The Daily Worker Newspaper, November 21, 1925, Page 11

welds By M. A. SKROMNY. (Reminiscences of the Revolutionary Days of 1905, By an Old Rebel). = * *€ Editor’s Note. — In connettion with the 20th anniversary of the revolution of 1905 we will publish a series of ‘word pictures of the revolution as told by a comrade who participated in the events of that time. We know they will prove interesting to our readers. zs # @ L . The Mistake of the Police, T was. way back in 1902 when the first rumblings of the coming revo- lutionary ‘events were first noticed in our town, It was a fairly well popu- lated €it¥, “With 200,000 more or less loyal ‘Subjects of the czar. There weren’t’ many factories in the city, just one big government distillery where “kazenka” (vodka) was being manufactured, another distillery for cognac, a few flour mills, and a few smaller factories. There were many small shops each employing just a few people, ‘ There were many government and private saloons where the happy drink was sold to the tired and miser- able workers and peasants from the nearby villages. Churches and syna- gogues were aS numerous as the saloons, for the people of the city were god fearing people, being. divided by religion about evenly between Jews and christians. It was Within’ the pale where Jews were permitted by the czarist government laws to live a miserable life. R those who may not know about the “pale,” a few remarks are necessary. In its discrimination against the Jews the czar’s govern- ment ¢reated a spécial zone, the “pale” within which the Jews were allowed the live. They were not per- mitted to live in the capitals, Moscow or Petersburg; were prohibited to live | inj many obher) dist#ictsy- etc. were, There of soursé, “exceptions, but The Red Front Fighters (Special to The Daily Worker) BERLIN—(By mail.)\—The Red Front Fighters, the organization-of factory workers in which the Com- munists take a leading part, is a product of the world war and the Russian revolution. This fact . was impressed on the writer as he marched in a demonstration of that organiza- tion. The parade, thru one of the working class quarters of Berlin, be- ginning at Buelow Platz and ending at the Grenadier Platz with a huge open air meeting, was held by only one district organization of the Red Front Fighters, but it was far from small, j The demonstration, held for the Communist. candidates in the -munici- pal elections, proceeded, with two bands,and numerous red banners, thru one narrow street after another. As marched, along, to. the accompapi- nt. of, the. singing of. the workers _the,.Red Front Fighters uniform, rkers. flocked .to. join the parade. Soon, the sidewalks. on both sides were filled with workers. Meh and women cheered from their windows or their cellar doorways, and those arching on the sidewalks joined in singing the revolutionary songs, one of the most popular of which is “We Are the Youthful Guardsmen of the Proletariat,” with which the Amer- ican Communists are familiar, This was no slipshod procession. The heavy shoes of the Red Front Fighters, beat a perfect rhythm, The Red Front Fighters have~ imposed upon themselves a‘ discipline. Their constitution’ states that the purpose |’ of the organization is to enlist the workers, especially those who fought in the-worl@ ‘war, to fight’ in the class war on the side of the working class. ‘The constitution states that the purpose. of the organization is to or- ganize all those who have been dis- In the Flames of Revolt Twenty Years Ago mostly in favor of the rich. Many a tragedy took place on account of these special discriminations against Jews. Many a girl student was forced to obtain a yellow passport, the pass- port of a prostitute, in order to be able to live in the capital and con- tinue her studies, for a_ prostitute was more respected and had more rights and privileges under the god blessed czars, than the Jews. The local newspaper mentioned something about “the enemies of the government” who were caught with a “secret print shop.” It turned out to bé an underground printing plant of the Social-Democratic Labor Party. The people caught with the printing were until then considered quite respect- able. They lived next door to the police station, and the woman was often seen to leave the house with the baby carriage. It turned out to be the “delivery wagon” for the print shop. Who ¢ould ever expect such a@ thing and next door to the Dolice station! The shop existed for quite a long time and was finally discovered thru an agent provocator. tapi workers began to discuss the matter. Who are they? For what did they have a pring#hop? Wpatds: it all about? illusioned by the bourgeois parties, and who realize that the working class of Germany has been betrayed by the agents of the capitalist class. In the demonstrations of the Red Front Fighters which I have. wit- nessed, their business-like maneuvers, their earnest faces, their self-imposed discipline, their fearless enthusiasm, has impressed me with one fact. These organized units of the work- ing class may fight again. In fact they are capable. and ready to fight, But they will never fight again for any other cla&s than their own. And they have the support of hundreds of thou- sand of other workers in Berlin. The world war has educated them, hard-’ ened them and made them ready for the class war, “The organization stands on the basis of the class struggle,” says the third ‘paragraph of the constitution. “And takes upon itself té temind the workers the world war in order to Doint out the nationalist propaganda now being carried on for a new im- perialist war, and to enligttém the |’ ~ workers ‘on thé ‘class character’ ‘and the methods’ of imperialist’ war.” °° One worker in’ the. demongtratio had lost his arm in the war. Another, in the uniform of the Red Front Fighters, told me he had been wound- ed four times in the world war while fighting in Belgium. “If Germany is thrown ‘into another imperialist war it will be turned into a civil war against our own bourge- oisie ‘within three weeks,” was tne expectation expressed by a Commun- ist member of the Red Front Fighters\ to me. ' The Red Front Fighters played a most prominent part in the municipal elections in Berlin. Truckloads of them, carrying red flags, and shouting their slogans for the Communist can- didates, covered every section of the city. ; We were the guests of one company >t ‘the socialist At that time there was no labor or- ganization in the city, just a few isolated underground groups composed mostly of intellectuals. The print_shop was doing its work for the central executive committee and the district committee that were located far away in different cities, An underground proclamation ap- peared among the workers explaining the aims of the social-democratic party and calling to revolt. It ended with the slogan: “Down with the ezarist’s absolutism! Long live the democratic tion a great throng of students and some workers appeared at the station to say farewell to them. It happened unexpectedly and the gendarmes were not prepared to rush the crowd. When the train began to move the crowd burst into singing and shouting. The old. walls of the railroad stattion echoed to new and foreign songs: The International and the Marseillese. HEN the train left, the crowd formed into lines and marched out of town. The station is located at the city limits, far away from the center, The marching crowd spread out in the middle of the street singing revolutionary songs. The nearer they came to the center of the town the bigger grew the crowd. It was in the evening and the respectable people were strolling back and forth on the Alexandrovsky, the main street of the city, showing their own style of gar- ments and enviously looking over the other people’s styles, They stopped looking in the win- dows of the big stores, forgot their styles for the moment and with open. ;. sion. The uniformed students ; and well dressed. girls marched hand in hand in the middle of the. street sing- ing. Thedess pretentiously dressed workers marched behind them. ere policemen, mostly illiterate or half illiterate peasants, seeing a crowd of ladies and gentlemen march- ing and singing at once showed their authority by driving off the drojkas (cabs) and clearing the way for the marchers. The poor simpletons didn’t know that they were aiding the ene- mies of the czar! They found out about it after getting an awful calling down later on from their su- periors, But how could they be ex- pected to know that these finely dressed ladies and gentlemen were enemies of the fatherland! The crowd marched up to the house of the governor where a@ speaker ap- peared and made a revolutionary speech. The governor was scared to death, republic!” ; It sounded strange to the workers who were not used to such language about the czars, but the “home made” politicians explained the matter: “They want. a republic like in Amer- ica.” That sounded plain. The proc- lamations Were hidden away and read Over again and again. At the end of the proclamation there was a legend: “After reading it over, pass it on to a friend.” It was passed on. fb the end of the year presentations were being made by the gendarmes (political police) to send the under- ground printers north. The workers in the’ ¢ did not know anything | He telephoned for the dragoons. When abo or ‘eriminals” | they arrived the crowd, half’ alrdddy we i to the failroad sta- | disappeared and nobody was arrested. - - By Karl Reeve of Red Front Fighters on election day, and took part in their demon- strations. This company is located in ReinicKendorf, one of the industrial suburbs where a large working class population lives in close proximity to the huge factories. “Death to Fascism, Vote for Com- munism,” was the shout of the’ Red Front Fighters, who jammed | the truck to capacity. “Three Cheers for the Communist candidates, Rot Front, Rot Front, Rot Front,” and “Who has Betrayed Us, The Socialists—Vote Communist,” were other slogans we shouted as we passed thru the work- ing class districts. We passed the Joachmenn foundry, where the Communist. Party has the |, largest shop nucleus,.of two hundred and fifty. members. We also passed. the Martin and Reiss slaughter house, which, att to. the manipulations of leaders, was sold by the Political Prisoners.” The Red Front Fighters at the present time are devoting their ener- gies toward combatting the fascist menace fostered by Hindenburg and toward fighting the Locarno pact of the imperialist robber nations and are ceaselessly demanding an alliance with Soviet Russia. The Red Front Fighters expect to see the day not far distant when their battalions will be marching side by side with the working class fighters of Soviet Russia, as the defenders of the working class state of Soviet Ger- many. “He Shall Not Die”. He shall not die! Rakosi shall not. die! Gaek We say it, we city administration to private cap}. , isi ftalists for almost nothing during the ‘The ns amves of every land. inflatio# perioa: "= of “-} QO tyranny! ‘Heed us! If he '. Drops dead upon your galiows tree, “we circled’'thé Prussi i ere ay Ar bleeds upon your dungeon + fem ae Communists “are | impri¥ened for their’ political ‘views, peers shouted} "Free the’Political Prigon.| Some day we'll come with naked ers,” ‘and! “Out of thé Jails. with the!) brand MWA alinisaio’s vt Of4 29 fr And for his- groans exact your {NOVY MIR GROUP WiKL = ]) Heed us! We warn! Crush not the weak! For. with the vengeance that you wreak, Or with the mercy that you show, We pay you back; and soon or slow We come to work you weal or woe! ISSUE ‘LIVE’ PAPER AT WORKERS’ HOUSE TONIGHT The second issue of the living newspaper “published” by the work- er correspondents of the Novy Mir, will he out tonight, Sat., Nov. 21, at 8 p. m., at ‘the Workers’ House, 1902 W. Division St. The first issue mett with enthusiastic approval of the Russian workers of the city. Many new worker correspondents Joined the Chicago group of the Novy Mir. Admission tonight is 15c. Look round you! flood O’er all the world! See the rising In every land you hear our cry; It sweeps the earth and plumbs the sky; Rakosi shall not die! ~—Henry George Weiss. mouths watched the strange PrOCESS |. «1 i,