Das Volksrecht
TypeIrregular (1925–1928), Weekly (1928–1933)
Founded1925
Political alignmentCommunist Party of Germany (1925–1928)
Communist Party of Germany (Opposition) (1928–1932)
Socialist Workers Party of Germany (1932–1933)
LanguageGerman language
Ceased publicationFebruary 1933
HeadquartersOffenbach am Main

Das Volksrecht ('The People's Right') was a left-wing newspaper published from Offenbach am Main, Weimar Germany between 1925 and 1933. Initially it was an irregular publication of the communist city council group, but in 1928 it became a local mouthpiece of the Right Opposition. It was published on a weekly basis until the National Socialist takeover in 1933.

KPD organ

From 1925 to 1928 Das Volksrecht was published irregularly, with 6–8 issues per year.[1] It was issued by the faction of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) in the Offenbach am Main city council.[2][3] The printing was done at the Peuvag branch in Frankfurt am Main. It was sold by KPD cadres at a price of ten pfennig. Heinrich Galm, the leader of the KPD in the Hessen landtag (regional parliament) was listed as the legal publisher of the newspaper.[3]

Mouthpiece of the Right Opposition

Along with Gegen den Strom, Das Volksrecht would become one of the first KPD organs to become identified with the Right Opposition.[4][5] In the fall of 1928 Galm revived Das Volksrecht as a more regular publication with a larger circulation.[3] In the second number issued after this revival, Galm launched an open attack against Ernst Thälmann and the central leadership of KPD. This move caused dissident inside the Offenbach am Main branch of the party, and Galm was accused of deliberately having fomented a split in the party through the revival of Das Volksrecht.[3]

KPD(O) organ

In November 1928 the newspaper was converted into a weekly, and became the "organ of the Communist Party of Germany (Opposition) [KPD(O)] Hessen-Frankfurt".[1][6] Editors of the newspaper (at different times) included Alwin Heucke (the KPD(O) party secretary in Hesse) Wilhelm Berker, Heinz Möller and Philipp Pless.[6][7] It carried the by-line 'Organ for Party, Trade Unions and Municipal Politics'.[2] The leader of KPD(O) in the city council, Heinrich Galm, would issue sharp attacks against SPD in the pages of Das Volksrecht.[8]

In 1929 a local edition in Stuttgart, Arbeitertribüne ('Workers Tribune'), was launched with Richard Janus as its editor.[7]

The exiled Indian revolutionary M.N. Roy wrote for Das Volksrecht, under the pseudonym 'Richard'.[1]

SAPD organ

In April 1932 the Offenbach am Main branch of KPD(O) left the party and joined the Socialist Workers Party of Germany (SAPD) instead.[9] Subsequently Das Volksrecht became the local organ for the SAPD in the city.[2] The newspaper continued to be published as a weekly until February 1933.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Roy, M. N., and Sibnarayan Ray. Selected Works of M.N. Roy, Vol. 3. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1990. p. 232
  2. 1 2 3 Eberlein, Alfred, Joachim Böhm, and Leo Stern. Die Presse der Arbeiterklasse und der sozialen Bewegungen: von den dreißiger Jahren des 19. Jahrhunderts bis zum Jahre 1967 : Bibliographie und Standortverzeichnis der Presse der deutschen, der österreichischen und der schweizerischen Arbeiter-, Gewerkschafts- und Berufsorganisationen (einschließlich der Protokolle und Tätigkeitsberichte) ; mit einem Anhang: Die deutschsprachige Presse der Arbeiter-, Gewerkschafts- und Berufsorganisationen anderer Länder, 4. Frankfurt/Main: Sauer & Auvermann, 1969. p. 1797
  3. 1 2 3 4 Klemm, Bernd. Die Arbeiterpartei (Sozialistische Einheitspartei) Hessen 1945–1954: Entstehungsbedingungen, Geschichte und Programmatik einer dritten deutschen Arbeiterpartei nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg. Hannover: SOAK-Verlag, 1980. p. 32
  4. ↑ Gegen den Strom, Vol 1. Hannover: Edition SOAK, 1985. p. 14
  5. ↑ International Press Correspondence, Vol. 9. Richard Neumann, 1929. p. 235
  6. 1 2 Strauss, Herbert A., Werner Röder, Belinda Rosenblatt, Hannah Caplan, Sybille Claus, and Beatrix Schmidt. Biographisches Handbuch Der Deutschsprachigen Emigration Nach 1933 = International Biographical Dictionary of Central European Emigrés 1933–1945. München: Saur, 1980. p. 292
  7. 1 2 Tjaden, Karl Hermann. Struktur und Funktion der "KPD-Opposition" (KPO); eine organisationssoziologische Untersuchung zur "Rechts"-Opposition im deutschen Kommunismus zur Zeit der Weimarer Republik. Meisenheim am Glan: A. Hain, 1964. p. 136
  8. ↑ Bösch, Hermann. Politische Parteien und Gruppen in Offenbach am Main, 1860–1960. [Offenbach]: Offenbacher Geschichtsverein, 1973. p. 44
  9. ↑ Drechsler, Hanno. Die Sozialistische Arbeiterpartei Deutschlands (SAPD); ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der deutschen Arbeiterbewegung am Ende der Weimarer Republik. Meisenheim am Glan: A. Hain, 1965. p. 171
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