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I S K (Militant Socialist International) |
9, Alvanley Gardens, | |
E U R O P E s p e a k s |
[Heft 30,] | |
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The C.G.T. honours the miners in a special message.
The following is a special message issued by the C.G.T. (French T.U.C.) in support of the big miners' strikes in the departement of the Pas-de-Calais.
"The Underground Executive Committee of the C.G.T. send their fraternal greetings to the miners of the Pas-de-Calais on the occasion of the struggle carried on by 75,000 miners for the fulfilment of their demands.
The Federal Committee of the C.G.T. think that if wage increases are granted and the food supply improved to some extent, this will be in the first instance due to the outspoken demands of the underground committee of the Federation of Miners who whilst dissociating themselves from men like Bertron[1], Bard[2], Priem[3], Kléber-Legay[4], have at the same time been able to discover methods of achieving these demands.
The Confederal Committee cannot praise too highly the courage and determination of the 75,000 miners of the Pas-de-Calais. They have used the strike weapon to express their fighting spirit and their attachment to working class trade unionism which favours practical achievements and concrete improvements in the living and working conditions of the wage-earners.
In spite of the repression and the arrests carried out by the Nazis with the help of Vichy, the miners have shown that if the working class is united and has confidence in itself it can always find a way to achieve its demands by acting at the right moment.
The miners will continue their activity in close cooperation with the whole of the French working class. Hostages have been taken and men have been deported. By participating in the vast assembly of the forces of resistance and of French liberation, by fighting side by side in the daily struggle against the invader, by intensifying their efforts and pressure of all kinds to secure the release of the arrested miners, the miners of the Pas-de-Calais will hasten the hour of deliverance for those of them who are victims of repression.
The Confederal Committee calls on the workers to declare their intention of continuing these demonstrations until their demands are granted.
The Confederal Committee by acclaiming the magnificent and heroic action of the miners in a special message wishes to draw the attention of all the working men and women of France to the necessity of following in the footsteps of the miners in the
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ceaseless struggle they are carrying on to increase their wages, to improve their living conditions and to sabotage the deportation of French workers to Germany, and prevent their enslavement by Nazi Germany and their Vichyite accomplices.
The Confederal Committee appeals to all trade union organisations to take the lead in this action of solidarity.
The Committee of the C.G.T."
The following is a report from the underground trade union paper "La Resistance Ouvrière" about the achievements of the underground work of the C.G.T.
"The 11th of November was a Day of Action.
Owing to a technical hitch which delayed the publication of the present number of La Résistance Ouvrière, we can speak about the achievements of the 11th of November 1942 in the light of the most recent information.
Once again the working class occupied the place of honour. In response to the appeal of the Executive Committee of the C.G.T. and the Council of Résistance, workers by concrete actions all over the country made their attitude quite clear to the Vichyites.
At the time of writing this report we can give the first review of the demonstration which produced very great effect.
GRENOBLE: More than 25,000 people demonstrated whilst 80% of the workers, the foremen and even some of the employers stopped work from 11 to 12 o'clock.
MARSEILLES: The order to go on strike was carried out. Numerous resolutions were passed calling for the liberation of France.
CLERMONT-FERRAND: In the printing trade the group of workers who set the `Moniteur'[5], Lavals newspaper, stopped work for a quarter of an hour, in the workshops of X a strike took place from 11 o'clock to 11.50 (the time of departure).
LYONS: In all the industries, particularly in the engineering, textile, and chemical industries, the instructions were either entirely or partially followed.
In the mining districts of the Southern and Northern zones the miners played a large part in the success of the demonstrations.
PARIS: Many demonstrations took place. The war memorials in the suburban districts were decked with Liberation wreaths. At the Renault factory, 16,000 workers went on strike for an hour. There was complete cessation of work for an hour at Rateau, at Brandt[6], at Morane-Saunier[7], etc. The railwaymen at the Gare du Nord, 3,000 strong, decorated the war memorials. At Villeneuve-Saint-Georges, there were important demonstrations.
TOULOUSE: At the S.N.C.A.S.E.[8], at the cartridge factory, there was 100% stoppage of work. The population demonstrated throughout the day in spite of the state of siege. There was a partial strike in the public services.
LIMOGES: important demonstrations.
First results, primarily a success for the C.G.T.
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Eye-Witness report of events in Grenoble
One of the severest of the open clashes which have occurred between the French civilian population and the German army of occupation was in Grenoble in November 1943; we therefore asked one of our friends living in that town to send us an eye-witness report. This report not only contains many details hitherto unknown but also gives valuable general indications of the conditions in France and in other occupied countries. Our friend wrote:
"In Grenoble soldiers from all parts of Europe were stationed: men from Hamburg, Berlin, East Germany, Vienna, Linz, Poland, Slovenia, Ukraine. There were many other people whom I could not identify by their language. Of course, they all wore German uniforms. Many of them were very young, almost children, only 18 or 20 years old. The young soldiers were just full of fear. The older ones were worried and apprehensive about the future. I could judge that very well, because I had a friend who lived in the barracks whom I often visited.
At night we sometimes heard shooting without being able to find out the cause. In the barracks the soldiers were terrified of the so-called terrorists; that is what they called the young Frenchmen who have evaded deportation or who have fled tothe mountains. In the dark the young German guards often mistook a tree for a terrorist and shot at it. We would hear the next morning how harshly they were told off by their superiors for their nervousness.
But, of course, real activity against the German army of occupation was going on. But so far this activity was not directed against any large concentration of troops, e.g. soldiers in barracks; it consisted of sabotage of the transport system, raids on power stations and factories and assaults on collaborationists. I shall report later on about one of these raids. Nearly every night we heard bomb explosions.
The nervousness of the German soldiers was greatly intensified by an assault organised by the French resistance movement in the vicinity of a cinema for German soldiers. The German occupation authorities issued a curfew after 7 p.m. affecting the streets in the vicinity of the cinema; without informing the public either through the newspapers or through public notices. I myself was at first completely ignorant of this curfew. What happened? A civil engineer, Mr. A., visited a friend of his, a dentist. Shortly after 7 p.m. he wanted to go home; as he stepped out in the street together with the dentist the German guard who was standing in front of the door immediately shot him dead. The dentist jumped back; only then he remembered vaguely some rumours about a curfew. Not until two days after this incident was the curfew publicly declared.
A large crowd of people attended the funeral of the shot engineer. For the first time I saw open demonstrations against German troops: hissing and bawling and loud shouts of `murderers'. German officers who obviously had not heard of the incident happened to pass in a car. They were baffled, grew pale and gripped their revolvers. Soon afterwards the Germans fetched machine guns and roped off the hotels near the Place Grenette. No further incidents occurred.
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On November 11th great demonstrations took place at the Monument des Morts (Cenotaph) near the Porte de France. Most of the factories and shops were closed. Some large shops which had opened in the morning closed down round about 10 a.m. The `Garde Mobile' and the French police did not interfere with the people demonstrating. Thereupon German mounted troops appeared on the scene. The police warned the people, but their only answer was `on les aura, quand-même!'. The German troops encircled about 1,500 people, children and casual passers-by amongst them, and drove them to the Place d'Exposition. There they had to stand in the cold until 5 o'clock in the afternoon without any food. The chief of the police was informed by the occupation authorities that the German soldiers would shoot without previous warning at any gathering of more than 10 people. This order was broadcast through microphones in the streets. Women and children and all persons under 16 and over 60 were sent home, the rest, about 400 persons, were led away under machine gun escort.
As a reply the German artillery depôt was blown up during the night of Saturday to Sunday at 12.50. I came home at 11.30 - everything was so peaceful that the German guard did not even ask me for my identity card. After the enormous explosion which occurred at 12.50 explosions continued until 6 o'clock in the morning. It sounded like strong artillery or infantry fire. There were crowds of people in the streets - they came down partly out of curiosity, partly out of fear, some of them came to close their shutters. The soldiers had certainly orders to open fire as soon as new demonstrations were attempted. They were obviously very nervous. For that reason they often fired shots at random and often hit absolutely harmless people.
As far as possible the newspapers and the authorities tried to hush up the explosion of the artillery depôt. The following Monday I went again to the Kommandantur (Occupation Army H.Q.) Nobody mentioned the events of the week-end, but there was a tense atmosphere all round. The commandant, an officer from Hamburg with usually pleasant manners, did not stop shouting. He had already turned up on duty at 8.30 in the morning, which he had never done before. `What a mess, what a rotten state of affairs. You have to be on duty at 8 o'clock in the morning, you too, Lieutenant X', he bawled at one of his officers. And he went on: `No excuses; I hear nothing but excuses.' Everybody was standing about pale and helpless. The commandant continued: `What a mess, they are children, not soldiers.'
The German officers and soldiers carried out their duties in a very casual way, even after the successful bomb assault no German posts were sent on duty, only French police were to be seen. Apart from a captain who gave me the impression of a man with thoughts of his own I did not find anybody with whom even only a serious conversation would be, in my opinion, of any use. They are either silly boys or petty bourgeois without any serious interests.
One instance which perhaps might soon become typical: A soldier from Vienna went on leave. He told us Frenchmen quite openly that he had no intention of returning to his regiment."
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Plans for Post-War Reconstruction
The French Socialists have for some time now been concerning themselves with the problems of post-war reconstruction besides concentrating on the war effort. In the November issue of their underground journal "Populaire" the following article appeared.
"We are on the eve of liberation and victory. But there will be two defeats: of Germany and of French `Big Business' which has utterly compromised itself in the double crime of capitulation and collaboration. The first defeat will give us cause for rejoicing; the second will confront Socialism with the most terrible of responsibilities: the task of reconstructing the world. And let us be clear about this. The first steps which are taken will almost certainly have a decisive influence on the future development of our economic life. If we are equal to our task, the way to Socialism will lie open, but if we fall, short we may have to endure the revenge of the Capitalist class, temporary as this phase of reaction might be, and it would be followed by a desperate revolt of the disillusioned masses and there would be a grave danger of this ending in chaos and the destruction of civilisation.
This then is the problem we must face, not to-morrow, but at once. Socialism will not only have a political battle to fight, but also a great struggle in the economic and technical spheres. Are we in the workers' movements ready to tackle our tasks? Have we the necessary weapons?
It is to prepare for this struggle that the Socialist Study Committee (Comité Socialiste d'Etudes) has been set up under the auspices of the Executive Committee of the Socialist Party. The task of the new committee is to seek and suggest solutions for all the political, economic and social problems which will confront us to-morrow, leaving on one side for the moment the programmes and general doctrine of the party. An immense task, which they realise they cannot tackle as adequately as they would like owing to the force of circumstances.
The Committee also appeal to everybody for cooperation. And we can not have too many helpers because in every sphere of national activity there will be a need for reconstruction by clear-sighted and purposeful workers. We must have plans and people who can carry them out. This need has been apparent from the very beginning of the Socialist movement. As many as sixty years ago in the programme of the French Labour Party (Parti Ouvrier Français), Jules Guesde[9] and Paul Lafargue[10] wrote: `The most difficult task in a revolutionary period is not to seize power but to keep it ... One can only keep power if there are men in the industrial centres who know what is to be done and do it.'
What was true a half a century ago is even more true to-day owing to the ever growing complexity of our society.
Our friends should consider very carefully how they can increase their efficiency. From the most important structural problems to the minutes details nothing must be overlooked.
And the field is so vast that a simple enumeration of the problems which might arise would be beyond the scope of this journal.
There is no sphere in which we cannot and should not work out a Socialist Plan: this is true of Agriculture, Public Health, Education, Justice, Commerce, Public Works, Town Planning, Finance as well as of the serious problems involved in nationalisation, the
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establishment of a National Economic Council and the working out of a Social Plan designed to secure an unconditional minimum income for all workers and an adequate pension for all old people.
Everyone should make an effort in his own sphere and appeal to all men of ability and technical skill to cooperate in the socialist reconstruction of the world. There are any number of people who did not belong to our Party in the past but are now seeking in the midst of the universal collapse the path of salvation. We must convince them that only by Socialism can Humanity be saved, that events have proved that there is no other permanent solution. We can produce no ready-made city from the clouds, but we are ready to build that city with the help of all men of good-will who are heart and soul in the task.
We call on our friends to get down to the task right now and make a study of all the problems which they come across. They should let us know their suggestions and ideas, sending them to the Socialist Study Committee through the usual channels.
This work will not prove fruitless. The future will depend on it."
The underground journal of the C.G.T., "La Resistance Ouvriére", published the following article on George Dumoulin, one of the traitors of the French working class movement:
"There are different degrees of treachery and baseness. We have already presented to you the best known traitor and the one who shouts the loudest: Rene Belin. Here we show you George Dumoulin, the most cynical.
Nothing has ever had any value for this man outside himself or only in so far as it affected him.
Yesterday, a marxian socialist journalist writing in the `Populaire' and other papers; prospective but unsuccessful candidate for the Pas-de-Calais; appointed an official of the I.L.O. and Mayor of Denain; Trade union representative of the Confederal Committee and at the Union du Nord.
To-day, crack journalist of `Atelier' (a German controlled Paris newspaper); politician amongst the big-pots of the R.N.P. (one of the French fascist parties); high ranking member of the Office of the Comités Sociaux; and self-styled militant of the trade union committee for Hitler propaganda.
He was known as the greatest play actor amongst the militants. Belin, who made use of his writings when Dumoulin with Roy[11], Vigne[12], and Foideval[13] was one of the `Three Musketeers' of the trade unions, said of him that he carefully prepared the most spontaneous outbursts in his speeches.
'Before the war I was against `Peace in Industry', as `diplomacy' is none of the business of the trade union movement; but to-day I am in favour of what is called the European conception, as trade unionists are extremely interested in that problem.
I, a former militant trade unionist, belong to-day to the adherents of Vichy neo-syndicalism; therefore I vilify the active trade unionists who represent the C.G.T. in London.
As a former official of the I.L.O. I declare international organisation a folly.
I propagated the independence of the trade unions; to-day I am of the opinion that the trade unions should be ancillary organs of the `Single party' and a State instrument.'
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Dumoulin was known to be unstable and a comedian, his opinions always in flux and full of contradictions; he was hardly to be taken seriously, but this old fox has his ruses. The musketeer has grown old and with senile ardour he is now using his brush to polish up the sad figures of Bichelonne and Lagardelle.
George Dumoulin-Dharnes[14] has betrayed all and everything: he has betrayed his friends, his trade, his party, his organisation, his own past. All that was left for him to betray was his country - he is betraying it now.
There is only one thing he has not betrayed: he has never betrayed his own interests.
Yesterday he was a pacifist and internationalist, democrat and independent, to-day he is a `European' propagandist of the totalitarian Nazi war; to-morrow he will certainly come out as the most enthusiastic anglophile, the most ardent republican and the most convinced Moscovite."
The following report was written by a neutral who spent several years in Germany. It was written in Autumn 1943 but its statements are still relevant to-day, especially as an answer to the question why the German people are still co-operating in Hitler's war.
"After my return from the Third Reich at first I lost my bearings. I felt I had escaped from a madhouse. Many Germans have lost all hope and all faith, but - and this may seem incomprehensible - just for this reason they keep to the slogan `We have to hold out'. To quote one example: Everywhere in Germany one meets bombed out people. Only people who have seen it with their own eyes can realise what a `pulverised' street looks like. People's homes with all their belongings have literally fallen to dust. But even these people who have suffered so cruelly have generally no ideas as to the future. They are so terrified of the political insecurity after a military defeat that they just pass on the slogan `We have to hold out!'. Everybody is hoping that some miracle will prevent `unconditional surrender' taking the worst form, namely a treatment of Germany in the style the Nazis have treated Jews, Poles and Russians.
Before the fall of Mussolini there were people who pinned their hopes upon the `Anglo-Saxons' - to-day everybody is convinced that no quarter will be given.
There are many Germans who were always in opposition to the Nazis and others who are horrified at their methods of suppression and exploitation. Many are really deeply ashamed; some cultured people told me that they will never go abroad after the war; they will be ashamed to show their faces anywhere outside Germany. The Nazis, however, with their unrestrained wickedness, are exploiting even such feelings for their own ends. It is obvious that they are trying to create throughout the whole nation a terrible consciousness that all Germans are accomplices of the Nazi crimes and therefore have at least to tolerate Nazi policy.
The opposition is not only handicapped by lack of any positive slogans for the post war period. Those who are on principle
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against the Nazis find their work tremendously difficult as the S.S. and the Gestapo are constantly being strengthened and are in a position to squash any considerable open resistance against the régime.
It is amazing how efficiently the regime can deal with material difficulties. A few days after the big air-raid on Hamburg heavily damaged factories were working again. Amidst terrific bombardment a train left almost on time. Its back carriages were considerably damaged - but the train ran. Women and children from the big towns were evacuated to the country. The farmers were not pleased about it - but the lives of many people were saved in this way. The inhabitants of big towns have resigned themselves to their fate. They all reckon that it will be the same as that of the inhabitants of Hamburg and Cologne. Whenever people part they do it in the same spirit as soldiers going back to the front - they think it may be good-bye for ever."
We received the following report from Southern Germany:
"A roll-call was sent out recently to the `old fighters' of a town in Southern Germany. The `Gauleiter' himself came and spoke frankly about the serious situation and the many defeats the German army has suffered. The following passage in his speech is very typical:
`We have to hold out at all costs, even should we suffer still heavier defeats. The Party (the N.S.D.A.P.) must be to-day the backbone of the nation. It can take on this rôle because it has fought its way through to victory in the face of seemingly insuperable odds. A National Socialist never capitulates. Because he knows perseverance always leads to victory. We must even face the possibility that the Party might have to go underground. We must make the necessary preparations already to-day. No defeat is so complete that people with political will and determination cannot overcome it.'"
An observer from a neutral country reported: "Everywhere in Vienna you meet foreign workers. Vienna alone is said to have 60,000 workers from the East. They are employed in the worst jobs. They get their food through the factories where they work, and its quality varies.
The foreign workers are a considerable source of disturbance. Many of them look very shabby and run down; their food and clothing is quite inadequate. It is very difficult to keep control over the many nationalities. The security service is in the hands of military police with steel helmets and revolvers. There are no policemen in the streets any longer, not even at big crossings. There is, however, a special police equipped with most modern weapons, which goes into action whenever workers cause any disturbances or when conflicts arise between workers of different nationalities. Such conflicts are frequent, especially between Hungarians and Rumanians.
The foreign workers are under police supervision even in their workshops because their interest in German production is very slight. Many factory managers want to introduce a more humane treatment of the workers of the East to increase their efficiency. But the authorities are against it. They point out that the foreign
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workers have a different, and often even hostile attitude towards the German people and their institutions; a loosening of the strict regulations could therefore only have unfortunate effects.
The factory owners and managers are in no enviable position. In the first place they have to take responsibility for any drop in production and for acts of sabotage. For this reason some factory owners hush up any labour conflicts and even acts of sabotage. For if the police intervene, the factory owner has to pay the costs. If workers are arrested new ones must be trained. Therefore the management often cover up any `accidents'.
The shortage of homes has affected the population very painfully. The number of inhabitants in Vienna has tremendously increased recently. The influx consists of bombed out people from Western Germany and of foreign workers who have no room in their emergency barracks. Recently entire factories from Western Germany together with their workers and administrative staff were moved to Vienna; during the last few months 25,000 homes were requisitioned for them. Special commissions check up on every inch of available living space. The overcrowding is enormous. Many families consider themselves happy to have a single room to themselves.
The Viennese watch the influx of armament factories with grave forebodings. I often heard people say: `After the Ruhr district it will be our turn.' The air-raid on Wiener Neustadt has naturally intensified this fear. There are persistent rumours of forthcoming large scale bombing of Austrian armament centres.
My friends said quite openly: `The Prussians are to blame for all'. They are to blame for the tremendous casualties: `They use the Austrians as cannon fodder and send them to the most dangerous positions.' They are to blame for the food shortage: `because the Prussians eat everything up'. They are to blame that women have to work: `We have to slave for the Prussians'.
I asked one of my friends what he imagined the situation of Austria would be if Germany lost the war. `That won't be bad for Austria', was his reply, `because the Allies regard Austria as an occupied country'. He added that nearly everybody in Austria was to-day of this opinion.
In spite of the very rigorous penalties many people listen in to foreign broadcasts. Wherever a group of people is caught listening in or individuals are found out who pass on foreign wireless news the death penalty is imposed.
The names of those sentenced to death are put on posters in their residential districts. I myself saw such a poster with the names of twelve people sentenced to death because of high treason; all of them came from a small residential area and were executed within two months in 1943. I was warned against standing too long in front of this poster. I was told that the Nazis watch out for anybody who makes derogatory remarks about the regime in front of these posters.
Through an old official of the Austrian Free Trade Unions I got an impression of the weight of the pressure and the difficulties in building up an oppositional movement. Most people are convinced that Germany has lost the war; he added, however, that it was very difficult to do anything to end the war quicker. The Nazis have
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succeeded in eliminating nearly all active members of the former Austrian parties, especially of the working class organisations. Their prominent members are either dead or have left the country. Since the outbreak of war the officials of the old Austrian parties have systematically been arrested. Thousands of them are in concentration camps or have disappeared, nobody knows their whereabouts. This `combing out' has, however, not completely succeeded. But whenever the opposition makes itself felt the whole apparatus of the regime goes into action. Whenever a few leaflets appear mass arrests of people known for their former activities take place. Theirs is a terrible lot - they are treated as hostages. Many people in opposition to the regime therefore think that it is better to wait for a more propitious moment to act. There are rumours about sabotage but it is difficult to find out details. This trade union official confirmed what I have heard also from other sources that there is a patriotic Austrian underground movement which works with popular `anti-Prussian' slogans.
The work of an organised Austrian oppositional movement is specially difficult in other respects, too. A large section of the people of Vienna are at the front or are working in the Reich. In the factories only 25% Viennese are employed at the utmost. In administrative jobs this percentage is even smaller."
