Willi Münzenberg
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Willi Münzenberg (August 14, 1889–October 21, 1940) was a leading propagandist for the KPD (Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands, Communist Party of Germany) in the Weimar Era. General secretary of the Communist Youth International.
Born in Erfurt, Germany the son of a tavern keeper, Münzenberg grew up in poverty. As a young man, he became involved in trade unions and in the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). Following the SPD split in 1914 between the moderate majority (known as the Majority SPD, MSPD) and the radical minority (known as the Independent SPD, USPD) over the issue of the First World War, Münzenberg sided with the Independent faction. In 1918, Münzenberg was a founding member of the KPD. Münzenberg was one of the few KPD leaders of working-class origin, a fact that was a source of immense pride for Münzenberg.
During the Weimar period, Münzenberg earned the reputation of a brilliant propagandist. His first major success was a triumphant effort to raise money and food for the victims of the Russian famine of 1921. In addition, Münzenberg worked closely with the Comintern and the Soviet secret police (known as the Cheka between 1917–22 and as the OGPU 1922–34) to advance the communist cause internationally. Münzenberg founded a bewildering number of front organizations such the World League Against Imperalism, the International Worker's Relief Fund, and the International Labor Defense, to propagate communist ideas. To hide the true orgins of his front organizations, Münzenberg had front organizations to control other front organizations. Western and fascist intelligence agencies generally referred to all of these organizations as the "Münzenberg Trust". In addition, Münzenberg used these front organizations to make business investments - Münzenberg liked to live in high style and was popularly known as "The Red Millionaire".
After directing the Comintern's handling of the Sacco and Vanzetti case in 1925, in 1933 Münzenberg achieved his greatest success with the Counter-trial he organized in London to blame the Reichstag fire on the Nazis. During the Counter-trial, Münzenberg and his staff manufactured most of the evidence that implicated the Nazis in the Reichstag fire. In 1933 and in 1934, the "Münzenberg Trust" published two best-selling books, The Brown Book of the Reichstag Fire and Hitler Terror and its sequel, the Second Brown Book of the Reichstag Fire. The two Brown Books were widely accepted by historians until 1960 when the journalist Fritz Tobias exposed numerous inaccuracies and false information in the Brown Books. In particular, Tobias revealed that the “secret tunnels’ that supposedly allowed the Nazis to enter and leave the Reichstag unseen never existed.
Münzenberg lived in Paris, France from 1933 to 1940. During his years in exile, Münzenberg may have had some role in recruiting Kim Philby to work for the Soviet Union, but there is no clear evidence of this. It has been argued that Philby was recruited to work for Soviet intelligence through one of the "Münzenberg Trust"'s front organizations, the World Society for the Relief of the Victims of German Fascism based in Paris. In 1936, Münzenberg played a role in organzing the recruitment for the International Brigades to fight for the Republican side in the Spanish Civil War.
In 1937 Münzenberg lost Joseph Stalin's favor and was expelled from the KPD and in 1938 from the Comintern. From time onwards, Münzenberg believed his life was in danger. In 1939–40, Münzenberg was employed by the French government to stage anti-Nazi radio broadcasts into Germany. In June 1940, Münzenberg fled from Paris to escape the German advance and was found dead under mysterious circumstances on October 21, 1940. He had been hanged in a forest. The last time he was seen alive was in June 1940. Some believe that he was murdered by the NKVD, whereas others hold that he committed suicide. Since Münzenberg's body was found in October, and advanced decay had set in, the trail was very cold. There is a circumstantial case that Münzenberg may have been murdered, but that somebody wanted his death to look like a suicide. Other dismiss these arguments, and contend that Münzenberg's death was a suicide. The controversy continues to this day.
[edit] Quote
- "All news is lies and all propaganda is disguised as news."
[edit] Further reading
- The Red Millionaire: A Political Biography of Willi Münzenberg, Moscow's Secret Propaganda Tsar in the West, 1917-1940, Sean McMeekin, 2004. Yale University Press. ISBN 0300098472
- Double Lives : Stalin, Willi Munzenberg and the Seduction of the Intellectuals, Stephen Koch, 1994, 1995. Enigma Books. ISBN 1929631200
- KGB: The inside story of its foreign operations from Lenin to Gorbachev, Christopher Andrew and Oleg Gordievsky, 1990. London: Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 0060166053
- The Reichstag Fire by Fritz Tobias, translated from the German by Arnold J. Pomerans, New York, Putnam 1964, 1963.
