The daily worker., 1933-05-13

Their ears still resounded with the
hamnering of the machine-gun, the
shouting of the people, the cries Of
pain of those who had been blud-
geoned, the cracking Of rifles and
revolverS
They fought and hit back, because
they had been provoked at the point
Of cold Steel-nothing morei And
this terrible list was the result.
Behind the glittering helmets,
among the white, cold faces Of the
dead, they began to understand the
political face Of the events of May
1st, 1929.
It was essential now that they
should see clearly. The situation
had developed beyond the narrow
sphere of the alley. The instructive
feeling of proletarian responsibility on
which they had acted, required poll
ticaI consciousness. Above all the
question burnt in their minds; What
would happen tomorrow?
One of the workers took the re-
port and without a word went out.
Thomas looked at his watch and
said: Comrades, it is now half-paSt
two; we must be finished in less than
an hour at the latest. I propose that
Kurt gives a short report and that we
then decide what is to be done. He
turned deliberately to Kurt. AS soon
as he saw Paurs detected face he
knew that it would be mistake to
count on him today
Kurt Was Different.
But Kurt was a changed man from
henceforward. His clumsy move
ments had become hard and deter
mined; all his thoughts were con-
centrated on essentials and on the
next step. The builders laborer, Kurt
Zimmerman was one of those pro-
letarians who in unforeseen emer-
gencies become revolutionary leaders,
without knowing it themselves.
A quarter of an hour earlier, Kurt
had been sitting alone in this room
attempting to analyse the terrible
events, and to derive a clear-cut line
of action from them. He knew that
as long as Hermann was absent the
political responsibility rested on his
shoulders. He did not require formal
recognition to see this.
Comrades" Kurt opened the dis
cussion, we have bad communication
with other party centres. Tt is per-
fectly clear that none of our COM
rades had counted on this develop
ment. Nor had we. But have found
newspaper on Hermann's table
which proves that other people saw
clearly what would happen" He took
up a newspaper and held it close to
the lamp:
THE first of Nay-Berlin'S Day of
Death,-that is the headline" he ex-
planned, ." it is easy to put the
blame for the suffering which the
first of May will bring to many
workers families on the shoulders of
the Communists; all that need be said
is that the Communists should not
have called demonstrations as long as
the ban was enforced. But it is use
less to fight for the murderer who
has consciously violated the thousand
year-old commandment. Thou shalt
not kill What is the use Of de-
manding his pardon, if one can look
on in cold blood, and see how all pre-
parations are made to shoot down
workers who violate an order of
the Police President zorgiebel of
1923? 1t is matter for the
concern of the whole party, when
the lives Of workers are to be sacri-
feed for the maintenance of state
authority"
Man, where was that printed?"
Thomas called out excitedly and
jumped to his feet.
The Socialists Knew About 1t!
This was printed in the social
democratic 'Sochsische Volksblatt
on the 18th Of April" Kurt answered
calmly.
"Berlins Day of Death e" Paul
called out, Sc. that's true-they
knew it beforehand i"
This ought to be duplicated and
distributed throughout Wedding"
"Of course we must bring out leaf
let's. Nov were paying for the lack
OF our own duplicator in the street
cellI should think that the Party
Centre will do something but who can
tell whether they'll be able to get any,
thing through to us tomorrow? But
let's first deal with the other point,
I don't think there can be any more
convincing proof for our claim that
police are responsible for all this than
this S. P. D. paper. Even II the poll
tlcsl reason is not given-for on that
point the left S. P. D. are of one
opinion with the others. But more
for us at this moment is
the question: What will happen to-
morrow"
There was an abrupt knock at the
door then again loud and i'm
patiently.
who's that2" The workers looked
uneasily at one another.
Light OUT whispered Thomas.
Kurt extinguished the lamp. AS
they sat in the dark room they all
knew one thing: if that's the police,
everything is finished! They heard
someone calling on the stairs.
That's not the police" Otto called
out treasured. Cursing he stumbled
over the gas meter In the dark mar
row passage.
who's there q"
r open the door, this Is Fritz" Otto
opened.
Whats the matter, Fritz2" he
asked while still in the dark passage.
What is the MATTER They're
taking arms from the shop at the
cornerl"
''What--who's getting arms2"