A fascinating look at the German workers’ movement in illegality six months after the Nazi victory in 1933. Written by a leader of the Communist Opposition, the so-called Brandlerites, in Berlin under a false name. The largest and most influential of the affiliates of the International Communist Opposition (the so-called ‘Right Opposition), it, like all of the organizations of the German working class, was destroyed by Fascist terror, the beginnings of which are described below.

‘How The Communist Party of Germany (Opposition) Works’ by Hans Beka from Workers Age. Vol. 2 No. 21. October 1, 1933.

We are very glad to publish below a report on the situation in Germany written by Comrade Beka, one of the leaders of the Communist Opposition in Benin. Editor.

Berlin, Germany.

The Fascist counter-revolution. having settled accounts with the remaining non-Nazi bourgeois parties after it had destroyed the “proud structure” of the German labor movement, has now initiated a campaign against the working class far beyond anything known in the past. The centralized Fascist police apparatus is now thoroly organized and thruout the country carefully prepared raids, conducted by the secret police with the help of the Storm-Troopers, are continually taking place. On the streets, in homes, in factories and in relief agencies, on trains and cars, everywhere the workers are exposed to the savagery of the Storm-Troops. Thousands of workers are being driven into the concentration camps and hundreds are reported shot “in flight” or as having “committed suicide” in prison. Where the men have succeeded in escaping the persecutions of the Nazis, women and children are arrested as hostages or else they are! condemned to starvation thru the withdrawal of all relief.

To a certain extent, the new wave of terror is directed against sections of the Nazi themselves. For German Fascism is now passing thru its first crisis Hitler has decreed the “end of the revolution.” It is becoming perfectly clear to many of those who really believed the social demagogy of Hitler that they have been deceived and that Fascism is not going to realize its petty bourgeois-“socialist” program but is rather intent on defending and strengthening the power and profit of monopoly capital. These people are beginning to rebel and are finding themselves in the concentration camps too.

It is in the midst of this wave of terror that the struggle of the revolutionary working class against Fascism is taking place. The conditions of struggle have changed fundamentally, even as compared with previous periods of illegality, Mere membership in a non-Nazi political organization, especially if it is revolutionary, and the spread of illegal literature are punished with heavy sentences in jail, perhaps even with death. Yet the resistance to the Fascist dictatorship is being organized,

Retreat Of The Working Class Before Fascism

The retreat of the working class, as a whole, has not yet come to an end, even tho the reassembly of the revolutionary cadres has made considerable progress. All proletarian organizations have been either destroyed, or “coordinated.” Proletarian class unions no longer exist. Sport and cultural organizations have been taken over by the Nazis. and in the cooperatives are to be found Nazi commissioners.

Fascism has destroyed the organizational foundations of reformism. As an organization the Social-democracy is well-nigh destroyed. Of the party of a million only some fragments remain which are attempting to establish a new Illegal existence on the basis of a centrist ideology. They are mostly younger elements, members of the Socialist Working Youth and of the Young Socialists, who fight under the slogan: “For the proletarian dictatorship against the betrayal of Stampfer, Wels, and Loebe,” at the same time demanding their recognition by the Socialist International! The most important group is in Berlin made up of foremost “Activists” and leaders of the “Kaempfer” group.

The Communist Party of Germany is destroyed in many places but continues to exist and work illegally. It made heavy sacrifices in reorganizing itself illegally. On the countryside it has almost completely disappeared but in the large cities it still make its appearance with illegal literature. It probably retains 20% of its previous membership but it should be remembered that only the functionaries do any illegal work. The former omnipotence of the party apparatus has been reduced to a modest minimum. Owing to this fact but above all to the realities of the situation the ultra-left course and the ultra-left ideology have suffered heavy blows.

The party members are beginning to think and act independently. This healthy process takes place in a contradictory manner. New relapses into ultra-leftism accompany strongly opportunist deviations. The decisive tendency, sometimes unconscious, is, however, orientation in the direction of the Communist Opposition. Thus is to be explained the comradely relation which exists in many places between the members of the C.P.G. and the members of our group. “Brandlerism” is no longer the bogeyman that the party burocracy has tried to make it.

The Struggle Of The C.P.G. (Opposition)

Ideologically united and politically strengthened and disciplined thru many years of party controversy, the Communist Opposition has distinguished itself as a leading organization in the difficult struggle against Fascism. With pride it can be declared that our group has been able to carry on conscious Communist work against the Nazi dictatorship without any inner crises or any losses worthy of mention. While desertion to the Nazis has taken on terrible dimensions in the S.P.G. and C.P.G., such occurrences are utterly unknown in our group. In the local organizations there did take place in the beginning a loss of about 10%, which, however, was soon made up for by new members recruited from the C.P.G. and S.P.G. In Middle Germany, as a matter of fact, we have won two entire locals of the S.P.G.

The organizational disproportion between the official party and our group is now not as great a it used to be. The radius of political action has definitely improved in our favor. Our political authority has grown very great. From all factories and locals there comes the unanimous report that S.P.G. and C.P.G. members declare to our comrades: “You were entirely right in your political analysis. We used to underestimate you because you were a small group but now we are not so much bigger than you.”

The political authority of our group and the confidence of the workers in it are growing primarily because it is the only political group which is able to explain the causes of the catastrophical defeat of the working class, to make clear the present political and economic situation and to indicate, in a sober and realistic manner, the task facing the proletariat today. Thus it is fulfilling the elementary demand of clarifying and assembling the dispersed and confused proletarian cadres.

For great political actions the subjective prerequisites are still lacking. To create these is the primary task of our group in its work in Germany. Its entire propagandistic activity is directed towards this aim. In the most difficult material and technical conditions the C.P.G.(O.) is able to publish regularly appearing periodicals in almost all districts. Along side of the theoretical monthly “Gegen den Strom,” there appears every three weeks the German central organ, the “Junius-Briefe.” In the districts, there appear mimeographed local papers, mostly fortnightly, pamphlets and leaflets.

In the month of June, we issued fourteen illegal papers with a total circulation of 12,500 two pamphlets and, in many places, various leaflets as well as an open letter to the members of the Socialist Workers Party. But the circle of readers of our literature is considerably greater. The illegal papers, having generally six or ten pages, are sold and circulated from worker to worker. On the average, every copy of a paper is read by ten persons.

What tremendous demands upon the skill, courage and self-sacrifice of our comrades this requires can only be appreciated by those who have participated in the preparation, production and distribution of illegal literature under the Fascist terror. The present situation demands of every member of a revolutionary organization a high degree of reliability, discipline and activity. It is a welcome sign of the political strength of our group, that, apart from insignificant exceptions, these demands are fulfilled. In spite of the greatest precautions and the careful application of all illegal experiences (the organization is divided into groups of five, meeting regularly), it sometimes happens that connections between the districts and the central committee are broken and district leaders are arrested. It becomes doubly difficult then to reestablish these connections and to place younger comrades in the breach, but this is being done.

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For The Rebuilding Of The Communist Party

The political propaganda of our group has met with success. The literature of the C.P.G., in so far as its illegal press takes any position on basic questions, reflects our propaganda. Most obvious is this in the trade union question. By and large, the official party has now come to our point of view, calling for the establishment of illegal class trade unions. In Berlin there have already taken place negotiations between our leader- ship and the authorized representatives of the R.G.O. (German T.U.U.L.-Editor) negotiations conducted on the basis of our trade union policy. In individual factories members of the official party are coming to our group asking that we take over the district leadership of the C.P.G.

The Socialist Workers Party has been able to maintain organizations only in Berlin, Leipzig and Dresden. In its previous strong- hold, Breslau and Erzgebirge, it has practically disappeared. Politically, its leadership is following the footsteps of Trotsky whose organized followers in Germany are insignificant (less than 150 in the entire country). The centrist, non- Communist and anti-Soviet policy of the S.W.P. leadership is having a very confusing and demoralizing effect; yet, the S.W.P. leaders are not able to prevent their workers from demanding that the national leadership of the party open negotiations with the C.P.G.(O.). In some places the S.W.P. members are distributing our literature. The S.W.P., which agitated in the beginning for remaining in the Fascist “unions” and attacked our policy of forming illegal trade unions, has been forced, since the beginning of July, to adopt our slogan and take over our policy.

The central problem and work of our group is the rebuilding of the Communist Party. This task will be a long process. It can only take place on the basis of a tactical line of the Communist Opposition. The bearer of this process of re-construction will be the healthy elements of the Communist Opposition and of the official party, to which must be attracted the workers in the S.P.G. and S.W.P. who are developing towards Communism. The sooner this process meets with a successful conclusion, the sooner will the German working class be able to settle accounts with the Fascist butchers.

Workers Age was the continuation of Revolutionary Age, begun in 1929 and published in New York City by the Communist Party U.S.A. Majority Group, lead by Jay Lovestone and Ben Gitlow and aligned with Bukharin in the Soviet Union and the International Communist (Right) Opposition in the Communist International. Workers Age was a weekly published between 1932 and 1941. Writers and or editors for Workers Age included Lovestone, Gitlow, Will Herberg, Lyman Fraser, Geogre F. Miles, Bertram D. Wolfe, Charles S. Zimmerman, Lewis Corey (Louis Fraina), Albert Bell, William Kruse, Jack Rubenstein, Harry Winitsky, Jack MacDonald, Bert Miller, and Ben Davidson. During the run of Workers Age, the ‘Lovestonites’ name changed from Communist Party (Majority Group) (November 1929-September 1932) to the Communist Party of the USA (Opposition) (September 1932-May 1937) to the Independent Communist Labor League (May 1937-July 1938) to the Independent Labor League of America (July 1938-January 1941), and often referred to simply as ‘CPO’ (Communist Party Opposition). While those interested in the history of Lovestone and the ‘Right Opposition’ will find the paper essential, students of the labor movement of the 1930s will find a wealth of information in its pages as well. Though small in size, the CPO plaid a leading role in a number of important unions, particularly in industry dominated by Jewish and Yiddish-speaking labor, particularly with the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union Local 22, the International Fur & Leather Workers Union, the Doll and Toy Workers Union, and the United Shoe and Leather Workers Union, as well as having influence in the New York Teachers, United Autoworkers, and others.

PDF of the full issue: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/workers-age/1933/v2n21-oct-01-1933-WA.pdf