Marinus van der lubbe biography of george
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The exodus of the German 'creative thinkers' as Hitler seized control of Germany
February 1933: The Winter
of Literature
by Uwe Wittstock
Polity, £25
February 1933 was a busy month in the German Reich. Two days before the month began, Hitler, already Führer of the National Socialist German Workers’ [Nazi] Party, was appointed Chancellor of Germany by President Paul von Hindenburg.
Within a month, on February 27, the Reichstag was torched to the ground. Suspicions were widely cast — not least that it was an act of deliberate provocation by the new government — but the Nazi Party was quick to seize and “unconstitutionally execute” Marinus van der Lubbe, a young Dutch communist.
Elections followed on March 5, the Nazis polling 43.9 per cent of votes. Within another three months all non-Nazi parties, organisations, and labour unions would be abolished.
Bertolt Brecht (Photo: Getty Images)
German journalist Uwe Wittstock refreshes these familiar events by exploring their rapid impact on many of Germany’s greatest creative thinkers, who in a few short weeks were forced into an abrupt reckoning with their country.
The general population may have been reluctant to comprehend the force of the Nazi beast that was upon them, but cultural workers swiftly perceive
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Marinus van der Lubbe, George Orwell
and Walter Tapsell
Letter
Dear Editor
Having read the series of articles by Sylvia Pankhurst, How Hitler Rose to Power, in New Times and Ethiopian News of 3, 10 and 17 December 1938, I record my conviction that Marinus van der Lubbe was an honourable if misled revolutionary working-class hero, faithful to his anarcho-syndicalist direct action principles to the very last.
The slander about his moral degeneracy and all the other abuse poured on him by the Nazis and Communists alike was totally without foundation. Van der Lubbe stated from the first to the last that he did set fire to the Reichstag and continued to assert this to the very end. He did so in the mistaken hope that it might spark off a German revolution.
History has treated him very badly, and has been quite wrong. He should be added to the honourable rank of working-class hero, and his name restored to its proper place amongst martyrs for the cause.
To move on to Gordon Bowker’s recent biography of George Orwell, you will be interested to note that it cites Walter Tapsell’s Report on ILP Contingent from Spain in 1937 that mentions Orwell, and also shows how Orwell was spied on by David Crook, who was working for the Comintern apparatus, having recei
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George Lowen: Dismiss refugee curb black straighttalking champion
Reporting breakout South Continent as Admiral Mandela was discharged be bereaved hospital put in the bank Pretoria, depiction BBC's Depression Lowen took the level to hear more look on to his granddaddy - a distinguished anti-apartheid lawyer who died beforehand he was born.
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