The Daily Worker Newspaper, February 3, 1928, Page 4

$ Page Forr iat THE DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 1928 Wilhelm Pieck, Eye-Witness, Tells of Seizure of DESCRIBE MURDER OF TWO LEADERS BY MILITARISTS How Socialists Betrayed German Revolution By WILHELM PIECK (Berlin). 0% the evening of January 15th, 1919, two of the best leaders of the revolutionary proletariat, Comrades Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Lieb- kmecht, were foully murdered in Ber- most lin in the cavalry offic bestial manner by s attempted first to repr le murder as ort of lynch justice carried out by the o leaders of ent. But the led up to the murder able the tri their con- o be wiped out by means of of this fraud. It was Ebert, Scheidemann, Wels and their consorts who, from the very first days of the government of the social democratic Council of People’s | Deputies, through their press, by means of leaflets and mee a7 cited the soldiers and the workers against Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg, and who, according to their own admissions, received large sums of money from the bourgeoisie in order to ca on their incitement against the Communist leaders. troops returning from the front that there prevailed in Berlin the most say- age terror, plunderings and robbery under the leadership of Karl Lieb- knecht and Rosa Luxemburg and that it was the task of the soldiers to re- store order in Berlin. Urge Murder. The social democratic Council of People’s Deputies permitted scream- ing placards to appear in the streets of Berlin, openly calling for the mur- der of the two Communist leaders. It entrusted Noske, who designated himself as a “bloodhound,” with the organizing of a band of murderers; it made the Eden Hotel in the west of Britain the headquarters of the Cavalry Guard in order to carry out the bloody crushing of the revolution- ary workers of Berlin. The social democratic central or- gan, the “Vorwarts,” after the crush- ing of the Spartacus revolt and two days before-the murder of the two} Communist leaders, published a poem by a Arthur Zickler, a verse of whic! reads: y “Many hundreds of dead lie in a row! Proletarians! Karl, Rosa, Radek and Company Are not among them! Proletarians !” Two days later the murder took place. Both of our comrades were fully aware of the danger threatening them. But they were so much in the midst of the fight that the workers were then waging to maintain the few mis- erable achievements of the November upheaval, that they were not in any circumstances prepared to yield to the requests and entreaties of their nearest comrades to go into hiding for a time in order not to be within the reach of every hired assassin. When the armed onslaught of the| . white guardists on the Berlin prole- tariat set in on the 11th of January, and Leo Jogisches had already been arrested, Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg were compelled by the rest of the members of the Central Committee of the Communist Party to keep away from the editorial of- fices of the “Rote Fahne.” Joint con- sultations and editorial work were carried out in private houses, And when, after the victory of the white guardists over the Berlin. working class, murder and treachery raged through the streets) of Berlin and house searches for weapons set in, it was decided to bring the two com- rades to friends in the west of Ber- lin, as it could be assumed that dom- iciliary searches would not take place at once in this bourgeois quarter. The Betrayal. By a piece of treachery which has not yet been cleared up, the white the new place of resi- dence of Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht. When the writer of this article, at about 9 o’clock in the eve- ning of January 15th, went to visit the two comrades, the house was al- ready occupied by the military. Karl Liebknecht was already arrested and taken away. Rosa Luxemburg was still in the dwelling and guarded by several soldiers. After a short time a number of soldiers led by two civ- ilians came to search the house. They compelled Rosa Luxemburg, who lay in bed owing to severe headache, to get up and dress, and after a short time she and I were led out .in the street, compelled to get into a motor ear, which after a short journey ar- rived at the Eden Hotel. A number of officers and soldiers stood at the entrance who greeted our arrival with yells and abuse and acted especially towards Rosa Luxemburg in tie vil- est manner. She was immediately eonveyed to the first blood of the betel where a certain Captain Papst stbmitted her to cross-examination. J was compelled to remain below in ‘vestibule, and heard that Karl bknecht was also in the hotel. The ers talked openly with each other Meee ae | Birds of a Feather, Thr . Left, Mayor Walker of New Y: Strike. In the middle, Mayor Gill resentative of his “cultured” Massachusetts constituency. ee Hard-Boiled Mayors 4 ork, smasher of the 1927 Traction is of Newburyport, thug-like rep- He came to New York to learn some of Walker’s slick methods but most of his time was spent in night clubs. At the right, ex-Mayor Curley of Boston, persecutor of the demonstrators who attempted to thwart Massachusetts class justice and sn: electric chair. Confevehce atch Sacco and Vanzetti from the Wilk Pfotest LEGION FAILS TO BREAK UP LENIN - MEET AT CAPITAL |Object to Wicks’ Attack | | on Coolidge WASHINGTON, Feb. 2.—A con- certed attempt on the part of the American legion to break up the Len- in Memorial Meeting at the Playhouse here met with complete failure after la stormy hour and a half. The meet- |ing, under the auspices of the Wash- jington section of the Workers (Com- |munist) Party, was scheduled for | eight o’clock. When the workers in| charge of the meeting arrived at the | hall they found a group of police and | legionnaires. . i | As soon as the main speaker, H. M. | | |and for spiritual driving power that Russian Theatre Shows' Amazing Vitality and | Genius, Says Simonson) “The extraordinary, amazing vi- | tality of the Russian Theatre is un-/| equaled in any other country in the | world,” declared Lee Simonson, direc- | tor of the Theatre Guild, before a) meeting at the Russian Exposition, at | 119 West 57th Street. | Simonson told of the remarkable talent of almost every actor he saw | in the Soviet|Union, stressing their | inventiveness and creative gehius. ‘ “Contrast the Russian theatres with | any first class theatre in the world, | lifts the human imagination and hu- } man soul, it tops them all. “verybody has a passion for the VERCY MARMONT. Liebknecht and Luxemburg ‘CHARGE DOCTORS OVERLOOK GASES OF HURT WORKERS iagared Workers Fail to Get Care | CHICAGO, Feb, 2—The American | College of Surgeons is making @ be- llated attempt to better the surgical | treatment of injured workers. For 25 | years the best surgeons have steer d |clear of this field. , | Men and women suffering f jloss of fingers, hands, arms, ey | feet, legs or terrible head and bi Pesenies due to the inhuman speed of modern industry, may have thei lown blunt opinion of the Sawbones | called to attend them. But the Amer- Wicks of the editorial staff of The |theatre and opera there—even mane 1s DAILY WORKER mentioned Coolidge | remotest corners of ‘Russia. — in connection with his prosperity talk | craving for the theatre as a means ican College, which is a sort of union | of 7,000 surgeons in the United States land Canada, goes the workers one It | was these same leaders who told the | U.S. Rule“in Nicaragua Labor and progressive org: tions are invited by the Provi |New York Committee in a call }last night to |to a conferer against the the United States marine corps. The conference will be held at the| |New York Labor Temple, 243 E. 84th} | St., Room 10, Feb. 19 at 1:30 p.m. | Unionists Are Members. | The Provisional New York Com- mittee was formed by the “United | States section of the All-American Anti-Imperialist League. Its mem- bership includes active’ labor union- ists, progressives, eduéators and au- thors. ; WV | The call to the conference follows | jin full: | To All Labor and Progressive | Organizations: | “U, S. government delegates to the Pan-American Conference at Havana | are talking of “good will” and “co-| operation with Latin America.” Al the while other delegates of the U 8. government—the marines—are making war on Latin America! ‘Niearaguans defending their coun- try agai: invasion are proclaimed | “outlaws.” Casualties on both sides exceed 1,000. The only beneficiary | of this bloody business is Wall Street, | | which now has its hands on the Nic- araguan railroads and National Bank, | and is arranging for loans of $20,- 000,000, “Altho declaring noble intentions, Mr. Hughes at the Havana Confer- ence defended the actions of Wall a step beyond any previous declara- j tion meant for Latin-American ears. Crisis Faced. “We are face to face with a crisis—| }a crisis of imperialism, intensifying | conflict with European rivals. The Joutcome? Inevitable world w: “Imperialism oppresses Americans | jas well as others. For the workers | jit means competition with labor ex- |ploited under colonial conditions. For the youth it means profitless slaugh- |ter; for the older ones equal sacri- fices. “We must build a mighty movement jto defeat imperialism. ; “The All-America Anti-Imperialist | League pointed out recently that “if | imperialism is allowed to go ahead in| Nicaragua there is no crime, no out- | rage which it cannot perpetrate in | Latin America.” The League has na- jtional sections in all countries in Latin America and a section in the Jnited States. It stands for the in- | dependence of Porto Rico and the Philippines, recall of U. S. military forees from Latin America and the East, opposition to all phases of imperialism, support of the Labor movement in America. Committee Members. “The undersigned men and women invite you to send two delegates to a Conference for the purpose of con- idering ways and means to meet’ the icaraguan situation and of setting up a permanent New York branch of the All-America Anti - Imperialist League. The Conference will meet on Sunday, February 19, 1:30 p. m., at the Labor Temple, 243 East 84th St. (room 10). We also ask you to con- tribute something financially if pos- sible. y, “Yours for unitéd action, “Provisional New York Committee. —Louis F, Budenz, Organizer Knit- goods Workers Union; James Burke, Lighter Captains Union; Arthur C Calhoun, Brookwood Labor College; Darcy Milliken, Typographical Union No. 6; Dr. Edward Chaffee, director |in face of the widespread unemploy- }ment, the commander of the legion \sprang to his feet and demanded that |the speaker refrain from criticism of \“the President.” Wicks told him plainly that hé would say anything |at any time that he desired to say in | er m of Coolidge and the govern- !ment of the United States and that {none of the stripe of the interruptor {would interfere. © | Assails Coolidge Gang. After demanding that the inter- ruptor sit down \or leave the .hall, Wicks then devoted most. of his time to an fierce excoriation of the Cool- idge administration and the. actions of the government in its attacks on the unions, in its China and Nicaragua campaigns, its hypocritical peace talk at Havana, its role at the Geneva arms conference. On more than a dozen oc- casions different members of the le- gion interrupted with questions and frequently tried to deliver speeches reviling the audience, calling them rats and scum; and in general indulg- ing in provocative tactics. From the | Labor Temple; Solon DeLeon, Labor| platform Wicks insisted that none of research worker; John Dos Passos,|the audience permit himself to be author of “Three Soldiers; Dr. W. E. | provoked. Rie B. Dubois, editor “The Crisis”; Robert} In the midst of the disturbance a W. Dunn, author of “American Foreign Investments”; Sam Fried- man, president Carpenters’ Union No. 2090; Manuel Gomez, U. S. secretary, All-America Anti-Imperialist League; Morris Green, president Woodearvers’ Union. “Arthur Garfield Hays, counsel American Civil Liberties Union; Juan de Hesus, president Philippinean Club author “of “Henry Ward Beecher”; Freda Kirechwey, managing editor “The Nation”; Ricardo A. Martinez, president Venezuelan Labor Union; Scott Nearing, Workers’ School; Prof. William Pickens, field secretary, Na- tional Association for the Advance- ment of Colored People; Ann Roches-|up on them and defied any one of | ter, Fellowship of Reconciliation; Dr. Thersa Wolfson, author of “The Woman Wofker in the Trade Unions”; | H. C. Wu, president Chinese Students’ Alliance.” Unemployed Meeting in| Passaic Next Saturday PASSAIC, N. J., Feb. A mass meeting of unemployed workers will be held Saturday at 12:30 p. m, at the Workers’ Home, 27 Dayton Ave., un- der the auspices of the Workers (Communist) Party. The speakers will include Albert Weisbord, leader of the textile strike of 1926; Emil Gardos, Francesco Coco and Beni Levanski. |collection was taken up which quieted jthe furore a bit. But soon after the |speech was resumed a more deter- mined effort was made to stop the meeting, the leader of the white-col- Jared gangster who calls himself the “commander” of the Washington post of the legion, tried to shevalen icks” vat him-the vemark that he fad been marked so many times by such swine as the legion outfit that one mark more or less was unimportant. Up to that time the speaker had been very cautious and permitted the dis- {turbers considerable latitude, but as | the meeting drew to a close he opened | them to attempt to start anything |further. One of them advanced to the | platform and tried to speak, but was | prevented from doing so. The audi- | ence was told by the speaker that they (had a right to use any means at hand to defend themselves against such creatures. When the meeting closed Ke gangsters hovered about the door, but they had received such a furious denunciation that they made no fur- ther ‘move to bother the audience or | the speaker. | Didn’t Like Youngsters. | At the opening of the meeting | Helen Colodny, representing the | Young Workers (Communist) League \talked on Lenin” and-themeanting of | his teaching to the youth of the Unit- ed States. The appearance of a young to interpret life is the source of the | | vitality and life in the Soviet the- |atres,” he stated. Simonson told of the work of the} “Blue Blouses,” a group of young} workers who travel from place to place, presenting satirical sketches, \largely political in character, before workers’ groups everywhere. sf “They do not stay at home in their own back parlors and wait for people to come to see them, but they take their plays, charades, their symbols and ideas to working men’s clubs, and play in their midst. While Rus- sians love the sad and morbid, they ean play farce with the best of us. Their clowning is gay, spontaneous— these youngsters can act!” onson declared that the Bolshe- Featured in “San Francisco Nights” jSbovwing on the Broadway Theatre | sereen this week. = —=Music Notes=—= Gina Pinnera, soprano, gives her debut recital at Carnegie Hall Satur- day evening, February 18. Salomea Kruceniski, soprano, will give a program of “Songs of All Na- tions”’ at Mecca Auditorium, Satur- da evening, February 4. William Beaudine will direct Uni- versal’s adaptation of Aaron Hoff- vik Revolution was the first revolu- tion to utilize the theatre to express its ideals and point of view. “They have studiously and carefully preserved the best of the past. Just as Lunacharsky unveiled frescoes of rare beauty in the Kremlin that were ignored by the church, so the Revolu- tion preserves and cherishes the con- tribution of past writers, dramatists and producers: and keeps them splendidly alive.” “Beg, borrow or steal to get there —but go and see it!” was Lee Simon- son’s parting admonition to his au- dience. “The International,” announces an open meeting for playwrights next Sunday evening. Playwrights whose plays have been rejected, playwrights whose plays have been produced, and playwrights still sitting on the fence are asked to come and air their views. John Howard Lawson will preside. “The International” now current at the Commerce Street playhouse, will close on February 11th. girl defending Leninism caused audi- |ble mutterings from the legion cor- ner. They also listened to Cyril Rosen, who spoke for the Young Pioneers. Both the youngsters made excellent talks and gave a good account of themselves in spite of the attempts of the legion to create a hostile at- mosphere, The legion was challenged to a pub- lic debate in the near future with Wicks to represent the Workers Par- ty, but thus far have not accepted. and with the soldiers that none of us} journalist and I succeeded in deceiv- must be allowed to leave the hotel jing the officers so far that they or- alive. After a short time I was like-|dered investigations regarding my wise brought to the first floor and |identity and brought me away under ' “When Rosa Luxemburg was brought | through the main entrance of the | Eden, Hotel, the same Runge stood at compelled to stand in a corner of the | corridor with my face to the wall, and jafter being conveyed from one prison | orders that care should be taken that at the same time by two armed. soldier: | Liebknecht led downstairs and how he | was abused and spat upon hy the bourgeois “ladies and gentlemen” as- | Sembled’on the staircase in this feudal jhotel. After a short time the same | aS watched over | |Luxemburg. From the vestibule of | jthe hotel I heard a great tumult and | |a woman’s screams. A serving maid jfrom the hotel rushed up to the first floor and, quite beside herself, called out to another serving maid: “No, I shall never forget the sight, how they beat the poor woman and dragged her along the ground.” Soon afterwards the soldiers com- pelled the hotel guests to retire to | their rooms and the house became} very quiet. Then the two soldiers who were guarding me were relieved by a soldier who received whispered instructions from an officer. This soldier was the hunter Runge who had already struck down Karl Lieb- knecht and Rosa Luxemburg and who, according to his own confessions given ‘later, had now received instructions to | shoot me at once in the corridor. I j had, however, turned round and ob- | served the whole thing, and refused | to obey the order to turn my face to | the wall. As a result the murderer Runge became so nervous that he even let his rifle fall out of his hand. | He then received instructions from the officer to take me away from the ho- tel, but I immediately went resolutely to Captain Papst’s chamber and de- manded of him my immediate release. I declared myself to be a bourgeois military arrest. After a time and to another, I succeeded to escape. I heard Karl | While I was still in prison I received | the newspaper reports of the foul murder of Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht by the white guardists. In the book written by E. I, Gum- |thing occurred on the removal of Rosa |bel, “Four years of political murder,” | did nothing to prevent this. Rosa the murder of our two comrades is described as follows, based on evi- dence adduced at court proceedings: “Karl Liebknecht was conveyed from the hotel in a motor car. The hunter Runge struck him twice on the head from behind. sank down in a semi-conscious con- dition. The officers stood round Lieb- knecht without preventing the blows. Instead of proceeding to the Moabit prison, the car drove along the New Lake in the direction of Charlotten- |burg Chaussee. At one spot where a completely unlighted footpath branch- | 2 ed off, something was alleged to go wrong with the car. Liebknecht, who had not yet come to himself, as a result of the blows on his head, was asked whether he was able to walk. Two people supported him on the right and the left, two went before and two behind him. All were armed with loaded pistols and hand gren- After proceeding a few steps Liebknecht was shot because, it is alleged, he made an attempt to es- The first shot was fired by Captain von Pflugk-Hartung. After the deed the motor car was able to ades. cape, proceed. The corpse was afterwards the police station in the Zoologic:’ Garden, delivered as that of an “unknown” to | monstrate at this spot, on which a Karl Liebknecht |the door, Captain Petri had given | Rosa Luxemburg should nct come into | prison-alive. When Rosa Luxemburg }came to the door, Runge struck her | twice on the head so that she fell to ithe ground. Upper-Lieutenant Vogel | who was in charge of the transport Luxemburg was pushed into the wagon. As the wagon drove away a man sprang from behind and struck }her on the head with a hard instru- ment. On the way Lieutenant Vogel shot. Rosa “Luxemburg through the head. The wagon drove between the Landswehr Canal and the Zoological | Gardens. By the Landwehr Canal there stood a group of soldiers. The motor stopped, the soldiers, on the order of Vogel, threw the corpse into the canal. The perpetrators of the der had themselves photographed on the following day while engaged in a carouse.” Search was made for a long time for the corpse of Rosa Luxemburg, until at last, on the 31st of May, that ig four and a half months after her der, Rosa’s corpse was found in the Landwehr Canal near the Zoologi- cal Garden. She was buried on the 13th of June in the cemetery in Freid- xichsfelde, at the same spot where, on the 25th of January, Karl Lieb- knecht was buried along with 32 workers who had been shot, Every year on the 15th ‘of January and 13th of June the Berlin proletariat de- “uge monument has been erected to ie dead heroes of the sevelution. OU’ readers Many of our readers like | to get the DAILY WORKER at their newsstands or news- dealers, and for various rea- sons cannot get it. We ask our readers to speak with their newsdealer, | fil) out the coupon, and send it in to us, so that we will be able to make the necessary arrangements, to -have it de- | ' tivered regularly. CIRCULATION DEPT. DAILY WORKER, 83 First St. New York City. | My newsdealer is man’s play “Give and Take”. George Sidney and George Lewis are playing | the principal roles. “Stop That Man,” adapted from George V. Hobart’s stage play will reach the screen soon. The cast is headed by Arthur Lake and Barbara Kent. The Oratorio Society, Albert Stoes- sel, conductor, will give “Elijah” with a chorus of 400 voices, at Carnegie Hall, February 24. pear in song recital Tuesday night, February 7, at the Engineering Audi- third concert of the League of Com- posers, Sunday afternoon, February 12, at the Guild Theatre. Xenia Vassenko, soprano, will ap- better. In black and white the sur~ geons bawl out their fellow practi- ‘tioners for greed, inexperience and |refusal to surrender cases to better | qualified men. The college sent out a questionnaire to various ‘cities and asked experi- j}enced and informed surgeons to an- swer in detail. The result was a damning indictment of the treatment accorded to injured workers. The surgeons quote statistics show- ing that 9000 men, women and chil- dren are injured in industry in, the United States every working day or between 2,000,000 and 3,000,000 a year. There are about 20,000 deaths yéarlyYor about 1 death every 8 min- utes per 8-hour day from industrial accidents, they further state. Workers injured in industry have been neglected by the best surgeons and the best surgical teachers have |failed to interest themselves in the matter, the college declares, To rem- edy this shocking situation in the pro- fession the college undertook its in- vestigation. Eight Seamen Killed in Fierce Storm Here BARNEGAT, N. J., Feb. 2.—Eight seamen lost their lives when the barges Aransas and*Cogansville broke loose off Barnegat Light early day morning in the fierce storm. Towing Co. of New York, were being towed at the time by the tug Bald- rock. Ue ¥ co Winter Garden Tots. 8 Sie. 2180; WORLD'S LAUGH SENSATION! WINTHROP AMES presents JOHN GALSWORTHY’'S with LESLIE ESCAPE “nows Thea., W. 45St. Evs. 8:40 BOOTH Mats. Sat. & Wed. 2:40 Th.,W.44 8 Broadhurst jrais weak sat crorce A RLIS S in THE MERCHANT OF VENICE SY Ps RACu i ‘Bway, 46 St. Evs. 8.36 FULTON Mats! Wed.&Sat. 2.30 “BETTER THAN THE BAT” | ANTI-WAR The ENEMY Theatre, B'’way at 45th St. ASTO. Twice Daily, 2:30-8:30. ”y TR’S Thea. W.44 St.Hvs.8.30 ERLANGER’S Mats. Wed. & Sat, THE MERRY MALONES with GEORGE M. COHAN 8:30. Mats. | Artists * Models — The Theatre Guild presents —— | PORGY je Th. W. 424. Ev Republic yrxic' Wed éSa | Bernard Shaw’s Comedy % DOCTOR'S DILEMMA Week Feb. 6, “Marco Millions” Th., W. 52d St. Evs, 8:20 GUILD mais. Thurs: & Sat. 2:20 oss Strange Interlude John Golden 'Thea,, 58th, E. of B’way | Evenings Only at 6:15. i Theatre, 41 W. of B’way National [yse's0. mits, Wed. @saug30 “The Trial of Mary Dugan” By Bayard Veiller, with Ann Harding-Rex Cherryman Jos, M. henck & Morris Gest present Guinn’: “DRUMS OF LOVE” with agg Ry garg en Th., 42 St., West of B'way LIBERTY “‘iiwice daily, 2:30-8:30 Sunday Matinee at MUSIC AND CONCERTS AN OPERA COMPANY ist N. Y. SEASON, SUNG IN ENGLISH GALLO THEA, Evgs. 8:20, Mats, 2:20, 54th, W. of B’way. PHONE COL, 1140. Mon. Wed. Fri, By., Sunset ‘Trail and Pagliacel. Thur. Hvs., Sat, Mat., Abduction from Seraglio. Wed. Mat., Faust. Sat. Eve. Marriage of Figaro. Lawson is one of the moxt vital wrights of this country. The play the beaten track of the triangle Tickets on Sale Now at Daily Worker, 108 E. 14th St.—10% Discount. THE INTERNATIONAL BY JOHN HOWARD LAWSON Author of “Processional” “An honest and courageous attempt to treat ‘a subject which thus far has been strictly taboo in the American bourgeois theatre.... and advanced of the younger play= is worth seeing.” —DAILY WORKER. “Mr. Lawson has picked out a big theme—in fact just about the- biggest that a playwright could choose.” “Deserves tho attention of those interested in good plays well off —WEEKLY PEOPLE. and its possibilities.” f —TELEGRAPH, DON’T MISS IT—GET TICKETS NOW! The New Playwrights Theatre 86 COMMERCE ST..-PHONE WALKER 5851. % Blocks South on 7th Ave. Subway from Sheridan Sq. CLOSING FEBRUARY 11. 8 by the Cahill — “ | a G Ayer