Roter Frontkämpferbund

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Roter Frontkämpferbund (RFB), meaning Alliance of Red Front Fighters, was a far-left paramilitary group linked to the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) during Germany’s Weimar Republic. It existed from July 1924 until it was banned on May 14, 1929. Ernst Thälmann, a top KPD leader, led the RFB’s national committee after a February 1925 meeting in Berlin. By 1929 the group had about 130,000 members.

The RFB used the red front as its symbol and the clenched fist salute with the motto Rot Front. Its newspaper was Die Rote Front. The group aimed to defend KPD meetings, marches, and workers, and often clashed with police and rival groups such as the Nazi SA and the Stahlhelm. Its activities included providing security at events, street fighting, and political demonstrations.

The RFB organized its members into sections for different groups: the Roter Jungsturm (later Rote Jungfront) for younger members, the Red Navy for sailors, and the RFMB for women. Local groups elected regional leaders who chose a federal committee.

A key event was Blutmai in May 1929, when police shot many protesters during May Day demonstrations in Berlin. After this, the government banned the RFB and confiscated its assets. At the time of the ban, about 130,000 people were involved; around one third were KPD members, with many others affiliated with other parties or non-party.

Even after the ban, many members continued illegally or joined successor groups like Kampfbund gegen den Faschismus. After the Nazi rise to power in 1933, many former RFB members were persecuted, while others fought in the Spanish Civil War with the International Brigades or in World War II with the Soviet Red Army. After the war, some former RFB members helped form East Germany’s security forces.

Ideologically, the RFB opposed militarism and rearmament and supported Soviet-style communism. They worked to defend workers’ rights, resist evictions, and oppose government plans they believed favored the rich and powerful.