davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1941-06-03
Upsuree Spreads

The masses responded. They
iroared until il seemed their
faces would burst. The compul.
sion was irresistible. l roareo
with them. The upsurge spread
from the coast 10 the south
with sailors as the spearhead OF
revolt.
The Prussian government gave
way. Bavaria was proclaimed a
republic. In Hamburg, tradition.
ally the reddest town of Ger
many, Soviets came TO power
The Kaiser bolted to Holland,
and two days later the Armi.
stice was signed.
/ did not see my father again.
/ was told that he had been
elected TO the revolutionary
workers and soldiers council OF
Emden. Later my father went to
Berlin. The Independent Social
lists sent him 10 Brunswick.
Meanwhile / spent the better
part of each day on my bicycle.
running errands for sailors
committee which had established
headquarters in the Weser Ship
yards. did not understand the
Iquarrels between the various
workers parties, but / easily &C.
quired the contempt with which
the former mutineers regarded
the moderate politicians.
Each day in Bremen saw DEM
constructions and counter-demon-
STATIONS of rival proletariah
bloc. A semblance of unity
came to pass only when the field
gray troops flooded back from
the front, still under the COM
mand Of their old officers.
/ was among the multitude
who met the returning regi-
ments rs and 213 on the north.
western fringe Of the city. The
soldiers were silent and plas-
tered with mud. The officers
had their swords drawn and
they answered the shouting
masses with sneers and threats.
We're going to clean up
here" was their threat.
Once in the city, the soldiers
from the front were surrounded
by revolutionary sailors and
Ishipyard workers entrenched in
machine gun nests on roofs and
balconies. The troops were
trapped; every one expected a
massacre. However, they were
disarmed and disbanded without
bloodshed.
A few days later the first
signs of the existence of newly
formed nationalist bands were
in evidence. Posters shouted
from the walls. Destroy the
November Criminals"
Squads of workers tore them
off. Tired horses abandoned by
the troops. were butchered at
night in the streets by focks of
determined women.
Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1941-06-03

sprawling band of demonstrating
convicts freed by a truckload of
s ailors from Oslebshausen
prison. Most of them wore SOL
diers' greatcoats over their
prison garb.
But the true symbol of this
revolution, which was really
Inaught but a revolt, were
neither the armed workers nor
the singing convicts--but the
Imutineers from the feet with
their reversed hatbands and car
Ibines slung over their shoulders,
butts up and barrels down.
The City Hall of Bremen fell
without real fighting. No one
rose to defend the topping en-
lpire. The masses did not want
Ibloodshed, not even revenge
they were war-weary and now
they were determined to stop
the spook.
Late that night tens of thou
sands of workers filled the mar
Iketplace. Among them was a
sprinkling of soldiers and the
inevitable sailors from the war.
ships.
At the foot of the Roland
statue a frightened old woman
Icrouched.
"Ach, du Beber Gott," she
walled piereingly. what Is all
this: What's the world com.
Ing to-"
A huge.frsmed young worker,
who gave intermittent bellows
of triumph and whom / had fol-
lowed from the Brill. grasped
the old woman's shoulders. He
laughed resoundingly.
Revolution" he rumbled.
Revolution, madam"
Speaker followed speaker IN
proclaiming the new epoch from
the balcony of the City Hall; a
lanky soldier, a representative
of newly elected workers
council, a large-bodied official Of
the Social Democratic Party, and
in between the thick-set ring
leader Of naval mutineers, Ernst
Wollweber.
Wollweber hurled his words
like rocks into the masses.
I'VE stripped the Kaiser of
his boots" he ended. "Now let
us finish of the capitalists.
Long live the German Soviet
Republic!"
Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1941-06-03
Ugly Eczema
No Joke

The itching torment of eczema is
enough 10 make anyone wretched
and anxious for relief. n you suf
fer from eczema. itchy pimples
angry rcd blotches or other blem
ishes due to external causes. get
Peterson's Ointment. Csc all drug
Eists. If one application does not
delight Fou, money refunded Peter
sont Ointment slso wonderful For
Itchins OF feet, cracks between toes.
Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1941-06-03
Of the Night Vai School Boy Pal Of Radicals and Plo

they were veterans of the West
ern Front.
The humping of the mines
increased. The southern bridge
head Of the Kaiser bridge
swarmed suddenly with field
gray shapes under steel helmets
At the window the machine
gun jammed. A sailor turned
and said:
Hang on now, the COM
rades are blowing up the
bridges.
An instant later he cursed:
"Verdammt, why don't they
blow up that BRIDGE"
There was a lull in the firing
The Noske guards stormed th'
bridge. AS they ran, they
shouted. And abruptly the ma
chine guns opened in merciles'
bursts. / saw many soldiers fall
Death was commonplace. Tha'
day it evoked in me no Other
emotion than would a fascinat
ing show.
An instant later we all raj
from the building in a panic
The thunder of exploding hand
grenades was less than two hun
dred yards away. She'll
exploding in the air ripped
chunks of rock out of the towers
of the cathedral. A dispatch
rider coming from the direction
of the marketplace roared some
thing about armorcd cars.
! Angry shouts went up.
1.-THE bridges are taken."
There was no sign of discour
agement. But there was hide
Gus confusion. A rumor spreat
that Knief, the revolutionar,
teacher. and Fraczunkoyitz, tn,
hunchback, had escaped b,
lnlana
Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1941-06-03
Tells Distress
OF World War
Days in Europe
fContInued from Page One)

Continued from Page One)
out of our own jealous initiative.
We drew caricatures of the
Kaiser hanging from a gallows
and passed them furtiyely from
hand to hand.
We gave articulation TO our
contempt for established author
ity by hurting dead rats through
the open windows of police sta
tons.
Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1941-06-03
Like Tow Soldiers

Advancing along the Meter
Strasse, the Noske guards were
nearing the left side of the river.
| saw them leap from doorway
to doorway, while others came
simultaneously across the roofs
and garden fringes. From half a
mile off they looked like ami
mated toy soldiers: in reality
Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1941-06-03

In January. 1919, disunity lee
TO open battle. The Ebert
Scheidemann Noske fore 8
right wing Socialists, enlisted
the aid of nationalist division!
under. the command Of officer!
from the Western Front to hesc
off the attempts Of the Spar
takus Bund TO seize power.
Hundreds died in the streets
of Berlin. Karl Liebknecht and
the heroic woman who shared
his leadership. Rosa Luxembourg
were murdered by a camarilla
of such officers. Rosa was torn
10 pieces and flung into canal
and the monarchist rabble re.
ioiced in a new song which
began:
a corpse floats in the
Landwehr Canal :"
In Bremen the sailors were
still optimistic. AS one Of them
put it:
"As long as we have a ma
chine gun. a loaf of munition
bread and a liverwurst. we
have no cause for worry"
There was street fighting in
in Hamburg, in Silesia.
In Bremen the moderates were
showed aside. Soviets ruled the
city, and proclaimed ii an indie
pendent republic.
On January 20 came the news
that my father had died in a
hospital in Wolfenbuettel. That
gave me a fearful shock. My
almost out of her mind
with grief, left at once for
Brunswick. The younger chill.
dren were left in charge Of a
neighbor. On January % my
youngest brother. 5 years old,
was found dead in his bed. No
one saw him die.
Since the middle Of Novem-
Der, 1918, l had ceased going 10
school. The Young Spartakus
group TO which I belonged was
quite active. Each morning we
went TO the Red House on the
left bank of the Weser and got
packs of leaflets from the secre-
tary of a fierce hunchback who
had somehow come TO power in
the councils Of the revolutionary
sailors. The leaflets we distrib-
uted in the harbor. at the fac
tory gates and in suburban
tenement districts.
Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1941-06-03

deserted. Red Guards were re-
Treating to the railway station.
Several times l was stopped
by Noske Guards, but seeing
that despite my height / was
only a child, they let me pro-
coed. Everywhere lorries loaded
with soldiers in field gray adj
vanced slowly. fled the town,
following a detachment Of re-
Treating mutineers. After three
days of wandering reached
Hamburg.
From the railway station ]
wrote a postcard to my~other
to assure her that / was alive.
She wired me what little money
she managed to scrape up. Next
day she arrived in Hamburg,
looking like a ghost.
~ don't want to 20 back"
I told her. I'm going to sea-"
For a long while she was ST.
lent. Only her patient, gray eyes
widened and filled with fathom-
less sadness. Finally she said:
But our country has no
ships. They are all taken by
the British"
II shall sign on as deck
boy under some foreign flag"
/ replied.
In the following days my
mother sold the remnants of
family silver she had brought
with her, and bought me oil
skins, seaboots, blankets and
few other necessities. She also
gave me a small Bible, and she
arranged with Wolfert, ship
ping master with crafty blue
eyes in a drinkers face, that I
could live at his boarding house
until he had procured me a ship.
When the train moved out of
the Hamburg station l saw her
standing at the window, frail,
shabby, sad and invincibly
loyal.
Fair Winds" she called to
Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1941-06-03

name of our organization that
we did not call ourselves Young
Communists, but Young Sparta
cists.
On January II, on til e
Kaiser's birthday, sailors with
red armbands organized us boys
into squads of 20. All day we
spent in breaking up the Kaiser
Day meetings arranged by the
principals of gymnasiums and
high schools.
We armed ourselves with clubs
and stones and burst in on the
meetings. We tore the Imperial
flags from the pulpits and sub
dued the singing of Hell Dir i'm
iSiegerkranz" with the German
version of the Marseillaise.
The teachers did not dare TO
interfere with our rowdyism.
The better-dressed and better
fed boys we drove out into the
streets.
Came February. The tragedy
that had been enacted in Berlin
the crushing Of fighting revo-
lutionary minorities by the young
tReichswehr under the command
lof War Minister Gustav Noske,
IA social democrat.-was re-
Ipeated in many outlying cities.
Rumors spread in our ranks
that Berlin was sending reac-
Itionary troops to suppress the
Soviets in Bremen.
On February 3, people cits-
tered around posters announcing
that General Gerstenbergs di-
vision was approaching the city
from the south. All revolution
airy workers were called to arms.
The sons of the bourgeoisie
evacuated the city. In long
drawn-out columns they raced
away on skates over the frozen
moorland to join the onmarch-
ing troops.
The somewhat less than 300
members of the Young Sparta
kus League were modified to
serve as messengers and dis
patch riders. Many of us were
supplied wit h new bicycles
which had been taken from the
stores. The Revolutionary De-
Ifense Committee used boys and
girls as couriers because young
sters were less likely 10 be
suspected and halted by ad-
sVancinp NOSke troOps
Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1941-06-03
PopuIoce in Streets

Many of the workers were
armed with guns. with bayonets,
with hammers. I felt then, and
later. that the sight of armed
workers sets off q roar in the
blood of those who sympathize
with the marchers.
Singing hoarsely was q
Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1941-06-03
Banded Into Squads

In the first days of January,
1919, the Spartakus Bund con-
stituted itself as the Commu-
mist Party of Germany, but we
had taken such pride in the old
Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1941-06-03
Mutiny in Fleet

From my father and other
sailors, when they came home
for a monthly two-day leave
we heard much of what was GO
ing on in the fleet. Mutiny
brewed. The men, crammed into
narrow quarters a thousand and
more on a single ship and ridden
by hunger, hated The officers for
their arrogance and the cham
payne and butter they consumed.
The Kulies Of the feet wanted
more than the end 10 the war
they talked of revenge for all
the degradations of the past.
On several ships secret action
committees Of the sailors and
stekers had been elected. The
>latrines in the shipyards became
he centers for clandestine rev.
dictionary meetings.
Desertions increased; sailors
sold their uniforms and de-
camped inshore. Several ring
leaders from the warships had
been court-martialed and exc
cuted by Imperial firing squads.
Not a week passed that we
did not have a deserter staying
overnight in our dingy apart
ment. Usually they left at dawn,
clad in civilian rags. on their
way 70 Berlin or Munich and on
10 Saxony and Siicsia. Most of
them brought service pistols
into the houses Of workers.
My mother abhorred arms.
But ! knew that several families
in the same tenement had fire.
arms hidden away in the base
ment, under floor boards, in
window castings. and stove pipes.
People were silent and sullen.
No one In our block or the next
believed that the end Of the war
was near.
Once sailor returning from
Petrograd was our guest. Tall.
gaunt, 10 my eyes a rather adj
venturous figure. he stood in, a
corner Of the living room and
told about the victory of the
Bolsheviki and the first workers
government in the world.
He drank great quantities Of
bad, black. unsugared coffee, and
talked until he was hoarse. The
room was full Of people. They
kept coming and going. They
asked questions, shook their
heads, argued, and many eyes
shone.
When II was time 10 go to
sleep he became afraid 10 stay;
some one might have informed
the police, he thought. led him
TO the family of a friend on the
other side of the river. This
sailor Sunk into a doorway or
into a side street whenever he
saw policeman under the
street lights ahead.
In the end ! was a little dis
gusted. I had fairly low opinion
Of policemen. For two long
hours We trudged through the
night. the sailor and /, without
exchanging a word
Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1941-06-03
No Coal, No Food

UlSIlls. MY ulOlhci IN ~ SN. A'e
Younger children shivered in
their beds. There was no coal
and no food. ! remember won
dering why I could not get ex-
cited over the possibility that
my father would have TO face
the firing squad.
The arrest of the muuneers
however, was only an incident
With help from outside they
smashed the doors. stormed the
ships. and took control. The
officers gave way
I Aboard the Helgoland
chunky, young stoker yanked
down the Kaiser's flag and
hauled the red flag to the mast
head. BY November Z the whole
feet was in revolt.
That night I saw the mutt
nous sailors roll into Bremen
on caravans of commendeered
trucks red flags and machine
guns mounted on the trucks.
Thousands milled in the streets.
Often the truck stopped and the
sailors sang and roared for free
passage.
The workers cheered particu-
larry a short. burly, young man
in grimy blue. The man swung
his carbine over his head TO re-
turn the salute. He was the
stoker who had hoisted the first
red flag over the feet. His name
was Ernst Wollweber.
In front of the railway station
I saw a man lose his life. He was
an officer in field gray who came
out of the station the minute
IL was surrounded, and was
seized by muuneers.
He was slow in giving up his
arms and epaulettes. He made
no more than a motion 10 draw
his pistol when they were on
top Of him. Rife butts flew
through the air above him.
Fascinated, ] watched from a
little way off. Then the sailors
turned away TO saunter back to
their trucks. / had seen dead
people before. But death by vio-
.lence and the fury that accom-
panied it were something new.
The officer did not move. l mar
veled how easily a man could
be killed.
I rode away on my bicycle. /
lfevered with a strange sense OF
power. / did not know that was
part of the mass intoxication
which, like the chunky stoker
from the Helgoland, had risen
from the depths to take charge
of minds and events. Not far
from Hillmann's Hotel a band of
civilians was trouncing a police
man who tried to forbid them
to ride on the outside of tram
car.
| circled toward the Brill. a
square in the western center of
the town. From there on / had
to push my bicycle through the
throngs. The population was in
the streets. From all sides
masses of humanity. sea of
swinging, pushing bodies and
distorted faces was moving e..
ward the center Of the town.
Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1941-06-03
AHyou do

All you do to apply for your loan is to
acquaint us with your problem. Loans
are made on furniture, car or note.
Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1941-06-03
Better get going" Rode

BETTER get going" Rode
advised me. Save your skin"
/ mounted my bicycle and
rode away, unaware at first of
the direction I was taking. Dead
men sprawfed grotesquefy here
and there, and in many places
the snow was splotched with
blood. I reached the moat, a
natural line of defense encircling
the inner city. It too had been
Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1941-06-03

(Jan Vaifin continues his ssnsa-
tionai REGULATIONS in ton,oyyow's
Detroit Times. To arrange
for carrier delivery of the
Times at your home,
phone Cherry 5000
Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1941-06-03
Three Desert at Once

Three Of our courier group
deserted at once. l doubt that
their motive was fear. They
simply went off 10 get closer
glimpses of the battle. All that
day curious mobs were lodging
around street corners, unde-
TERED by bullets whining past
their ears.
Two times during the forenoon
I made the journey between the
bank and the shipyard with a
scrawled report of the comrade
in charge of defending the en-
trance TO Kaiser street, a thor
oughfare that led from the river
to the central railway station.
At that time the western por-
ton of the town was still out
side the zone of fighting. BARR
caded stores, shattered windows,
patches pavement torn up
and heaped to form barbados
were landmarks all along the
route. There seemed nothing
more to do after the second trip.
Since / had never been inside
of a bank / proceeded to explore
the building. Not a window was
intact. Doors had been broken.
Desks, chairs, filing cabinets and
rugs were piled up against the
windows. ready to be hurled on
the heads of attackers in the
street below AT some of the
windows snipers were at work.
No one stopped me: any spy
of the counter forces could have
walked into the building to
lreconnoiter the forces Of the de-
tenders. Finally / came to rest
in large room on the top floor.
From Helm Rode, a sailor with
whom was acquainted, and
from what / saw, | gained an
understanding Of the rudiments
lof the most bitter form of COM
Ibat-house-to-house fighting in
the streets.
There was machine gun
firing from the largest window
Two sailors and a youth about
my own age served il. BY this
time the whole city reverberated
with the sounds of battle.
Shippers fired at soldiers crawl
ing over distant housetops. The
field pieces along the river
roared intermittently. The vi
cious hammering Of machine
guns was continuous. Men were
shooting from speeding lorries
and from doorways. Several
houses were afire.
Down in the Brill inquisitive
pedestrians ran for their lives.
Fragments of rock and much
glass Uttered the streets. Then
came prolonged explosions of
such violence that the building
rocked as if under an earth
quake.
"A direct bit?" l asked ex-
citedly.
Mines" Helm Rode said
calmly. They're using mine
throwers."
Like Toy Soldiers
Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1941-06-03

"A direct bit?" asked ex-
citedly.
Mines" Helm Rode said
calmly. They're using mine
throwers."
Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1941-06-03

Fair Winds" she called to
me. May God be with you"
Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1941-06-03

.hVEPr1srMFN.
Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1941-06-03

Advertisement
Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1941-01-03
DiSdains Exemption
Detroifs First ar Draftee, With Seif-Supportine
Wife, Refuses to Ask for Deferment

Also sworn into the army today
was Thomas North. Is. of 4l75
Yorkshire road, Well-known local
tennis player.
Among others in the first group
Of drafteeS 10 be indicted in the
nation armed forces were
Donald Brazelton. IS. Of 1863
Hart avenue. Albert Beeckrnan
p Of 1885 Barham avenue. WI
liam Parks, -. of fS66 EaStlaWn
avenue. Gordon Carpenter. "a. OF
1907 Newport avenue. Angus
RaVezlani. PC, NJ 5267 Somerset
avenue. Felix Keller -. Of 46l6
Marlborough avenue; La Gurne
Dennis. p. Of 1865 Farnbrook
avenue Robert Pfefferle. %. Of
1891 DeNonShlre road and LINN
Perkins %. OF 1921 Mack avenGe
Robert Bowdy. q. Of 37o5 Chats
worth avenue. William Edgerton.
y. OF 2046 Twelfth street. An
thony Malacos. %. Of 2S36 Trum-
bull avenue Milton Shalda. 20. Of
20i79 Cardoni avenue: Charles
Descoteaux. p, Of 174i4 Cameron
avenue, Frank Hrlbar, y. Of 1881
Somerset avenue. and Junior
Pence. %. of 53l AdclIne avenue.
Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1941-01-03
M Dodger Held
Mental Victim

\ University Of Michigan stu
dent who refused 10 fiji out a
draft quesiionnaire on grounds he
Is against war was held 10 he suf-
fering from a mental disease in
Federal Court today.
Tho student is Thaddeus Alex
andcr SzymanSki. "A. Of 247l
Tenth avenue. Wyandottc. a stu
dent Of chemical engineering He
registered for the draft and drew
a low serial number but refused to
fill out QUESTIONABLE
He had pleaded guilty TO draft
evasion but United States Com
missioner J. Stanley Hurd refused
to accept the plea and ordered a
pSychiatric examination DR.. Max
O. Wolfe reported today that he
is suffering from paranoia. a
disease characterized by decisions
OF persecution
Szymanski waived examination
and Is held under $500 bond for
the federal grand jury.
Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1941-01-03
Canadians Can't
TakeU. Money!
Out Of Country

Canadian citizens visiting United
States on social visit cards were
forbidden today 10 take with them
any United States currency in an
order issued by w. NJ. Morphet.
Windsor manager for the foreign
exchange control board.
Previously Canadians we're per-
mitted TO bring with them small
amounts of its currency to use
for street car, bus fare and similar
necessities. Permission to carry
s. in Canadian currency is still in
effect.
Morphet said the DSR has
agreed 10 accept Canadian money
if the exact fare is presented. Thus
Canadians will not be permitted
to present a Canadian dollar bill
for l0-cent fare and receive
United States currency in change.
Fred A. Nolan, DSR manager.
said that his drivers and conduc-
tors had been instructed to accept
Canadian money at a discount
The department informs its en-
ployes each time the discount rate
varies.
The control board order was
made to conserve Canadas sup
ply of American money to use for
purchases of war materials in the
United States without suffering by
the discount.