Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1941-08-16


commands into majority de-
cisions" of the rank and file.
This method. copied from the
Soviets, went under the flag
Of "proletarian democracy"
1t was also employed with
success in the trade union
conferences and in open mass
meetings called to arouse pub
lie sympathy with the strikers.
I learned to understand the
power which co-ordinated and
centrally directed propaganda
could exert on an excited
mass of human beings. l
learned with what ease a
mass, once il was in motion.
could be melted TO concerted
acts Of violence.
At an earlier period in Ber-
lin, Georgi Dimitrov had once
told me:
"When you feel that you
have a solid grip on the minds
Of the masses, never let go.
never let the mass shift for
itself; tell the masses what
they must do morning and
night; let them feel that there
Is q force behind them which
knows the right way, and
points II out untiringly."
Proof Of the correctness of
this advice doomed high
around me in the Swedish
strike.
SMASHES UNION
I smashed the Seamen's
Union OF Sweden, hitherto one
of the best organized in
Europe. Special strong-arm
squads boarded the ships
coming in from abroad and
forced their crews to abandon
their berths without regard
for the seven-day notice
agreement of their union.
The shipowners r pond ed
with court actions, demanding
seizure of the unions treasury.
Attempts Of the union lead
ers to counterfeit this turn of
events gave the opportunity
TO brand them, in daily mani
festoes printed on blood-red
paper, as betrayers of the
srike and laekeys of the ship
owners. 1 dispatched the best
comrades on hand TO Stock
holm and Lulea. to Karlskrona,
Malmo and Helsingborg.
In all ports. strike COM
mites under Communist con-
troll were created and by
ceaseless agitation they soon
took the direction OF the
strike out of the hands Of
the accredited union repre-
sentatives.
Every official union meet
ing was captured by the Com
munist storm brigades. In
Goeteborg and Malmo. the
strikers ousted the union
leaders. The union organiza-
ton in Stockholm was ex-
PEELED for wholesale violations
of the union constitution. The
union was breaking up. A
letter of instruction which !
received from Ulrich ended
with the remark:
"Das hast du gut germacht"
We'll done, comrade!
The union executive issued
an appeal to its members:
"Save your union from for
eign criminals and wreckers.."
Three hours later / an
swered with a crimson poster,
under the peering headline:
away with the traitors,
Rotten wood will not float,
neither can 1t be carved"
DEMOCRACY LOSING
Democracy in the Swedish
labor movement was losing a
major battle. =
Our terror mpai ign
against strikebreakers and
active anti-Communists in the
ranks of the strikers pro-
crossed concurrently with the
assaults against the trade
unions. In the harbor of
Goeteborg lay anchored the
Lumplena, a ship which
served as a floating home for
strikebreakers. Our picket
lines made it impossible for
the Lumplena's denizens to go
ashore.
They were brought to
Goeteborg in govern en- t
launches, and they remained
aboard the Lumplena until
they were transferred to
steamers tied up by strikes.
At first ] tried to Illustrate
the strikebreaking activities
by smuggling a score of re-
liable comrades aboard the
Lumplena. who shipped out
with blackleg crews Of nom
Seamen.
Ito Be Continued)