: 4' 1 , " t1 i n ', W I' 1I 111.. l II I li lt' 11111111 I'lllpl o \' rl u- lll w a l.. I' ll. , 1'11111' "
j.{(Jllra ll y JUIll P d o w II [r-um II n-i r lu n il " wilh , u 1'1, a Li d , of p rt ' l ' ,l tl l i oll
Ih nt th e y r-un e as ily and qu ick ly Ill' o\' l'r p0 \\, I 'I"I -4I lu-lur e Ih l'.\' a n ' :11 11 1'
10 d o a n y th i ng. By pou r i ng st r o ng ..: 11:l 1l 11110 11i ' Il ' , " lIl p h ll r l" :!I'id 0 1
sim ilar gaseous liqui ds out of wi dl lll'( ' !i.,'d boll lt.., or mr-Lplal l1 a, I"
ov er th e pol ic emen, the v wi ll intnu-diu tc-I v Ill' p i ll 011 1 o f tu-tion. T Ill'
more a bsorbent th e poli cem nn ' s co ut is. tlu - ht' lIN wi ll lu- l il t' dr,(,1.
Co unt e r m cu su r u: water p roof gar men t, so l h al lil t, liq u id will run off
Tn the eas e o f polic e S111l a d S lt nving thus be en O \' t' I' I 'OIl\ {' , lilt ' nu flro -
r-ifles 'will proh ah ly send 0 111 'ar moure d pol ice ca r s fit ted wi th muchi ue-
guns. T hese cars ca ll be nllacked i ll th e foll owing manner: co mrmh-s
movi ng i ll the crowd a re provided wi th simil a r bo tt les fi lle d wi t h
putrol, benzole or ot her inf'l utnmubl c liquids a nd, whe n t hey urc u nuh-
se rved, t hro w th ese bottl es at t he ears. The ho ttl es should h e smas hed
hy the impact. The bo t tles ma y a ls o be thr own into the car from tln -
houses . Bef'orchun d or Inuucdia tel y uf terwurds other comr ad es shouIII
th row burni ng rags or lmndkcrchi cf's which have In-en so aked ill petrol
iuto th e "chicl es, Th e ca r will t hen Immediat el y he e nve lop ed i ll
names, a nd th e quicker i t moves th e more th e fire will sp read; the lirt-
ca n be co n ti nually Fed by t h rowing fr esh fu el on th e car. The th r owers
must therefore be j udiciou sl y plnccd in th e st re ets beforehand. In ti ll '
s ame way policc s ta tio ns , muni cip a l buil din gs and ba rracks ca n l it'
ra pidly cl eared. Emp ty milk tins wi th a hole in th em ca n he wel l
used for t his purpose. I f th e a ttackers are systema t ica ll y pla ce d mHI
ac t ac co rdin g t o pl an , grea t co nfus io n wi ll take p lace a mong the crowd
and th is is of grea t assistance in suc h a fight. "
The ab ove i n structi ons in th e t echni c a l i ti e s of st re e t-f igh ti ng
are taken f rom the f re q uen tly quoted h ooks of Neuman n a nd
Kippen bergor, wh ic h . in t heir tu r n, are ba sed up on th e teachi ngs
of Le ni n a nd Ma r x a n d o n t he r e gulati ons o f the Red Ar my or
Soviet R u ssi a .
" Ha nd- grc nudes and bombs with great ex plos ive force ar e ve r y itu-
porta nt medi ums of a tt ack agains t huildings. Th ey ca n be used wilh
gre a t effec t, both ngui nst the li vi ng for ces of t he defe nders and a gains t
mnchine-gu ns (pr ovi ded OIl C ca n a pproach th e gun uno bs er ved] und
als o suc h mino r ob str ucti on s as doors, gates etc.
Every su b-g roup must he pr ovided with su ffic ie nt hand-gre nadr- v
a nd bombs of gr ea t expl os ive force. Furthermore, eac h group must
have a la r- ge s upply je mmics. spades, r ope-ladder s. l' h". whkll
fir e ne cessary for fighti ng a t cl ose qu arters, in an d a bo ut houses (l ht
tJreaking open of doors, th e breaking do wn of p a rtition wa lls , ga rdl' ll
wall s, stair r as es etc., a nd thus making it po ssibl e to pass fro m Ollt'
s tor ey or room to another).
Att acks upon s t reet s co nsist of th e cap t urc, s lt.p hy sh' p, of tIlt ,
re sp ective hlock s of houses a nd op en places, as we ll as of lilt ' eapll l l' l '
(If nn d fight 3t th e harri ca.des. Tht. a ttat' k lIlay ht, t. a r ril' d forwa rd ill
166
I "
/
tection, to form a r egula r patrol se r vi ce to gether with the Rei chs-
banner, S.P.D. or Chri stian Workers, for the protection of th e workers'
r esid ent ial quarters, th e party and tr a de union pr emises et c. Various
method s of qui ckly mobilizing th e masses must be employed in ca se of
Fascist att ack s; this can be achi eved .hy means of si re n s, horns, wh istles
etc. In con ne ct ion with the ot her forms of mass-fighting, the fighting,
demonstrati on s, mobili zations and processions must be suit ah ly
practi sed."
On the very sa me day the order wa s issued for the hi gh est state
of al arm. It was only a matter of days or eve n hour s bef ore the
sig nal fo r re vol ution was to be expected.
" 1. The fig hters' l ea gu e is t o be immediat ely d ivided -into two for -
mations. The comrades wit h ' vca pons are t o form one f ormati on
under th e co mmand of one of them who was for merly a soldier.
The comrades wit hou t weapons are t o as COUriNs, pickets et c.
2. No t l ater than on Sa t urday t he Reich courier mus t be informed of
the numhe r of weapon s av ai la ble in yo ur districts. Whe ther car-
hines. ri fles, pi st ols , hand- gr enad es, and machine gu ns are avuilabl c
a nd th e quanti ty of ammunition f or each. In a ddition separate
repor t on the supply of expl osives, wh ich are to be r ep or t ed to th e
defence organizati on.
:L The fig hters h-ague , Ver cin (assumed na me for H,F. B.), part y and
must he immediately p laced in th e h igh est state of alarm.
4. Our comra des are to be told at on ce that th e auxili ary poli ce are
t o be w-iped out wit h every means a t th eir d isposal. when and wh ere
they ar e met . It must be mad e im possi blc for a ny F ascist to walk
alon g th e st reets.
5. The position of th e Nazi bar-rac ks and all Xuzi strategical points
must be a scert ained.
H. Un ifor m ad vance 01' th e entire or gan ization ag a ins t the Fascists an d
all thei r auxiliary organizati ons . .
7. 1\0 pardon is to be ex te nde d to the Nazis.
The local groups a re to h ave a free hand in all a ct i on s, exc ept in
cases co ncerning the poli ce force, their barracks a nd all te chnical
works. In such cases pe rmissio n must b e obtained from th e B.L. of
t he :M. se cti on .
High est state of al arm, 5. 3. , 12 midnigh t. Arr iva l of th e al ar m
r eport. Posi t ive instr uctions r egardin g op erations in th e Re ich.
Arrival of the Reich co urier. We ex pe ct t hat our in st ruction s will
be immediately ca r r ied out for th e downfa ll of the Hitler
government."
The first si gnal for the armed rr smg had been give n th e
previous night by setting fi re' to the Rei chst ag. This immens e co n-
f1agrali oll , whi ch destroyed the dOIlH' a nd I!I(' ph-mu- y hall of IIH'
I hH
Reiehstag in the night of the 2ith to 28t h Fclnuary 1\l3:3, glaringl y
illuminated the political situation in (Jermany like an enormous
torch.
Van der Lubbe, the man who set fire to the Reidve-
tag, and a view of the gutted plenary hall of the
ReidJstag.
Parallel to the sim ult a neo us breaking oul of civil wnr i n
places, with the int ention of spli tt ing up and confusing the pOWt 'rs
of the stale and the S.A. and S.S. formation s, a very nccurntc! v
and minutclv worked 011t plan of ne t ion , for t he time s uhs cq uvu t
In the 5t h of Xlnruh t wa s dra wn Ill' hv the gt 'lH'ral sluff or
the rcvolutlnu . pu rticulurt v for llu - ltr-rlin d isn-ic-t . .\ s will he S l' (' l l
f'rom lhn l plnu . IIH' luttvr is xunn-wlr nt xinrilur t o lilt' so-ca lll' d
" rli vr-rsionx", nhouf whirh ,\. i\ \' l lI H' l'g lilt' 1'1l111 1Will g :
" 111 .., l r l ' j' l l i;.:l d i ll;': . " ('!l ll l i l l ;': II p' r :lI i l ll .... (di \' l'I' " i " II" ) pl uv :1 ' l' ry
i ll 'l JlI I' L l ll t p :tli
111'1
I '
"
o
~
. ..:.;.. -
. ~
, -t t ".'" I
I
I
I
ir
i
I
i
i
i
I
I
I ~
r
J
Plan of the police barracks, Wrangel Stresse, Berlin, exhibited in the
National Socialist Revolution Museum in Berlin.
living quar ters! The terrorist Fusc ist s are a bout to deliver a n awful blow.
Our broth er-s a nd young comrades arc da ily falli ng vi ctims to ti lt'
murderous axe of cowardl y, ounn.ing Fasci st terror i sts . The s\Y:t slil.. :1
bandits a re about to givc us an example of the most bloodthirsty S IlI' 1
of Fascist t r ibunal. The gigantic power of red Berlin is to he sllIa sllt'd
and bell ten down by their terror.
Anti-Fascist s o r t he Mlddl e-Hhinct :\' 0 dilly-da lly ing now!
Ant i-Fascists of the Middl e Rhine! Xow show you r power !
Ant i-Fuscist s of th e Middle Rh ine! Ko\Y form u p into an uruu-d
un it ed front ! Now is t he time for uction '
Class comrades of the S.P.D., t he A.D.G.B. , the Heichsbantu-r und :11 1
you, Christ ian workers! The formations of the F ascists ar e iunrr-hiug
agai nst . us. We dare not mo ve singly or spli t up ; we mu st Illarch
shoulder 10 sho ulder against the Fasci sts, and fight our \V:I:--' 10 Bc-rliu.
Communists propose immedi a tely 10 cull uut i-Fn svist H\('t'lillg"
in the factories , Iabour-exchanpes and of loca l house hlockx : IS SO '
ela tio ns.
\Ye Conu nunist s propost- joiu l nuti -Fn sci st l 'Ollllllil ll ' I ' 'i of nct.iou ill
all works and -hloek s of d\Y('lIill g-IIOI I... I ' ....
In view of (i Cll'rill g ' ... recent shoo li l l J.( o l' dl' I'S din,,lt' d :q'::lins l 1111 '
proh-lm-iut . ill " i ,',," of 1111 ' 1lI' I:lI n lllh-, of \ \ . II I'I" ,/' s w ho 11 :1\'1' 1' :1IIl'lI
uudr -r lill > .... It-,I o f till ' Fa sl'i sl s. \\" 1' Iinw PI Il I' J:li l ll 11]('
uf 1Ill' IIII1S0,;4'" In Il r lll lIud lhor t'lUI IhlIII ..41\-4 ' ."1
:q.( a i II .... I till ' F :l ..r-i ..t 1"IT lI r
..
j: . .. -
,..
l.'.H- .....
I
I" .
1
;
i .I'"t .J!..... ", ';'.. .1
1
t- _,..... ,
... .."..
.;:;; :izrzzz:
;;::. .... -
.... r ....'....-, *-l
llC "'''''-/--
... :-:::: '.,..
... ..... ... _-

n xC'
".--
25) A. "Dcr bcwaffncte Au fstand". p. 25.1.
25a) cf t he Con feren ce of the Re d Po lice Uni ts, p. Yl .
Tile Iuru-tions oj' sco u l i n g !I 'lll "i ll g sl l 'l' d li glltill f.: nrr- :1 ... follows:
a) The organization of hlockados aro und l Cllllllli .... x.u-iutx, ll u: blod,i llg
of bridges a nd stoppage of rivershippill g, IIH' ,k... Lrm-lion of ra il-
way cm hankmcn ts, t he pl a nning of coll ision... Iwl \\'1'1' 11 milil.u-y t ruins,
etc. wi thin the lines of th e enemy,
b) Dest r uc ti on of the l ines of communication.
e) Orga nizing of assaulls on small grou ps of soldier s, disarming of
sa me, anti orgu nizi ng acts of terrorism ag ains t the leaders a nd
ag ains t all power-s fight ing agains l the r evol ution.
d} Organizing of re volt s among t he mi l itary forces wilhin t he lines of
the enemy.
e) Deceiving t he enemy by spreading false infor mat ion (news fa-
vourable to us ].
f) Organ izing t he tapping of en emy tel ephone l ines hy connecting a
Icl ephouc nppuruf-ux to their Lines." ?"]
The exact ness wit h which the plan of action pro vi des for the
carrying out of acts of wilful destruction and vio lence in the capital
is almost admirnhlc.
From the 5th 10 thc 9th of March 1933, t hc blowing up of
railway hridges, t he d em o lit ion of overhead high -te nsion lin es, t he
sh utt ing down and destr uction of elcc tricitiy works a nd ot he r
power pl a n ts were to t ake p lace i n ra pi d success io n. The police
barracks in t he Chaussce Strusse, at the Kreuzberg, and in th e
Wraugcl Strassc were apparently to he h el d in check during t his
t ime by B.F.B, troops and grou ps of tcrrorists. Couriers were
al ready appointed and s pecial te lephone li n es laid f or secur ing
u n ited action. Assau lts and ro hheries were a pparunt ly to he carried
out by large bodi es of workless in the country district n ea r I{rUI1UllC
Lanke, Although i t has n ot hecn po ssi bl e to completely decvpher
t he plan of a ction , t h e l a tte r presents incontrovertihle proof of
t he i mpendi ng t e rror i sm a nd wi lf'u l dest r uction w h ic h was to he
c a rri ed out methodically a nd systemat ically accordi ng t o a p r e -
conceived plan.
Thc police h urrucks in t he Wrnngel Strasse, marked in t he p lan
of act ion , had previously heen under close observat io n. T he Com .
munist spies h ad dr awn up t he following sketch: -
Fi nally, thc fo llowing in str uct ions of t h e K.P.D. l eaders in
Midd le Rhine distric t are r epro du ced :
" To all sub-dist r ic t leader s!"
"To all ins tru ctor s ut Greater Colog ne!
Alarm in th e whole of t he Xliddle Rhine d.istrict ' Alar m in t he wh ol c
of Germany! Alarm at every work-bench , in every Iabour-exchangr-,
in eve ry off'ice l Alarm in all mines, pits and fuctor tes ' Alar m i ll a ll
172
;\rlll."i ill 1111' hall .! "i ld' ll u- !l ll tl l'"l1 l pt a -,:I I I '" IIlt ' all p r o
lerliou tu 111 1' \ \ ' 0 1'1, (' 1''; ' falllil it ' s nnrl qll :ll'kr ... .
An ti -F asci st poli cemen ! .luin vo ur ln-utlu-rs. 1111 ' \\ l l r I. 1'I'S, i ll llu-jr
,fi gh t against the Fascist murdernus buml.il s!
When they ad van ce, st op them with ('yer y nu-anx i ll your po we-r!
Stop t he lorries! Prevent t he Nazis from using molor truuspor-t! Bronk
up th e pavement! Block th eir mar ch rout es wi t h Irccs ! Bu ild luu-ri -
cades in th ey ,vay of the a dvanc ing Nazi columns! Form a j oin t organi-
zation for th e armed a ttack against the Nazi transports t o Berlin!
St rictly control a ll h ighways and railways in the whole di st r i ct ! The
di ct a te of th e hour is action - immediate ac tion!
Order of the day: The un ite d anti-Fascis t masses must war d off the
frontal attnck of t he Fascists against Berlin with all menu s al t heir
di sp osal and break i t down! The masses to the front in self-protection!
the works ! Up and a t the en emy ! \Ve Communi sts sound the
assembly."
If we , at this point , once more survey all the ex tensive
preparations of the intelligence service and the O.S.N.A., t he Am-
organization and t he pa r ty in the sta te of self-imposed illegality,
t he Chcka and th e H. .F.D., the alarmi ng 0[' the F ighters' League
against t he Fascists, and t he merging of the Hed Mass Self-Pro-
tec tion organi za tions with the R.F.B., the immeasurab le i ncrease
of t he supplies of weapons and explosives, the countless armed
assaults and the inc reasing number of murders of polic emen, S.A.
and 5.S. memhers, i t will he realized that these plans of ac tion form
logical links in t he chain of the Communist preparations for
revol ut ion. In t he lon g run the K.P.D. really had no o ther cho ice
th an to stake eve ryt hing on t he one card, and to attempt immediate
revol t with all the means known to violence and crime. Their
only choice was to sink or swim, i. e. def eat or victory. They
dec ided to run th e risk of a revolution an d took to arms. Wi thin
a few days the attempted revolt was crushed and t he K.P.D.
destroyed . They had underesti mated th e strength of the Na tional
Socialis t movement , and consequently suff ered t he fa te described
by th eir foremos t t heorist Leni n in his "Good Advi ce from Afar" : _
" It is n o good pl aying wi t h revolu tion; when it is once star te d one
must be qu it e clear that one must go on with it to the bi tte r end."?"}
The de te rmination to ho ld out to t he last was certa inly not
lacking; what was lacki ng , howev er , was the po ssibility to do so!
For, in t he "first one or two hours" me ntioned in t he "Theo ry
of armed Revol t?" ), the decision had f allen, and th e sca les h ad
turned in fa vour of National Socialis t Germany .
"} Quoted from Neuberg-Neumann; op. ci t. p. 231.
!7) Op. cit. p. 220.
174
Tilt! entra nce Ieeding
to "'t'Cr'l!f l M ,\ s.lges in
the K.II II.itbkll,tilt
11,II/ H' {II I k, li ll
t H
'I'll " 1\ .1' .1). luu l fo rt' St' l' 1l :111( 1 \dI OWI I IIll' C'tll l "'I' q l ll 'Il C' t' S o r dd l' :d
111, ' y had IIlll sl urulurhl y wilh 1II1lt'1I ili On'
measures Oil th e pa rt of thei r 0 p po llen ts : -
" I ll ca se of armed r evolt th e r etreat ,is always .u-cmupnni cd by
heavy losses, The retreat from a r evolution once s tnrf cd leads una-
voidably to a relentless annihilation, the destruction of th e be st powers
of the revolut ionary class by white terror, quite immat erial 'wheth er
th e r etreat take s place after a very bitt er st ruggle, or when the armed
workers capitulat es without fighting, The cou nle r -r cvnl utio n k nows no
llll:r cy. " 28)
28) Alfr ed Langer : "Del' Wcg xum Sieg ", p. 11,
The firs t f lag of
the K.P.D. of the
year /9 ]9. which
was firs t f ound
in [uiy ] 933 and
is now exhibited
in the Museum of
the Netionsl-Sc-
cielis i Re volution.
176
VI. The Task.
The decisive da ys o r the yea r saw a pvc uli.u- hi s l ol'it'a l
dr ama in Germ any - t he cl a shi ng 01' t wo revolution s. a rt ' lI a i s s:I Jl(' t-
and all insur r ecti o n, t he vinle u t colli s ion of w h ic h e r lls hl' d um!
des t r oyed th e hi t her to ex isti ng fo rm of gove rn un- n t. Tt u- naliun
r emained tri umphan t on the fi eld. It had no t fo ught only fo r i lxt-H.
f o r its f reedom an d f u t ure ; it fell i t was ar ms for ul l wr-xh-ru
Chr is ti a n nations in a war agains t Bolshcvi srn . T ile dcci si vo hnllh-
bet ween f ait h a nd go d lessness, In-tween nnli onn l ('o ll sci oll SIH'SS :1 111 1
internationali sm , between spi r it, honor nud e luu-n ct cr o n l lu- 0111'
si de and bes ti ality, dishonour and crinu: Oil ll u- ot hr-r. wa s fou ghl O il
German soil. T he Com mun ist .lnf e rnuli n nnh- xul'f'r -r-r-d a t'r IISlli ll g
defea t in Germany; th e wor' Id-ruvulu l inn luul t'll lla pst -d. T llc' ofIr -n
sive of t he I nter nat iona le was to han' 111 ' ;'::1111 ill (;t ' rlll:l lly , Illlt i t
found i ts unti mely end here. l l ert -in lit ' s tlu- wo rl d wide hi s tllr it.:tl
sign i ficance of t he e ve u lx i ll Cie nll:I IlY i ll Fc-hrutuy
A successful revolut ion t't'q uirr -x lin ju xlilir -ul irur . II ('ould 110 1
have heen s ll ccpss f ll l if i t ha d no l !W('11 lilt' tuovt-n u-ul o r tlu' hi vl.ui
cal hour, w hi ch ga \"(' hirfh to il uud pCTrc'I 'lt 'd it. Nil\\' ror: 1 11 : 11'1"11 \\
pt'rSO/l IIH' il llpOr!:tIlC't- o f N a l i o ll :l l Sl w i: t1i .'i l li 11I :I,\' . ' \ 11: 111 ... 1
i l xell' ill 1I11- 1' :11'1 it !1:IS s:I\'l' d CCl'lIl all .\' 1'1'11111 ClI ll ll ll ll ll i ... 1I1. ' /' 111' ..igu
or llu - sW: I... til, u "' ;1'\ IItf! l'al' ril 't1 III \' it ' llI r y ill tll ,rl 'lIt 'I ' , 111 11 i ll all :H'I... ,
1It11 n q ..:- :l l i \ l ' '' I t:I'' IIlI... .. lut l l ' .. ... ili vr- nhu ... ill ... p i r , -t1 11 1:1 S. \ um l S.."'l,
I I
ill thvir r i glll 1111 ( llr lllall .\'. Till ' l d tauunruui -.. l1 \\,a ... a
resu l l of l he yiclor y oj' tln: N.S . I )..\ .II ., thi s ll ll \\'l ' \'t'r . was Jlul
only the res ult of lite defea t 01' Couu uun ism. I II its St ' :I r l'l l fill' til ..
rea l Germany, National Sociali sm fo und :1 uurrupl sy sl ell i. which
was about t o be overrun by Bol sh evism. It could no l and d.u-e not
he a wit ness t o the way in which t he pe ople, Ihunks to l he i m-umpe,
teney of the Weimar liqui dator s, became a pr ey to i nterna tiona l ex -
pl oit ers" That system had to be re moved in or der to corne r th e
enemy. Th us, the destruction of Communism i s no t a " justi fica-
tion", but a hi st ori cal fact a nd a by-p r oduct of the Nationa l -Socia -
li st r evoluti on. whi ch. a fter all, is sufficient in itself t o make t he
leader of thi s n ational movement unforgett able.
If t hings a re so, then als o t he final ex terminat ion of Bo lshevism
in Germany is Hot onl y a questi on of r igorous defen ce and poli ce
act ion, hut principall y a t as k for t he posit ive building-up of the
National -Socialist St ate. If the exter minat ion of Bolshevis m began
wit h th e Na tional-Socialis t r evolut ion, it wi ll end wit h it s com-
pl etion . Ne it her th e ca pitalistically corrupt Social-Democrati c
party nor it s confederat es, the Centre Pa rt y, we re in a positi on to
o ppose the closed sys te m of Bolshevi sm wit h a similar ly convincing
syst em, to say nothi ng of the li be ral middl e-class, whose " t ole-
rance" was a res ult of th eir modest wish to he to lerated them-
selves. T he tot al con t r as t to J ewi sh -Ma rxi st Bo ls hevis m is excl u-
sh"cly r epresent ed by Ger man Na t ional Socialis m. It is the mighty
antithesis and opponent of th e Conun uni st Internationale in ev ery
fibr e of it s bei ng, opp osed to it in the shar pest co ntras t , in the
pOIHl era biliti es and im ponderabil it ies of its purpose. It opposes
t he principl es of class warfare with a national co mmunity, i t ab o-
li shes the principle of self-in te rest hy de manding public utilit y, it
opposes t he sham phil oso ph y of eco no mic materialism and godless-
ness wth a pure idealism and be lie f i n God, clarified by a full
underst anding of realities. All th is is focussed and caught up into
one i dea - t he nation. Thus , fr om its des ire t o build up it has
become the bitterest enemy of Communis m. The Communis t In -
ternationale in Moscow fo und a mighty in German National
Soc.ia li sm .
The great and decisive problems of Ger many at prese nt , til t'
dividi ng of the people in to cl asses, it s prol et arian sh allowness an d
t r ansf orma ti on in to a shape less mass of humani t y, the exploit ati o n
and suppre ssion of a na tion throu gh the imperilistic system of Ver -
sail les and, at the same time, t he adv ancing Bol sh evism and deea)' ,
are unse parably boun d toget her. No bo dy co uld dar c scr-iousfy to
attack Bol sh evism who di d not IOIOW tlH' way 011 1 of f lu- sl w i a l
178
di 'iiJll q ":I' ;ll i IJll uud Thu t i ... w h.\' n i l a i l ll S n ll d
movt-uu-nl x houtu l lu fa i l, uud l hu! l -, w h ,Y Sl ll' i:ll is ll l
\\":I S 1lIIIIIHI II I rouquc-r, 111 priru-iph- il i s u ( ;I'rliiall 11I1 1\ 't 'I1I1'III , whil' ll
has gro wli 011\ of present for llu' fulurc : Ill ' \ 't 'rlll pi t' ss, i t is
not ( ;t 'l"lll:lll y'S " O W Il affair" . lu-c'uu st- IlO 01 111'1' nn tion I'all ill'
d iai n tercstcd ill whuttu-r til e henrt 01' 1':I II'0llt' <iuk s iulo Hlll sl1t '\'i "i lll
or sets about all internal and c x tcrual ill'alillg prOt 't ' SS ill all hom- st
and inspired manner. Germany ha s tukcn th e 11' :111 ill t he fighl
ag ains t the universa l enemy and ha s thus undertnlcen ;1 mi ssion
whic h it wilt not abandon until it h a s lu-uu :H:t'OI I1J1 l i shcd, Xluy
ot her nati ons and sta tes have s uffi ci on t in si ght nud good wi ll 10
recognise this and follow the German cxumph- . The dcstr-uctinn
of the Comm uninst In t erna tion ale is a t a s k fill' l lu: nnlion s of t lu-
w hol e of t he Chr is t inn and civi lised wor ld.
1) ,/ltOIl ,\lr.r/ipll <II' Ihl' S.. 1 ' l /l Ill, ' 22 /1 " /,I/tll .lI\ l ln 1, i n ( '11 /11 or /I ll'
1\.1/1 1.,,/,k lll ,,1Jf 11"l l\l' n il I h , Hiil"lI 'pl .ll:: ill 11.0 11111
17'1