The Washington herald., 1919-01-18
Liebknecht Also Killed,
While Attempting Escape
from Soldier Guard.
HER BODY In CANAL
Terrorism Receives Incen-
tive Of Martyrdom Gov
ernment Tried to Avoid.

Rose LUNemburg, horribly mutilat-
ed by the marks OF a lynching mob,
floats tonight somewhere in the
murky waters Of the Landwehr Ca
mai. The corpse OF her soul mate.
master and comrade in terrorist
warfare, DR.. Carl Liebknecht. lies
at some obscure morgue in darkest
Berlin, heavily guarded by govern
ment troops for the wrath OF the
mob is as yet unstiIled.
The thing that the Ebert govern
ment has feared most has come TO
pass: Terrorism has received the
incentive which has never yet fail
ed-martyrdom. Solely because IL
didn't want to give the Spsrtacsns
any martyrs has the government
carefully refrained from prosecut-
ing Liebknecht and Red Rosa"
True the murder of these two lead
ers is not 20 be credited for the gov
ernments account; they were the
victims OF lynch law, OF the fury OF
mobs who saw in them the deliber-
ate and wanton Instructors Of what
is left OF the wreck of the empire.
But the Unreasoning masses will
blame the government, nevertheless.
The aggravatingr circumstance is
that both were in the custody Of
government squads. and both on the
way to prison swhen mobs snAtched
them from the midst OF the heavy
guards and took the law into their
hands.
After sensational escapes which
for a time wiped out trsces-LAeb-
knecht had fed over a dozen roofs
the two rejoined yesterday at the
home OF Siegfried Marcusson. at a.
Msnnheimer street A telephone
conversation had tipped" the gov
eminent as 60 their rendezvous.
It'll We Meet Again.
'Auf wiedersehen at Marcusson's,"
was the message heard by the wire
I tappers.
Rosa managed to escape from Mar
/ cusson's home when the troops arrived
70 arrest her and Liebknecht. But
( her flight ended at the Hotel Eden,
were a fate so brutal and bloody as
ID recall the killing of "vltches'' IN
I me middle ages overlook Der.
! "Die Rote Rosa was the cry that
\ spread like w-ildfre through the
/ streets OF western Berlin bringing a
] mob OF thousands to the hostelry
where the woman tried 20 hide Gov
eminent soldiers with drawn revolvers
I placed her under arrest As they ap-
I peared on the threshold a thousand
arms reached out and within a few
! seconds she was the prey of a multi
! tude OF men and women become
/ beasts.
/ Shots were fired at her, canes. clubs,
I hatpins. fingernails and even women's
teeth were used in the orgy OF mad
4
death. Blood streamed from scores
/ Of wounds. but il was hardly distin-
/ guishable from the brilliant crimson
OF her blouse.
cath did not satisfy the lynchers-
, A couple OF men threw her body into
a machine and whizzed her OF. They
didn't get beyond a block The street
was thick with people and they threw
themselves into the automobiles path.
some TO have a morbid look at Red
Rosa" but most OF them TO do fur
& ther violence TO the corpse.
NutfIated BEYOND Recognition.
Men and women reached into the
car and kept on dealing smashing
blows to the dead woman. already
mUtilated beyond recognition. I'm
mercifUlly they kept up their bar
{ on the sidebosrd. climbed on ton
4 OF the machine and fired revolver
shots into the body. Then they
! dragged il out OF the car and threw
I it into the Landwehr Canal
Meanwhile Liebknecht was meet
! ing a similar end. but far less
gruesome. Unlike his fraiI. deform-
ed woman lieutenant who never
/ once denied her identity or her
cause. the powerfully built former
| soldier tried TO the last TO mas
| Quersde. At M4cusson's house he
/ told the troops he was not the man
/ they were seeking. This failed TO
! save him. Unmistakable marks OF
! recognition were identified and he
was carried of toward Moabit PMS
on in a machine. In the geological
I gardens the automobile broke down.
/ The party got out to wait for an
other car. Here Liebknecht saw
I his last chance. He started - run.
For this the soldiers guarding him
had been waiting. Half a dozen re-
voIvers were fired simultaneously.
/ Three bullets struck him, one ~
sultinE in instant death.
The government issued an official
statement today that the murder
ers" Of Liebknecht and Rosa Lux
| emburg will be severely punished"
| 1t is known that several persons
have been arrested in this connec-
| tion.