In 1924, on the initiative of the German Communist Party, an organization of workers' self-defense was created, which was called the "Union of Red Front Soldiers", later better known as the "Rot Front". This union was the response of the workers to the intensification of the activities of the paramilitary structures of a fascist orientation.
"Union of red front-line soldiers": workers' self-defense
The Rot Front was an association of social democrats, communists and non-party workers who had reached the age of twenty-three. For young people, there was the so-called "Red Front of Youth". By the end of the 1920s, both relatives and close ones in their goals of the union numbered more than two hundred thousand members in their ranks. Ernst Thälmann, one of the leaders of the German communists, headed the Rot Front. Under his leadership, union cells were created at individual enterprises. The organization also had its own newspaper called Red Front.
Among the members of the Rot Front organization there was a special greeting. It consisted in pronouncing the name of the union, which was accompanied by a dashing raise of the right forearm with a palm clenched into a fist. The fist raised in this way was a symbol of the might of the working class, its resilience and the strength that came from the union of the workers. It is thanks to its cohesion that the Rot Front enjoyed wide popularity in the working environment.
The tasks of the workers 'union were to protect workers' organizations from fascist youths, to maintain order during meetings, rallies and demonstrations. The Rot Front took an active part in exposing the militaristic plans of the nascent fascism in Germany. In fact, the Union of Red Front-line soldiers was the nucleus of a united workers' front. In May 1929, the activities of the organization were banned, after which the union began to operate illegally, having existed until the establishment of the power of the fascists in 1933.
Rot Front and modernity
The traditions of the labor movement in Germany are reflected in contemporary Russian reality as well. In February 2010, leftist activists announced the creation of a political party called the ROT Front. The name uses an abbreviation that stands for "Russian United Labor Front". This organization is united with the German "Union of Red Veterans" not only by consonance in the name, but also by political goals.
Before becoming an officially recognized association, the Russian ROT Front went through several registration refusals. The Ministry of Justice of Russia was in no hurry to give the leftist union the status of a political party, each time looking in the submitted documents for inconsistency with the requirements of the law. The official registration of the left-wing party was completed only at the beginning of December 2012.
