Roter Frontkämpferbund

[Langstrom]

Hello, I just have a few questions about the Rotfrontkämpferbund:

1) Was it banned in 1929? I get conflicting reports about this. Some say it was banned after the May Day incident of 1929, and some say it was banned in 1932 along with the SA for a brief time period. Yet other sources say it existed until the Nazis banned it in 1933.

2) If it was banned in 1929, then how did the KPD fight the SA in the streets during the last years of the Weimar Republic?

3) Was there a uniform/rank structure to the organization?

Thanks for any info.

[Maxschnauzer]

I'm not an expert in this but according to the book Weimar Radicals: Nazis and Communists between Authenticity and Performance by Timothy S. Brown the RFB was abolished in May 1929 and at least 50% of its members were retained by the KPD while the remainder tried to reorganize in an effort to bring the organization under closer control of the party, using the KgdF as a front group,which apparently wasn't all that successful. Excerpts from this book can be found here: http://books.google.com.ph/books?id=Vh6 ... nd&f=false

[Langstrom]

Thanks Max!

[Marcus]

The book "Roter Frontkämpferbund 1924-1929" published by Armeemuseum der DDR has lots of interesting photos, including sections with photos on uniforms, buckles, propaganda, flags etc.

Some photos from the book can be found at http://www.flagsforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=61

/Marcus

[Langstrom]

Thanks Marcus.

So, would it be correct to say that the RFB survived after 1929 unofficially? It seems the KgdF (Kampfbund gegen den Faschismus) was formed in October 1930 to replace the RFB. Or did the RFB continue underground between their ban in 1929 to 1930?

Surely, the KPD had fighters to combat the SA during the 1930 Reichstag election season, right?

[Maxschnauzer]

Zellner,
I just came across a cover of the magazine Der Rote Stern, which I believe was a monthly supplement to Die Rote Fahne, the KPD newspaper dated "Juli 1929". They appear to be protesting the outlawing of the RFB and RJ.

https://derhonigmannsagt.wordpress.com/2011/04/08/

rotfront.jpg (62.16 KiB) Viewed 1227 times

[Eeafanas]

In the years of the German Democratic Republic, the official state historiography reflected the SED's vision of class struggle, highlighting KPD's role in the history of the country in the XX century - significant efforts were made by responsible cultural and governmental authorities to establish a wide net of district history museums, the exhibitions of which devoted notable attention to documenting and making known the local workers' movement history. With dozens of district history museums closing permanently due to lack of financing after the GDR ceased to exist, an immeasurable amount of original documents and objects relating to the Communist Party of Germany have been transferred to larger collections or were auctioned off, beyond the possibility of tracing their current location.

One noteworthy exception to this heartbreaking pattern is the District History Museum Osterburg, where an original set of Red Frontfighters' League uniform consisting of a tunic with an armband (1), as well as of a cap with a red cloth cockade (2, 3) remains preserved in the museum's collection, although out of sight of the general public.

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[Eeafanas]

One of the few exhibitions where an RFB uniform can be seen is the Ernst Thälmann Memorial Ziegenhals (Ernst-Thälmann-Gedenkstätte Ziegenhals) in Berlin-Neukölln. The uniform preserved in the Memorial's collection (1), consisting of a cap (2, 3), tunic (4-6), breeches and a pair of leather gaiters (7) is a reproduction manufactured in the German Democratic Republic, while the belt (8) and the belt buckle (9) are originals. In the absence of an original membership badge of the Red Front (10.3 - 1924 pattern, 10.4 - 1926 pattern), the cap is fitted with a replica badge (10.2) that copies the pattern of the belt buckle emblem (10.1).

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[Eeafanas]

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[Eeafanas]

Belove is presented a photographic portrait of the KPD chairman Ernst Thälmann (1) taken for the April 1925 presidential elections, as published in the 31 March issue of the Soviet illustrated magazine „Spotlight“ („Прожектор“). The portrait was widely used in KPD's agitational materials produced for the election campaign, often appearing in artistic interpretations (2, 3). The caption in „Spotlight“ highlights that Thälmann, although currently devoting all of his time to political activity, is a transport worker, just as do the posters of the Communist Party of Germany: this detail was a focal point in the entire propaganda campaign - as opposed to the six presidents, ministers and generals, Thälmann was the only candidate whose Proletarian background demonstrated his vivid understanding of the problems faced by the German working class.

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[Eeafanas]

Belove are presented the photographs of the KPD Chairman Ernst Thälmann (1) and member of the KPD's Central Committee Wilhelm Peick (2) during the opening of the Revolution Monument at the Friedrichsfelde cemetery on 13 June 1926. As the two photographs show, delegations of the Red Frontfighters' League and the Red Aid of Germany attended the ceremony.

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[Eeafanas]

Belove is presented a rare example of an RFB belt buckle (1, 2) from the private collection of our good friend „Red Frontfighter“ („Красный Фронтовик“ - https://t.me/rotfront_1917_1945), which was discovered in the Russian village of Putilovo in 2023. Interestingly, this buckle does not feature the regular emblem of the Red Front consisting of a roundel with a clenched fist in its centre - examples of such an emblem, as well as of a complete buckle discovered in the Kaliningrad Oblast in 2020 and now belonging to the same collection are presented in the photographs (7 - 10). Instead, it is fitted with a badge of the Middle-German Red Gathering of the Red Frontfighters' League that took place in Leipzig on 18-19 August 1928 (6), likely indicating the approximate time when the buckle's original owner joined the organisation: with its original safety pin removed, the badge was soldered onto the buckle (3 - 5).

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[Eeafanas]

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[Eeafanas]

On 1 August 1924, the 10th anniversary since the beginning of the First World War, the first International Anti-War Day, also known as the International Red Day, was organised by the Communist Party of Germany. Rapidly adopted by other European Communist Parties, it was held annually, serving as an occasion for large demonstrations against a new imperialist war and for the defence of the USSR.
Below is presented the front cover of the №29 1929 issue of the Soviet illustrated magazine „The Spark“ („Огонёк“) - its original caption reads: „On 1 August, the International Red Day, the world's proletariat will hold an inspection of its forces. The German Red Frontfighters, the Soviet Red Army soldiers, and the Chinese rebels from the „Red Spears“ squads will stand in defence of the socialist fatherland.“

[Eeafanas]

Below is presented the badge issued to the participants of the 15-16 September 1928 Middle-Rhine Regional Gathering of the Red Frontfighters' League in Cologne (1). The Gathering was bounded to the unveiling of the Monument to the sailors of the Imperial Navy Max Reichpietsch and Albin Köbis (3), who were sentenced to death and executed on 5 September 1917 for organising the sailors' mutiny on the battleships „Frederick the Great“ and „Prince Regent Luitpold“, respectively. The Monument's inauguration (2) took place on the second day of the Gathering and attracted 160 flag delegations from the Rhine, Ruhr, Saar and Upper Bavaria, with a total count of participants surpassing the mark of 2.000 people.

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