KAPD
Kommunistische Arbeiter-Partei Deutschlands (Communist Workers Party of Germany), a councilist split from the Communist Party in 1920 who would be instrumental in defining the German-Dutch model of left communism.
Schwab, Alexander aka Sachs, 1887 -1943
A short biography of council communist and organiser of underground networks, Alexander Schwab, who died in a Nazi concentration camp.
Born on the 5th July 1887, at Stuttgart, Alexander Schwab was the son of a choir master. He studied at the Universities of Rostock, Jena, Heidelberg and Freiburg in philosophy, ancient languages, political economy and sociology. He was a member of the Free Students movement.
Weiland, Alfred, 1906-1978
A short biography of council communist, organiser of underground network, Alfred Weiland, kidnapped by the East German state in the post war period
Alfred Weiland was born on 7th August 1906 in the Moabit district of Berlin. He apprenticed as a fitter. He later worked as a telegraph worker.
In 1925 he was for a short time a member of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) which in Berlin had a more “left” outlook than elsewhere. Soon after he joined the communist KAPD and AAU.
Lenin’s Infantile Disorder. . .and the Third International
Franz Pfempfert comments on Lenin's infamous pamphlet, Left-Wing" Communism: An Infantile Disorder.
I
The Lessons of the “March Action”
The Lessons of the “March Action”-Gorter’s Last Letter to Lenin
Dear Comrade Lenin:
When we last parted in November of 1920, your last words on our quite divergent ideas concerning revolutionary tactics in Western Europe were to the effect that neither your opinions nor mine had been sufficiently tested: that experience would soon prove which of the two is correct.
We were in complete agreement on that.
Programme of the Communist Workers Party of Germany (KAPD), 1920
May 1920 programme of the party, with appended background and information notes
Preface
Preliminaries on councils and councilist organization - René Riesel
A look at workers' councils and the historical contexts in which they were created. A useful analysis - which challenges some aspects of the standard anarchist analysis of the events in Spain during the 1936 Revolution.
Bernard Reichenbach:The KAPD in retrospect - An interview with a member of the Communist Workers Party of Germany
A former member of the anti-parliamentary, councilist KAPD describes his experiences of the German Revolution, his time spent in Moscow amongst the Bolsheviks and the difficulties faced in a revolutionary situation.
Published in Revolutionary History, Vol. 5, No. 2 Spring 1994.
We have omitted the footnotes from this text as they are mainly short biographies of people in the text. This interview first appeared in Solidarity Vol. 6 no.2 when Reichanbach was a militant in the anti-parliamentary Left in Germany. He was interviewed by Rudi Dutschke (RH)
Anti-Bolshevist Communism in Germany - Paul Mattick
The council-communist Paul Mattick looks back at the German revolution he participated in.
He describes the conflicts and tensions between the various political factions; between communist revolutionaries and social democracy, between German revolutionaries and Russian Bolshevism. He discusses reasons for the failure of the revolution in the context of the wider international situation and the development trends of capitalism.
Hoelz, Max, 1889-1933
A short biography of German communist Max Hoelz, known as the Red Robin Hood for his daring acts expropriating from the rich to distribute to workers and the unemployed.
Max Hoelz, The Red Robin Hood
Born 14 October 1889 - Moritz bei Riesa, Germany, died 15 September 1933 - Gorky, Russia
Appel, Jan, 1890-1985
A short autobiography of Jan Appel, aka Jan Arndt, a German libertarian communist and shipyard worker who most famously hijacked a steam ship to Russia after the German Revolution of 1918.
Appel's experiences during the 1918 Revolution drove him out of the Communist Party, and he subsequently helped found the more radical Communist Workers Party (KAPD).
