And the Kaiser abdicates: The German Revolution November 1918-August 1919Bouton, S. Miles (Stephen Miles)
History
And the Kaiser abdicates: The German Revolution November 1918-August 1919
Bouton, S. Miles (Stephen Miles)
Germany -- History -- Revolution, 1918; Germany -- Politics and government
Liebknecht was still in hiding, but it was less easy to hide in
Berlin than it had been a month earlier, for the old criminal police
were at work again. The experiment with soldier-policemen had
resulted so disastrously that every Berliner who had anything to lose
welcomed the return of these men who had been so denounced and hated
in other days. The search lasted but two days. On January 15th
Liebknecht's apartment was searched, and great amounts of propagandist
pamphlets and correspondence showing him to be in constant touch with
the Russian Soviet Government were found. On the evening of the next day
policemen and soldiers surrounded the house of a distant relative of
Liebknecht's wife in the western part of the city and Liebknecht was
found. He denied his identity at first, but finally admitted that he was
the man wanted.
He was taken to the Eden Hotel in Charlottenburg, which had been
occupied in part by the staff of the government troops. Rosa Luxemburg,
found hiding in another house, was brought to the hotel at the same
time. After the two had been questioned, preparations were made to take
them to the city prison in Moabit.
Despite all precautions, news of the arrests had transpired, and the
hotel was surrounded by a vast crowd, mainly made up of better class
citizens, since the district where the hotel is situated is one of the
best residential districts of Greater Berlin. The feeling of these
people against the two persons who were in so great measure responsible
for the terrors of the week just past naturally ran high. The appearance
of the soldiers guarding the two was the signal for a wild rush. The
Luxemburg woman was struck repeatedly and Liebknecht received a blow on
the head which caused a bloody wound.
Neither the man nor woman ever reached prison. Soldiers brought to the
morgue late that night the body of "an unidentified man," alleged to
have been shot while running away from his guards. One bullet had struck
him between the shoulders and another in the middle of the back of the
neck. The woman disappeared utterly.
On the following day (January 16th) it became known that both Liebknecht
and Luxemburg had been killed. Exactly who fired the fatal shots was
never clearly established, but an investigation did establish that the
officers in charge of the men guarding the two prisoners were guilty of
a negligence which was undoubtedly deliberate, and intended to make the
killings possible.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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