Original KPD 1932 Elections Propaganda – Ernst Thälmann – Red United Front – 4 Pages – Very Rare

Description

German communist propaganda leaflet/newspaper from the early 1930s (Weimar Republic period, pre-Nazi takeover).

It appears to have been printed by or for the KPD (Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands – Communist Party of Germany), and it is aimed at mobilizing workers against the rise of fascism (Hitler, Hindenburg, etc.) and against imperialist war preparations.

Page 1  – Large headline: “Krieg” (War).

References to 26 February edition of “BZ am Mittag”, describing Japanese militarism in China and imperialist wars.

Sections:

“Der Krieg ist da!” (The war is here!)

“Jetzt höchster Alarm” (Now highest alert) – warning workers about war danger.

“Die Sowjetunion ist die einzige Macht, die aktiv für den Frieden eintritt” (The Soviet Union is the only power that actively stands for peace).

A photograph of a man (likely a Soviet or German communist leader).

Page 2

Headline: “In der roten Einheitsfront” (In the Red United Front).

Big slogan: “Die Wahl von Ernst Thälmann ist das Millionenbekenntnis der roten Einheitsfront” (The election of Ernst Thälmann is the declaration of millions for the Red United Front).

Thälmann was the leader of the KPD and ran against Hitler and Hindenburg.

Calls for unity of workers (Communists, Social Democrats, Christian workers, etc.) against Hitler, Duesterberg, Hindenburg, Groener, Brüning, Severing (political opponents).

Bottom has:

Membership application form for the Communist Party.

Subscription form for the party newspaper “Tribüne”.

Portrait of Ernst Thälmann with a cap.

Page 3

Denounces the “Hitler–Duesterberg–Hindenburg front.”

Calls to action:

“Proletarier, Augen auf!” (Proletarians, open your eyes!)

“Die Kommunistische Partei ruft” (The Communist Party calls).

Cartoon caricatures of Hitler, Hindenburg, and another conservative politician (likely Groener).

Slogan: “Noch ist es Zeit, den Kriegstreibern in den Arm zu fallen!” (There is still time to stop the warmongers!).

Page 4

Headline: “Sturm im Land” (Storm in the country).

Strong calls for workers’ unity against imperialist war and for defense of the Soviet Union.

Specific calls to:

Metalworkers, chemical workers, railway workers, seamen, dock workers, transport workers, chauffeurs.

Cartoon of capitalist/bourgeois men sitting at a table drinking and eating while workers suffer.

Another drawing shows dockworkers handling heavy machinery and war materials (criticizing war profiteering).

Final slogans:

“Frieden und Freiheit, Brot und Arbeit” (Peace and Freedom, Bread and Work).

Demands for fighting capitalism, militarism, and for solidarity with the Soviet Union and revolutionary workers in China.

Final Comments

Communist propaganda from the KPD, around the 1932 German elections, when Ernst Thälmann ran for president against Hitler and Hindenburg.

It appeals to workers to unite under the Communist Party to fight against war, militarism, and capitalism.

It glorifies the Soviet Union as the only force for peace.

It denounces Hitler, Hindenburg, and other right-wing/centrist leaders as “warmongers” serving big capital.