Eric Chaim Kline, Bookseller

Eric Chaim Kline, Bookseller

Über Hildburghausen ins dritte Reich! Nationalsozialismus und Arbeiterklasse (From Hildburghausen to the Third Reich! National socialism and the working class)

Berlin: AHDE-Verlag, 1981. Second edition. Softcover. Large octavo. 30, [2]pp. Original illustrated wrappers. Originally published in 1932 by anarcho-syndicalist Gerhard Wartenberg* under the pseudonym of HW Gerhard, this fierce anti-Nazi pamphlet describes the true nature of Nazism and castigates the Communists and the Social Democrats for enabling the rise of the Nazis. The answer was working class unity from the grassroots, he posited: "Us anarcho-syndicalists do not want any reformist politics of toleration, but no adventurist RGO**-tactics either. We want unity amongst workers from below, in struggle, in the workplaces, in the employment offices. We want well prepared, concentric led struggles, that are still possible despite crisis and unemployment; struggles that the workers want and lead themselves. But for this, strong, revolutionary, independent unions are necessary that only see the interests of the workers and don’t dance to the tunes of some Party bigwigs in the Reichstag or Moscow. These fighting unions are the goal of anarcho-syndicalism […] (page 27). Wrappers slightly age-toned along edges. Text in German. Wrappers in overall good+, interior in very good condition. g+ to vg. Item #37989

* Gerhard Wartenberg (1904-1942) was born into a Social-Democratic family. Although his parents were not wealthy they helped him get to Leipzig University where he studied chemistry, eventually getting a doctorate in 1928. He joined the Anarcho-Syndicalist Youth (SAJD) at the age of eighteen. From 1926 he helped edit "Der Bakunist" (The Bakuninist) in Leipzig as well as contributing to Erich Muehsam’s magazine "Fanal." In 1927 he joined the Freie Arbeiter Union Deutschlands; FAUD (Free Workers' Union of Germany), an anarcho-syndicalist trade union in Germany which was involved in the revolution in Germany from 1918-1923, and continued to be involved in the German labor movement after the FAUD began to decline in 1923. Wartenberg's first job was as a chemist at the Bergmann- Rosenthal cable works in Berlin but lost the job after disagreements with his managers. He then worked for a short time with the French firm Prophobia. He then worked at a factory manufacturing film in Moscow. This fixed term job of three years ended early in summer 1930 when Moscow withdrew the concession. In Berlin the out of work Wartenberg engaged in intense political and journalistic activity. The same year he married Kate Pietzuch whom he had first met at an Easter 1928 meeting of the International Workers Association (IWA) in Leipzig. Their daughter Ilse was born the following year. The pair had an interesting cultural life in Berlin and became good friends with Milly and Rudolf Rocker, visiting their home on many occasions. Wartenberg himself went on many speaking tours, many organized through the Corporation of Libertarian Booklovers. Often writing under the pen names of HW Gerhard and G. Berg he regularly contributed to the FAUD paper "Der Syndikalist" as well as issuing a series of small pamphlets. His writings emphasized the need for an autonomous workers’ movement and he was an advocate of an organization that abolished the differences between economic and political organization. He was particularly hated by the Nazis for his pamphlet “Über Hildburghausen ins dritte Reich! Nationalsozialismus und Arbeiterklasse" under the name H. W. Gerhard. Wartenberg was editing Der Syndikalist from mid-1932, as well as from 1933 the newssheet Arbeiterecho and the theoretical magazine of the FAUD, Die Internationale. The Berlin FAUD responded slowly, unlike in other cities, to the Nazi seizure of power. Wartenberg was slow in finding a hiding place for the book stocks of the Libertarian Booklovers. After a Gestapo search of the Berlin FAUD HQ, Wartenberg set up in other rooms, disguised as an an import-export company, from where he communicated with the FAUD nationally, sending out 100-150 letters a day reporting to FAUD locals on the situation in Berlin. In late April-early May he and Eduard Kopka went to Erfurt and arranged for direction of the underground FAUD organization to Emil Zehner. This task then passed to Ferdinand Gotze and then Richard Thiede. In the meantime Wartenberg was sentenced in absentia to 2 months imprisonment for incitement to disobedience and transgression of the press law on 20th May 1933 This was as a result of articles in the Arbeiterecho calling for a general strike and all forms of direct action including sabotage, boycott and passive resistance. The paper was banned. Wartenberg took refuge in Holland in April 1933 . He then moved to Leipzig where he worked with the family business, maintaining contact with FAUD militants and writing for the underground paper "Der Socialistische Revolution." It was not until early 1935 that Wartenberg was located by the police. He was arrested on 31st January. However the arrest warrant had expired and Wartenberg was released. Following the major repression of the German anarchist movement in 1937 Wartenberg was arrested on 7th May. On 6th April 1938 he was sentenced to five years' imprisonment and deprivation of civil rights for high treason and he was also deprived of his doctorate. With the completion of his sentence Wartenberg was then promptly arrested by the Gestapo and in July 1942 sent to Sachsenhausen concentration camp. On Christmas Eve 1942 Kate Wartenberg was summoned by the Gestapo. She was informed that on 22 December her husband had died of double pneumonia and she was given his ashes.

** A defensive Russian fragmentation hand grenade.

Price: $65.00

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