10 - Communist Music in the Streets

Summary

the incident

At 6.20p.m. on 29 September 1930, a group of 130 to 150 people - 60 to 70 of whom were children - gathered at the Reuterplatz in Berlin's working-class borough of Neukolln. Their subsequent march through the streets was ostensibly to protest the firing of Fritz Beyes, a Communist teacher in one of Neukolln's schools. This protest, sponsored by some Communist parents and students from Neukolln, wound its way through the borough, ending at Richardplatz at 7:35 P.M. The column was led by members of the Young Spartacus League (Jung Spartakusbund or JS), an organization for ten- to fourteen-year-old children affiliated with the Communist Party of Germany (Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands or KPD). Wearing uniforms consisting of a smock, neckerchief, and insignia, these children bore a striking similarity to the American Cub Scouts. One of them carried a red flag that read “From the Lenin Youth League of Charkow to the Communist Children of Berlin!” Members of the Communist Youth League of Germany (Kommunistischer Jugendverband Deutschlands or KJVD) and a number of local working-class parents also took part. Some of the adults carried four other banners, all bearing the motto “Struggle Against the School Fascism.” In addition to the banners and flag, participants shouted the slogans “We are protecting the red teacher” and “Where are the free school books?” The marchers sang a number of Communist songs.