Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1941-07-31
By JAN VALTM
field II organization and com.
munication."

field II organization and COM
munication."
With that. I left the con-
ference. and have been thank
full for it ever since. Had i
followed Neumann's orders, I
should not be alive today.
The men who took my place
in the Berliner's cortege of
terrorists all died horribly.
Heinz Neumann entrusted
the job to Johnny Dettmer. a
reckless blond giant / had
known already in 1923. when
he had engaged in smuggling
Russian rifles into Germany
to arm the Red hundreds.
Comrade Dettmer was not
"squeamish."
At the head of the Red
Marines" a section of the
party's outlawed military or
ganization. he produce d
corpses in sufficient numbers
TO gladden. even the heart OF
Heinz Neumann.
Early one morning a squad
of seven young Nazis were on
their way to distribute propa-
ganda to the lockers at the
harbor gates. Johnny Dett-
mer's crew sauntered up be-
hind them on Admiralty
street. and shot all seven in
the back. In the dawn of an
other morning, members of
the Hitler Youth, boys and
girls, were marching toward
an excursion steamer they
had chartered for a holiday
trip.
AMBUSH YOUNGSTERS
The approaches to the ex-
cursion piers led through
park-like surroundings. Be
hind trees and bushes Johnny
Dettmar's crew lay in am
bush. Boys and girls, none of
them over 16, were hit in
discriminatory by dumdum
bullets from the guns of the
Red Marines.
On another occasion, on the
night of May 10, 1882, a group
of young Nazis on their way
home from a meeting were
bounced on by Red Marines in
a dark street (Herrengraben),
and dragged into the door
ways of nearby houses. Here
eight or nine Of them were
lacerated with Knives.
One Nazi had his eyes stab
bed out with a screw driver.
Another, a storm trooper
Heinzelmann. was stabbed II
times. Members of the Red
Marines then sat on their VIC
tim and severed his vertebrae.
l and other comrades with
me were stiff with horror on
hearing the details of these
exploits. But we had learned
how TO hold our tongues. In
the party, heresies were dis
covered with a facility and
ingenuity that outrivaled the
Spanish Inquisition.
The purpose of these In
stances of screaming ter
rorism - to brighten the
Brownshirts away from the
waterfront-was not achieved.
The Hitler bands continued TO
push their spearheads into the
working class domain with
unshakable courage and
tenacity.
SUDDENLY VANISHES
After a series of wholesale
murders, Heinz Neumann sud-
denly vanished from the stage
of German and International
bolshevism. Intrigues spun
against him by the Thael-
mann-Pieck leadership be-
came his undoing. Ernst
Thaelmann seized upon
Neumann's heretical interpre-
tation of the conception of
Social Fascist" to break one
of his most talented rivals.
The later misadventures of
the Berlin millionaire's son
are not without a soaring
irony. Neumann was exiled
TO Moscow, where he sulked
for nearly two years.
When the aging Wilhelm
PECK, Thaelmann's nominal
successor and the young Ber-
liners bitter enemy, arrived
in Moscow after the German
debacle, Neumann was COM
missioned to 60 to Germany
10 lead the underground
movement against Hitler.
Such an assignment was
tantamount to a death sem
tence. Instead, Neumann
went to Switzerland and
launched a campaign to send
Comrade PECK to Germany in
his place. Neumann was
ordered 10 return to Russia
and refused.
Ito Be Contlnued)