It is estimated that over 30,000 Communist and/or Leftist sympathizers lost their lives during the  Nazi Regime's hold on power, many of these individuals suffered not just for their political association with the Nazi's political nemesis but because they actively participated in resistance to the regime.(1)   Yet despite their obvious role in resistance, little is known of their actions and motivations in general.  The role of Communist resistance to the Nazi regime has often been minimized by scholars.  The Communist Resitance has often been dismissed as either being completely abolished by Hitler during his rise to power, or as providing an insignificant level of opposition to the regime.   Although elements of truth can be found in these notions, they are not completely accurate.

 The view that the Communist were abolished  as a representative force stems from the KPD’s (German Communist Party) structural demise shortly after Hitler's rise to power.  The KPD did continue to operate underground for a period until its leadership was almost completely liquidated.  Many communist, those who may or may not have been official members of the KPD survived and eventually developed a presence of resistance in Germany.  However, legally the KPD did cease to be a force  after Hitler entered into power.

 The Nazis found there lucky charm in the guise of a Dutch Communist by the name of Marinus van der Lubbe.  On 27 February 1933 the German Reichstag was set on fire.  Mr. van der Lubbe, was apparently apprehended at the scene but few people actually believe he was the true culprit.  It is most probable that he was set up in some type of ruse.  Mr. van der Lubbe had been arrested several days earlier in a bar after exclaiming to the patrons that he had been engaged in arsonist attacks on public buildings.  The size and pattern of the fire suggested to many that other hands were at play.   Three Bulgarian Communist were also later implicated in the plot, but later cleared of charges due to a lack of evidence.  It most probable that SA stormtroopers engineered the fire.  Goering was later said to have boasted about Nazi responsibility for destroying the Reichstag.(2)

    In any event  the Reichstag fire became the means by which the Communist as well as most other political organizations would meet their demise.  Hitler seized upon the Reichstag Fire to produce a sense of hysteria among the German Public.  The regime claimed that a bolshevist revolution was underway in Germany and that communist were attempting to seize power.  Hindenburg, then still acting president was pressured into taking action by Hitler and some  conservative members of the Reichstag, there was also a likely pressure from industrialist who had long viewed the Communist as a threat.  On the day following the fire,   Hitler convinced Hindenburg  to sign a decree uspending the constitutional rights on civil liberties, the decree stated that:

Restrictions on personal liberty, on the right of free expression of opinion, including freedom of the press; on the rights of  assembly and association; and violations of the privacy of postal, telegraphic and telephonic communications; and warrants for house searches, orders for confiscation as well as restrictions on property, are also permissible beyond the legal limits otherwise prescribed  (3)

     Much of their legal and structural demise can be viewed as self inflicted. The Communist like many other groups are held at least partially responsible for Hitler’s rise to power and his subsequent political victory.  Had they been able to see past political differences with the Social Democrats they may have been able to crush the Nazi machine at its’ roots.  Accountability can be cast on all political parties in Germany.  In retrospect we can argue endlessly as to who merits more fault.  Communist can be blamed for adding to chaotic conditions in the street warfare that
helped breed insecurity among the German populous, they can also be blamed for refusing to cooperate with the Social Democrats in forming an alliance against the Nazis during the early elections.  The SPD leadership in turn can be held accountable for not utilizing its numbers to call for an immediate assault on Nazi members, that its' reliance on legality helped pave the way for
Hitler’s intrigue and manipulations.  As William Shirer pointed out in his History of the Third Reich:
 

No class or group or party in Germany could escape its’ share of responsibility for the abandonment of the democratic republic and the advent of Adolf Hitler.  The cardinal error of the Germans who opposed Nazism was their failure to unite against it (4)
 

     Even if the Communist and Social Democrats had been able to overcome there differences and formed a substantial voting block they still may not have been able to fend off the Nazi rise to power.  The National Socialist did have popular support, we must remember the conditions in which the Nazis rose to power.  Communism remained for many Germans an invasive concept, it challenged their cultural and religious traditions.  For many it was strictly associated with Bolshevism in the Soviet Union and viewed as a threat.  Hitler’ s rhetoric offered an alternative too many Germans.  He appealed to many in the working class because his rhetoric offered a sense of equality via race and culture.  He appealed to many in Labor because he gave lip service to Labor issues and often presented the German “working man” as heroic. Hitler, managed to appeal to both sides of the class struggle, he gained support from industrialist by advocating a fierce resistance to Communism.

 
     Hitler appealed to Labor because he was able to replace concepts of class struggle with race.  By placing a foreign, or Jewish face on certain aspects of industry he was able to create a scapegoat.  Hitler could appeal to everyone’s senses because he had no scruples.  Propaganda replaced reality.  He could promise anything because under the martial state he would initiate, he would not be held accountable.  Hitler was able via rhetoric to appeal to everyone's needs.  Communism could not promise the immediate rewards which National Socialism offered.  Thus National Socialism presented a great challenge to the Communist and Socialist parties.  As Peter Hoffman points out:
 

In this situation the Communist promised class warfare and a better, but distant future; the Nazis on the other hand, promised work, bread, and good order; since they also presented themselves as good patriots, many believed in them rather than the Communist who, it was feared would bring revolution and Civil War  (6)

     Unfortunately, many historians discredit the memory of resisters by evaluating them solely on their numbers relative to the population as a whole.  This is true of assessments made of  various resistance cells (conservative, leftist, military, religious, etc.).  Failures are often stressed, we are faced with question that focus on why they did not succeed instead of how they managed to persevere.  In recent years this tendency has evolved into outright attacks on the moral integrity of the Resistance Movement as a whole.  This is evinced by the Works of Daniel Goldhagen in his Hitler’s Willing Executioners and Theodore Hamerow’s On the Road to the Wolf's Lair.  Goldhagen has dismissed all Germans as conditioned by a virulent form of Anti Semitism. Hamerow has demonstrated negative views of resisters, seeing them as little more than opportunists.  Although many of these Historians express views pertaining mostly to those bourgeoisie elements involved in the July 20 Plot, they discredit the memory of leftist resistance as well by not even  seriously addressing their role in underground resistance cells. Goldhagen does not mention them at all and Hamerow briefly mention the Communist Resistance with one can be perceived as a type of condescending tone.  The following is an excerpt from On the Road to the Wolf’s Lair .
 

During the early years of the Third Reich die hard supporters of the parties active in the republican government, mostly Communist and Social Democrats, tried to maintain an underground opposition in Germany.  From time to time chalked slogans denouncing the Hitler dictatorship would appear on a wall or sidewalk, Anti- Nazi pamphlets would occasionally be smuggled in from abroad and circulated surreptitiously,... even small clandestine meetings would be organized to discuss and criticize Government policies.  By the middle of the decade, however, these faint attempts at organized political disaffection had come to an end.  That was due in part to a ruthlessness of the Gestapo, but mostly it reflects in the growing acceptance of the Nazi Order. (7)
 

       The significance of resistance should be measured according to its context.  Resisters should not simply be viewed as a minimal expression of a larger population but as individuals facing the pressures of a conformist majority  within a totalitarian society.  Germany was a supreme form of totalitarianism, despite Nazi popularity there were also strong elements of fear.  Political dissenters were under no illusion as to the consequences of their actions.  The concentration camps and prison were filled with individuals arrested for the slightest discressions.

Between 1933 and 1945 about three million Germans were held at some stage in a concentration camp or prison for political reasons, some only for a few weeks, Some for the whole twelve Years (9)

     Actions by Communist Resisters takes on even more significance when once considers that they were the earliest targets of the Third Reich.  Their Politics were viewed by many as threatening due to notions of the “Red Menace” thus they could count on little support from public opinion.  They were in a sense deduced to a status of bandit by the Regime.  They were demonized by many in the population to extents that superseded even the paranoia of McCarthyism.  There pamphleteering and acts of public dissent identified them as members of  a supposedly aggressive bolshevist force.  It took deep levels of bravery to continue protesting the regime.  As Prof. F. L. Carsten Points out:
 
 

Their unwavering loyalty to the cause of Socialism or Communism is indeed one of the few positive features in German History during the years 1933 - 45.  Even during the war this activity continued on a minor scale, and many hundreds more had to pay with their lives for their convictions (10)

    Scholarship relating to the Communist Resistance is not only hampered by evaluations that focus on size but on Post-War History.  The fact of the matter is little research was conducted on the actions and motivations of communist during the Third Reich.  Much of this stems from the conditions of the Cold war directly following Germany's defeat.  The bottom line is, research focusing on communist resisters was not popular.  The allied influenced society which sprang up after the war in Germany and abroad may have viewed such research endeavors as not profitable.  Communism was to many, even in academic circles anathema.  Subsequent discoveries on Stalin's double handed dealing with Hitler further shadowed the memory of Communist Resisters.  They were often associated with Stalin's agenda and at best they were approached awkwardly by American and European Scholars.  They were in the minds of many another side of the totalitarian coin.  They were still demonized despite their noble efforts.  At best they were viewed as misguided.  The problem of viewing resisters based on their “successes,” and population is compounded by the polarized world of Cold War Politics.  Thus focus was placed instead on the actions of the July plotters.  These after all were for the most part anti-Communist and identifiable with the Western Political scene in subsequent decades after the war.  Historical analysis of Leftist activity in Germanys Third Reich for the most part ends with the KPD’s structural demise.  At best Communist Resistance is mentioned only in passing.  Reality presents a slightly different picture.
The Left remained active throughout the war.  Like most resistance cells in the Reich, efforts were made on an individual or small organization level.  The fact that much of communist resistance emanates from small scale groups does not necessarily reflect a lack of participants  but results mainly for functional purposes.  Small organizations had a much greater likelihood of avoiding infiltration and detection.  In the German Resistance to Hitler, Prof. F. L. Carsten agrees:
 

As soon as they extended beyond a certain point  or tried to start activities on a larger scale they became the victims of the Gestapo...after about 1936 it was more generally realized that only very small groups had a chance of surviving and that the range of their activities had to remain extremely limited if they did not wish to share the fate of their predecessors.(11)
 

     Herbert Baum, a Jewish electrician with Marxist beliefs had organized a group of factory workers in Berlin.  The group extensively distributed Anti-Nazi literature and committed acts of industrial sabotage.  Baum is most noted for his arsonist attack on a Nazi Art exhibit titled “Soviet Paradise”. (see Eurodocs link) The exhibit was intended to make a mockery of Socialism by presenting Soviet life in a negative light,   Using a chemical agent, Baum and several of his compatriots burned the artworks and attempted to destroy much of tthe exhibit.  In any other society this could be viewed as a typical act of vandalism but within the conditions of Nazi Germany, this was a significant act of political opposition.    Public acts like the one’s conducted by Baum and his followers are significant because they represent direct acts of resistance.  Baum’s actions extend beyond small anonymous actions and represent a collective consciousness of opposition.  As a result of their activities Baum and his associates met their death in Moabit prison.
 

     It is interesting to note that some of the earliest assassination attempts made on Hitler were engineered by Communists.  Such actions have been overshadowed by the famous attempt of July 20, 1944 conducted by the Stauffenberg circle.  Almost five years earlier, George Elser a Communist and former member of the Red Front Fighters’ League was among the first to seriously make an attempt on Hitler’s life.  Elser came very close to success.  On November 8 1939, Elser placed a bomb in the paneling of a column in a  the Burgerbraukeller restaurant where Hitler was to make a commemorative speech regarding the 1923 Putsch.  The restaurant had political significance for the Nazis since it was one of  their early centers of organization.  Unfortunately Hitler arrived earlier than scheduled and managed to provide his monologue in less time than was his custom..  After delivering his speech he immediately exited the building escaping death by 13 minutes.  The bomb did detonate and eight Nazis were killed, many more were injured.

     Elser was apprehended and found to be carrying a “Red Front” membership card in his coat.  Surprisingly Elser had managed to survive most of the war in a concentration camp, (Hitler had planned on holding a symbolic trial after the war), unfortunately, he was murdered at war’s end by the Gestapo.  Although Elser was acting individually his actions are significant.  Resistance on even the smallest scale is important because it commemorates the power of the individual to oppose conformity.  There is little doubt that Elser’s actions set an example for future attempts.  His actions although soliciting little sympathy from the general public at large, struck a chord among various opponents of the regime.  Individual acts set the path for larger actions, even if such actions are unsuccessful they present an alternative for humanity.

     Like, Elser there were a large number of individuals who either based on their socialist convictions or out of opposition to Nazi tyranny chose to resist.  Many of these individuals were active in the Communist Party and subsequently joined up with Underground operative cells after the KPD’s official demise.  Although the Communist and Social Democratic
Parties were rivals many of the underground groups were comprised of Socialist/Communist from both parties.  Despite continuing political differences some resistance groups were actually comprised of components from both camps.  One such group merits particular attention that was the organization known as “Neu Beginnen”.

     Neu Beginnen was formed by Walter Lowenheim in 1929 and has been described as being  a “Leninist” organization.   The group organization had taken its’ name from one of its’ publications (Beginning afresh) The Group’s original membership was predominantly from the Social Democratic Party but began a swing leftward that entailed an increased number of communist who had grown wary of the KPD’s reliance on USSR influenced dogmatic approaches.   Prior to the Nazi seizure of power, Loweheim originally hoped to use the organization to infiltrate the KPD, SPD and other organizations and gear their leadership toward a “truer” path of Socialism, based on Lenin's views.   Many of the members who had formerly been active in the Social Democratic Party were seeking a more traditional Marxist approach.

     The organization was extremely active in the publication of underground literature during the Nazi regime. Neu Begginnen presses were noted for producing illegal political works disguised as popular literature.  The group  constituted a large network that enabled resisters from various cells to maintain contact.  The organization was able to provide a substantial underground system of operation because of its original clandestine purpose (infiltrating other organizations, etc.), and managed to stay active up until 1939 when most of its’ members were apprehended and interned in concentration camps.  Neu Begginnen mainly concerned itself with  establishing a unified network of communication but hesitated from pushing for mass action against the regime.
It was Lowenheim’s hope that through dissemination they would be able to educate the working classes as to the evils of the regime while at the same time starting a base from which they could stir workers into industrial sabotage.
 

     Eventually the group became involved in attempting to form a united coalition of resisters under a “German Popular Front”  Attention began to focus on a political objective after the fall of Hitler..  Although they began to seek a larger base they had no intention of a direct violent approach.  They wished to continue oppositonal actions against the regime while planning a new government after Hitler’s fall.
 

To this end the political organization of the German Popular Front has been formed  to include past and present members of Germanys left wing parties.  This organization leads the struggle against dictatorial principles and, after the fall of Hitler, will be prepared to take over the government of the German Republic with a sound program designed to rescue the German people from the political and economic chaos created by Hitler (12)

     As was mentioned previously, the resisters were facing an antagonistic majority, That majority was receiving a steadfast diet of National Socialist Propaganda.  Before a mass militant
operation could be conceived, opinions would have to be swayed.  Again, this brings us to the point that Communist resisters are often viewed as insignificant when compared with the numbers of Nazi supporters.  Once we accept the fact that dissenters were the minority we must then consider their significance in that context.  In that light, we see just how pertinent their use of propaganda was.

     Neu Beginnen was also significant because it represented a German Grass Roots Communist organization.  Although other German Communist provided acts of resistance,  Neu Beginnen was the largest communist organization which acted on its own recognizance as opposed to directives from the Moscow Soviet.  This brings us to another issue which has contributed to the minimization of the Communist Resistance in historiography.  The actions of Communist dissenters is often attributed by scholars as based primarily on directives outside of Germany, from the Soviet Union.  Thus the Communist Resistance is often portrayed as really being a counter intelligence network as opposed to a form of “German Resistance”  There is no
doubt that many of the resistance cells collaborated with the USSR's intelligence network and that most communist adhered to the Bolshevist concept of an “International Soviet”.  In some cases resistance cells were primarily espionage units, as is the case of the “National Committee for a Free Germany, (German POWs and Communist exiles living in the Soviet Union).
 

     There were a number of groups that had strong ties with the Soviet Union either by way of political affiliation or through direct involvement with soviet intelligence units.  In reality many of these groups viewed themselves as acting on a combination of motivations.  The Red Orchestra is an example of one such group, it can be described as having two key aspects.  One aspect dealt with fostering socialist growth via underground press, and discussion forums.  Another component of the organizations was concerned mainly with passing military and industrial secrets to the USSR.  The organization was headed by Arvid and Mildre Harnack,  Avrid Harnack was a Minster in the Reich's Economic Department and thus had contacts which enabled him to obtain military intelligence.  Along with other members of the organization he liasoned with  Lt. Harro Boysen who held a high position in the Air Ministry.  Boysen had been transmitting military secrets to the Soviets via Radio transmission.  The group leaders have been described as ardent communist who had hoped to form a German Soviet State after the war.

     Historians have often interpreted the acts of Boysen and the Harnacks as essentially a  Russian operation and thus fail to see it as a form of “German Resistance”.  It can be argued however that these individuals held a Marxist philosophy which transcends notions of Nationalism.  The fact that they were German and initiated contact with the Soviets adds to the notion of their being a form of “German Resistance”.  Resistance for them entailed the defeat of Germany in the War.  As Communist it is only natural that they would be in contact with units of the Soviet Intelligence force.  As communist it is likely that they did not see themselves in nationalist terms thus it was not a case of “Russian” loyalty but the concept of a “International Soviet” which were there primary motivations.  In any event their organization entailed a wide range of participants who may or may not have favored a Soviet State   Anton Gil in An Honorable Defeat. cites Gestapo records in which a broad cross section of individuals is described in the Red Orchestra’s membership.
 
 

  One typically  detailed Gestapo Report, discussing the 118 arrests which followed the breaking up of the group in 1942, spoke of 20 percent professional soldiers and civil servants, 21 percent artists, writers and journalists, 29 percent academics and students and 13 percent workers’ among them (13)

 
     Judging from the broad dynamics of the organization it is unlikely that all involved were simply Soviet agents.  Support for the organization did indeed come from the Soviet Union but
why this should be viewed as somehow depreciating their value as a German organization is somewhat puzzling.  Even Stauffenberg, a sworn enemy of Communism had entertained notions of seeking an alliance with the Soviets since the Western allies had repeatedly rejected his gestures toward collaboration.  Unfortunately, the Western Allies spent little time establishing ties with resistance members from all ends of the political spectrum.  Those resisters associated with the Staufenberg were often viewed as opportunist mostly concerned with reestablishing Germany’s glory after Hitler’s defeat.  Leftist resisters were often avoided because of fears of Soviet dominance in Germany, etc.  Regardless of political motivations, the Soviet Union seemed to many within the resistance circles as the only rational source of support.
 

     The Communist Resistance in Germany was not insignificant. It may have erred and it may have been unsuccessful in forming a strong enough base from which it could launch more aggressive acts but it left an element of hope.   To measure the actions of the opposition in light of the majority’s conformity would be misguided.  The movement is significant regardless of its size or successes.  Had there been no form of opposition in Germany future generations would have only one element “Nazism” from which to affirm their identity.  Without the representation of opposition in a society, evils can be perceived as truths.  Historical scholarship can save a place for moral contrasts.  The lone dissenter must always be noted, if we are to continue a moral inventory of  society.  It may sound cliché’ but examples must be set for the future regardless of their victories or losses.
 

     Even the "National Committee for a Free Germany", may not have been as completely Soviet dominated as was previously believed.  The organization which was indeed formed by the Soviet Intelligence as a means to carry out espionage involved hundreds of German POW’s who were captured during the Russian campaign.  It subsequently recruited members within Germany via these POW’s and expatriates.  What philosophical motivations guided these individuals is extremely difficult to determine from a Post-war perspective.  Many probably were so disgusted with their own Nation's activities that they cared little for national sentiments but many more probably viewed the Marxist ideal as offering a solution to war and bloodshed.  The Communist Resistance had little lean way for philosophical argumentation regarding the true nature of Socialism when faced with the nemesis of Nazism.

     The Communist Resistance due to its association with the Soviet Union and its philosophy in general has been overlooked by many historians.  Western paranoia regarding Communism and the more legitimate fear of Stalinism obscured the study of the Communist underground in Germany.  German Scholars often viewed them as being traitors despite the conditions of the Third Reich.  For Americans and others they represented a type of awkward element.  Cold War rhetoric had presented them in such a negative light that they were not a popular topic.  To complicate matters further the subsequent division of Germany prevented the retrieval of records pertaining to many of the individuals involved.  As “resisters” they soon fell into disfavor with East German and Soviet Scholarship as well.  It is likely that this has been a discouragement to
many scholars who prefer to minimize their role rather than confront the complicated task of unraveling their story.  A lack of documentation certainly doesn't help their efforts.

     The Communist Resistance faced severe obstacles in their endeavors.  Not only were they attacked early on during Hitler’s rise to power but they were alienated from other segments of German Opposition.  Once efforts were carried out to contact other units of dissent the efforts of communist were often rebuffed.  Stauffenberg distrusted them immensely and perhaps with some cause.  There organization due to its political structure was often infiltrated by Gestapo agents.  This was the case when members of the July plotters did attempt to finally initiate a collaboration.  Julius Leber and  Adolf Reichwein, to key leaders in Stauffenberg’s circle were arrested after meeting with leaders of the Communist Resistance, apparently a Gestapo agent had managed to infiltrate the meeting, etc.  In any regard they found little support from outside sources.  Even the Soviet Union failed to provide adequate support until they had been invaded.  The Soviet Communist leadership had argued that Hitler and Fascism would help bring about the downfall of Capitalism thus enabling the Revolution of the Proletariat within Germany.  Due to this perception, support to the resistance was not forthcoming.  Stalin’s pact with Germany(Yale Project) during the Poland invasion  also deleted support from among the Communist membership.  Yet to their credit the Communist Underground continued.
 
 
 
 

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