In solving these problems, we must never forget that the developments in this or that socialist land may take different courses. That is the result not only of different national conditions. The socialist society is still young. It is at the moment in the process of great transformations in the Soviet Union and other socialist nations. Despite all the gloomy predictions of people who understand nothing, absolutely nothing, about the laws governing human society, those who would happily bury socialism, I want to say clearly and firmly that the world is turning not in the direction of capitalism, but in the direction of socialism. That is unchangeable fact.
~ Erich Honecker
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“Comrades, a new dawn has broken has it not?”
The crowd cheered in a thunderous roar that echoed throughout the city, even over the noises of reconstruction that predominated in every quarter of the capital. Amidst the acclaim Rosa Muller felt like covering her ears before instinctively joining in the applause being directed at the figure in the distance. Erich Zeigner had arrived to take up residence in the Presidential Palace.
Sitting on the shoulders of Ali Hohler, Rosa had a better view of the man than most but even then the size of the crowd left him an unclear figure in the distance who had to be aided by several loudspeakers to carry his speech across the gathering.
Hohler had told her the man speaking was the new President and, for the first time, their President. He was a man to be cheered because he had their interests at heart. The massed crowd was truly larger than anything Rosa had seen and the people that made it up, whether turned out in their Sunday best or come directly from the building sites across the city, were workers. The new President seemed to acknowledge this.
“For too long this republic, built on the sacrifices of the worker, has distorted democracy for the benefits of the privileged few. No more! We have seen where that led us, Schleicher, Hohenzollern, and their cabal will all be made to pay for their crimes but we will go beyond that. We shall ensure such a plot can never happen again. We will tear asunder all institutions that enabled them and rebuild them in the name of our democracy. This should already have been done in 1918! From now on the work will not stop until we can truly call this republic our own. Yes my friends, a workers republic at last!”
The distorted echo from the loudspeakers amidst another cheer was loud enough to resemble an unknown force of nature. It was made the entire scene surreal to Rosa. She patted on Hohler’s head to let her down from his shoulders.
“Do you think my mother will be back yet?” She shouted amidst the applause.
“Hold on.” Hohler said distracted, still looking ahead.
Rosa was now unable to see anything other than the people immediately around her but she could still hear the President echoing.
“Comrades, I now have the great privilege of revealing our new Chancellor. This is a man who helped to expose the Schleicher plot, who aided the unification of the workers of this country in deposing his cabal, and will now lead our redoubled efforts in marching to the progress promised to us by Socialism. He is a close friend and heroic revolutionary fighter. It is a privilege for me to appoint him to such a position. Comrades, I give you, Paul Levi!”
There was another loud cheer but it was more muted than before. Some in the audience looked disappointed, Ali seemingly among them.
“Okay then, let’s go find Comrade Muller.”
Hohler, apparently having lost interest in the celebratory rally, escorted Rosa from the massed crowd who were now focused on the words of the old Spartacist who was now their Chancellor..
The trams were running again which provided relief from having to walk the distance of one of the largest cities in the world. The creamy yellow tramcar provided a view of the city returning to life as the omnipresent sounds of rebuilding became clear images. Ali cracked a joke about how despite the Volkisch Bund’s promises the final battle between the Reichswehr and Blackshirts had been the only thing the Third Reich had done to tackle unemployment in the city.
Although the elections, much like the Civil War, were now over there were posters and flags adorning nearly every wall and window still standing. They had taken over the old places where more banal advertisements had usually featured, like new flowers in spring. Approaching Mitte, Rosa froze at the sight of a large number of soldiers in strange uniforms approaching the Reichswehr drill grounds that Eva had made her avoid during their time of hiding.
“It’s alright,” Hohler reassured her, seeming to notice that something was wrong, “they’re on our side, like the President.”
Rosa felt the world was turning upside down. Her mother had always told her to avoid men in uniform other than those of the Red Front, now here were soldiers marching down the street and they were purportedly on her side. The strange nature of it all was eased somewhat by seeing passersby clapping and cheering the soldiers whilst they marched. If people who were much like her were happy to see them then maybe Ali was right.
They alighted from the tram at Bulowplatz into the familiar square that contained the Communist Party Headquarters at Karl Liebknecht Haus. Here there was also a great amount of building work being undertaken. The square, particularly the headquarters, had been wrecked in the early days of the fascist takeover of Berlin. It was still a traumatic memory for Rosa who had been told by her mother’s friend Christina that she wouldn’t be able to see her mother for a while. The same had now become true for Christina herself.
Since Rosa had met Ali, Christina hadn’t returned for her. She had feared it would be the same with her mother. Ali had managed to get news that she was alive and in Hamburg but couldn’t come to Berlin immediately. The new President seemed to have changed all that. The sign indicating they were in Bulowplatz that hung from the wrecked Babylon Cinema had had ‘Rosa Luxemburg Platz’ written over it in red paint. Her mother had told Rosa stories about the woman she had been named after and it felt like a fitting name for the square as well. This was a safe place once again.
Inside Karl Liebknecht Haus the new Chancellor’s speech came through statically on the radio. A dark haired woman was trying to adjust the volume so that she could hear the speech amongst the various construction noises going on inside and out.
The woman turned around and both she and Rosa let out a small shout of surprise. The woman had her mother’s face, it was paler than Rosa remembered but she hadn’t seen her in so many months that she couldn’t even be sure. Gerda quickly embraced her as if to allay any doubts Rosa might have had. There was much to rebuild and not just structurally.
“I thought I’d lost you,” Gerda gasped and Rosa realised she was crying. Throughout everything she had never seen her mother cry before. Tears began to well up in her own eyes.
“I thought you’d left me!” Rosa began to cry as well, she was angry and relieved at the same time. Gerda broke off from her at that and held her by the arms. The tears had reddened her white face.
“No, I’ll never leave you again. Ever.”
Rosa found comfort at the determination in her mother’s eyes.
“I have a new job now. I won’t always be in Berlin but whenever I have to leave you’ll come with me. How does that sound?”
Rosa simply nodded as she wiped the tears from her eyes.
“What’s your new job?”
Her mother hugged her again.
“Do you remember when I told you about how I grew up on a farm?”
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The painting is
Raising a Flag over the Reichstag by Alyse Radenovic after the photo by Yevgeny Khaldey