Still with only a few thousand members at the beginning of 1923, and about a year from the Munich Putsch, an urgent warning is sounded from South Germany over the danger from the “followers of the hooked cross.”

‘The Fascist Danger in South Germany’ by H. Tittel from International Press Correspondence. Vol. 3 No. 1. January 16, 1923.

In South Germany, above all in Bavaria, and more recently to an increased extent in Wurtemberg, the efforts being made by the National Socialist Labor Party are most conspicuous. The latest events in Wurtemberg, the bloody occurrences at meetings in Stuttgart and Geislingen, and the shooting affairs at Goeppingen, show how immediate is the danger of a rising Fascist movement. For some weeks the followers of the hooked cross (an anti-semitic organization) have been holding a systematic campaign of meetings in Wurtemberg. They are striving to gain ground all over the country. The national socialists carry on their propaganda with a flood of placards and leaflets. These facts show that the movement is supported by groups possessing capital.

The meeting campaign of the hooked cross followers is a systematic offensive on the part of reaction, Reaction has learnt many lessons from its defeats. It is aware that it can only be victorious when its endeavours meet with the sympathy of the broad indifferent masses. Its so-called program shows that it understands excellently how to adapt itself to the mentality of the indifferent, and to the vacillating petty bourgeois strata of the population. The national socialist movement is anti-Semitic, it is a national Greater Germany movement. It has unfortunately found a willing ear among the disappointed masses with its demagogic catchwords against jewish capitalists, against usury and profiteering. Although the movement is militarily organized and highly centralized, it denies having a party character. This attitude is adopted for the purpose of gaining possession of all those masses of workers who went over to the socialist parties at the time of the November revolution, and have there been disappointed with them as well as with the trades unions, by the passivity of the bureaucracy.

The adherents of the national socialists are recruited for the most part from the middle classes. Tradespeople, students, teachers, and discharged soldiers are the most active members. But workmen join as well. Although it has been demonstrably proved that the movement is financed by the great agrarians and great industrial capitalists, still it would be wrong to assume that the organization is kept going merely by generous monetary support. On the contrary, the movement is based on a very strong idealistic (although reactionary) view. Money alone would not suffice to build up a party possessing the strength of the national socialist labor party.

This party possesses a military organization. It has, in a certain sense, active and passive members. The active members are organized in troops based on military formations. Each troop has its particular number. These troops are composed of ordinary soldiers, corporals, sergeants, lieutenants, and majors. Rank is marked on a red sleeve band decorated with hooked crosses, and with stars corresponding to the military rank. There are reasons to believe that these troops maintain close relations with the military formations of the regiments. The members of the troops are bound by oath to support each other to the death. The spirit permeating these troops is best illustrated by the bloody events in Goeppingen. Here the Munich troop (number 247) was threatened by a crowd of workmen. The major thereupon gave the command: “Weapons out, load!” The threatening attitude of the crowd caused the troop to hesitate. Upon this the major shouted: “Will you not keep your oath?” This appeal to conscience called forth the reply: “We keep our oath!” The shooting then began. The troops are armed with rubber cudgels, revolvers, and army pistols. The arms are carried legally. The Munich troop which caused the bloodbath in Goeppingen was properly provided with licenses permitting arms to be carried, and after it had been separated from the crowd by superior numbers of police, it was allowed to retain the weapons, and was conducted out of Goeppingen with the free escort of the police and placed in a special carriage attached to an express train.

The following is characteristic for the convening of hooked-cross meetings:

All the armed members of the National Socialist Labor Party, from all over the country, are ordered to appear at every meeting, so that even in places where they have no followers whatever the meeting is always comparatively large.

The occurrences in Wurtemberg show that the government of this province the social democrat Wilhelm Keil is a member of this government is working hand in hand with the Bavarian reactionary government. Even after the Rathenau murder no prohibition was issued in Wurtemberg against reactionary formations. It is true that NSLP meetings have now been prohibited. The national socialists will however continue to hold meetings, and the passivity of the government will able them to do so under some other name.

The leading tactics of the national socialists are, above all, to render themselves popular among the vacillating strata of the middle class, and among the indifferent masses. We must not close our eyes to the fact that their determined attitude will gain for them a number of followers rendering them extremely dangerous to the working people.

The workers of Wurtemberg have hitherto adopted an almost indifferent attitude with regard to the national socialist movement. The proposals made by the communists in the trade unions towards organizing proletarian self defence received no attention from the great masses. But the bloody events in Stuttgart, Goeppingen, and Geislingen (in Geislingen a social democratic editor was severely wounded) have been the means of opening many eyes to the necessity of these proposals.

International Press Correspondence, widely known as”Inprecorr” was published by the Executive Committee of the Communist International (ECCI) regularly in German and English, occasionally in many other languages, beginning in 1921 and lasting in English until 1938. Inprecorr’s role was to supply translated articles to the English-speaking press of the International from the Comintern’s different sections, as well as news and statements from the ECCI. Many ‘Daily Worker’ and ‘Communist’ articles originated in Inprecorr, and it also published articles by American comrades for use in other countries. It was published at least weekly, and often thrice weekly.

PDF of full issue: https://www.marxists.org/history/international/comintern/inprecor/1923/weekly/v03n01-jan-16-1923-Weekly-Inprecor-stan.pdf