Then one day at a secondhand bookstore he came upon some documents that alleged very unsatisfactory conditions in American economic life. Eric bought and read these documents. “The effect upon me was profound; I don’t believe that anything I have ever read has had the same impact upon me since.” In his own words, he felt a “terrific compulsion ... to do something to help better the conditions brought out in the report.” He was swept up by a desire to wipe out prejudice, to “help bring the underdog of our civilization up to a place of dignity.” Eric had never talked to a Party member. He had no personal knowledge of communism. Yet somewhere he had formed a false impression of the Communist Party, based on communist propaganda. “I knew that it ... somehow had come to believe that it considered all men equal, that it was fighting for the underdog, that it had no prejudices against color of skin or religion.” Motivated by these errors, Eric on his own initiative went to a corner drugstore, looked up the Party’s address in the telephone directory, and called headquarters. He told how Party officials seemed “surprised” when he stated his desire to join. With determination in his heart, Eric went to Party headquarters, climbed the brownstone steps to the front door, and rang the bell. A young lady answered. He asked if this was Party headquarters. She said no but pointed to a basement entrance. There, in the presence of an eighteen-year-old girl and a dark-haired, stooped man, Eric signed an application card for Party membership. His tragic decision had been made with gusto and enthusiasm. Karl as a young man, like Eric, was deeply affected by the depression. He told how he had seen people eating out of garbage cans. He felt that something had to be done to remedy conditions. Moreover, in his opinion, the incumbent government was not adequate to cope with the problems. Soon he began to read communist literature and in 1934 joined the Young Communist League. But this was to be only the beginning. In 1936 came the Spanish Civil War. Karl, because of communist agitation, became deeply interested. He detested Hitler and fascism. Mussolini and his Black Shirts were even more detestable. The more he thought about international developments, the more he had the urge to take a personal hand in the situation. His hatred of fascism was intensified when some of his relatives had to flee from Europe because of Mussolini’s persecution. Full of youthful vigor, Karl went to Spain as a volunteer in the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. Here on the front lines he was wounded and to this day bears the effects of the injury. This impetuous decision, taken against the advice of his family, represented a contribution of the Communist Party of the United States to international communism. Karl’s idealistic fervor against fascism and injustice was translated into shot and powder for the furtherance of communist aims.