Full of the Third Period assumption of an imminent class war, Lene Overlach, leader of the Roter Frauen und Mädchenbund, the women’s Red Front Fighters, reports on their third national congress.

‘The Results of the National Congress of the Red Women’s and Girls’ League’ by Lene Overlach from International Press Correspondence. Vol. 9 No. 47. September 6, 1929.

The III. National Congress of the R.W.G.L. at Erfurt proved to be a magnificent prelude to increased revolutionary mass work on the part of the League among the women workers, of a systematic tough fight against imperialist war, to whose successful execution the female proletarians must be trained to fight.

The III. National Congress shows significant progress in the political maturity of the organisation. The delegates, for the most part old members of the League, met together in full political unanimity and determination in regard to the political direction of the work as laid down in the reports and directives.

This was decisively influenced by the directives of the Wedding Party Congress of the C.P. of Germany. Expression was given in all the speeches of the non-party delegates to the growing confidence in the C.P. of Germany and the acknowledgement was made of the necessity of leadership of proletariat, and therewith of all its organisations by the party of the workers and of the toiling masses, by the of Germany. Subordination to a single political leadership in regard to the elaboration of the special tasks of the organization, under the direct leadership of women leaders elected by the members–such was the clear conception of the Congress of the question of political leadership.

What were the tasks contemplated by the League for the year simultaneously with constructive criticism of its past work? From the working report of Comrade Ludewig and the political speech of Comrade Overlach the following issues became apparent: The League regards as its chief task–

The fight against imperialist war, for the protection of the Soviet Union!

It is necessary to convince the masses of proletarian women the threatening danger of war, to destroy their pacifist notions, to overcome their fear of any war, any armed fight, “bloodshed”, and to make them ready and tough fighters for the revolution.

The congress liquidated conclusively those dangerous tendencies observable in a slight degree in several sections, to hide from the masses of the women the objective of our fight, in order “not to frighten them off”. It emphasised the necessity combining all the slogans of the day in the fight against imperialist war with Lenin’s slogan: conversion of imperialist war into civil war! World peace will only be secured through overthrow of capital in all countries, the setting up of the dictatorship of the proletariat, the creation of a world Soviet Union. This is the principle of the fight of the R.W.G.L. against imperialist war.

The proletarian self-defence training of the women, which  the R.W.G.L. has set up as its decisive task, calls for the theoretic and practical training of the female proletariat as revolutionary class fighters,

The following slogan, previously propagated by individual women functionaries was rejected at the congress as false: “The task of the R.W.G.L is the theoretic training of its members. If we convince our members’ in lectures and courses of the necessity for the revolutionary fight, they will become leaders”.

In opposition to that, the congress was reminded of the words of Lenin as quoted at the Wedding Party Congress by comrade Thälmann:

“The real education of the masses can never be separated and carried on apart from the independent political and special revolutionary fight of the mass itself. It is the fight which educates the exploited class, it is the fight which gives it the measures of its strength, extends its horizon promotes its capacity, clarifies its reason and forges its will.”

The proletarian self-defence training of the women calls for the creation of theoretic clarity and also the drawing of the women into all daily fights, the strengthening of the will to fight, the stiffening of the proletarian discipline in the course of the fight, the physical development of the women, so that they may be able to stand the strain of the fight. The congress therefore welcomes the formation of workers’ defence corps, and emphasises the necessity of including women in these corps. The congress proposed the task: in all fights the R.W.G.L. must march in the van. Its members should not be afraid of the conflict with the power of State. May 1st and August 1^st, as also many strike fights in Germany, have already given practical examples of how in direct collision with the organs of the capitalist State the revolutionary fighter is created.

The R.W.G.L. will therefore in the future also adopt a much more determined and confident attitude. By means of powerful demonstrations, Red meetings, and processions it will considerably strengthen its attractiveness. Owing to the false conception of mere training tasks of the League last year the League made inadequate appearance before the public.

In the execution of its chief task, the fight against imperialist War, the R.W.G.L. is passing an important turning point. From the steady propagation of the task, the carrying on of the bulk of the work in the factories, it is now proceeding definitely to the practical execution of this task.

Every fight in the factory is a fight against imperialist war! Under this slogan the fight against war should be carried out daily in a practical way in the factories. It is the task of the R.W.G.L. to be more active than ever in co-operating in the rapid mobilisation of the million masses of the working women.

The R.W.G.L. members in the factories are to become valuable supporters of the revolutionary working class, the most active champions in the fight for wages and bread, who through the confidence reposed in them by their colleagues should be elected to the strike committees and fighting committees, as revolutionary representatives and shop stewards, and give a rousing and exemplary lead at picket duty, in supporting the solidarity actions of the I.R.A., etc.

The R.W.G.L. should carry on a systematic and determined fight in the factories against the bourgeois women’s organisations, against Social Democracy and their social-Fascist organisations.

The R.W.G.L. should through its exemplary work gain the confidence of the working women and bring in great masses of young working women as members of the organisation.

The congress sets the task, rapidly to form into factory groups the members of the R.W.G.L. in order that their tasks may be facilitated and systematic work rendered possible.

The R.W.G.L. will draw into the fight the unemployed women and join them up with the women in the factories. It will also devote more attention to the winning over of the female agricultural labourers.

The proletarian housewives should also be drawn into the factory fight. Their most important task is participation in the fight of the workingmen and women for their working conditions. The fight for the fulfilment of social-political demands is an important sub-task in that economic fight.

By directing its work in this manner towards the factories the R.W.G.L. at its III. National Congress, overcame conclusively those political tendencies in the organisation towards shifting the main part of the work of the Leagues to social-political and cultural tasks and thus making the R.W.G.L. a rallying point chiefly for housewives and women of the lower middle class.

The III. National Congress emphasised the necessity, in propagating its task of fighting against imperialist war and protecting the Soviet Union, of informing the proletarian women much more minutely than heretofore of the tremendous successes of the development of socialism and of drawing special attention to the important role played by women in the Soviet Union, and of presenting the Soviet Union as the sole centre of peace, the powerful support of the fighting proletariat. By planting in the hearts of the women a glowing love for the proletarian fatherland, the R.W.G.L. will indubitably make the women ready, in spite of the immense war agitation of the bourgeoisie and of their Social-Democratic lackeys, to defend the Soviet Union at the risk of their lives.

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.

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