The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-06-11
By Henri BarbuSSe

single day. he studied and pre-
pared for every one Of his appear
ances; and this leader, who had
reached a position Of the highest
importance, the head of the most
important section OF the COmmu-
mist international in the capitalist
world, never stopped doing home
work like student. One remains
a student forever when one wants
to know everything that should
be known.
The new watchwords, the grand
new slogans Of salvation which
came from Soviet Russia, gave
him tremendous ardor. Lenin's
first writings appeared, and spread
their light. And Thaelmann threw
himself eagerly into Leninism,
which Stain has defined as
''Marxism in the epoch of imper-
ialisrn," into all the great ques-
tiOns which were given to the
world by the achievements Of the
October Revolution.
It has been said that at this
time che surpassed himself" The
phrase is correct. 1t applies well
to the truly revolutionary mill
tants who, keeping their eyes on
the future, must always go beyond
themselves, must always begin
over again. With the three levers
his enthusiasm, his incorruptibil-
ity, and his intelIigence-he ele-
waited the German Party and
broadened it. Stubborn and res
Olute, steadily drawn forward by
his splendid attracting idea he
considered it duty to enrich his
mind, because everything one
knows is weapon.
HOWEVER, there are very differ
ii ent types of men. There are
those who, like Thaelmann, choose
the exhaustive road of struggle,
who never speak of themselves
except to criticize themselves, and
who do not leave the harsh life Of
the worker. And there are the Ia
Dor leaders, the bureaucrats of
Ocial-democracy, who have set
tied the social question for them
selves, and who have never known
misery-or work-except through
what they have heard about it.
Thaelmann recognized the type.
They pretended to be on the same
side of the barricade. In reality,
they were on the other.
Thaeimann was satisfied to edu-
cate himself alone. He was tireless
in educating others. He went from
one worker to another and won
them over. There was no better
teacher; no one knew how to dis
seminate his knowledge and his
experience among the workers
more fraternally. He was patient
with those who were sincere (even
with the ignOrant), stimulating
their initiative, never angered, ex-
cept at intellectual pride; or, in
deed, at compromise, as stupid as
it is cowardly, or at sectarianism,
which never achieves anything
because it is blind.
He was unhappy if the answer
to some question or other did not
come at once. His companion,
John Scheer, who replaced him and
was assassinated by Hitler land
he is one of those whose blood
cries for vengeance in the ears of
the entire prOletariat), has told us
the story of Thaelmann reading
during the nights and plaguing
everyone with questions in order
to track down the true answer to
some urgent difficulty, and of his
joy when he had found the sOlu-
ton, and of his irony toward those
who had, in triumphant manner,
found false solution.
IT has been said that the city of
1IdulDu ES was OAIS VI tAAC iC1tSOAAo
for Thaelmann's urceasing self
Improvement. That is correct.
Hamburg is a great harbor, one
of the most important in con-
tinental Europe. 1t is center of
world shipping. Infinite perspec-
tives appear there, star-Hke,
stretching to all points of the
compass. The man who knew all
the sailors, because he had been
for so long a sailor and harbor
worker; who knew every corner
of Hamburg, all its shops and in
dustries, because he had lived
there ever since his childhood;
was in living contact with all the
distant points from which, one
after another, his fraternal travel
ers returned. He was in touch
with New York, with Valparaiso,
with Tokyo, with VladivostOk.
Everyone told him: This is what
they have done there, and this is
what they have got out of it. OF