John Green - Willi Münzenberg: Fighter against Fascism and Stalinism (Routledge Studies in Radical History and Politics)

Willi Mnzenberg was a towering figure in the anti-fascist movement during the first half of the twentieth century. He was acquainted with many of the leading left wing activists and thinkers of his day including Lenin, Rosa Luxemburg, Karl Liebknecht, and Karl Radek. He also played a foundational role in several important transnational organisations such as the Socialist Youth International, the largest anti-war movement in opposition to the First World War, the International Workers Relief organisation, and the League against Colonialism and for National Independence.

As a film distributor and promoter, he brought modern Soviet films to western Europe. As a publicist and manager, he built up the most influential left-wing media empire in the Weimar Republic and initiated the pioneering use of photography and photo montage. He was also a long-time member of the Reichstag. He was a pioneer in the use of a variety of media and the way he gained the support and collaboration of progressive politicians, artists and intellectuals ensured that he would become the leading, and most effective, opponent of Hitlers and Goebbels propaganda machine, as he exposed the venality and brutality of the Nazis. Late in life, his turn against Stalinism almost certainly led to his mysterious death.

This is the first detailed biography in English to give coverage to the full range of Mnzenbergs activism. There are valuable lessons to be learnt from the book about the best ways to counter fascism which are powerfully relevant to our contemporary political situation. It should be of great interest to activists, scholars and those studying the history of the radical left.

John Green is a journalist and author. He worked for two decades making television documentaries before devoting himself to writing. He has since written several biographies, including one on Friedrich Engels and this his second for Routledge. He lived in Germany for a number of years and has a keen interest in twentieth-century German political history and culture. He and his wife live and work in West London.

ROUTLEDGE STUDIES IN RADICAL HISTORY AND POLITICS

Series editors: Thomas Linehan,Brunel University, and John Roberts,Brunel University

The series Routledge Studies in Radical History and Politics has two areas of interest. Firstly, this series aims to publish books which focus on the history of movements of the radical left. Movement of the radical left is here interpreted in its broadest sense as encompassing those past movements for radical change which operated in the mainstream political arena as with political parties, and past movements for change which operated more outside the mainstream as with millenarian movements, anarchist groups, utopian socialist communities, and trade unions. Secondly, this series aims to publish books which focus on more contemporary expressions of radical left-wing politics. Recent years have been witness to the emergence of a multitude of new radical movements adept at getting their voices in the public sphere. From those participating in the Arab Spring, the Occupy movement, community unionism, social media forums, independent media outlets, local voluntary organisations campaigning for progressive change, and so on, it seems to be the case that innovative networks of radicalism are being constructed in civil society that operate in different public forms.

The series very much welcomes titles with a British focus, but is not limited to any particular national context or region. The series will encourage scholars who contribute to it to draw on perspectives and insights from other disciplines.

For more information about this series, please visit: www.routledge.com/Routledge-Studies-in-Radical-History-and-Politics/book-series/RSRHP

Contemporary Left Wing Activism Vol 2

Democracy, Participation and Dissent in a Global Context

Edited by Joseph Ibrahim and John Michael Roberts

Cultural Protest in Journalism, Documentary Films and the Arts

Between Protest and Professionalization

Daniel H. Mutibwa

Left Radicalism and Populism in Europe

Edited by Giorgos Charalambous and Gregoris Ioannou

Orwell Reconsidered

Stephen Ingle

Willi Mnzenberg

Fighter against Fascism and Stalinism

John Green

John Green

First published 2020

by Routledge

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2020 John Green

The right of John Green to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

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British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Green, John (Biographer), author.

Title: Willi Mnzenberg : fighter against fascism and Stalinism / John Green.

Description: 1 Edition. | New York : Routledge, 2020. | Series: Routledge studies in radical history and politics | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2019036254 | ISBN 9780367344733 (hardcover) | ISBN 9780367344726 (paperback) | ISBN 9780429326035 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Mnzenberg, Willi. | Communists--Germany--Biography. | Youth movements--Germany--History. | Nazi propaganda--Germany--History. | Propaganda, Communist--History. | Communism-- Germany--History--20th century. | Communism--Soviet Union--History. Classification: LCC HX273 .G724 2020 | DDC 335.4092 [B]--dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019036254

ISBN: 978-0-367-34473-3 (hbk)

ISBN: 978-0-367-34472-6 (pbk)

ISBN: 978-0-429-32603-5 (ebk)

Typeset in Bembo

by Lumina Datamatics Limited

For Marla, Masha, Liliana, and Constanza

Look in history not for the ashes but the fire.

Lion Feuchtwanger

Great individuals are meteors, that consume themselves to enlighten the world.

Napoleon

You who will emerge from the flood in which we drowned think when you talk of our weaknesses also of the dark times that you have escaped.

Bertolt Brecht

I would particularly like to thank the Gross family for giving me their permission to mine the rich seam of Babette Grosss biography of Willi Mnzenberg, but particularly Catherine Gross who gave generously of her time to read the manuscript and pointed out a number of errors and solecisms, which I could correct in time. Any remaining errors or stylistic inconsistencies are, of course, my own.