alex
August 18th, 2006, 05:36 AM
"Learning from the communists" is a phrase often heard in the WN circles. But only few actual insights and examples of how communist organizations operated exist in those circles.
This is an article by Frank Kerkhoff (*1) who himslef was a leading member of the KBW throughout the 70's. The 70's also called the "red decade" was the high point of communist organizations throughout Europe and especially Germany. Alongside the communist mass-movements and parties there were also smaller revolutionery communist organizations. They did not beleive in the change of the status quo through elections and had as their goal the mobilization of the masses for an violent uprising against the system. One of these smaller but highly effective revolutionery communist organizations was the KBW.
Enough said here is the translation of the german text http://www.die-kommenden.net/dk/zeitgeschichte/geschichte_des_kbw.htm . (*) comments are by me :
The story of the Communist Union of West-Germany (KBW)
It all started in the sommer of 1973.Representatives of six party-independet organizations,which all had set the overthrowing of the West-German system as their goal,met together. All were committed to the goal of a classless society of Marxist-Leninistic coinage. The main initiators were the "Communist Group/New Red Forum" of Mannheim/Heidelberg and the Communist Union of Bremen, as well as the Communist Union of Göttingen (KB Göttingen), the KB Osnabrück,the KB Wolfsburg and the "Union of Communist Workers" of Freiburg. Twenty further organizations were considered as sympathizers. At the 12th of June in the conference after the formation a declaration was published, out of which the biggest revolutionery organization of Germany after world war 2 should emerge:The Communist Union of West-Germany (KWB). For 10 years it operated with high level activism, rised rapidly, was threratend with a ban and finally disintegrated into nothingness again.
From the very start there were fierce controversies about which direction the struggle should take. The hardliners around the two charismatic KBW-leaders Hans-Gerhard "Joscha" Schmierer and Martin Fochler, accused their opponents of "reformism" and "revisionism" - a deviation from the main goal which was the smashing of the civil state apparatus. As a consequence the core members of the KB Bremen, which was nevertheless a initial founding member of the KBW, were excluded from the KBW. (*2)
The Manifesto
From the very beginning the KBW stood to the principles of Marxism-Leninism (ML) and to the ideas of Mao. It demanded the establishment of a proletarian dictatorship by smashing the civil state apparatus. The army would be replaced by a peoples army which would protect the land. The KBW supported the "three-world-theory" of the Communist Party (KP) of China. According to this theory the world was divided into the "first world",the two superpowers, their footmen like West-Germany (FDR) or East-Germany (GDR) were the "second-world"and then the "third-world". Above all was the struggle against the "first world", namely against the US- and Soviet- imperialism. Only when these imperalistic superpowers fall down, a final liberation of the peoples of the world would be possible. For this reason the KBW demanded a reunited socialist Germany, a democratic peace treaty for Germany and the dissolution of NATO and the Warsaw Pact.
Like all left-revolutionery organizations the KBW was strictly subjected to the proinciple of the "democratic centralism". In the statute the principle was explained in this way: "The case of each organ requires the confirmation by a higher organ (...) The minority is obligated to subordinate itself to the resolutions of the majority; the lower line organs are obligated to subordinate themselves to the resolution of the upper line organs."This principle by the way was the main reason for the banning of the KPD (Communist Party of Germany) in 1956 and it makes clear that the KBW wasnt interested with internal-party democracy. Of the "democratic-centralism" only the centralism remained. A month-long arbitral procedure, as is usual the case with the NPD for example, didnt exist in the KBW. The orders given from "above" were simply obeyed and executed. Because the KBW didnt see itsself as a political Party but as an organization which wanted to create a revolutionery movement.
Development of the organization
To be a member in the KBW was something else,than being a member in a civil party. The statute of the KBW prescribed a six months trial period for the purpose of the political probation, training and introduction to the work of the organization. During that time the candidate was in a basic unit and had the same obligations as all other members. For the trial period he was allowed only a advisory voice and wasnt allowed to lead any tasks or projects. The practical activism for candidates and members was "brutal".
For a KBW-activist a normal week looked as follows: Monday from 5.30-7.30 in the morning the selling of the weekly "Communist Peoples Newspaper" (KVZ) in front of a factory gate or at the railway station. Monday evening cell meeting (smallest organizational unit). Tuesday early again KVZ sales,as well as Wednesday. Wednesday evening a training course of an article from the theoretical organ "Communism and Class Warfare". Saturday various activism (mostly information stands in the city/town/village with newspaper sales), and the whole Sunday remained for the training of classical authors (the author of this article studied Hegels works "Anti-Dühring" and "Dialectic and Nature" etc.). On free afternoons leaflets were distributed and more extensive training courses took place (mostly more than three days), for example for the complete "Kapital" from Karl Marx for which one was allowed to travel to the central of the KBW which was in Frankfurt (*3). For the leading members various meetings within the week were added.
From the personal expericence of the author propably less than one third of the candidates beared up through this time.An avoiding,a non-appearence or other inactivity was not allowed. At the next cell meeting the deviationist was criticized of still having civil tendencies. There was only one way: Be active or get out of the way.
Despite the enormous pressure on activists and candidates the organization structure did rise rapidly: On 25 November 1973 the KBW consisted of 25 local groups and local structures numbering 868 members. On 25. March of 1974 the organization grew to 1208 members and was divided into 36 groups among 36 cities. At the end of 1974 the numbers rose to 1500 in 45 local groups and local structures. In approximately 60 further places there were groups of sympathizers. At the beginning of 1975 there already were 1700 members and in May of 1977 about 2600.
At the head of the KBW was a 13 strong central committee (ZK) which elected a 5 strong "constant committee" which was responsible for its tasks between the ZK-plenary meetings. Furthermore the ZK selected a secretery from its ranks as a "leader". During the entire period of the KBW it was Joscha Schmierer. The members of the "constant committee" and the ZK-secrtery were paid by the organization. The "central committee" was selected by the highest party organ, the delegate conference, every two years (initially annual).
In 1976 the KBW tightened its organization: In the place of the 100 local structures the KBW, after the approval of the 3. delegetion conference formed 40 district unions, which were formed into regional unions. In every district there were hundreds of small cells who "covered" a city,city quarter,hospital,factory etc. The 2600 members of 1977 were a statistic zenith. Adding to that about 2100 college students who were organized in the "Communist University Federation" (KSB), about 800 academics who were organized in the "Society for the support of peoples struggles" (GUV) and about 540 school students from the "Communist Youth Union" (KJB) and the (KOB). With the members of the training courses and the sympathizers and the candidates the KBW had a total of 7000 all ready cadres with a very high violence potential.
Initially there were many from the "'68 generation" in the ZK such as the secretery Hans-Gerhart »Joscha« Schmierer who once was leading the SDS in Heidelberg. This did change fast, since mostly younger people started joining the organization. The average age in 1975 amounted 23,9 years and did rise till the high point of the KWB in 1977 only to 24,8 years. Even at the end of the organization more than half of the members were younger than 26 and only one tenth was older than 33 years. While initially there were no women in the organization, this too changes likewise very fast. The KBW exercised a magic attraction, particularly on young women. By 1977 a third of all cell leaders were women, particularly in the districts were many female "bosses". One can take this term literally, since women were considered in the KBW as particurarly activist and were able to work under great pressure. They forced activism on members of the KBW still more mercilessly than many of their male comrades.
However, the social profile of the members remained constant. The large part of the members had a high-school degree or higher education. Many educated cadres went voluntarily into the factories, in order to agitate there politically. The author "was allowed to work in a factory" despite his high level university graduation in order to organize the structures of a cell in the enterprise (*4). Many more came who despite their high education level were voluntarily sent to the fatories. The number of workers in the KBW remained low over the years. The fluctuation within the KBW was large. According to estimations of a ZK-member during that scarely 10-year existance of the KBW nearly 20,000 participated in one way or another.
"Struggle for the minds"
A very important part of what we today call the "struggle for the minds" was the selling of the weekly KVZ. The KVZ was initially produced with a circulated edition of 50,000, but later on the number kind of stabilized at about 30,000 per week. Real sellings were about 25,000 per week. An enormous work load was necessary. Each cell got a sales figure which had to be reached. It was sold everywhere: to relatives, in the enterprises, at info stands, on demos and rallies and at public places. Helpful to it was that the KVZ appereared with 40 regional supplements. The theoretical organ "Communism and Class Warfare" appeared monthly in an edition of 10,000 (1975quarterly 15,000). It was sold in special reading circles and used as learning material. The manifesto and the statute of the KBW appeared until 1977 in a total circulation of 150,000 copies. Adding to that a not to be underestimated number of writings of the KBW (for example the book "As long as there is imperialism,there will be wars") and the "Classic" of Marxism-Leninism.
Every district had several operating cells, which additionaly distributed their own revolutionery newspaper publications (*5). The author was an editor of the "FZA newspaper", which was distributed free of charge monthly at workers. In addition came papers for the military,city-papers,youth-papers and innumerable writings of the co-organizations. Tons of paper was sold and produced at endless nights.
"Struggle for the streets"
The KBW had its roots in the struggles against the increases of the price of public transports in the area around Frankfurt in the early 70's.
The drastic increases did cause a major uproar among the local popualtion. The KBW collected tens of thousends of signatures. In every city district a "public transportation committee" was formed and everywhere well visited meetings took place (*6). On the day "X" at which the prices of the public transportations were increased, Frankfurt was filled with posters. Nothing moved anymore. The city was in a state of emergency. For an entire week chaos prevailed. Despite the demonstration bannings,large demos tokk place over and over again. The suburban traffic rested, the owners of department stores were furious at the constant CS-gas police used, and the police itsself did use ever increasing brutality. Even though for almost an entire week the entire suburban traffic in the bank metropolis rested. It was foremost the KBW who fought on the forefront without helmets and gas masks,which were not allowed back then. The KBW didnt use stones and molotow-cocktails either which was common practice among some "Spontis" who nevertheless were named in the same sentence as the KBW (the most popular Sponti group was one called "the cleaning squad" to which foreign minister Joschka Fischer belonged). Although the increase of the public transformation prices could not be stopped, the mayor of Frankfurt Arndt (Social Democrats ,SPD) was forced to resign.
Demonstrations,rallies and info stands were during that time a important part of the "struggle for the streets". The high-point was reched in the years 1976/1977. For struggle against the atomic power plant (KKW) Brokdorf the KBW mobilized in February of 1977 its nothern chapters. The right hand of the KBW and second man after Joscha Schmierer, Martin Fochler, gave out the slogan "storm the fortress". But even back then people around Jürgen Trittin (back then KB-north) prevented the storming of the building site. A revenge for the disgraceful defeat of Brockdorf came a little later in nothern-Germany in Grohnde,when the KBW instructed the attack on the nuclear power plant and nobody could stop the storm of nearly 15,000 violent aggressors, even though the police proceeded this time with extreme brutality.
Violence
On the 7.April 1977 when the car of Chief Federal Prosecutor Buback was shot at and he was lying dead on the street, the second man of the KBW came to a meeting and simply said,when he saw the first pictures: "Really killed? With MG's from the mortocycle? Sweet!" This describes clearly that there were large sympathies within the KBW for the terrorist attacks of the RAF (Red Army Fraction). However the policy of the KBW was to cause a peoples uprising - with the goal to overthrow the capitalist system. Individual terrorist actions, like those of the RAF, were useless in the long run.
On demos and rallies on the other hand the KWB was always ready to use violence against the police forces. Interesting is also the fact that the KWB got most of its votes and sympathizers where it was most violent. In Heidelberg the most brutal and violent battles in the history of the city lead to the entering of the city's council.The "Stern" noticed on 10 July 1975 in addition: "With wood clubs, small gasoline bombs, stones, bottles and steel-pipes Maoists of the German Federal republic raged against the resolution of the Heiderlberger city council to raise the price of transportation for 25% to 1,25 DM (*7).The battle of Heidelberg (200 severly wounded people) was for Maos revolutioneries only the prelude. 'We will continue the struggle on the streets against the ruthless exploitation of the bourguasie society' ,explained maoist city councilor Helga Rosenbaum,32,who entered the local city parlament with 6000 votes candidating for the KBW.Her cadre-chief, the 29 year old Martin Fochler, wants to expand the brutal acts of violence now in the cities of Frankfurt, Mannheim and Cologne,since there the prices for the public transportation are to be increased too.Fochler fanatically: 'We expect a hot sommer of political
vibration. Our Vietnam is the Federal Republic. Our action field are the enterprises,the schools and the streets."
"Struggle for the parliaments"
The KBW also took part in elections. The results were usually under 1 per cent. This didnt bother anybody, since the KBW was obligated to Lenins words, that civil parliaments were nothing else than a waste of time, that didnt deserve anything better than to be torn apart by the people. In the general elecion the KBW got only 0,1% of the votes. More important was the absolute numbers of this election, namely the 20,018 voters. They gave a relative good indication of how many paople of the time were actually approving for the violent overthrow of the system. Also important at this point that other, smaller revolutionery parties also got about 20,000 votes.
The KBW had its biggest election success in the communal elections of Baden-Würtemberg in May 1975, when Helga Rosenbaum was voted with approx. 6000 votes into the Heidelberg city council and used this platform as a political stage to call for the violent overthrow of the Federal Republic.
Finances
Contrary to most political parties, KBW had no major financial probems. An important part of the financing played the sales of the KVZ and further publications, with which a good amount of money was gathered. Substancial were however the contributions. There was no firm contribution order. In each cell it was specified, what the individual member had to pay. Contibutions of several hundred Marks (conditions 1977!) were no rarity. Members, that worked in an enterprise, mostly contributed one third of their income. Internally a 1000 DM limit was set. Everything a member earned beyond that, should be contributed. The author of this article earned about 1,300 DM during his membership as a skilled worker and gave 500 DM of it as a contribution. Adding to that the various donations that came in. Individual members brought in entire fortunes and inheritances. In the mid-70's the annual contibutions and donations amounted approx. 5 million DM and the income from the sales of the various publications another approx. 2 million DM.
In october of 1976 the members of the 3. delegetion conference were suprised, when they were told to agree to a request called "the confirmation and definition of necessary organizational measures". Behind the lapidary sounding formulation was the idea to buy a building in the middle of Frankfurts bankers quarter and to equip it with the most modern news transmission system. Within a month more than 1.5 million DM had to get collected. Members were requested to sell any of the "unnecessary" possessions they still had and which still connected them to the system. What appeared impossible, succeeded: The KBW's own operating company Kuhl KG bought the LIBRI-house in the Mainzer street 147 and converted it into a fortress with bullet-safe windows and solid steel doors. Altogether the KBW paid scarcely 3 million Mark. The purchase price itself amounted to 2.7 millions DM and was paid by cash. With the headline "In the middle of the heart of the financial bourgeoisie" the FAZ reported on this action on their front page.
The building was now used intensively. The author of this article studied there Marx's "Kapital" and Lenin's "What to do?". Futher acquisitions of real estates in West-Berlin, Bremen and Hamburg followed. To all this added the newest and most modern printing machines and other technology.
The liberation organization ZANU of Robert Mugabe was closely connected to the KBW and through donations was expanded with a Landrover and a small truck fleet. And the revolutionery indeed: besides cash we added a ultramodern and mobile field printing machine too. The overall estimation of the KBW income from 1976 to 1980 should be around 20 million DM.
And because of that it could still employ 67 permanent employees and a approx. 50 pieces strong Saab fleet by 1980 when
the organization had clearly passed its zenith.
Banning threat
After the almost civil-war like batlles around the nuclear plant in Grohnde, Ernst Albrecht (CDU),minister of Niedersachsen,
presentend to the press the "weapons of the chaotics" - steel pipes, helmets, flags and at last two cars with radio-equipment.
All this Alberecht charged to the account of the KBW and demanded a banning of the organization. The KBW was suprised,
when the CDU actually demanded a banning and along that line a banning of all maoist organizations. Activity accelarated.
Quickly it became obvious who in the Federal Republic had to go to the underground. The core of the preparetions was the
idea to move the KBW abroad. In the party-own publishing house of the KBÖ from Austria a outpost was created. Futher outposts were in Brussels, Paris, London, Rome, Aarhus, Stockholm and Peking. Even in New York a dependance should develop.
Partially,as in Brussels, the KBW resided in expensive quarters of the city.All outposts were equipped with the most modern
communication networks and infrastructure.
At the same time the KBW initiated a enormous propaganda wave ("Do away with the bannings"). A high point was reached with the demonstration on the 8th October of 1977. In Bonn, despite massive and brutal police forces, more than 20,000
activist of various communists groups and parties demonstrated against the plans of the CDU to demand a banning of the KBW
from the supreme court.In the middle of the "German autumn" the CDU wanted, as the "Frankfurter Neue Presse" wrote, to use
the terrorist acts of the RAF to ban every left-wing organization in Germany.
One almost likes to compare that time with today, althoug under different conditions. But it never came to the banning request before the supreme court. The Federal Republic used other means to destroy the KBW from within and was relative
successful by doing that. The KBW from that day on was only busy with the "struggle of two different directions within the
party" and completely lost any grip to reality.
The end of the KBW
At the early 80's the organizations was about to split. The political means used by the Federal Republic were showing the wanted results. The charismatic leaders of the KBW, Hans Gerhard Schmierer and Martin Fochler separeted. Fochler went and took not only 600 cadres with him but also a not irrelevant part of the infrastructure. The "Federation of West-German Communists" (BWK) he created, appointed itsself as the real forces standing behind the KBW manifesto of 1973. The BWK
however did not unfold any considerable activities. And neither did the KBW anymore. On a last delegetions meeting on the 6. February 1985 in Frankfurt the about 100 participants decided after a recommendation of the central committee the dissolution of the KBW as a political organization. After the dissolution of the KBW the real estates and printing presses got under the ownership of the Frankfurter Kühl GmbH & Co VerlagsKG to which also the sister enterprise Caro-Druck belonged which was making an annual income of 7 million DM. Owners of the two printing enterprises are the 50 members of a club called "Assoziation" whose primary goal was the "study of alternative life forms". Among the Assoziation founders were many former KBW members. The KBW possessed a fortune of approx. 9 millions DM at the time. The Commerzbank was the first bank reahing out to the KBW and offering about 10 million DM for the building in the Mainzer street Frankfurt. But the KBW was more interested in continued propaganda and studies than in fast money. So the credit institute proposed the Ökohaus, with an estimated value of 30 million DM, as an exchange. A central role in this trade played a man who today exercizes an important function in the planning staff of the minister of foreign affairs Joschka Fischer since 1999:
the same Joscha Schmierer (today 58) who now calls himself a "european expert in the foreign ministery". In the late 70's he proclaimed that "pushing wages down" and the "capitalist rationalization" were "exploiting the working class", than he financed the structure of the system-inherent Green Party since the "Assoziation" association was spending enormous financial means for the green-alternative movement. It no wonder that Schmierer today got a well endowed post in the State Department from the former member of the "clean squad" Joschka Fischer.
With the end of the KBW the final end of the 68ers movement occured. A new movement can only arise from the revolutionery
forces of the national resistance (*8), but who should learn from the success and the mistakes of other organizations even if they beleive to represent a totally different worldview.
(*1) Frank Kerkhoff is today a leading memeber of the NPD in Saxony-Anhalt.
(*2) Reactionery forces were rooted out and booted out of the KBW.
(*3) Frankfurt is the actual and also perceived center of capitalism in Germany. Its the metropolis of bankers, credit institutes and various private equities. Prior to the massive influx of poor "russian" Jews after 1991, Frankfurt was the city with the highest Jewish population in Germany after 1945. They came to Frankfurt after the war and made fortunes in the capitalist metropolis.
(*4) The problem of the communist organizations in the 70's is that they attracted a lot of middle-class youths but no workers.
Thats why many KWB members were "ordered" (most did go voluntarily) to the working class enterpises to agitate to the workers, even though many had a very high education not seldomly university-level. Using the popular slogan: "If the workers dont come to us, we will go to the workers".
(*5) Important since the KVZ and other general publications did concentrate on nation-wide issues. With local revolutionery papers the activists could also adress local issues concerning the local working class masses. A cell operating in a Volkswagen factory for example would not only try to sell the KVZ to the Volkswagen workers but would also distribute free of charge a paper concerning only contemporary and local issues of the workers of the factory.
(*6) It was the tactic of the KBW to rally the people on a local issue and cause and use the publics anger at the state for their own purpose. WN's in the USA could for example use the public's anger at the illegal immigration to advance their own cause thereby.
(*7) For the case of oversimplyfication lets assume that 2 German Marks (DM) = 1 Dollar.
(*8) "national resistance" is a code word for the neonazi movement in Germany.
This is an article by Frank Kerkhoff (*1) who himslef was a leading member of the KBW throughout the 70's. The 70's also called the "red decade" was the high point of communist organizations throughout Europe and especially Germany. Alongside the communist mass-movements and parties there were also smaller revolutionery communist organizations. They did not beleive in the change of the status quo through elections and had as their goal the mobilization of the masses for an violent uprising against the system. One of these smaller but highly effective revolutionery communist organizations was the KBW.
Enough said here is the translation of the german text http://www.die-kommenden.net/dk/zeitgeschichte/geschichte_des_kbw.htm . (*) comments are by me :
The story of the Communist Union of West-Germany (KBW)
It all started in the sommer of 1973.Representatives of six party-independet organizations,which all had set the overthrowing of the West-German system as their goal,met together. All were committed to the goal of a classless society of Marxist-Leninistic coinage. The main initiators were the "Communist Group/New Red Forum" of Mannheim/Heidelberg and the Communist Union of Bremen, as well as the Communist Union of Göttingen (KB Göttingen), the KB Osnabrück,the KB Wolfsburg and the "Union of Communist Workers" of Freiburg. Twenty further organizations were considered as sympathizers. At the 12th of June in the conference after the formation a declaration was published, out of which the biggest revolutionery organization of Germany after world war 2 should emerge:The Communist Union of West-Germany (KWB). For 10 years it operated with high level activism, rised rapidly, was threratend with a ban and finally disintegrated into nothingness again.
From the very start there were fierce controversies about which direction the struggle should take. The hardliners around the two charismatic KBW-leaders Hans-Gerhard "Joscha" Schmierer and Martin Fochler, accused their opponents of "reformism" and "revisionism" - a deviation from the main goal which was the smashing of the civil state apparatus. As a consequence the core members of the KB Bremen, which was nevertheless a initial founding member of the KBW, were excluded from the KBW. (*2)
The Manifesto
From the very beginning the KBW stood to the principles of Marxism-Leninism (ML) and to the ideas of Mao. It demanded the establishment of a proletarian dictatorship by smashing the civil state apparatus. The army would be replaced by a peoples army which would protect the land. The KBW supported the "three-world-theory" of the Communist Party (KP) of China. According to this theory the world was divided into the "first world",the two superpowers, their footmen like West-Germany (FDR) or East-Germany (GDR) were the "second-world"and then the "third-world". Above all was the struggle against the "first world", namely against the US- and Soviet- imperialism. Only when these imperalistic superpowers fall down, a final liberation of the peoples of the world would be possible. For this reason the KBW demanded a reunited socialist Germany, a democratic peace treaty for Germany and the dissolution of NATO and the Warsaw Pact.
Like all left-revolutionery organizations the KBW was strictly subjected to the proinciple of the "democratic centralism". In the statute the principle was explained in this way: "The case of each organ requires the confirmation by a higher organ (...) The minority is obligated to subordinate itself to the resolutions of the majority; the lower line organs are obligated to subordinate themselves to the resolution of the upper line organs."This principle by the way was the main reason for the banning of the KPD (Communist Party of Germany) in 1956 and it makes clear that the KBW wasnt interested with internal-party democracy. Of the "democratic-centralism" only the centralism remained. A month-long arbitral procedure, as is usual the case with the NPD for example, didnt exist in the KBW. The orders given from "above" were simply obeyed and executed. Because the KBW didnt see itsself as a political Party but as an organization which wanted to create a revolutionery movement.
Development of the organization
To be a member in the KBW was something else,than being a member in a civil party. The statute of the KBW prescribed a six months trial period for the purpose of the political probation, training and introduction to the work of the organization. During that time the candidate was in a basic unit and had the same obligations as all other members. For the trial period he was allowed only a advisory voice and wasnt allowed to lead any tasks or projects. The practical activism for candidates and members was "brutal".
For a KBW-activist a normal week looked as follows: Monday from 5.30-7.30 in the morning the selling of the weekly "Communist Peoples Newspaper" (KVZ) in front of a factory gate or at the railway station. Monday evening cell meeting (smallest organizational unit). Tuesday early again KVZ sales,as well as Wednesday. Wednesday evening a training course of an article from the theoretical organ "Communism and Class Warfare". Saturday various activism (mostly information stands in the city/town/village with newspaper sales), and the whole Sunday remained for the training of classical authors (the author of this article studied Hegels works "Anti-Dühring" and "Dialectic and Nature" etc.). On free afternoons leaflets were distributed and more extensive training courses took place (mostly more than three days), for example for the complete "Kapital" from Karl Marx for which one was allowed to travel to the central of the KBW which was in Frankfurt (*3). For the leading members various meetings within the week were added.
From the personal expericence of the author propably less than one third of the candidates beared up through this time.An avoiding,a non-appearence or other inactivity was not allowed. At the next cell meeting the deviationist was criticized of still having civil tendencies. There was only one way: Be active or get out of the way.
Despite the enormous pressure on activists and candidates the organization structure did rise rapidly: On 25 November 1973 the KBW consisted of 25 local groups and local structures numbering 868 members. On 25. March of 1974 the organization grew to 1208 members and was divided into 36 groups among 36 cities. At the end of 1974 the numbers rose to 1500 in 45 local groups and local structures. In approximately 60 further places there were groups of sympathizers. At the beginning of 1975 there already were 1700 members and in May of 1977 about 2600.
At the head of the KBW was a 13 strong central committee (ZK) which elected a 5 strong "constant committee" which was responsible for its tasks between the ZK-plenary meetings. Furthermore the ZK selected a secretery from its ranks as a "leader". During the entire period of the KBW it was Joscha Schmierer. The members of the "constant committee" and the ZK-secrtery were paid by the organization. The "central committee" was selected by the highest party organ, the delegate conference, every two years (initially annual).
In 1976 the KBW tightened its organization: In the place of the 100 local structures the KBW, after the approval of the 3. delegetion conference formed 40 district unions, which were formed into regional unions. In every district there were hundreds of small cells who "covered" a city,city quarter,hospital,factory etc. The 2600 members of 1977 were a statistic zenith. Adding to that about 2100 college students who were organized in the "Communist University Federation" (KSB), about 800 academics who were organized in the "Society for the support of peoples struggles" (GUV) and about 540 school students from the "Communist Youth Union" (KJB) and the (KOB). With the members of the training courses and the sympathizers and the candidates the KBW had a total of 7000 all ready cadres with a very high violence potential.
Initially there were many from the "'68 generation" in the ZK such as the secretery Hans-Gerhart »Joscha« Schmierer who once was leading the SDS in Heidelberg. This did change fast, since mostly younger people started joining the organization. The average age in 1975 amounted 23,9 years and did rise till the high point of the KWB in 1977 only to 24,8 years. Even at the end of the organization more than half of the members were younger than 26 and only one tenth was older than 33 years. While initially there were no women in the organization, this too changes likewise very fast. The KBW exercised a magic attraction, particularly on young women. By 1977 a third of all cell leaders were women, particularly in the districts were many female "bosses". One can take this term literally, since women were considered in the KBW as particurarly activist and were able to work under great pressure. They forced activism on members of the KBW still more mercilessly than many of their male comrades.
However, the social profile of the members remained constant. The large part of the members had a high-school degree or higher education. Many educated cadres went voluntarily into the factories, in order to agitate there politically. The author "was allowed to work in a factory" despite his high level university graduation in order to organize the structures of a cell in the enterprise (*4). Many more came who despite their high education level were voluntarily sent to the fatories. The number of workers in the KBW remained low over the years. The fluctuation within the KBW was large. According to estimations of a ZK-member during that scarely 10-year existance of the KBW nearly 20,000 participated in one way or another.
"Struggle for the minds"
A very important part of what we today call the "struggle for the minds" was the selling of the weekly KVZ. The KVZ was initially produced with a circulated edition of 50,000, but later on the number kind of stabilized at about 30,000 per week. Real sellings were about 25,000 per week. An enormous work load was necessary. Each cell got a sales figure which had to be reached. It was sold everywhere: to relatives, in the enterprises, at info stands, on demos and rallies and at public places. Helpful to it was that the KVZ appereared with 40 regional supplements. The theoretical organ "Communism and Class Warfare" appeared monthly in an edition of 10,000 (1975quarterly 15,000). It was sold in special reading circles and used as learning material. The manifesto and the statute of the KBW appeared until 1977 in a total circulation of 150,000 copies. Adding to that a not to be underestimated number of writings of the KBW (for example the book "As long as there is imperialism,there will be wars") and the "Classic" of Marxism-Leninism.
Every district had several operating cells, which additionaly distributed their own revolutionery newspaper publications (*5). The author was an editor of the "FZA newspaper", which was distributed free of charge monthly at workers. In addition came papers for the military,city-papers,youth-papers and innumerable writings of the co-organizations. Tons of paper was sold and produced at endless nights.
"Struggle for the streets"
The KBW had its roots in the struggles against the increases of the price of public transports in the area around Frankfurt in the early 70's.
The drastic increases did cause a major uproar among the local popualtion. The KBW collected tens of thousends of signatures. In every city district a "public transportation committee" was formed and everywhere well visited meetings took place (*6). On the day "X" at which the prices of the public transportations were increased, Frankfurt was filled with posters. Nothing moved anymore. The city was in a state of emergency. For an entire week chaos prevailed. Despite the demonstration bannings,large demos tokk place over and over again. The suburban traffic rested, the owners of department stores were furious at the constant CS-gas police used, and the police itsself did use ever increasing brutality. Even though for almost an entire week the entire suburban traffic in the bank metropolis rested. It was foremost the KBW who fought on the forefront without helmets and gas masks,which were not allowed back then. The KBW didnt use stones and molotow-cocktails either which was common practice among some "Spontis" who nevertheless were named in the same sentence as the KBW (the most popular Sponti group was one called "the cleaning squad" to which foreign minister Joschka Fischer belonged). Although the increase of the public transformation prices could not be stopped, the mayor of Frankfurt Arndt (Social Democrats ,SPD) was forced to resign.
Demonstrations,rallies and info stands were during that time a important part of the "struggle for the streets". The high-point was reched in the years 1976/1977. For struggle against the atomic power plant (KKW) Brokdorf the KBW mobilized in February of 1977 its nothern chapters. The right hand of the KBW and second man after Joscha Schmierer, Martin Fochler, gave out the slogan "storm the fortress". But even back then people around Jürgen Trittin (back then KB-north) prevented the storming of the building site. A revenge for the disgraceful defeat of Brockdorf came a little later in nothern-Germany in Grohnde,when the KBW instructed the attack on the nuclear power plant and nobody could stop the storm of nearly 15,000 violent aggressors, even though the police proceeded this time with extreme brutality.
Violence
On the 7.April 1977 when the car of Chief Federal Prosecutor Buback was shot at and he was lying dead on the street, the second man of the KBW came to a meeting and simply said,when he saw the first pictures: "Really killed? With MG's from the mortocycle? Sweet!" This describes clearly that there were large sympathies within the KBW for the terrorist attacks of the RAF (Red Army Fraction). However the policy of the KBW was to cause a peoples uprising - with the goal to overthrow the capitalist system. Individual terrorist actions, like those of the RAF, were useless in the long run.
On demos and rallies on the other hand the KWB was always ready to use violence against the police forces. Interesting is also the fact that the KWB got most of its votes and sympathizers where it was most violent. In Heidelberg the most brutal and violent battles in the history of the city lead to the entering of the city's council.The "Stern" noticed on 10 July 1975 in addition: "With wood clubs, small gasoline bombs, stones, bottles and steel-pipes Maoists of the German Federal republic raged against the resolution of the Heiderlberger city council to raise the price of transportation for 25% to 1,25 DM (*7).The battle of Heidelberg (200 severly wounded people) was for Maos revolutioneries only the prelude. 'We will continue the struggle on the streets against the ruthless exploitation of the bourguasie society' ,explained maoist city councilor Helga Rosenbaum,32,who entered the local city parlament with 6000 votes candidating for the KBW.Her cadre-chief, the 29 year old Martin Fochler, wants to expand the brutal acts of violence now in the cities of Frankfurt, Mannheim and Cologne,since there the prices for the public transportation are to be increased too.Fochler fanatically: 'We expect a hot sommer of political
vibration. Our Vietnam is the Federal Republic. Our action field are the enterprises,the schools and the streets."
"Struggle for the parliaments"
The KBW also took part in elections. The results were usually under 1 per cent. This didnt bother anybody, since the KBW was obligated to Lenins words, that civil parliaments were nothing else than a waste of time, that didnt deserve anything better than to be torn apart by the people. In the general elecion the KBW got only 0,1% of the votes. More important was the absolute numbers of this election, namely the 20,018 voters. They gave a relative good indication of how many paople of the time were actually approving for the violent overthrow of the system. Also important at this point that other, smaller revolutionery parties also got about 20,000 votes.
The KBW had its biggest election success in the communal elections of Baden-Würtemberg in May 1975, when Helga Rosenbaum was voted with approx. 6000 votes into the Heidelberg city council and used this platform as a political stage to call for the violent overthrow of the Federal Republic.
Finances
Contrary to most political parties, KBW had no major financial probems. An important part of the financing played the sales of the KVZ and further publications, with which a good amount of money was gathered. Substancial were however the contributions. There was no firm contribution order. In each cell it was specified, what the individual member had to pay. Contibutions of several hundred Marks (conditions 1977!) were no rarity. Members, that worked in an enterprise, mostly contributed one third of their income. Internally a 1000 DM limit was set. Everything a member earned beyond that, should be contributed. The author of this article earned about 1,300 DM during his membership as a skilled worker and gave 500 DM of it as a contribution. Adding to that the various donations that came in. Individual members brought in entire fortunes and inheritances. In the mid-70's the annual contibutions and donations amounted approx. 5 million DM and the income from the sales of the various publications another approx. 2 million DM.
In october of 1976 the members of the 3. delegetion conference were suprised, when they were told to agree to a request called "the confirmation and definition of necessary organizational measures". Behind the lapidary sounding formulation was the idea to buy a building in the middle of Frankfurts bankers quarter and to equip it with the most modern news transmission system. Within a month more than 1.5 million DM had to get collected. Members were requested to sell any of the "unnecessary" possessions they still had and which still connected them to the system. What appeared impossible, succeeded: The KBW's own operating company Kuhl KG bought the LIBRI-house in the Mainzer street 147 and converted it into a fortress with bullet-safe windows and solid steel doors. Altogether the KBW paid scarcely 3 million Mark. The purchase price itself amounted to 2.7 millions DM and was paid by cash. With the headline "In the middle of the heart of the financial bourgeoisie" the FAZ reported on this action on their front page.
The building was now used intensively. The author of this article studied there Marx's "Kapital" and Lenin's "What to do?". Futher acquisitions of real estates in West-Berlin, Bremen and Hamburg followed. To all this added the newest and most modern printing machines and other technology.
The liberation organization ZANU of Robert Mugabe was closely connected to the KBW and through donations was expanded with a Landrover and a small truck fleet. And the revolutionery indeed: besides cash we added a ultramodern and mobile field printing machine too. The overall estimation of the KBW income from 1976 to 1980 should be around 20 million DM.
And because of that it could still employ 67 permanent employees and a approx. 50 pieces strong Saab fleet by 1980 when
the organization had clearly passed its zenith.
Banning threat
After the almost civil-war like batlles around the nuclear plant in Grohnde, Ernst Albrecht (CDU),minister of Niedersachsen,
presentend to the press the "weapons of the chaotics" - steel pipes, helmets, flags and at last two cars with radio-equipment.
All this Alberecht charged to the account of the KBW and demanded a banning of the organization. The KBW was suprised,
when the CDU actually demanded a banning and along that line a banning of all maoist organizations. Activity accelarated.
Quickly it became obvious who in the Federal Republic had to go to the underground. The core of the preparetions was the
idea to move the KBW abroad. In the party-own publishing house of the KBÖ from Austria a outpost was created. Futher outposts were in Brussels, Paris, London, Rome, Aarhus, Stockholm and Peking. Even in New York a dependance should develop.
Partially,as in Brussels, the KBW resided in expensive quarters of the city.All outposts were equipped with the most modern
communication networks and infrastructure.
At the same time the KBW initiated a enormous propaganda wave ("Do away with the bannings"). A high point was reached with the demonstration on the 8th October of 1977. In Bonn, despite massive and brutal police forces, more than 20,000
activist of various communists groups and parties demonstrated against the plans of the CDU to demand a banning of the KBW
from the supreme court.In the middle of the "German autumn" the CDU wanted, as the "Frankfurter Neue Presse" wrote, to use
the terrorist acts of the RAF to ban every left-wing organization in Germany.
One almost likes to compare that time with today, althoug under different conditions. But it never came to the banning request before the supreme court. The Federal Republic used other means to destroy the KBW from within and was relative
successful by doing that. The KBW from that day on was only busy with the "struggle of two different directions within the
party" and completely lost any grip to reality.
The end of the KBW
At the early 80's the organizations was about to split. The political means used by the Federal Republic were showing the wanted results. The charismatic leaders of the KBW, Hans Gerhard Schmierer and Martin Fochler separeted. Fochler went and took not only 600 cadres with him but also a not irrelevant part of the infrastructure. The "Federation of West-German Communists" (BWK) he created, appointed itsself as the real forces standing behind the KBW manifesto of 1973. The BWK
however did not unfold any considerable activities. And neither did the KBW anymore. On a last delegetions meeting on the 6. February 1985 in Frankfurt the about 100 participants decided after a recommendation of the central committee the dissolution of the KBW as a political organization. After the dissolution of the KBW the real estates and printing presses got under the ownership of the Frankfurter Kühl GmbH & Co VerlagsKG to which also the sister enterprise Caro-Druck belonged which was making an annual income of 7 million DM. Owners of the two printing enterprises are the 50 members of a club called "Assoziation" whose primary goal was the "study of alternative life forms". Among the Assoziation founders were many former KBW members. The KBW possessed a fortune of approx. 9 millions DM at the time. The Commerzbank was the first bank reahing out to the KBW and offering about 10 million DM for the building in the Mainzer street Frankfurt. But the KBW was more interested in continued propaganda and studies than in fast money. So the credit institute proposed the Ökohaus, with an estimated value of 30 million DM, as an exchange. A central role in this trade played a man who today exercizes an important function in the planning staff of the minister of foreign affairs Joschka Fischer since 1999:
the same Joscha Schmierer (today 58) who now calls himself a "european expert in the foreign ministery". In the late 70's he proclaimed that "pushing wages down" and the "capitalist rationalization" were "exploiting the working class", than he financed the structure of the system-inherent Green Party since the "Assoziation" association was spending enormous financial means for the green-alternative movement. It no wonder that Schmierer today got a well endowed post in the State Department from the former member of the "clean squad" Joschka Fischer.
With the end of the KBW the final end of the 68ers movement occured. A new movement can only arise from the revolutionery
forces of the national resistance (*8), but who should learn from the success and the mistakes of other organizations even if they beleive to represent a totally different worldview.
(*1) Frank Kerkhoff is today a leading memeber of the NPD in Saxony-Anhalt.
(*2) Reactionery forces were rooted out and booted out of the KBW.
(*3) Frankfurt is the actual and also perceived center of capitalism in Germany. Its the metropolis of bankers, credit institutes and various private equities. Prior to the massive influx of poor "russian" Jews after 1991, Frankfurt was the city with the highest Jewish population in Germany after 1945. They came to Frankfurt after the war and made fortunes in the capitalist metropolis.
(*4) The problem of the communist organizations in the 70's is that they attracted a lot of middle-class youths but no workers.
Thats why many KWB members were "ordered" (most did go voluntarily) to the working class enterpises to agitate to the workers, even though many had a very high education not seldomly university-level. Using the popular slogan: "If the workers dont come to us, we will go to the workers".
(*5) Important since the KVZ and other general publications did concentrate on nation-wide issues. With local revolutionery papers the activists could also adress local issues concerning the local working class masses. A cell operating in a Volkswagen factory for example would not only try to sell the KVZ to the Volkswagen workers but would also distribute free of charge a paper concerning only contemporary and local issues of the workers of the factory.
(*6) It was the tactic of the KBW to rally the people on a local issue and cause and use the publics anger at the state for their own purpose. WN's in the USA could for example use the public's anger at the illegal immigration to advance their own cause thereby.
(*7) For the case of oversimplyfication lets assume that 2 German Marks (DM) = 1 Dollar.
(*8) "national resistance" is a code word for the neonazi movement in Germany.