GERMAN POLITICS

Auckland Star, Volume LXXVI, Issue 164, 13 July 1945, Page 8

GERMAN POLITICS

PARTIES APPEARING

PARTIES APPEARING COMMUNISM STRONG IN RUHR By LIONEL SHAPIRO DUSSELDORF. In spite of the A.M.G. ban on political activity among the millions of workers in the Ruhr, four political parties are mushrooming amid the rubble of what was once the heart of Germany's heavy industry. Dusseldorf, Essen, Duisburg, Oberhausen and Krefeld present to the casual observer a scene of utter listlessness. Smokeless chimneys jut from blackened factory ruins and people drowse on the stoops of the patched-up dwellings. But behind this vista of destruction and springtime lassitude there is intense activity by political organisers. The Communist, Catholic, anti-Fascist and Social Democrat parties are secretly gathering recruits, issuing pamphlets and manifestos and preparing to reach for popular power when A.M.G. allows open politics. Bitter Rivals According to the British A.M.G. teams who have taken over the administration of this district, the Communists and Catholics are the bitterest rivals and have attracted the largest followings. The antiFascist party is a nondescript group believed to be the Communist front organisation, and the Social Democrats, once the most powerful party in pre-Hitler Germany, are lagging far behind in popular appeal. The Communists have persistently requested permission to hold public demonstrations, but A.M.G. are holding fast to the policy of discouraging political activity of any kind pending the -clean-up of the Nazis and the stabilisation of the food and hoiising problems. Nevertheless, mimeographed pamphlets are circulating widely and street corner huddles are being substituted for formal political meetings. A.M.G. lacks manpower to interfere with this sort of under-cover activity. Communist Planks I examined the pamphlets of the two leading parties to-day. The Communists carefully refrained from mentioning Soviet Russia but made a violent attack on Hitlerism and made a great show of friendship for the Allies. "Remember how the Nazi leaders frightened you with fables about rape and pillage indulged in by the Anglo-Americans. You know now how the Hitlerites lied about the liberators," it read. "The Communist party stands for earnest co-operation with the Western Powers in occupation." The pamphlet then called for membership applications, stipulating that each application must be approved by two Communist members* in order to safeguard the party against becoming a haven for former Nazis. Catholic Denunciation The Catholic pamphlet also denounced Nazi-ism as well as Communism and made an appeal for a government "with true Christian spirit." It urged trust in the occupying forces and said that the basis for reconstitution of Germany was "work and family life." The antiFascist pamphlet was almost exactly like the Coihmunist. The Social Democrats asked for the constitution of a German government along the Anglo-American system. Local observers believe thel the first local elections however fardistant, will result in huge Communist gains over pre-Hitler days. The Communists are the best organised party and are fast gaining adherents among the Ruhr unemployed.— Auckland Star and N.A.N.A.

COMMUNISM STRONG IN RUHR