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C O N F E R E N C E

OF
GERMAN SOCIAL DEMOCRATS
IN ENGLAND

Contents:

The Socialist Movement in the war and after the war.

Speech by Hans Vogel

Messages of Sympathy and Solidarity

Message of Sympathy for the Peoples of the Soviet Union

Lessons of the German Revolution 1918

Speech by Erich Ollenhauer

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Conference
of German Social Democrats in England

On November 7th and 8th numerous German Social Democrats of the London Area and from various parts of the British Islands assembled for a week-end conference at the London head-quarters of the Austrian Socialists, the Austrian Labour Club.

This was the first gathering of its kind of the German Social Democrats living in England.

The satisfactory attendance which meant a considerable sacrifice and inconvenience especially for those who had come from the country has proved the great interest the comrades take in discussing together the political problems. Some of those living outside London had shown their interest and their allegiance by writing or wiring messages. The conference was a great success.

Lack of space prevents us from reporting on the conference at full length. However, some of those who attended and especially comrades who for lack of time or other reasons had been unable to come to London urgently asked for a full report, particularly of the main speeches. This is why we reproduce these here in rough outlines.

The conference was opened on Saturday, November 7th, by

Comrade Wilhelm Sander,

the "Vertrauensmann" of the German Social Democrats in England, who reported on the German emigrees in England and in other European and oversea countries.

The speaker gave, on the basis of comprehensive material, a survey of the numbers of emigrees in England, their social position, their share in war production and other institutions or formations of the war effort, their organisation and political activities, and he rounded the picture off by a brief report on numbers and activities of the Social Democratic emigrees in other European countries and overseas.

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This report was followed by the speech of

Comrade Hans Vogel,
the Chairman of the German Social Democratic Party,

who dealt with
"The Socialist Movement in the war and after the war". Comrade Hans Vogel, whose speech was greeted by loud applause, evolved roughly the following trend of ideas:

"There can be no longer any doubt that Hitler will be defeated and the Nazi regime smashed. The question is only how long the war will last.

The German war potential is today incomparably stronger than it was at the end of the last war, but meanwhile the Allies have made good for, if not already surpassed, the advantage in armaments of the Axis.

The position of the Allies will further improve if the Russians succeed in pinning down at the Russian fronts further large contingents of German troops. The end of the war, however, can only be envisaged when the Axis has been decisively beaten in Central and Western Europe. All of us are full of admiration for the heroic Russian people and the Red Army, but we do not forget the immense contribution which England has already made in this war.

England and America will have the decisive word both in bringing the war to a victorious end, and in shaping the peace. It will be America in the first place that will be charged with the task of supplying an exhausted and ruined Europe, including Russia, England and America with some of the allied countries, dispose of the shipping space, necessary to carry to their places of destination the most urgently needed raw materials and food supplies. This fact alone will give these countries a decisive function in shaping the peace."

Hans Vogel then turned to the question of post-war reconstruction. The most urgent task will be, in his opinion, to switch over to peace-time production the war industry now working at full capacity.

Will the world be able to cope with this task if it is again to be divided up in spheres of interests or

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systems of alliances, again more or less based upon power politics, and fraught from the very beginning with the germs of a new war?

There will be need of an all-embracing economic organisation, but in addition there may be problems which will perhaps be better solved by regional federations.

Also from the viewpoint of supplying food and raw materials a world-wide planning is indicated, because only in this way can starvation, social chaos, and the problems of changing over to peace-time production be met. When the war is over such a scheme will be inevitable; but this plan, arising out of the needs of the moment, must be developed into a stable and permanent organisation, embracing the whole of the globe.

Hans Vogel goes on to explain in detail that Europe was deficient in grain and fodder, wool and hides, cotton and caoutchouc, copper, tin and other metals, and that also coal was insufficient if it is to be used as raw material for synthetic products.

The new organisation must also prevent the re-emergence of an out-sized steel industry, no matter who controls it, which might become the driving force of a new war-party.

Electricity supplies have already outgrown and transgressed all political frontiers.

Supranational and sovereign organisations of posts, railways, civil aviation, inland navigation, fuel and electricity supplies would not only counter aggression, but also positively foster future inter-European development.

It should also be envisaged to create a
European Labour and Migration Office which would be in charge of settlement and resettlement, unemployment, and migration from the country, so grave a problem in Central Europe.

Generally spoken, what matters now is to avoid one of the most decisive errors of the past two centuries, that is to say the identification of economic with political frontiers.

Frontiers, old and new, must no longer be trenches, separating the peoples.

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Hans Vogel then dealt with the tasks the International Socialist Movement will have to undertake in the post-war period.

Very little can be said on that point at the moment. The underground movements in various European countries and large sections of the exiled socialist communities are aiming predominantly at national ends, and socialist planning and reconstruction is but seldom considered.

This conclusion has been reached even by the "Economist", in an article of August 15th, 1942. The article points out that in the various underground movements there had not arisen the unknown revolution from the bottom of the social pyramid. This time the summons to revolt came from the recognised elite of pre-war Europe, driven to use revolutionary methods for moderate political purposes. The danger, of course, was a revival of an unsound and perilous nationalism all over Europe.

However, in the age of the tank and the bomber, national seclusion had provided no national security. Economic necessities after the war would through their own weight, overcome outlived concepts, and common suffering, too, tended to unite the suffering nations.

Commenting on these observations in the "Economist" Hans Vogel points out that it was only natural for Socialists to stand for the liberty of their own nation, and to claim safeguards lest they should again be deprived of this liberty by an aggressive Germany.

Political liberty can only be secured within the frame work of a well-ordered political and economic system from which a German nation with equal rights and obligations cannot be permanently excluded. It goes without saying that Germany will have to undertake certain guarantees. Hatred alone is still a poor means of educating for democracy.

It is a matter for satisfaction that this insight has not only been expressed in statements of responsible allied statesmen. This is also the conviction of the organised workers in various countries. I will only mention two recent examples.

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The London Trades Council has passed a resolution expressing their readiness to cooperate in the building up of a Socialist Europe with Allied and German workers on the basis of equal rights.

The French Socialists in a manifesto published in the illegal "Populaire" of August 15th have rejected vindictive measures against the German people, and have demanded that Germany should - if need by compulsion - be integrated into a system of genuine peace and general disarmament.

It is true that on the other hand less satisfactory statements have been made by individuals from various quarters, but they cannot induce us to abandon our faith in Socialism and international cooperation. Time and again it is pointed out that the whole German people has to be identified with Hitler. Time and again the low moral standard of the German people, and their passivity in the struggle against Hitler and his regime are emphasized.

It is really only the German workers who can be blamed for this passivity?

Are not also workers of other countries toiling for Hitler's war machine? We hesitate lightly to pass judgment on the one or the other, for we know the power of the Hitlerite dictatorship. The time for active resistance has not yet come either for the workers in non-German countries or for the workers of Berlin, Hamburg or other German industrial centres.

Yet if certain propagandists show the German people a prospect of half a century's life in concentration camp then only fear and horror of the future can be caused thereby among the German people. No wonder then that they can easily be persuaded that they are no longer fighting for Hitler, but for their own survival. Fear will in the end become a power of resistance. This kind of propaganda will have to be paid for with the blood of all the peoples participating in the war. The Nazis know very well how to make capital out of this propaganda, as clearly shown by Hitler's, Goering's and Goebbels' recent speeches.

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It will be easier to separate the German people from their tyrant, Hitler, if Allied propaganda distinguishes them from him still more clearly than hitherto.

Hans Vogel then spoke of the prospects of success of International Socialism after this war.

Here two unknown factors will play an important part: the influence American labour will have on the politics and economy of the Western Hemisphere, and the role Russia and the Comintern intend to play in future.

Measured by European standards the political movement of American Labour is still insignificant, and the industrial movement still split. America is still typical for rejecting communism of any kind, and the attitude of large sections of the working classes is in keeping with that feeling.

A far-reaching democratisation of Russia would facilitate the cooperation, in itself so desirable, of America and Russia, and of the American and Russian workers.

Russia's prestige will be enhanced after this war in consequence of her military exploits, and she might well give up the Comintern as an additional instrument of her foreign policy. But will she be ready to do so? Generally victorious wars tend to strengthen rather than to weaken an existing system.

It must be anticipated, therefore, that Russia, the Comintern, and the parties affiliated to it will, in spite of all the lip-service now being paid to democracy, insist on their old principles and their old practice. That, however, affects in the highest degree the attitude of the German Social Democrats towards the Communists.

If the Communists continue to adhere to their old conceptions and methods an agreement with them will only be possible if the future German Labour Movement, whatever its name, renounces any independent position and submits to the instructions and orders of Russia and the Communist International.

Our attitude to this problem cannot differ from that expressed in the manifesto, already mentioned, of the

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French Socialists.
In this manifesto the hope is uttered that Soviet Russia would in future become a genuine member of the international community of democratic peoples, who have regained their independence, and that in this way the relations between the various sections of the Communist International and the other labour parties would be improved.

Our French friends are convinced that "a democratic and socially sound policy will not be possible in our country (France) unless an independent French Communist Party induces the Soviet Union to join a united international community in the interest of the European working classes, and above all the Russian and French workers".

Personally, Hans Vogel rejects any kind of dictatorship, above all for its barbarism and its cruelty. It is a sin against humanity.

It is our special task to give back to the Germans, after ten years of Nazi dictatorship, the active awareness of, and the ever present reverence for, the great and lasting spiritual values. In the long run only justice can prevail, and that also in the field of politics.

Concluding Hans Vogel said that, on the whole, there was no reason for rejoicing, but likewise none for affiliation, pusillanimity and despondency.

Only, we must not resign, and not lose faith in our movement and in ourselves. Without dogmatically clinging to every letter and every fact given by tradition we must have an open mind for every urgency and every necessity. More than ever the word was true:

"Wer in schwankenden Zeiten schwankend gesinnt ist,
vermehret das Uebel,
wer aber fest im Sinne beharrt,
gestaltet die Welt sich."

(He who wavers in uncertain times adds to the evils,
he who stands firm will shape the world.)

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The Commemoration of the German Revolution

took place in the evening attended by those who took part in the weekend-meeting and by numerous guests from different countries.

The hall was filled to capacity when Comrade Sander welcomed the gathering, particularly the guests from other countries. There were Austrian, Czech, English, Italian, Sudetengerman and Russian Comrades in the audience. In addition to German Socialdemocrats, Comrades of the Socialist Workers Party (SAP) and the Militant Socialist International (ISK) were also present.

Comrade Wilhelm Sander
remembered, in his opening address, the victims of the German Revolution, those men and women who were killed in the struggle for the Weimar Republic and against National Socialism.

He remembered the victims and fighters of the underground movement under the Hitler-regime, and the fighters in the occupied countries.

He praised the heroism of the thousands who are fighting and suffering in all countries of Europe under the Hitler-tyranny, irrespective of nationality and race, united in their will to be free.

Dealing with the war of liberation which is now fought in all continents by the armies of the United Nations, the speaker paid a special tribute to the Soviet Union and the Red Army which celebrated their 25th anniversary on the same day.

The meeting unanimously adopted a resolution, the text of which was communicated to the Russian Ambassador in London.

Message of Sympathy for the Peoples of the Soviet Union.

"The German Social Democrats in England assembled in London on November 7th, 1942 at a meeting in commemoration of the German Revolution, send their greetings to the peoples of the Soviet Union.

The twenty-fifth anniversary of the Soviet Union

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finds the Russian people engaged in a hard and fierce struggle against the fascist invaders.

In the history of this gigantic struggle between the allied and oppressed nations against fascist tyranny and usurped rule, the names of Moscow, Leningrad, Sevastopol and Stalingrad will live for ever as shining examples of the determination and heroism of millions of Russian men and women.

With feeling of admiration and reverence we bow to the memory of the victims of this struggle, and we send our greetings to the millions of Russian men and women who, at the front and behind the lines are fighting and working for the final victory over international fascism.

As German Social Democrats and anti-fascists we renew our solemn promise that in future as hitherto, we shall continue within the ranks of the allied and oppressed nations to help to the best of our abilities until this war for the liberation of the peoples from the tyranny of the Hitlerite dictatorship victory has been achieved.

London, November 7th, 1942

The London Committee of the SPD."

A special feature was given to the Commemoration of the German Revolution by the speeches of two prominent representatives of the international socialist workers movement:

Mr. J. S. Middleton, Secretary-General of the British Labour Party, and

Mr. Louis de Brouckère, former President of the Socialist Workers and Labour International.

Both speakers were loudly cheered by the assembly, and their speeches met with enthusiastic approval.

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Comrade J. S. Middleton

said: "I have just come from a reception at the Russian Embassy. There, the 25th anniversary of the Soviet Union was celebrated.

Whatever we may think about the political foundations and methods of Bolshevism we congratulate Russia today cordially and in agreement with the whole free world to the success of her revolution.

Even the Russian revolution of 1917 had unsuccessful predecessors. I still remember how we got the news of the Russian revolution of 1905. The first conference of the Labour Party was just in session at that time. Then we were small in numbers, but we decided on a collection to assist the Russian revolutionaries. We collected about one thousand pounds, a small amount compared with the tremendous sums raised today by the British Labour Movement for the Aid for Russia Fund. But there is a receipt for that money in our archives; and it is a document of historic value. The receipt was signed by an unknown political refugee in Switzerland and addressed to a little-known journalist in Britain. The signature was Lenin's and the addressee was MacDonald. Only a comparatively short time later both these men played a prominent part in their countries and in international politics: Lenin as leader of the Soviet Union, and MacDonald as Prime Minister in the first British Labour cabinet.

This instance shows that even unsuccessful revolutions are of lasting importance, and we are therefore justified in remembering the German Revolution of 1918. We are, as members of the Labour Party, Socialists and Internationalists, and we are thinking today of the German Comrades who fought a battle and lost it.

By my presence here I wish to express a feeling of solidarity with the German Comrades. It has become a fashion today to regard German Social Democracy only critically. I never shared this view, and the war has not changed my opinion. I remember how Wilhelm Liebknecht stated in a meeting of the Bristol Labour Party: 'There are two Germanies as well as two Englands.' Liebknecht spoke on behalf of the other Germany, the German working class.

Liebknecht's conception was right at that time, and it

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is still right today. It is foolish to identify all Germans with Hitler and to condemn a whole nation with him. The belief which united Socialists of all countries for a hundred years in an international community, cannot be destroyed by a war or by Nazi dictatorship. I am convinced that there are still men and women in the ranks of the German soldiers and civilians who think as we do. I think of the many thousands of men and women in German concentration camps, of the relatives of political prisoners to whom the Nazis returned the ashes of their loved ones. These people have surely not become Nazis. I am convinced that there are still two Germanies and that our Comrades in Germany are waiting for the right moment and for the signal to join actively the fight for the overthrow of Hitler's dictatorship."

Comrade Louis de Brouckère

said: "The attempt at a German Revolution in 1918 was like the Russian revolution more than a mere national event. It was important for the whole world, and something of what you had built in revolution and republic will last.

As Socialists we are members of a big family. But today it is no longer sufficient to speak about international brotherhood of Socialists. We must be aware of the fact that we are fighting, comrades, with regard to the present tasks and the future. In all countries we need men who are able to establish a true and lasting peace. The first condition of achieving this aim is to recognise the difficulties which we meet in the struggle for this aim. We must clearly recognise what it means that our peoples wage war against each other, and we must try to solve together the problems which result from this fact. I know that many of you put up as brave a resistance as the Socialists in other countries. The German people is not fundamentally different from other peoples. The doctrine which identifies the whole German nation with Hitlerism is only the counterpart of the racial theory of Hitlerism.

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It is, however, a fact that Germany has been repeatedly the centre and starting point of warlike aggression during the last century. This fact has historic causes, and it is necessary to make them clear and to try to remove them. That must be the task of your new revolution. This German revolution is a necessity; for it would be fatal if the Nazis were only overwhelmed by the armed forces of the Allies. Nazism and nationalism can be destroyed in their roots only by a revolution in Germany. This complete destruction of all old powers of reaction is also the condition of a lasting success of a new German revolution. The contribution to be made by German Socialists to the establishment of a lasting and real peace in Europe is therefore the execution of a true German revolution. Today there is much discussion on safeguards against further German aggression. They must be taken on a European and international basis if they are to be effective. If one says, for instance, that German economy for security reasons should be subjected to some form of international control I agree provided that it will be part of an international control system for all European countries.

It is many years since I spoke to the German comrades for the first time and I am glad that they listened to my critical remarks with so much understanding and friendship."

Comrade Erich Ollenhauer

in his speech commemorating the German Revolution said: "On the occasion of this anniversary of the Revolution it behoves us to cast a brief glance back on the past, before turning our attention to the future.

The November revolution of 1918 was a singular historic event. It set an end to the autocratic rule which a small upper class had maintained over the German people. It was the German people's first attempt at democratic self-government. For the first time in history the German working-class, under the leadership of the Social-Democratic movement and the Trade Unions, appeared on the political scene as one of the determining factors.

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The 'Council of the People's Commissars' (Rat der Volksbeauftragten) put into operation those political and social principles for the application of which we had struggled for 40 years: the principles of political democracy, the freedom of public meeting and of the press, freedom of association, the 8 hour day.

The Weimar Republic endeavoured firmly to establish the new political and social order on a stable and secure basis. The attempt was not altogether unsuccessful. Its social institutions and the work achieved in the cultural sphere secured for the Weimar Republic a place among the most advanced countries in Europe.

The overthrow of the old order, though achieved practically without bloodshed, was followed by the hard and bitter struggle of the Republic for its very existence and for the realisation of its social programme. For 14 years the Weimar Republic was engaged in this life and death struggle, under unfavourable conditions in the sphere of international politics and in the face of a steadily growing nationalist reaction, opposed to social progress at home.

The death roll of this second World War, provoked by the German nationalist under Hitler's leadership, does not open with the September of 1939, it goes back to the early days of 1919 and 1920, and the first names it records are those of heroic German republicans who gave their lives in fighting reaction. That the German working class was defeated without fighting is a mere legend. The struggle has ended in our defeat. German democracy collapsed when the crisis and years of unemployment had undermined the strength of its main pillar, the German working class.

The German working class succumbed to terror, violence and treason, and it fell a victim to its own deficiencies and the mistakes it had made.

Today the disastrous consequences of their defeat are unfolding before our eyes with terrible distinctness.

Today the whole world realises what German democracy and a free German labour movement mean for the peace and freedom of Europe.

Europe can live in peace and freedom only with a strong German democracy and a strong and free German labour movement in her midst.

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It is our hope that this fact may be borne in mind by the men responsible for the destinies of Europe when, after victory is won, they are called upon to establish the new order in Europe.

Above all, however, this fact involves obligations for the German democrats and socialists themselves. We do not know, at this moment, when the day of the new Revolution will come. Hitler's power is still great, and revolutions against strong and successful dictatorships are something that exists in the imagination of certain propagandists only. But we know that Hitler is going to be defeated, that he will perish by his own crimes; we are confident that the German working-class will have an active share in the overthrow of the dictatorial regime. A springflood [!]of hatred and retribution will engulf the whole structure with its props and supports and those who regret that there was so little bloodshed in 1918 will have no complaints to make this time. The ghastly story of this regime of terror will culminate in the horrors of its extinction.

But retribution and expiation are only the prelude of a revolution. The revolution itself must be directed towards concrete political goals.

Now what are the aims and wishes of our friends in Germany who are waiting and working for a new 9th November?

What is the fervent, though secret desire of millions of men in Hitlerite Germany?

They hope and yearn for elementary human rights: for personal freedom, for the rule of law, for social security, for peace. At bottom they are the same old ideals that have carried mankind forward on the road of progress, the same ethical principles from which the modern labour movement has derived elementary force.

Hitler has not been able to kill these ideals - against his own intentions he has filled them with new life. They have recovered the old revolutionary force once more.

Yet, the new Revolution will not be a copy of November 1918. Between then and today there lies a world of experience for all of us; we have all learnt to see many things in a new light. There can be no return to the November of 1918 and the Weimar Republic.

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Today we know that it is not sufficient for the working class to fight for and to conquer political power but that it is essential that they should maintain the power once gained, and that they should make good use of it.

The new German Revolution will have to secure and stabilize political democracy by a radical change in the existing economic order. Hitler's wire-pullers, big business and the big land-owners, will have to go with Hitler. They will be dispossessed and thus deprived of the basis of their power.

The direction of a new economy, organised in such a way as to serve the interests of the community as a whole, will have to be in the hands of the state. War economy will be replaced by peace economy, an economy adapted to demand, and which will do away with hunger and distress and secure for those who work a fair share in the fruits of their labours.

Politically the new state will have to re-instate the civil liberties. There is but one alternative to totalitarianism, there is but one alternative for the socialist to the desecration and wanton destruction of humanity: the recognition of the rights and the freedom of the individual. The respect of personal freedom, of the rule of law and of the will of the people as a determining political factor must form the basis of any political new order. That order will be a democracy of free men.

The lessons of past experience and past failings will have to be learned by the new democracy and applied to its future practice. The new democracy will have to show fighting spirit. Democratic rights and liberties - all right! But not for the enemies of democracy eager only to use the machinery of democracy for the destruction of democracy.

That new democracy must be strong not only in defence but also in attack. We shall have to create an active, spirited democracy.

To this end we must build up a widely ramified system of local self-government covering every division and sub-division of the community.

We shall need a new system of public education, which shall be pervaded by a democratic, socially progressive spirit. Provision will also have to be made for the establishment of close links between the electorate and

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their representatives so that the citizen will no longer vote for a list but for a man.

That democracy, faced with the huge task of creating a new social order, will need a strong and stable leadership.

There will be an end to the playing fast and loose with governments, which did so much harm to the prestige of the parliamentary system. A government, once its program has been approved by Parliament, must have a free hand to carry out that program, subject only to the restrictions indispensable as safeguards of the prerogatives of Parliament i.e. the responsibility of the government to Parliament, the supreme and exclusive authority of Parliament in all matters of principle, and its power of control.

Lastly, the new German democracy will have to pursue a clear unambiguous course in its foreign policy.

By its own resolve, by an act of free will, it must adopt as the fundamental principle underlying its foreign policy the rule that it shall never resort to war as a means to political ends. The adoption of this principle implies the unqualified rejection of all the potential means and instruments of such a policy, or in other words, the total and radical destruction of militarism and all its manifestations and institutions.

The building up of a new international, supranational order, a task which the last twenty years have in our view demonstrated to be indispensable, must begin at home, by the voluntary surrender of sovereignties and national supremacies.

With the utmost determination and entirely of its own accord, the new German democracy will have to furnish evidence, both by its home and its foreign policies, of its firm resolve on no account ever to resort to military methods or any other method of power politics in the conduct of foreign affairs.

The ideals of international understanding and European cooperation must pass from the sphere of propaganda, from the stock-in-trade of the orator into political practice. There must be no compromise about making them the basis of public opinion and public education.

These ideals are born of our socialist creed, and

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just as, in the economic and political spheres, we shall go forward in the new Republic from political democracy to a socialist order, so our policy will have to be directed towards the goal of making Germany a part of the new European order. There is no other alternative for the German people, successor to Hitler's baneful heritance if it hopes to join once more the community of European nations as a respected and fully qualified member.

All these are very hard tasks, indeed. They will have to be tackled under the most difficult conditions both in home and foreign politics. A high degree of constructive ability will be required on the part of the socialists and only a truly creative and practical imagination will have any chance of success.

Yet we can see the contours of the future outlined against the sinister background of chaos, which Hitler has bequeathed to us. We see that future as a heavy burden of tasks to be achieved, yet, at the same time, as the great chance of socialism.

The old world is dead. The hope and desire for a genuine new order, under which national life and mutual relationship between nations will be reshaped, is spreading far beyond the confines of the working-class.

Our ideas live. They live among the free nations, in the occupied countries, in Germany itself. Fascism has set out to enslave men. Yet in the hard school of a dictatorial regime man has grown to full political manhood. He needs a way of life which social democracy alone can offer him. Social democracy stands at the end of that great upheaval in Germany and Europe of which we can see today the first flames leaping up into the night of terror and tyranny. To make social democracy a reality - that is our great constructive task. We shall accomplish it if we succeed in blending the elan of the old movement with the wealth of experience accumulated, of new lessons learned in these years, if we combine radicalism in overthrowing the old with constructive ability in building the new order."

The programme of the impressive manifestation included music and recitation. Piano recitals by Dr. Friedrich Behrend whose art has won him so many new friends in London, spoke to the hearts of his audience. Dora Segall's stirring recitation of judiciously selected prose and

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poetry met with a warm response. Choral recitals of songs, delivered with animation by the Socialist Youth Group, concluded the artistic part of the programme.

When, after having joined in singing the "International" the audience left this memorable meeting of German Social Democrats in London, held in commemoration of the German Revolution, they all felt a deep sense of unwavering loyalty to the great cause of democratic Socialism. For those who came from outside to attend the London meeting accommodation had been provided in the houses of friends and this provided a good opportunity for many to renew old friendships and to exchange views in private discussions on all the burning questions concerning the present and the future of the German labour movement.

Sunday morning
was devoted to discussion. Before the debate was opened however, the Conference pressed their heartiest congratulations to comrade Elisabeth Eisner, who was celebrating her 75th birthday amidst her party friends; Comrade Jul. Lederer, who had also accomplished his 75th year in 1942 thanked the conference on Mrs. Eisners and his own behalf.

The debate continues for several hours.

Lack of space prevents us from reporting in detail on all points made by the numerous delegates who took part in it. All speakers dwelt on the necessity of preparing for our future tasks and unanimously stressed their willingness to accomplish them in good fellowship and by fine team-work, which would enable us to find ways and means of safeguarding social security and a stable peace for the German working class, the German nation and Europe, once the horrors of this war were over.

In his concluding words the chairman comrade W. Sander could state that this first conference of German Social Democrats in England had been a promising start and would certainly be followed by a period of new activity and permanent collaboration.

-- -- -- -- -- -- --

Translation and copied from the
"Sozialistische Mitteilungen"
News for German Socialists in England
Nr. 44, December 1942

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[Spendenaufruf]

Contributions: towards the costs of this report
will received with gratitude by

Wilhelm Sander
33, Fernside Ave., London N.W. 7

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