BANNEDTHOUGHT.NET
Suppression of News in Germany and
Revolutionary or Progressive Political
Documents Prevented from Reaching the People
In Germany, as in so many other countries, much of the real news about what is happening to the working class and the poor, and within the revolutionary movement, is either suppressed, or at the very least is not widely reported. And for reasons like this the claims that Germany enjoys a true “democracy” and “a free press” are gross exaggerations of the real situation. We at BANNEDTHOUGHT.NET will try to help break down this government and media news and information embargo.
Some of the documents here have the file extension “.djvu”. These files require the WinDjView program to read them. This reader can be obtained for free at: http://www.windjview.sourceforge.net (Some PDF reading programs under Windows, such as the free SumatraPDF, can also read .djvu files. Linux users have the capability to read .djvu files integrated into their PDF readers of the major desktops: Okular in KDE, Evince in GNOME.)
If you know of other suppressed or hard to find documents and news reports that should be posted here, please contact us at: freespeech@bannedthought.net
Suppression of News or Opinion in Germany:
Execution of a Communist
in Munich in 1919.
- [News items to be added.]
Kommunistische Arbeiterbund Deutschlands [KABD] (Communist Workers’ League of Germany) [1972-1982]:
Was formed by the August 1972 merger of two organizations which sprang from the 1968 student movement, the Kommunistisher Arbeiterbund/Marxisten-Leninisten (KAB/ML) and the KPD/ML-Revolutionärer Weg [Communist Party of Germany/Marxist-Leninist—Revolutionary Path]. Membership never exceeded 900 and on average seems to have been around 600. In 1982 it was reorganized into the Marxistisch-Leninistische Partei Deutschlands (MLPD) which has evolved away from Maoism.
- “China aktuell” Series [Present-Day China], 7 pamphlets in total:
- “1. Die Führung Chinas segelt im Wind von rechts!: eine Dokumentation über die Entwicklung des Klasserkampfes in der Volksrepublic China”, [“China’s leadership sails in a wind from the right! Documenting the development of the class struggle in the PRC”], 1977, 70 pages. In German: WinDjView format [15,740 KB]
- “2. Die ‘Drei-Welten-Theorie’ als strategische Konzeption hat den Wind von rechts im Rücken!”, [“The ‘Three Worlds Theory’ as a Strategic Conception Smacks of Right-Wing Opportunism!”], 1978, 50 pages. In German: WinDjView format [11,688 KB]; In English: MS Word format (.docx) [37 pages; 52 KB]
- “3. Verteidigt die Maotsetungideen!: offener Brief der Zentralen Leitung des KABD an das ZK der Partei der Arbeit Albaniens”, [“Defend Mao Tsetung Thought: Open letter to the Central Committee of the KABD to the CC of the Party of Labour of Albania”], c. 1978-1979. [A friend of BannedThought.net who recently looked at this document describes it as “atrociously boring reading”.] In German: Cover only, in WinDjView format [109 KB]
- “4. Die Führung Chinas zerstört die Diktatur des Proletariats!: eine Dokumentation über die Wiederherstellung des Kapitalismus in China”, [“China’s leadership destroys the dictatorship of the Proletariat: Documenting the restoration of capitalism in China”], 1979, 64 pages. In German: WinDjView format [16,549 KB]
- “5. Hoxha Versus Mao Tsetung: Defend Marxism-Leninism and Mao Tsetung Thought”. This is the 1981 English translation of the original German document published in July 1980, 33 double pages. (The German version is not yet available to us.) The text of this English PDF pamphlet version is somewhat difficult to read; our apologies. In English: PDF pamphlet format [992 KB]
The same document in more legible form: HTML format [138 KB]- “6. Von der Restauration des Kapitalismus zum Sozialimperialismus in China”, [“From the Restoration of Capitalism to Socialimperialism in China”], I. Teil: Die Revisionistische Innenpolitik, Mai 1981, 77 pages. In German: WinDjView format [17,876 KB]
- “7. Von der Restauration des Kapitalismus zum Sozialimperialismus in China”, [“From the Restoration of Capitalism to Socialimperialism in China”], II. Teil: Sozialimperialistische Außenpolitik, Mai 1981, 72 pages. In German: WinDjView format [17,123 KB]
Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands [SED] (Socialist Unity Party of Germany):
The totally revisionist (and social-fascist) party governing the German Democratic Republic [East Germany] while it existed.
- 1969:
- “12th Session of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany”, Berlin, Dec. 12-13, 1969, two parts: 230 pages & 198 pages. Document 1: Searchable PDF format [4,321 KB]; Document 2: Searchable PDF format [5,665 KB]
- 1970:
- “13th Session of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany”, Berlin, June 9-10, 1970, 279 pages. Searchable PDF format [5,602 KB]
- “13th Plenum of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany”, Berlin, June 9-10, 1970, 102 pages. Searchable PDF format [2,198 KB]
- “14th Session of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany”, Berlin, Dec. 9-11, 1970, 70 pages. Searchable PDF format [1,860 KB]
- “14th Plenum of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany”, Berlin, Dec. 9-11, 1970, 134 pages. Searchable PDF format [2,730 KB]
- “Twenty Five Years after the Unification of the Working Class”, speech by Walter Ulbricht, 1st Secretary of the Central Committee of the SED, Dec. 17, 1970, (Berlin: 1970), 70 pages. Searchable PDF format [1,341 KB]
- 1971:
- “2nd Session of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany”, Berlin, Sept. 16-17, 1971, 174 pages. Searchable PDF format [3,539 KB]
- “The Advanced Socialist Society: The tasks facing the social ciences after the Eighth Congress of the SED”, speech by Kurt Hager, member of the Politburo and Secretary of the SED Central Committee, Oct. 14, 1971, 134 pages. Searchable PDF format [2,479 KB]
- “4th Session of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany”, Berlin, Dec. 16-17, 1971, 98 pages. Searchable PDF format [1,860 KB]
Communist Party of Germany (KPD)
General:
- [Book:] “Creating German Communism, 1890-1990: From Popular Protests to Socialist State”, by Eric D. Weitz, (Princeton Univ. Press, 1997), 465 pages. Searchable PDF format [20,985 KB]
During the Weimar Era:
- [Book:] “Communism in Germany Under the Weimar Republic”, by Ben Fowkes, (London: Macmillan, 1984), 134 pages. (Fowkes is a historian and is a translator of Marx’s Das Kapital into English. However, you may wish to form your own opinions about some of his comments about the KPD during the Weimar Era, and about various revolutionaries of that era.) Searchable PDF format [3,554 KB]
During the Nazi Era:
- [Book:] “The German Communist Resistance: 1933-1945”, by T. Derbent, (Paris: Foreign Languages Press, 2021), 128 pages. English: Searchable PDF format [2,586 KB]
Academic and Historical Works on the Revolutionary Movement in Germany:
- On the Attempted Socialist Revolution following World War I:
- [Book:] “Failure of a Revolution: Germany 1918-1919”, by Sebastian Haffner, (Chicago: Banner Press, 1986), 224 pages. Somewhat messy scan; our apologies. Searchable PDF format [6,450 KB]
Epub format [347 pages; 1,068 KB]- “The Forgotten Revolution — Germany — A Conceptual Map”, by Gaard Kets and James Muldoon, (2019), 24 pages. Searchable PDF format [298 KB]
- On the KPD up until World War II:
- [Book:] “We are Neither Visionaries nor Utopian Dreamers: Willi Münzenberg, the League Against Imperialism, and the Comintern, 1925-1933”, by Fredrik Petersson, (Ph.D Thesis, 2013), 598 pages. Searchable PDF format [3,956 KB]
- On the GDP and the SED:
- [Book:] “Marxism-Leninism in the German Democratic Republic: The Socialist Unity Party (SED)”, by Martin McCauley, (London: MacMillan, 1979), 287 pages. Searchable PDF format [31,295 KB]
World War II Era — and Resistance
Europe in General:
- [Book:] “Partisanas: Women in the Armed Resistance to Fascism and German Occupation (1936-1945)”, by Ingrid Strobl, (AK Press, 2008 [Original German edition was in 1989]), 338 pages. English: Searchable PDF format [6,659 KB]
— NOTICE —
Due to the repressive legislation and judicial decisions in the United States, we at BANNEDTHOUGHT.NET want to make it completely clear that we do not have any connection whatsoever with any Communist or other parties or groups in Germany, or in any other country for that matter. We do not aid, promote, assist, support, coordinate with, or provide any sort of services or advice to any German or other parties or organizations. However, we do support the right of free speech, and the right of the people in both Germany and internationally to read the views and publications of all parties and organizations. And for this reason alone we are making copies of many of their documents available on this site.