D O C U M E N T 3 4 5 A U G U S T 1 9 2 6 5 5 5 Published in Sächsische Arbeiter Zeitung, 6 August 1926, Beilage, n. p. The text of the statement had been included in a press release three days previously (see Pressedienst der Roten Hilfe, No. 50, Berlin, 3 August 1926 [GyBAr(B), R 3003, Oberreichsanwalt beim Reichsgericht, Sammlung Rote Hilfe/4 Bl. 110ff.]). [1]The statement is preceded by an appeal by the Rote Hilfe Deutschlands to “all the employed and all the intellectual workers of Germany” (“alle Werktätigen und alle geistigen Arbeiter Deutsch- lands”) and protested against the recent intensification of repressive measures by the Polish govern- ment against political opponents and national minorities. The appeal called for a comprehensive reform of the penal system, the cessation of the “persecution” (“Verfolgung”) of workers’ and peas- ants’ organizations, political and cultural equality for national minorities, and a complete amnesty for political prisoners and defendants. The International Red Aid had been founded in Moscow at the fourth world congress of the Com- munist International on 22 November 1922. Its aim was to extend financial, legal, and propagandistic aid to outspoken Communists and their families all over the world who were imprisoned, exiled, or oppressed. The Rote Hilfe Deutschlands had been founded on 1 November 1924 and had been banned from November 1923 to March 1924 (see Brauns 2003, pp. 29–30, 37, and 219–223). [2]A reference to the Thugutt committee of the Polish parliament, the Sejm, headed by Stanisáaw Thugutt, a member of the Polish Labor Party and former deputy prime minister, which investigated the dire conditions of Polish prisons from May to November 1925. The committee published its find- ings in a controversial report in January 1926 and submitted it to the Sejm in March 1926. The report was damnatory of the Polish prison system, citing severe overpopulation, high mortality rates, and poor sanitation. The main cause for the conditions was seen to be the government’s harsh crackdown on Communist activists (see Committee 1927, pp. 23–29, 30, 38, and 68). [3]The statement received “hundreds of assents” (“Hunderte von Zustimmungen”) and was signed by, among others, Max Brod, Maximilian Harden, Magnus Hirschfeld, Arthur Holitscher, Egon Erwin Kisch, Klabund, and Käthe Kollwitz. 345. To Michele Besso [Montana Vermala,] Freitag. [6 August 1926] Lieber Michele! Ich kann mir lebhaft denken, dass Du unter diesen traurigen Verhältnissen nicht fort kannst.[1] Aus Deinem Telegramm, das etwas verstümmelt ankam, glaube ich dies entnehmen zu müssen. Wir haben uns entschlossen, nun direkt nach Zürich zu gehen, da das Wetter immer unsicher ist.[2] Wenns hoch kommt, wandern wir noch über die Furka. Den Ravil haben wir aufgegeben.[3] Aber wir wissen es noch nicht. Bis zum 14 mindestens bleibe ich noch in Zürich. Wenn Du willst, treffen wir uns noch irgendwo zwischen Zürich und Bern, z. B. in Aarau oder Burgdorf,[4] wenn Du willst und nicht sowieso nach Zürich kommst. Schreibe mir in diesem Falle Huttenstr. 62.[5] Am Dienstag Abend etwa kommen wir nach Zürich. Auf jeden Fall wäre es schön, wenn wir uns noch einmal sehen könnten. Rosa[6] thut mir schrecklich leid sie ist eine so vortreffliche Person und muss so viel ausstehen.
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