Witness to the German Revolution by Victor Serge Page A
Authors: Victor Serge
Tags: History, Germany, 20th Century, Europe, Political Science, Political Ideologies, Modern, Communism; Post-Communism & Socialism, Former Soviet Republics
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with grounds for a continuing campaign for intervention by the Reichâand the Reichswehr in Saxony. In Upper Silesiaâat Gleiwitzâthe police opened fire.
The Reichswehr is âready for any eventuality.â Despite the revelations of Herr Zeigner and the efforts of the social democrats, the âdemocraticâ minister Gessler is remaining at its head because he has âthe confidence of the leadersâ and the blessing of General von Seeckt. The green police have received supplies of grenades and, it is said, gas masks. The association of civil servants in the Bavarian state has issued a circular warning its members that they must obey the Bavarian government, even one born of a coup dâétat . The Berlin government responds by instructing them only to obey its orders. One more scrap of paper for Herr von Knillingâs
wastepaper basket. Fascism is thus preparing to wring the neck of Ebertâs republic and, after a sufficient number of summary executions, to impose its regeneration program: âeradication of Jewish Marxism, ten-hour working day.â
The Great Coalition government is making its task easier by striking at the left. On September 24, it suspended Die Rote Fahne and all the Communist publications in Berlin for 15 days. However, Vorwärts, to create a diversion for social democrats, has discovered clandestine arms stocks in Berlinâtruly not what we were short ofââsupplied, if we take his word for it, by a military attaché at the Soviet embassy.â Are these people more blind than dishonest, or more dishonest than blind? A cruel enigma!
Figures
From September 13 to 19, there was a normal rise of 165 percent in the cost of living. The minimum necessary for a week for a workerâs family with two children was 1,400,563,440 marks. Nearly one and a half billion. The usual wage for a man working a full day is half that sum.
In August, 43 percent of industrial enterprises were in a precarious or bad state. At the end of August, the situation on the labor market was as follows: 7.06 percent of metal workers, 4.53 percent of textile workers, 12.9 percent of printers and 12.6 percent of clothing workers were unemployed. 16.58 percent of metal workers, 46.19 percent of textile workers, 32.09 percent of printers and 57.98 percent of clothing workers were working short time. Between July and August the number of unemployed had more than doubled, while the number of workers on short time had increased almost threefold.
From September 7 to 21, the sum of Reich banknotes in circulation rose from 518.8 billion to 1,182 billion, that is, more than a
trillion. In the same period, the gold reserves fell by 20 million.
On September 22, citizen Hilferding managed to lower the rate of exchange of the dollar to less than a 100 million (it had previously reached 325 million, with an average of about 200 million, in the preceding days). But the retail prices based on a dollar standard of over 200 million did not go down. Between September 15 and 21 we can observe an increase of 148 percent in the wholesale prices index. Who is being robbed? The poor.
The extraordinary commissioner in charge of confiscating foreign currency, Herr Fellinger, is organizing police raids in the streets and in cafés. The first ones have brought in about 16,000 gold marks. Woe betide the passerby if he happens to have one solitary dollar in his wallet. But respect for the banks!
By the end of September the crisis was deepening. National unity was under serious threat with growing demands for separatism in the Rhineland and Bavaria. The conflict between Bavaria and the national government continued. The threat from the right was shown by the unsuccessful attempt of a right wing officer, Buchrucker, to seize the fortresses of Küstrin and Spandau near Berlin.
Red Sunday in Düsseldorf
Correspondance internationale , October 6, 1923
Sixteen killed, and about a 100 wounded. Such is
The Reichswehr is âready for any eventuality.â Despite the revelations of Herr Zeigner and the efforts of the social democrats, the âdemocraticâ minister Gessler is remaining at its head because he has âthe confidence of the leadersâ and the blessing of General von Seeckt. The green police have received supplies of grenades and, it is said, gas masks. The association of civil servants in the Bavarian state has issued a circular warning its members that they must obey the Bavarian government, even one born of a coup dâétat . The Berlin government responds by instructing them only to obey its orders. One more scrap of paper for Herr von Knillingâs
wastepaper basket. Fascism is thus preparing to wring the neck of Ebertâs republic and, after a sufficient number of summary executions, to impose its regeneration program: âeradication of Jewish Marxism, ten-hour working day.â
The Great Coalition government is making its task easier by striking at the left. On September 24, it suspended Die Rote Fahne and all the Communist publications in Berlin for 15 days. However, Vorwärts, to create a diversion for social democrats, has discovered clandestine arms stocks in Berlinâtruly not what we were short ofââsupplied, if we take his word for it, by a military attaché at the Soviet embassy.â Are these people more blind than dishonest, or more dishonest than blind? A cruel enigma!
Figures
From September 13 to 19, there was a normal rise of 165 percent in the cost of living. The minimum necessary for a week for a workerâs family with two children was 1,400,563,440 marks. Nearly one and a half billion. The usual wage for a man working a full day is half that sum.
In August, 43 percent of industrial enterprises were in a precarious or bad state. At the end of August, the situation on the labor market was as follows: 7.06 percent of metal workers, 4.53 percent of textile workers, 12.9 percent of printers and 12.6 percent of clothing workers were unemployed. 16.58 percent of metal workers, 46.19 percent of textile workers, 32.09 percent of printers and 57.98 percent of clothing workers were working short time. Between July and August the number of unemployed had more than doubled, while the number of workers on short time had increased almost threefold.
From September 7 to 21, the sum of Reich banknotes in circulation rose from 518.8 billion to 1,182 billion, that is, more than a
trillion. In the same period, the gold reserves fell by 20 million.
On September 22, citizen Hilferding managed to lower the rate of exchange of the dollar to less than a 100 million (it had previously reached 325 million, with an average of about 200 million, in the preceding days). But the retail prices based on a dollar standard of over 200 million did not go down. Between September 15 and 21 we can observe an increase of 148 percent in the wholesale prices index. Who is being robbed? The poor.
The extraordinary commissioner in charge of confiscating foreign currency, Herr Fellinger, is organizing police raids in the streets and in cafés. The first ones have brought in about 16,000 gold marks. Woe betide the passerby if he happens to have one solitary dollar in his wallet. But respect for the banks!
By the end of September the crisis was deepening. National unity was under serious threat with growing demands for separatism in the Rhineland and Bavaria. The conflict between Bavaria and the national government continued. The threat from the right was shown by the unsuccessful attempt of a right wing officer, Buchrucker, to seize the fortresses of Küstrin and Spandau near Berlin.
Red Sunday in Düsseldorf
Correspondance internationale , October 6, 1923
Sixteen killed, and about a 100 wounded. Such is
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