Blutmai

Events at the beginning of May 1929 are referred to as Blutmai (Bloody May sometimes also May Riots). The police reacted with violence to unauthorized demonstrations organized by the KPD. 33 people lost their lives and many more were injured.
=== Starting position ===
In mid-December 1928, the Berlin police chief, Karl Zörgiebel, banned all meetings and rallies that took place outdoors. This ban was extended to all of Prussia in March 1929. The Prussian Minister of the Interior, Albert Grzesinski, warned the KPD in particular not to oppose the ban. If she called for riots and demonstrations around May 1st, the result would be a ban on the party. On April 30, the eve of May 1, traffic police officers in various districts of Berlin were attacked by members of the KPD. In addition, leaflets appeared that falsely announced that the ban on demonstrations in Berlin had been lifted. The KPD nevertheless called for peaceful demonstrations on May Day, and Karl Zörgiebel warned the workers against taking part in the demonstrations. May 1, 1919 was a special date: it was the 40th anniversary of the May Day rallies, which had been banned for much of their history. May Day was not a public holiday in Prussia.
=== Turn of events ===
On the morning of May 1st, significantly fewer demonstrators showed up than expected by the KPD. The small trains, which streamed mainly from Neukölln and Wedding in the direction of Mitte, were violently broken up by the police with batons and water hoses. At midday, however, police repression changed the mood of the demonstrators, especially in the city's larger squares. The police tried to break up all the gatherings by force and repeatedly fired warning shots. The situation escalated in the afternoon: police officers shot SPD member Max Gemeinhardt because he had not immediately closed his apartment window as instructed. Workers erected barricades at various points to stop the police. They, in turn, used armored vehicles with machine guns and, on the evening of May 1, shelled houses with red flags.
=== Aftermath ===
On May 2, 25,000 workers protested against police violence with a strike called by the KPD. But the police reacted again with harshness and violence: especially in the working-class districts, they showed a clear presence, apartments were searched and workers arrested. The armored vehicles with the machine guns were used again. Several people were shot dead by the police. Karl Zörgiebel then called a curfew. The riots, in which 33 people died and 250 people were injured (198 civilians and 48 police officers), ended on May 6.
=== Meaning in ∇ ===
Since the KPD was based in the Karl-Liebknecht-Haus, the Platz was considered a potential trouble spot for the threatening uprisings. On May 1, police officers shot indiscriminately in Koblanckstraße and injured several residents. Still, larger battles took place elsewhere that day. Only in the course of the police murders did the situation, which had been building up for years, finally escalate completely.
== External Links ==
* The "Blutmai" 1929 at Lebendiges Museum Online
* detailed documentation and cause research
Category:Event