Georgiy Dimitrov read his speech at the Leipzig trial. See you in the USSR! Phenomena mentioned in the text
The Leipzig Trial is the first victory of the communists over the fascists September 21st, 2016
On September 21, the trial of the arson of the Reichstag in Berlin began in Leipzig. There were five people in the dock, four of whom were communists. The charges against them were collected so crudely that in the end, on December 23, the trial ended with the acquittal of four of the five defendants due to insufficient evidence.
The first of the suspects was detained by a certain Marinus van der Lubbe, a citizen of the Netherlands, who, as it turned out later, left the communist movement back in 1931. The next to be arrested was the leader of the parliamentary faction of the German Communist Party, Ernst Torgler. Since the German press was full of unfounded accusations against the communists, he himself went to the police, where he intended to state his position, but was captured and put behind bars. Three more people were arrested on a tip from a waiter at one of the establishments, who, in order to receive easy money announced for a reward for the capture of Marinus van der Lubbe’s accomplices, slandered three restaurant patrons. They turned out to be Bulgarian communists Blagoy Popov, Vasil Tanev and the leader of the Comintern underground Georgiy Dimitrov. The Bulgarians immediately began to completely deny any connection with Marinus van der Lubbe, since they did not even know him.
But in order to understand the background of the Reichstag arson trial organized by the Nazis, we need to recall the historical context of those February events.
And this is how things stood in Germany at the beginning of 1933. Despite the fact that by that time the Nazis had already come to power (Adolf Hitler was appointed Reich Chancellor on January 30, 1933), in the upcoming elections in early March they did not feel at all confident of their victory. The influence of the German Communist Party and trade unions was quite high and would not have allowed the Nazis to gain a majority in parliament.
On February 27, 1933, an event took place in Berlin that has gone down in history as another provocation of the German Nazis. In the evening of that day, the Reichstag building was set on fire, which was very badly damaged and subsequently was not used for a long time. The Nazi-controlled press unanimously began to blame the communists for the arson.
The law abolished freedom of personality, assembly, union, speech, and press. The secrecy of correspondence and the inviolability of private property were abolished. The German Communist Party was banned. Over the next few days alone, several thousand communists were arrested, as well as leaders of liberal and social democratic movements. All printed publications opposing the Nazis were closed. But even despite such measures, the Nazis failed to obtain the necessary majority. As a result, they deprived the communists and a number of social democrats of their mandates and passed through parliament the “Law to eliminate the disasters of the people and the state,” after which local members of the Hitler party began to seize power. This is how the Nazi dictatorship began in Germany.
These events alone provide a clear understanding of who actually benefited from the burning of the Reichstag building. Research carried out later showed that the fire was the work of a group of stormtroopers led by Karl Ernest, trusted men of Röhm, acting with the assistance of Goering and Goebbels. After all, only in the course of extinguishing the fire, firefighters who arrived at the scene discovered 65 fires throughout the building, which clearly indicated the coordinated actions of a large group. Many unsightly facts for the Nazis were revealed during the arson investigation, but the Nazis methodically and mercilessly destroyed all witnesses and participants in those events.
But let’s return to the trial, which, according to the fascists, should be an exemplary trial of the communists, who, according to the Nazis, after the Reichstag fire, intended to start a putsch and an illegal seizure of power. Let me remind you that it took place from September 21 to December 23, 1933. A total of 54 meetings were held, the proceedings of which were covered by 120 journalists from all over the world, with the exception of Soviet ones (the Nazis did not allow them to attend the trial).
It should be noted that before the trial began, this case was considered in London by an international commission, which included prominent public figures from European countries. German emigrants raised the entire international community to their feet and collected many facts indicating the Nazis' involvement in the Reichstag fire. By the time the commission completed its work, it became clear that Marinus van der Lubbe was indeed an arsonist, but served only as a tool in the hands of the Nazis. At the trial in Leipzig, prosecutors tried their best to ensure that the facts discovered by the commission were not brought to trial.
The four defendants did not cause any trouble to the court and the prosecution, but Georgiy Dimitrov, who acted as a defense lawyer (the German authorities assigned a lawyer to the accused, whose tactics did not suit the Bulgarians), did it so brilliantly that he practically turned the trial around. He did everything to expose the criminal acts of the Nazis and, in fact, acted as a prosecutor.
Dimitrov’s brilliant defense at the trial was highly praised, as the trial came under close attention from the whole world. The trial was widely covered in the press and broadcast on radio. Georgy Dimitrov’s speeches at the trial are described in Kamen Kalchev’s book “Dimitrov: Son of the Working Class” (Young Guard, Moscow, 1962). Here are some quotes from speeches at the trial by Dimitrov himself, who behaved confidently and calmly during the trial, since he could prove that he was in Munich at the time of the arson of the Reichstag building:
— I am here to defend communism and myself.
— I defend myself as an accused communist. I defend my own communist revolutionary honor. I defend my ideas, my communist beliefs. I defend the meaning and content of my life. Therefore, every word I uttered before the trial is, so to speak, blood from blood and flesh from my flesh. Every word is an expression of my deepest indignation against the unfair accusation, against the fact that such an anti-communist crime is attributed to the communists.
— Further, it is also absolutely correct that I am for the proletarian revolution and for the dictatorship of the proletariat. I am deeply convinced that this is the salvation and the only way out of the economic crisis and military catastrophe of capitalism. And the struggle for the dictatorship of the proletariat and for the victory of communism, undoubtedly, constitutes the content of my life. I would like to live at least another twenty years for communism and then die in peace. But that is precisely why I am a resolute opponent of the methods of individual terror and putschism. I have absolutely nothing, either direct or indirect, to do with the burning of the Reichstag. I see the Reichstag arsonist Van der Lubbe for the first time here in this hall.
— The entire preliminary investigation against me was conducted with bias and with the clear intention at any cost, despite all the contradictory facts, to frame me for the Reichstag court as an arsonist of the Reichstag, after the preliminary investigation, which lasted for months, was unable, as is now clear to me, to find the real culprits.
— Who is Van der Lubbe? Communist? Not at all! Anarchist? No! He is a declassed worker, he is a rebellious lumpenproletarian, a creature who has been abused, who has been used against the working class. No, he is not a communist. He is not an anarchist. Not a single communist in the world, not a single anarchist, will behave in court the way Van der Lubbe behaves. True anarchists do meaningless things, but in court they answer and explain their goals. If any communist had done something like that, he would not have remained silent in court when innocent people were sitting in the dock. No, Van der Lubbe is not a communist, not an anarchist; he is a tool abused by fascism.
Dimitrov performed so brilliantly that he drove Goering, a witness at the trial, into hysterics. A vivid description of the duel between Dimitrov and Goering was given by the Viennese Social Democratic newspaper Arbeiterzeitung:
“The man who there, in Leipzig, stands proudly, bravely, undaunted before the vile court, will live as one of the heroes of this dark time: Dimitrov, the Bulgarian communist. Each of his questions makes a hole in the wall of stupidity, meanness and baseness that the German rulers have erected around collapsing capitalism. Through these gaps blows the breath of a future full of freedom, greatness and human dignity. Each of his questions is an attack, and not one of his questions serves his personal defense: this man doomed to death is not fighting for his life, he is fighting for a high cause to which he subordinates his life, for socialism, which fills him with self-awareness, confidence in victory Rarely has it happened to see something as stunning, something as shaking and inspiring as this man’s struggle against the German rulers. They, these blood-stained conquerors, have a ministry of propaganda, they have gigantic fireworks and gigantic demonstrations, they have loudspeakers and machine guns, meeting halls and courts - and this accused Bulgarian, this lonely Dimitrov, has nothing but his lips, his courage, his fanaticism. And yet the German dictators, gnashing their teeth, feel that this doomed man is stronger than their entire apparatus of power, that his every question has a stronger effect than all their diabolically functioning propaganda. All this came to an end yesterday, culminating in a scene in which the essence of the proletarian revolution collided with the infamy of the fascist dictatorship. Goering, a murderer, an arsonist and a morphine addict, the all-powerful Minister of Terror and Death, testified yesterday at the trial... The nerves of the morphine addict could not stand it... The most powerful man in Prussia, the man whom Germany fears most, lost his self-control, began to roar and scream, Like a crazy".
At a rally of Soviet and Cuban youth in Moscow in 1962, Nikita Khrushchev described the trial of Dimitrov as follows:
“At the Leipzig trial he was, as it were, in a cage with tigers. It is impossible to read what Georgiy Dimitrov said there without emotion. He spoke as if it was not him who was being tried in Leipzig, but he who was being tried, who was trying Goering, who was trying Goebbels, who was trying Hitler, who was trying the fascist bosses and monsters, who was trying the fascist regime.”.
As a result, the Leipzig trial did not end at all as the Nazis had planned. Only the arsonist himself, Marinus van der Lubbe, was sentenced to death. The remaining defendants were acquitted due to insufficient evidence. Despite pressure from the Nazi leadership, the judges never risked convicting the innocent. Nevertheless, Goering sent all four acquitted to prison. And only on February 27, 1934, under strong pressure from international public opinion, three Bulgarian communists were released, but the German communist Torgler was immediately sent to a concentration camp.
It should be recalled that the fascists were also preparing a trial of the leader of the German Communist Party, Ernst Thälmann, but after the failure at the Leipzig trial, they did not dare to organize it. Ernst Thälmann spent the entire time of the Nazi dictatorship in dungeons, and in 1944 he was summarily executed in Buchenwald.
A year later, in May 1945, the workers' and peasants' Red Army, under the leadership of the All-Union Bolshevik Communist Party, will win a great victory over fascism, and the Red Banner of Victory will “blaze” over the Reichstag building - the lair of the Nazi beast. And soon the prosecutors of the Leipzig trial themselves will find themselves in the dock of the international tribunal in Nuremberg.
There are such significant events that were the work of individual efforts of one specific person. In this sense, it became widely known in the 20th century. Leipzig process. Conceived as a tribunal condemning international communism, it turned into a tribunal condemning Hitler's fascism. This happened solely as a result of the heroism and titanic will of the Bulgarian communist Georgi Dimitrov.
And the so-called “Dimitrov’s” definition of fascism, presented in the resolution of the XIII Plenum of the ECCI and repeated at the VII Congress of the Comintern by Georgiy Dimitrov, the rapporteur on this issue, sheds light on the minds of our contemporaries. “Fascism is an open terrorist dictatorship of the most reactionary, the most chauvinistic, the most imperialistic elements of finance capital... Fascism is not a supra-class power and not the power of the petty bourgeoisie or the lumpen proletariat over finance capital. Fascism is the power of financial capital itself. This is an organization of terrorist reprisals against the working class and the revolutionary part of the peasantry and intelligentsia. Fascism in foreign policy is chauvinism in its crudest form, cultivating zoological hatred against other peoples.”(G. Dimitrov).
Coming from among printing workers, G. Dimitrov (1882-1949) grew up and became tempered in the struggle against capitalist exploitation, for freedom and social justice. The student and ally of Dimitar Blagoev is established as a proletarian revolutionary. At the age of 20, he joined the ranks of the Bulgarian Workers' Social Democratic Party. This happened during the height of the struggle between the Marxist and opportunist wings in its ranks. Without any hesitation, Dimitrov takes the side of the Marxists and takes an active part in the struggle against the opportunists. The party cleared its ranks of Bersteinism (1903), and after the victory of the October Revolution began to call itself Communist and, together with other parties, participated in the creation of the Communist International. In it, Georgy Dimitrov went from an ordinary member to the first leader, always being in the forefront of the struggle. The world's first anti-fascist uprising, which broke out in Bulgaria in September 1923, is also associated with his name.
The fire in the Reichstag found G. Dimitrov the head of the Western European Bureau of the Communist International. This provocation did not surprise him. It was clear to him that it fit into the policy of the German bourgeoisie, which, frightened by the growth of the revolutionary movement, the growing authority and influence of the Communist Party of Germany, put Adolf Hitler in power. On January 13, 1933, Reich President von Hindenburg appointed him Chancellor of Germany. An open fascist dictatorship was established in the country, threatening terror and destruction to all progressive forces in the country. And it is not surprising that the first thought that struck Dimitrov upon hearing the news of the fire was: “It’s starting!”
By some “accident”, A. Hitler, G. Goering and J. Goebbels find themselves in front of the Reichstag engulfed in fire. Hitler shouts: “This is a sign from God! If this fire is, as I am convinced, the work of the Communists, then we must crush this deadly plague with an iron fist.” These words were an instruction, a command, an order to act. And action doesn’t take long to arrive. The next day, von Hindenburg signs the “Decree for the Protection of the People and the State,” on the basis of which mass terror begins throughout the country. Its first victims are communists, followed by social democrats and other anti-fascists. In the first days of March 1933, the leader of the Communist Party of Germany, Ernst Thälmann, was arrested. On March 9, a group of three Bulgarian communists - Georgiy Dimitrov, Vasily Tanev and Blagoy Popov - was added to the group of arrested German communists.
In the order for the arrest of G. Dimitrov, the charge is formulated as follows: “... February 27, 1933, together with the bricklayer Van der Lubbe:
- made an attempt to change the political structure of Germany through violence;
- deliberately setting fire to the Reichstag building ... with the intention of using it as a signal for an uprising ... ".
The fact that the trial was politically motivated did not surprise Dimitrov, but he was outraged that the reason for the trial was a criminal atrocity. He believed that by linking his activities with such a crime, his honor and dignity as a person and a proletarian revolutionary were being violated. Therefore, Georgiy Dimitrov sends a letter of protest to the police investigative authorities. In it he indignantly rejects all suspicion of any direct or indirect participation in this anti-Communist act, in this reprehensible crime from any point of view, and strongly protests against the unheard-of injustice committed against him in connection with his arrest in connection with this crime. “As a communist, as a member of the Bulgarian Communist Party and the Communist International,” he declares, “I am fundamentally against individual terror, against all senseless arson, because these acts are incompatible with communist principles and methods of mass work, with economic and political work, because they only bring harm to the liberation movement of the proletariat, communism.”
And regarding the accusation that he participated in the crime attributed to him together with Van der Lubbe, G. Dimitrov explains that he learned about the fire from the newspapers on February 28 on the train, when he was traveling from Munich to Berlin. Then for the first time he learned the name and saw the photograph of the “arsonist.” He explains that during his stay in Germany he did not interfere in the internal affairs of the country, and did not take either direct or indirect participation in the political struggle in Germany. Resolutely rejecting any suspicion of participation in this monstrous crime, Dimitrov notes: “In my deep conviction, the fire in the Reichstag can only be the work of distraught people or the worst enemies of communism, who wanted by this act to create a favorable atmosphere for the defeat of the labor movement and the Communist Party of Germany. I, however, am neither a madman nor an enemy of communism." Here the address of the real arsonists is clearly indicated.
Georgiy Dimitrov's letter of protest shows that he understood the Nazis' plan very well and correctly. This plan was that either G. Dimitrov should become their blind instrument, which they would use for their own purposes as the ruling force of the German big bourgeoisie to defeat the Communist Party of Germany, or he would have to part with his violent and rebellious head. Dimitrov responds with a well-thought-out strategy and tactics of political defense on the eve of the upcoming trial and adheres to its main features throughout the entire process.
Unlike Georgiy Dimitrov, the police and judicial authorities were unable to decipher his message expressed in a letter of protest. If they had been able to do this, they would not have suffered the humiliation that they were forced to endure in connection with the acquittal, which became possible thanks to the courageous behavior of G. Dimitrov.
At the trial, two unequal, two unequal magnitudes met and fought. Unequal and unequal because they were representatives of two different worlds - the old one, leaving and the new one, coming to replace it. And A.I. Herzen said that there is one inexorable law in nature, according to which babies sometimes die, and old people always die.
In response to Dimitrov’s letter of protest, the Nazi authorities, represented by the investigation and the court, decide to break the strength and will to fight of the “dark Balkan subject,” as the fascists called him, through physical violence, hunger, etc. Only a week after his arrest he is transferred to Moabit prison, and through another - handcuffs are put on him, which are not removed day or night for five months. Added to all this are open threats of violence. During one of the interrogations, Advisor to the Imperial Court Vogt, in response to Georgiy Dimitrov’s statement that he vouches with his head for the innocence of Popov and Tanev, since they and he “have nothing to do with the Reichstag fire,” warns him not to vouch so generously with it, because he will have to part with her anyway. And Goering, from the height of his position as Minister-Chairman and Minister of the Interior, threatened him with reprisals as soon as he left the courtroom.
The difficult prison regime for Bulgarian defendants and constant death threats from high-ranking officials give G. Dimitrov the feeling that he is at a “sacred crossroads.” Already the first clashes with his accusers tell him that, by chance, in his hands lies not only his personal fate as a proletarian revolutionary, but also the fate of the communist movement to which he devoted his life. Realizing that he faces a very difficult fight, he begins to prepare very seriously: he enriches his knowledge of philosophy, studies the history of the German people. This allows him to better understand the events that took place in the early 30s in Germany. Dimitrov comes to the conclusion that these events are temporary and in many ways are a return to the past. On May 3, 1933, he writes in his prison diary: “In prison I read about 6,700 pages on German history.” Along with studying various works on history, he also studies the works of Goethe, Shakespeare, Byron, etc. According to him, Goethe’s aphorism “If you lose property, you lose little,” made a very strong impression on him. If you lose honor, you lose a lot. If you lose courage, you lose everything!” And also: “The wolf will tear to pieces the one who behaves like a lamb.” And on May 1, International Workers' Day, he notes: “...I am imprisoned in Moabit, in handcuffs! Very disgusting and sad. But... Danton: “No weakness!”
All the documents of the trial indicate that from the day of his arrest until the moment of his release, G. Dimitrov did not allow any, absolutely no weakness. Both during the police investigation and during the trial itself, he does not lose courage and therefore does not lose both his honor and his dignity as a proletarian revolutionary.
The news of the arrest of Dimitrov, Popov and Tanev and the false accusation brought against them outraged the world progressive community. In many countries, committees are emerging in defense of the victims of the Nazi dictatorship in Germany. In many cities and villages in European countries, people are expressing their outrage. The International Committee for the Defense of Victims of German Fascism is created, headed by the English lawyer Denis Nowell Pritt. This committee forms the International Commission of Inquiry, whose task was to find out the truth about the Reichstag fire. It became known as the "London Counter-Trial". The counter-process conducted an investigation and on September 20, 1933, issued its conclusion that the accused communists were innocent. The commission expresses its fundamental suspicions that the Reichstag was set on fire either by the leaders of the fascist party themselves, or this happened on their instructions. These suspicions had a very strong influence on the expansion of the protest movement throughout the world and placed the court in Leipzig, which opened on September 21, in a very delicate position.
The absurd accusations are repeated in the indictment served on the defendants on August 3, 1933. This does not surprise Georgiy Dimitrov. It became obvious that the Nazis were determined to make the accused arsonists at all costs. This means that their goal is to deal a crushing blow to the German Communist Party and the international communist movement, to act as the saviors of the world from communism.
To achieve this goal, the Nazis impose another provocation. They deprive G. Dimitrov of the right to legal protection. 25 lawyers from different countries announced their readiness to appear in court as his defenders, but not a single one of them was allowed into court. Dimitrova was left with only a service defender. It was Dr. Paul Teichert. He did not support Dimitrov's decision to give the defense a political character. Then Georgy Dimitrov declares that he will be responsible only for those actions and proposals of Teichert that are previously agreed with him. In this case, G. Dimitrov was both the accused and the defense attorney. The prosecution invited more than 60 false witnesses to the trial, who were supposed to prove the guilt of the defendants, but they failed. Dimitrov followed their every word with great attention, analyzed their testimony, asked them questions, and they, taken out of the context of the suggestions, became completely helpless. The prosecution argued that the purpose of the arson was to signal an uprising, but none of the witnesses could provide an example of any such preparation. Georgiy Dimitrov concludes that nothing of the kind happened and therefore the accusation is false.
The climax of the fight comes when he is given the floor for the final speech. This happens on December 16, 1933. In this speech the whole of G. Dimitrov is revealed, both as a person and as a proletarian revolutionary, patriot and internationalist. At the beginning of his speech, he expresses his deepest indignation at the unfair accusation that such an anti-communist crime is attributed to the communists. At the same time, he admits that during the trial his language was sometimes harsh, but this happened because he was defending himself, defending the meaning and content of his life, his communist beliefs. Therefore, “every word I uttered before the Imperial Court is blood from blood and flesh from my flesh.” He cannot speak in a calm language when his people are called savage and barbaric. A people who have been under foreign yoke for 500 years without losing their language and national identity, the working class and peasantry who are courageously fighting against fascism and for communism, such a people cannot be savage and barbaric. The savages and barbarians in Bulgaria are only fascists. “I have not the slightest reason to be ashamed of being Bulgarian. On the contrary, I am proud to be the son of the Bulgarian working class.”
Dimitrov attacks the main thesis of the indictment, that the Reichstag fire was the work of the KPD and the international communist movement, that the fire should have served as a signal for an uprising in order to change the political system in Germany. He makes an in-depth analysis of the political situation in the country on the eve of the arson, revealing the contradictions in this country, the class basis of the fascist dictatorship and the harassment of capitalist tycoons. Georgiy Dimitrov points out that the political situation of this period is characterized by two main points: on the one hand, the fascists’ desire for autocracy, on the other, the KKE’s desire to create a united front of workers to counter the capitalist class and the violence of the fascist dictatorship. Under these conditions, the Nazis need a reason to carry out their planned terror against the working class and its vanguard - the KPD. This occasion is created by setting the Reichstag on fire. This is eloquently proven by the fact that the very next day after the arson, a Decree on the elimination of the democratic rights and freedoms of citizens appears. Revealing all this, G. Dimitrov reproaches the judicial investigation for going in the wrong direction, looking for arsonists where they are not and cannot be. “Thus,” Dimitrov concludes, “this crime was born, as I believe, from a secret alliance between the political madness of Van der Lubbe and the political provocation of the enemies of German communism... The representative of political madness is here in the dock, the representative of political provocation, the enemies of the German working class missing, he has disappeared." Van der Lubbe could not have known that while he was making awkward attempts to set fire to the restaurant, the corridor and the lower floor, at the same time others were setting fire to the plenary hall. Georgi Dimitrov categorically states: “Who is Van der Lubbe? Communist? No... Van der Lubbe is not a communist or an anarchist, not a real worker, but a lumpen-proletarian, a declassed worker, an unfortunate tool that was abused by the enemies of communism, the enemies of the working class from which he came.” Analyzing the results of the judicial investigation, G. Dimitrov makes the following conclusion: “The legend that the fire in the Reichstag was the work of communists has completely collapsed... The fire in the Reichstag has no connection with the activities of the communist party - not only with the uprising, but even and with a demonstration, with a strike or with another action of a similar kind... It has been proven that the fire in the Reichstag was the occasion, the prelude to a broadly conceived destructive campaign against the working class and its vanguard of the German Communist Party.”
Georgi Dimitrov highly appreciates the struggle of the KKE and the international communist movement. He understands that the fascist dictatorship put the German communists in very difficult conditions. But this in no way means that the KKE is showing a penchant for opportunistic actions. The international experience of the communist movement shows that communists can wage a victorious struggle even in illegal conditions. A striking example of this is the Bolshevik Party, which managed to carry out a socialist revolution in such conditions. He supports the KKE policy of creating a united workers' front and rejects the thesis of those who said that the KKE had no other choice but to organize an armed uprising. The KKE follows the line of the Communist International for mass work, mass struggle, mass resistance, a united front, rejecting adventures.
At the end of the speech, before the chairman of the court deprives G. Dimitrov of the floor, he speaks out regarding the prosecutor’s proposal to acquit due to lack of evidence. “I,” he says, “are absolutely dissatisfied with this... This would not eliminate suspicion... We... should be acquitted not for lack of evidence, but because we, as communists, cannot have anything to do with this anti-communist act.”
Both during the entire trial and in his final speech, G. Dimitrov was repeatedly interrupted and threatened that he would be deprived of his word. This made him hurry to have time to say everything he had planned. At the very end of the speech, he manages to point out a lesson that the German proletariat should keep in mind based on history. He formulates this lesson by quoting Goethe:
Rise like a heavy hammer -
Or stop at the anvil.
Dimitrov's last words in his final speech at the trial express his unconditional faith that the cause to which he dedicated his life will triumph: “The wheel of history is turning... it will continue to turn until the final victory of communism!”
December 23, 1933. Last meeting of the Imperial Court. After a three-month fight, the court was forced to acquit G. Dimitrov, B. Popov, and V. Tanev.
The world anti-fascist community is unanimous in its assessment of the Leipzig process, believing that it dealt the first moral and political blow to German fascism. Anti-fascists believe that the court verdict is evidence of the highest heroism and will to victory of the Bulgarian communist Georgi Dimitrov.
(Abridged edition)
Material from Uncyclopedia
In January 1933, the Nazis came to power in Germany. One of their first priorities was the defeat of the Communist Party of Germany, which they sought to present as the worst enemy of the people. On February 27, 1933, by order of the National Socialist leadership and G. Goering personally, the largest political provocation was carried out - the arson of the Reichstag. The arsonists escaped through an underground passage. At the scene of the incident, the Dutch unemployed Van der Lubbe was arrested, who was destined to play the role of one of the perpetrators of the criminal plot. A false version was put forward that he was a communist, and the arson was organized by the KKE as a signal for the start of the civil war. The leader of the KPD faction in the Reichstag, Torgler, as well as the Bulgarian revolutionaries G. Dimitrov, B. Popov and V. Tanev were arrested on charges of complicity in arson. The basis for the arrest of the latter was the statement of the informer that he allegedly saw them in the company of Van der Lubbe.
The Nazis expected that the court would deal with the accused, physically and morally broken. This was justified in relation to Torgler. But they clearly underestimated Dimitrov. The Nazis were opposed not by a “petty communist agitator,” but by a persistent and courageous man who was immeasurably superior to them intellectually. One of the leaders of the Bulgarian communists, a member of the Executive Committee of the Comintern, he was the only one of the accused who, thanks to his political experience and knowledge, could correctly assess the scale of the upcoming process and give a worthy rebuff to fascist provocateurs, refuting far-fetched accusations, reveal the bloody face of fascism, use the court platform for passionate a call for the unity of the working class, all working people, to contribute to the intensification of the anti-fascist struggle. In a written statement to investigative authorities on March 20, Dimitrov noted that “the fire in the Reichstag can only be the work of distraught people or the worst enemies of communism.”
The conditions of Dimitrov's imprisonment were difficult. From April 4 to August 31, his hands were shackled; in prison he learned about the grief that befell him - the death of his wife. But nothing could break Dimitrov, who was intensely preparing for the trial. With his questions to witnesses, incriminating them in lies, speeches and answers, Dimitrov wrested the initiative from the hands of the chairman of the court and the prosecutor and actually turned from an accused into a prosecutor. The process scenario conceived by the fascists failed. In his final speech, Dimitrov stated: “I defend my ideas, my communist beliefs. I defend the meaning and content of my life.” He expressed outrage that the crime was attributed to the communists. Dimitrov rejected insults against the Bulgarian people. “In Bulgaria only fascists are savages and barbarians,” he said. But I ask you - in what country are the fascists not barbarians and savages?
Leipzig attracted the attention of the whole world in 1933, and anti-fascist protests took place in many countries. The struggle for the release of Dimitrov and his comrades was led by A. Barbusse, R. Rolland, A. Einstein. The International Commission of Inquiry, created by the world's leading lawyers, even before the start of the Leipzig trial, held a counter-trial in London and indicated that the true culprits of the arson were the fascists. In the current situation, the court was forced to acquit the accused “for lack of evidence” (except for Van der Lubbe, who was sentenced to death). Dimitrov was not satisfied with this formulation, demanding a clear definition of the innocence of those falsely accused, as well as punishment for those who fabricated the case. Despite the fact that Dimitrov and his comrades were acquitted on December 23, they remained in custody for two months, where their lives were in danger. The decisive actions of the USSR, whose government granted Dimitrov, Popov and Tanev Soviet citizenship, led to the release of Bulgarian revolutionaries from fascist dungeons. On the evening of February 27, on the anniversary of the tragic events, Moscow greeted the heroes of Leipzig.
The Leipzig trial is one of the brightest events in the history of the struggle of all progressive forces against fascism, during which it suffered a serious blow in moral and political terms.
LEIPZIG TRIAL 1933
staged German court by fascists. trial against communists falsely accused of burning down the Reichstag; took place in Leipzig from 21 September. to 23 Dec. 1933. Capturing in January. 1933 power, the fascists set their task to defeat the Communist. party, destroy its influence among the masses. On the night of February 28. 1933 Nazis, acting directly under. leadership of G. Goering, set fire to the Reichstag building and, blaming the communists for this, launched mass terror. 28 Feb. An emergency decree was issued, abolishing freedom of the individual, assembly, unions, speech, and press.
Over the course of several For months, the Nazis prepared L. p., fabricating false accusations against several. communists, among whom was Bulgaria. revolutionary G. Dimitrov. Monstrous fash. the provocation caused a wide wave of protest throughout the world. A commission was created from the world's leading lawyers and conducted a detailed investigation into the circumstances of the crime. The “counter-trial” that took place in September 1933 in London, based on irrefutable facts, proved that the Reichstag was set on fire by the Nazis, who used an underground passage connecting the Reichstag with the Goering Palace. Immediately after the start of the process, G. Dimitrov turned fascist. trial in the arena of the struggle against the Hitlerite dictatorship. Dimitrov, who used L. p. to expose the Germans. fascism, completely refuted the false accusations, showed who was really to blame for the Reichstag fire. Brilliantly defending the cause of international proletariat, G. Dimitrov indicated the means of struggle against fascism: “Mass work, mass struggle, mass resistance, united front, no adventures! These are the alpha and omega of communist tactics.” The speeches of G. Dimitrov and pressure from the world community forced the court to acquit the accused communists.
Lit.: Dimitrov G., Leipzig process. Speeches, letters and documents, M., 1961; Fischer E., Signal. Dimitrov's fight against the warmongers, trans. from German, M., 1960; Leipzig process and international solidarity in the fight against fascism 1933-1934, C, 1958; Rakhmanova I.P., Georgy Dimitrov at the Leipzig trial, "NNI", 1957, No. 2; Kurella A., Dimitroff contra Göhring, V., 1964.
E. B. Lazareva. Moscow.
Soviet historical encyclopedia. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia. Ed. E. M. Zhukova. 1973-1982 .
See what "LEIPZIG PROCESS 1933" is in other dictionaries:
- (September 21-December 23) against the communists accused of setting fire to the Reichstag, staged by the German fascists. The main accused, G. Dimitrov, used the court platform to denounce German fascism. Under pressure from the international movement... ... Political science. Dictionary.
- (September 21–December 23), staged by the Nazis against the communists accused of setting fire to the Reichstag. The main accused, G. Dimitrov, used the court platform to denounce fascism. Under pressure from the international protest movement, the court is forced... ... encyclopedic Dictionary
A trial staged by German fascists against communists falsely accused of burning down the Reichstag; took place in Leipzig on September 21–December 23, 1933. Having seized power in January 1933, the Nazis set out to defeat... ...
1933 (September 21-December 23) against communists accused of burning down the Reichstag, staged by German fascists. The main accused, G. Dimitrov, used the court platform to denounce German fascism. Under pressure from the international movement... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary
The Reichstag Fire The Reichstag Fire (German: Reichstagsbrand) took place on February 27, 1933 and played a major role in consolidating Nazi power in Germany. Contents 1 Background ... Wikipedia
Leipzig process- (in Germany, 1933) ... Spelling dictionary of the Russian language
Years 1929 · 1930 · 1931 · 1932 1933 1934 · 1935 · 1936 · 1937 Decades 1910s · 1920s 1930s 1940s · 1950s ... Wikipedia
Reichstag fire ... Wikipedia
Leipzig, a city in the south of the GDR. Administrative center of the Leipzig district. 580.7 thousand inhabitants (1971). Located on the river. Weise Elster, at the confluence of the river. Place. One of the largest industrial, commercial and cultural centers of the country. Knot w. d.... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia
Georg Dimitrov and the Leipzig process. 1933
“Fascism is an open terrorist dictatorship
the most reactionary, the most chauvinistic,
the most imperialist elements of the financial
capital... Fascism is not supra-class power and not
the power of the petty bourgeoisie or lumpen proletariat over
financial capital. Fascism is the power of financial capital itself. This is an organization of terrorist reprisals against the working class and the revolutionary part of the peasantry and intelligentsia. Fascism in foreign policy is chauvinism in its crudest form, cultivating zoological hatred against other peoples.”
(G. Dimitrov).
“Born on June 18, 1882 in Radomir, near Sofia.
I left school after finishing second grade. Until 1904 he worked as a typesetter.
Son of the working class of Bulgaria...” - from the summary of the first speech before the court, compiled in prison on September 25, 1933.
1933 was a turning point for Germany. The Nazis came to power. Repressions against communists, workers, and social democrats swept across Germany. The processes were stamped like Ford cars coming off assembly lines for the future greatness of the Empire. But in one trial, even the unprincipled cutthroat imperial machine broke its teeth. This was the trial of the Bulgarian communist Georg Dimitrov. Many people living today don’t even know who it was named after. Let's say in Leningrad-Petersburg Dimitrova Street?
Meanwhile, accused by the Nazis of setting fire to the Reichstag along with other communists, this man challenged not just imperial justice, but also fascist ideology itself, the Nazi party itself and its executioners, who launched this process in the fall of 1933. Not only did Dimitrov scatter all the false accusations while in shackles, he made this process known to the world community and an arena for the propaganda of communist ideas, despite the fact that the court had to remove him from the courtroom many times.
And to this day, his defense speech pronounced in the Leipzig court on December 16, 1933 sounds and will sound like an angry accusation against all fascist executioners, all murderers of the bright future of humanity, all champions of elitist ideas. His speech served as a model for similar defensive speeches by communists in different countries, Toivo Antikainen, who was called “Dimitrov of the North,” in Finland, Nikos Beloyannis in Greece, Bram Fischar in South Africa.
It sounds to all those who want to build empires on mountains of corpses, to all those who push people into slaughter, hunger, poverty, who sow discord, non-reconciliation, who sow destruction and fear, who rob people of their future, their homeland, forcing them to wander around Earth.
Don’t you notice, having settled down on soft sofas, how neo-fascism, hiding behind the mask of bourgeois freedoms, is again building a system of elitism and selectivity? Which you, ordinary people, have no entry into. Do you really want to be deceived when people's faith in a bright future, coming from the now slandered past - the October Revolution, the Civil War, the Second World War, the Cold War, is being destroyed bit by bit. Lying about these events is your future taken away.
I'm writing this for a future process. After all, this will happen someday, when imperial fascism becomes completely insolent. And then, accused of setting the planet Earth on fire, a communist like Georg Dimitrov will stand up - and the planet will reel under the feet of liars and misanthropes.
Excerpts from the transcript of the last word:
“Dimitrov: I admit that I speak harsh and harsh language. My struggles and my life have also been harsh and harsh. But my language is a frank and sincere language...
I defend myself as an accused communist.
I defend my own communist revolutionary honor.
I defend my ideas, my communist beliefs.
I defend the meaning and content of my life.
Therefore, every word I uttered before the trial is, so to speak, blood from blood and flesh from my flesh. Every word is an expression of my deepest indignation against the unfair accusation, against the fact that such an anti-communist crime is attributed to the communists,” page 167
From the very first words one can feel the realization that the Reichstag fire is just a pretext for the trial of communism.
“It is true that Bulgarian fascism is savage and barbaric. But the Bulgarian working class and peasantry, the Bulgarian people's intelligentsia are by no means savages or barbarians... The people who lived for 500 years under foreign yoke without losing their language and nationality, our working class and peasantry who fought and are fighting against Bulgarian fascism, for communism , - such a people are not barbaric and savage. Savages and barbarians in Bulgaria are only fascists. But I ask you, Mr. Chairman: in which country are the fascists not barbarians and savages?
Chairman: (interrupts Dimitrov): You’re not hinting at political relations in Germany, are you? - pp. 168-169
“This is not the first time such an attempt has been attributed to the communists... I remind you of the train accident here in Germany, near Uteborg, committed by a psychopath, an adventurer, a provocateur. Then, not only in Germany, but also in other countries, the claim was spread for weeks that this was the work of the German Communist Party... Then it turned out that it was done by the psychopath and adventurer Mother.
Let me remind you of another example - the murder of the French president by Gorgulov. Then, too, in all countries they wrote that the hand of the communists was visible here. Gorgulov was portrayed as a communist, a Soviet agent. What happened? This assassination attempt turned out to be organized by the White Guards, and Gorgulov was a provocateur who wanted to achieve a severance of relations between the Soviet Union and France.
I will also remind you of the assassination attempt in St. Sophia Cathedral. This assassination attempt was not organized by the Bulgarian Communist Party, but because of it... Two thousand workers, peasants and intellectuals were brutally killed by fascist gangs... Back in 1920, the chief of the Sofia police, Prutkin, himself organized a bomb explosion during a strike of railway workers in order to provoke the Bulgarian workers."
Today everyone knows that bourgeois reaction has used this tactic of discrediting communism throughout history. Thus, the Bulgarian special services and Bulgaria, as a country of socialism, were accused of the assassination attempt on Pope John Paul 2. Whereas in fact, the roots of the assassination attempt were hidden in Turkey among the fascist organization “Gray Wolves”.
Dimitrov goes on to address another important issue of false accusations:
“I will remind you of one more point - forgery of documents. There are a large number of fakes against the working class... I will at least remind you of the so-called “Zinoviev’s letter”. It was faked..."
Dozens of false documents fabricated over different years were published in books, newspapers, and magazines. The Solzhenitsyns and Suvorovs spread this lie all over the world. A breakdown of some of them is given here: http://scepsis.net/library/id_2239.html
At all times, capital and its mercenaries - the fascists - were not original: provocations, terrorism, murders - everything is done with their dirty hands to enslave humanity. It is our direct duty to know history. And even more so to know the history of our victories and our defeats.
Georg Dimitrov is undoubtedly one of the greatest figures of the communist movement in the west of the 1st half of the 20th century. His courage and bravery are an example to follow for all who lead human progress.
…………………………………………………………
Georg Dimitrov and the Leipzig Trial. 1933
"Fascism is an open terrorist dictatorship
nay-reactionary, in nay-chauvinistic,
nay-imperialist elements on finance
capital... Fascism is not a supra-class force and not
silat on the drebna bourgeoisie or lumpen on the proletariat over
finance capital. Fascism is the power of finance capital. The organization of reprisals against the working class and against the revolutionary classes, often from the villagers and intelligentsia, is also terroristic. Fascism in foreign policy is chauvinism in its crudest form, cultivating a zoological smear against other peoples."
(Gr. Dimitrov).
"Born on June 18, 1882 in Radomir, near Sofia.
The school left a trace of the region in the second class. Until 1904 he was a typesetter.
Sin for the working class in Bulgaria.." - from the summary of the speech before the congress, prepared at the shutter on September 25, 1933.
1933 was a turning point for Germany. Let the Nazis go to power. In Germany, from the brink of repression, I will meet communists, workers, and social democrats. Processes stamped cars that came off the transportori on Ford for future greatness on the Imperiat. But in one process, the unprincipled cutthroat imperial machine broke the whole thing. Tova is the only sedeben process before the Bulgarian communist George Dimitrov. There are many living things today and they don’t know: in honor of someone, it’s beautiful. Yes, we are talking in Leningrad - Petersburg Dimitrova Street?
And at the same time, he was accused by the Nazis of being killed at the Reichstag, in concert with other communists and people of contempt for not just imperial justice, but also Samata fascist ideology, the Nazi party and the executioners, which is the same for the process of the president in 1933. Not only that Dimitrov scattered all kinds of false accusations and were in shackles, but he also sent the process of property to the bright public arena for propaganda of communist ideas, despite the fact that there was a lot of fussing from the courtroom.
And to this day, angry accusations against the fascist executioners, against the murderer - there will be more light for mankind, against the champions of the elite, sound and sound a negative defensive thought in the assembly in Leipzig, December 16, 1933. Rechta mu serve kato model for the protection of speech on communism in various countries Toivo Antikainen, named "Severen Dimitrov", in Finland, Nikos Beloyanis in Georgia, Brahma Fishar in South Africa.
You sound, sound and on all things onezi, who is looking for and will be saved by the empire in the planinite on the corpse, on all things onesies, who is pushing people together on the clan, famine, poverty, why is this discord, not reconciliation, who is sowing devastation and fear, who is robbing the Horat on It’s good for Rodinata si, forcing her to wander around Zemyata.
Nima is not whitewashed, having adapted to the meki divani, what is neo-fascism, hiding behind the mask of bourgeois freedom, again fencing the system for elitism, election? In koyato nyama entrance vi, obiknovenite choir. You wish Nima yes badat change, kogato little by little se humiliating vyarata na khorata in a brighter future, idvashchi from this slandered minaloto - Octomvriyskata Revolution, Civil War, Second World War, Student War. Lie for the purpose of shooting down - and your wealth will be taken away.
Write tova for the future process. At some point in the future, imperial fascism will finally become insolent. And togawa, accused of falling on the planet Earth se izdigne takv communist cato Georg Dimitrov - and e is set out at risk for the planet under the krakat on lzhtsit and misanthropes.
Take a break from the transcript for the last thought:
"Dimitrov: I admit, why did I speak harshly and rudely. They washed the belly and beat me sharply and harshly. But they washed the little guy - the little guy is open and sincere...
I am protecting myself and I am responding and I am a communist.
Az protection you own and communist revolutionary honor.
I will protect your ideas, your communist beliefs.
I put protection on you and put it on my stomach.
But every word is said to me before sitting down to the thought - tova e, so and so, krav from kravta and plat from platt mi. Every thought is expressed on my found indignation, unfair accusations, I will face the fact, this is an anti-communist crime, this is attributed to communism,” page 167
The meeting with nay-parvite dumi se usya osznavaneto, what was fired at the Reichstag - this is simply an apology for the process of communism.
“It’s clear that the Bulgarian fascism is diva and barbaric. But in the Bulgarian working class and peasants, the Bulgarian people’s intelligentsia is in no way a divaci and not a barbarian... The people, who lived under a foreign yoke for 500 years, don’t ruin your life and nationality, our working class and villagers, who themselves fought and are still fighting against Bulgarian fascism, communism - so the people are not barbaric and diva. fascist not sa barbari and not sa divaci?
Chairman: (President Dimitrov): Aren’t you hinting about political relations in Germany?” - paragraphs 168-169
“It’s not for the same thing as encroachment on communism... let us remind you for the disaster here, in Germany, close to Uteborg, good psychopath, adventurer, den. Togawa is not in Germany itself, but also in other countries during the week, due confirmation, what's the matter on the market on the communist party in Germany... The trace of what's happening, what's the psychopath and adventurer Maikata.
Let us remind you of another example - the murder of the French President Gorgulov. Togawa sho vv vsichki pages sa wrote, che tuk se vizhda rakata na kommunistite. Gorgulov is depicted as a communist, a socialist agent. How's it going? Tova's encroachment was organized by the White Guards, and Gorgulov - den, koito iska yes postign skasvane on the junction between the Soviet Union and France.
Let us remind you exactly about visiting the Sofia Assembly. Commodity encroachment was not quickly organized by the Bolgarskat Communist Party, but for its sake... Two filthy women workers, villagers and intellectuals brutally killed the fascists Bandi... Even before 1920, the head of the Sofiyskat police, Prutkin, organized strikes at the time self-explosion on the bomb in yes se provoking Bulgarian workers"
Today it is known in all respects, the tactics for discrediting kam communism, the bourgeois reaction has been applied in history. So, for the assassination attempt I will face Pope John Paul 2 and accuse the Bulgarians, Bulgaria, which is the state of socialism. Togawa, as a whole root for murder, was lurking in Turkey around Wednesday, the fascist organization "Civite Vulci".
Natatik Dimitrov is still important to the problems of inaccuracy:
“Let me remind you of one more point - falsifications on documents. I have met a lot of mislicits of the working class... let me remind you that this is called a “letter to Zinoviev”. It’s forged...”
Desetki falsified documents produced in various gods and vids in books, newsletters, write-offs. The Solzhenitsyns and Suvorovs rang out the basins of lies for the holy purpose. Dismantling on nyakoi from tyakh dana tuk: http://scepsis.net/library/id_2239.html
Vvsichki times, capital and negogovite mercenaries - fascists are not the same original: provocation, terrorism, murder - all the same pravi tehnite mrsni rtse for the destruction of humanity. You know the history of our direct debt. And even more importantly, they will recognize everything from the historian to sew up victories and sew up defeats.
Georg Dimitrov is undoubtedly one of the leading figures on the communist movement to the west from the first half of the 20th century. Negovata courage and bravery is an example for imitation in every way, somehow in the hope of human progress.