The Internationaler Sozialistischer Kampfbund (, "International Socialist Militant League") or ISK was a socialist split-off from the

SPD The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the ...

during the

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is al ...

and was active in the

German Resistance German resistance can refer to: * Freikorps, German nationalist paramilitary groups resisting German communist uprisings and the Weimar Republic government * German resistance to Nazism * Landsturm, German resistance groups fighting against France d ...

against

Nazism Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

History

The ''Internationaler Sozialistischer Kampfbund'' (ISK) was a political organization founded by

Göttingen Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, t ...

philosopher

Leonard Nelson Leonard Nelson (; ; 11 July 1882 – 29 October 1927), sometimes spelt Leonhard, was a German mathematician, critical philosopher, and socialist. He was part of the neo-Friesian school (named after post-Kantian philosopher Jakob Friedrich Fr ...

and educator

Minna Specht Minna Specht (22 December 1879 in Schloss Reinbek – 3 February 1961 in Bremen) was a German educator, socialist and member of the German Resistance. She was one of the founders of the Internationaler Sozialistischer Kampfbund. Early years Minna ...

. Nelson and Specht had previously founded the

International Socialist Youth League International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

in 1917 and was supported by

Albert Einstein Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theory ...

. Nelson, a

neo-Kantian In late modern continental philosophy, neo-Kantianism (german: Neukantianismus) was a revival of the 18th-century philosophy of Immanuel Kant. The Neo-Kantians sought to develop and clarify Kant's theories, particularly his concept of the "thin ...

hochschule ' (, plural: ') is the generic term in German for institutions of higher education, corresponding to ''universities'' and ''colleges'' in English. The term ''Universität'' (plural: ''Universitäten'') is reserved for institutions with the right to ...

teacher, had long wanted to teach at a university and also work politically. He advocated a brand of

socialism Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

that was ethically motivated, anti-clerical and anti-

Marxist Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...

, but also undemocratic and included strict

vegetarianism Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter. Vegetarianism may ...

and a defense of

animal rights Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all sentient animals have moral worth that is independent of their utility for humans, and that their most basic interests—such as avoiding suffering—should be afforded the sa ...

. Nelson decided to establish the ISK after members of the ISYL were expelled from the

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...

in 1922 and the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

in 1925. The ISK took over the ISYL's publishing label, ''Öffentliches Leben'', which published the ISK newsletter beginning January 1, 1926. Beginning January 1929, an edition in

Esperanto Esperanto ( or ) is the world's most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Created by the Warsaw-based ophthalmologist L. L. Zamenhof in 1887, it was intended to be a universal second language for international communi ...

was added, and in April, a small circulation quarterly in English was added as well. It was usually eight pages and editions ran an average of 5,000 to 6,000 copies. Nelson moved his main published works there as well, his philosophical and political series ''Öffentliches Leben'' and his 1904 treatises, "''Abhandlungen der

Fries French fries (North American English), chips (British English), finger chips (Indian English), french-fried potatoes, or simply fries, are '' batonnet'' or ''allumette''-cut deep-fried potatoes of disputed origin from Belgium and France. The ...

’schen Schule, Neue Folge''", re-reasoned with

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change. History On ...

Gerhard Hessenberg Gerhard Hessenberg (16 August 1874 – 16 November 1925) was a German mathematician who worked in projective geometry, differential geometry, and set theory. Career Hessenberg received his Ph.D. from the University of Berlin in 1899 under the gu ...

and

physiologist Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemical a ...

Karl Kaiser, and which, after Nelson's death, was continued by

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...

winner

Otto Meyerhof Otto Fritz Meyerhof (; April 12, 1884 – October 6, 1951) was a German physician and biochemist who won the 1922 Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine. Biography Otto Fritz Meyerhof was born in Hannover, at Theaterplatz 16A (now:Rathenaustrasse ...

, sociologist

Franz Oppenheimer Franz Oppenheimer (March 30, 1864 – September 30, 1943) was a German Jewish sociologist and political economist, who published also in the area of the fundamental sociology of the state. Life and career After studying medicine in Freiburg and ...

and Minna Specht until 1937. With the growing electoral success of the Nazis at the end of the Weimar Republic, the ISK founded the newspaper, ''

Der Funke ''Der Funke'' (, "The Spark") was a daily newspaper published from Berlin, Germany, from 1932 to 1933. It was the national organ of the International Socialist Struggle League (ISK). The ISK leader Willi Eichler was the editor-in-chief of ''Der F ...

'' to confront the situation. Of particular note was the "

Urgent Call for Unity The "Urgent Call for Unity" (german: Dringender Appell für die Einheit) was an appeal by the Internationaler Sozialistischer Kampfbund (ISK) to defeat the National Socialist German Workers Party. It was signed by nearly three dozen well-known Germa ...

" (''Dringender Appell für die Einheit'') regarding the July 1932 federal election. It appeared in the newspaper and on placards all over

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. Calling for unity and support of the SPD and the

KPD The Communist Party of Germany (german: Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands, , KPD ) was a major political party in the Weimar Republic between 1918 and 1933, an underground resistance movement in Nazi Germany, and a minor party in West German ...

in order to thwart further gains by the Nazis, it was signed by 33 leading German intellectuals, including scientists Albert Einstein, Franz Oppenheimer, Emil Gumbel,

Arthur Kronfeld Arthur Kronfeld (January 9, 1886 – October 16, 1941) was a German psychiatrist of Jewish origin, and eventually a professor at the University of Berlin. His sister Maria Dronke found fame as an actor in New Zealand. Later in life, Kronfeld t ...

, the artist

Käthe Kollwitz Käthe Kollwitz ( born as Schmidt; 8 July 1867 – 22 April 1945) was a German artist who worked with painting, printmaking (including etching, lithography and woodcuts) and sculpture. Her most famous art cycles, including ''The Weavers'' and ''T ...

, writers

Kurt Hiller Kurt Hiller (17 August 1885, Berlin – 1 October 1972, Hamburg) was a German essayist, lawyer, and expressionist poet. He was also a political (namely pacifist) journalist. Hiller came from a middle-class Jewish background. A communist, he ...

Erich Kästner Emil Erich Kästner (; 23 February 1899 – 29 July 1974) was a German writer, poet, screenwriter and satirist, known primarily for his humorous, socially astute poems and for children's books including '' Emil and the Detectives''. He received ...

Heinrich Mann Luiz Heinrich Mann (; 27 March 1871 – 11 March 1950), best known as simply Heinrich Mann, was a German author known for his Social criticism, socio-political novels. From 1930 until 1933, he was president of the fine poetry division of the ...

Ernst Toller Ernst Toller (1 December 1893 – 22 May 1939) was a German author, playwright, left-wing politician and revolutionary, known for his Expressionism (theatre), Expressionist plays. He served in 1919 for six days as President of the short-lived B ...

and

Arnold Zweig Arnold Zweig (10 November 1887 – 26 November 1968) was a German writer, pacifist and socialist. He is best known for his six-part cycle on World War I. Life and work Zweig was born in Glogau, Prussian Silesia (now Głogów, Poland), the son ...

and many others."Dringender Appell für die Einheit"
(PDF) ''Der Funke'', No. 147 A, Berlin (June 25, 1932). Retrieved July 6, 2010 The ISK continued to work in the resistance after the 1933 Nazi ban. The ISK had destroyed all written party records and until 1938, remained undetected, while the larger parties, the KPD and SPD, were being battered by massive arrests. The ISK was therefore able to continue its resistance work, helping political refugees leave the country, conducting

sabotage Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening a polity, effort, or organization through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. One who engages in sabotage is a ''saboteur''. Saboteurs typically try to conceal their identitie ...

and distributing leaflets. In 1938, however, a wave of arrests hit the ISK. A main focus of the work was the attempt to build a clandestine

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

, the ''Unabhängige Sozialistische Gewerkschaft'' ("Independent Socialist Union"), which also supported the

Internationale Transport Workers' Federation "The Internationale" (french: "L'Internationale", italic=no, ) is an international anthem used by various communist and socialist groups; currently, it serves as the official anthem of the Communist Party of China. It has been a standard of t ...

.Thomas Tretzmüller
"Sozialistische Europapläne während des 2. Weltkriegs am Beispiel des Internationalen Sozialistischen Kampf-Bundes und der Socialist Vanguard Group"

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich histor ...

, official website. Internetgestützten Lehre (IGL) am Institut für Geschichte. Retrieved July 9, 2010 The ISK's best known act of resistance was the sabotage of the opening of the

Reichsautobahn The ''Reichsautobahn'' system was the beginning of the German autobahns under Nazi Germany. There had been previous plans for controlled-access highways in Germany under the Weimar Republic, and two had been constructed, but work had yet to star ...

on May 19, 1935. The night before Hitler's trip to inaugurate the new highway, ISK activists wrote anti-Hitler slogans, such as "Hitler = War" and "Down with Hitler", on all the bridges along the route between

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

and

Darmstadt Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it th ...

, where he was to travel.

Wolfgang Benz Wolfgang Benz (born 9 June 1941) is a German historian from Ellwangen. He was the director of the Center for Research on Antisemitism of the Technische Universität Berlin between 1990 and 2011. Personal life Benz studied history, political sc ...

''Geschichte des Dritten Reiches''
Verlag C.H. Beck, Munich (2000) pp. 120-121. Retrieved July 14, 2010 The

Nazi propaganda The propaganda used by the German Nazi Party in the years leading up to and during Adolf Hitler's dictatorship of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 to 1945 was a crucial instrument for acquiring and maintaining power, and for the implementation o ...

film produced of the event had to be edited numerous times. In exile, the ISK also published the ''Reinhart Briefe'' ("Reinhart Letters") and '' Sozialistische Warte'', which were then smuggled into Germany. Because of their factual and unpolemical reporting, were valued by various members of the German Resistance. The ISK was linked with the

Socialist Vanguard Group The Socialist Vanguard Group was a political group active in the United Kingdom, in various guises, from the 1920s to the 1950s. While always a small organisation, its journal and some of its members became highly influential in the right wing of ...

in England and the ''Internationale Militante Socialiste'' in France.

ISK members after 1945

After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the ISK was merged into the SPD on December 10, 1945 after talks between

Willi Eichler Willi Eichler (7 January 1896 – 17 October 1971) was a German journalist and politician with the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). Before 1945 Eichler was born in Berlin, the son of a postal worker. He attended Volksschule and then beca ...

, chairman of the ISK and

Kurt Schumacher Curt Ernst Carl Schumacher, better known as Kurt Schumacher (13 October 1895 – 20 August 1952), was a German politician who became chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Germany from 1946 and the first Leader of the Opposition in the West ...

, then chairman of the SPD. Most of the former ISK members then joined the SPD. One prominent member of the ISK, Ludwig Gehm, was later the national vice chairman of the Committee of Formerly Persecuted Social Democrats (''Arbeitsgemeinschaft ehemals verfolgter Sozialdemokraten'') and a

city council member from the SPD. Eichler, who was chairman of the ISK for many years, represented the SPD in the

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet") is the German federal parliament. It is the only federal representative body that is directly elected by the German people. It is comparable to the United States House of Representatives or the House of Commons ...

from 1949 to 1953 and is considered one of the main authors of the

Godesberg Program The Godesberg Program (german: Godesberger Programm) of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) was ratified in 1959 at a convention in the town of Bad Godesberg near Bonn. It represented a fundamental change in the orientation and goals of ...

Alfred Kubel Alfred Kubel (25 May 1909 in Braunschweig – 22 May 1999 in Bad Pyrmont) was a German politician; in his later career, he was a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). In 1928, after attending Middle School, Kubel became an in ...

was a member of the

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...

state government for many years and was ''

Ministerpräsident A minister-president or minister president is the head of government in a number of European countries or subnational governments with a parliamentary system, parliamentary or semi-presidential system, semi-presidential system of government where ...

'' from 1970 to 1976. Hamburger ISK member Hellmut Kalbitzer was elected to the Bundestag several times, served in the

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

'' Bürgerschaft'' and from 1958 to 1962, was vice president of the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

Fritz Eberhard Fritz Eberhard (2 October 1896 – 30 March 1982) was a German journalist, anti-fascist and social democrat and fought in the German Resistance against Nazism. He was a member of the Internationaler Sozialistischer Kampfbund (ISK). After the war ...

, who was in the ISK until 1939, was a member of the ''

Parlamentarischer Rat The ''Parlamentarischer Rat'' (German for "Parliamentary Council") was the West German constituent assembly in Bonn that drafted and adopted the constitution of West Germany, the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, promulgated on 23 Ma ...

'' ("Parliamentary Council") and was involved in writing the postwar

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...

, including the right to

conscientious objector A conscientious objector (often shortened to conchie) is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion. The term has also been extended to object ...

status in the new

laws Law is a set of rules that are created and are law enforcement, enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. ...

of the

Federal Republic of Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated between ...

. Eichler also published a monthly magazine from 1946 until his death in 1971, ''Geist und Tat'', which was devoted to "rights, freedom and culture" and he had a publishing house, ''Europäische Verlagsanstalt'' until the 1960s.

Structure

The ISK never set out to amass a large membership, but rather to become an active and hard-hitting organization. Membership requirements for prospective candidates included adherence to a certain

ethical socialism Ethical socialism is a political philosophy that appeals to socialism on ethical and moral grounds as opposed to consumeristic, economic, and egoistic grounds. It emphasizes the need for a morally conscious economy based upon the principles of ...

that were more stringent than for the major parties. * Members were to abstain from nicotine, alcohol and meat, were to be absolutely punctual and orderly, and because of the anti-clerical position of the organization, withdrawal from church affiliation was mandatory * Participation in a trade union, the ISK and the labor movement was general requirement for members (eliminating passive membership) * Instead of a membership fee, there was a "Party tax," which all members with an income over 150

Reichsmark The (; sign: ℛℳ; abbreviation: RM) was the currency of Germany from 1924 until 20 June 1948 in West Germany, where it was replaced with the , and until 23 June 1948 in East Germany, where it was replaced by the East German mark. The Reich ...

s had to pay The ISK never had more than 300 members, largely because of the strict requirements for membership. These members were organized into 32 local groups. However, its political work involved sympathizers, between 600 and 1,000 in 1933. A survey in 1929 revealed that 85% of ISK members were under 35 years of age. Chairmen of the ISK (formerly, the ISYL) * 1922–1927, Leonard Nelson and Minna Specht * 1927–1945, Willi Eichler and Minna Specht From 1924 to 1933, the ISK (and its forerunner, the ISYL) maintained its rural school, the ''Walkemühle'' in the Adelshausen quarter of

Melsungen Melsungen () is a small climatic spa town in the Schwalm-Eder district in northern Hesse, Germany. In 1987, the town hosted the 27th ''Hessentag'' state festival. Geography Melsungen lies on the river Fulda in the North Hesse Highlands. The stream ...

Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major histor ...

and from 1931 to 1933, its own newspaper, ''Der Funke'', both of which were banned by the Nazis.

References

Bibliography

* Hellmut Kalbitzer: ''Widerstehen und Mitgestalten. Ein Querdenker erinnert sich. Herausgegeben von Christiane Rix unter Mitarbeit von Thomas John.'' Hamburg 1997. * Karl-Heinz Klär: ''Zwei Nelson-Bünde: Internationaler Jugend-Bund (IJB) und Internationaler Sozialistischer Kampf-Bund (ISK) im Licht neuer Quellen'', in: IWK 18 (1982), H. 3, S. 310-360. * Sabine Lemke-Müller: ''Ethischer Sozialismus und soziale Demokratie. Der politische Weg Willi Eichlers vom ISK zur SPD. Bonn 1988 * Sabine Lemke-Müller: ''Ethik des Widerstands. Der Kampf des Internationalen Sozialistischen Kampfbundes (ISK) gegen den Nationalsozialismus. Quellen und Texte zum Widerstand aus der Arbeiterbewegung 1933-1945'', Bonn 1996. * Werner Link: ''Die Geschichte des Internationalen Jugend-Bundes (IJB) und des Internationalen Sozialistischen Kampf-Bundes (ISK). Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der Arbeiterbewegung in der Weimarer Republik und im Dritten Reich.'' Meisenheim/Gl. 1964. * Heiner Lindner: ''„Um etwas zu erreichen, muss man sich etwas vornehmen, von dem man glaubt, dass es unmöglich sei“. Der Internationale Sozialistische Kampfbund (ISK) und seine Publikationen''. Bonn 2006

External links

''Geschichten von der Walkemühle''
von Rudolf Giesselmann

by

Inge Hansen-Schaberg Inge Hansen-Schaberg (born 11 March 1954) is a German educational researcher. Life Born in Flensburg, Hansen-Schaberg studied German and biology at the from 1974 and passed the state examinations in 1980 and 1983. She then worked at a West Ber ...

''Der Internationale Sozialistische Kampfbund und seine Publikationen''
von Heiner Lindner

Digitalisierter Bestand beim Archiv der sozialen Demokratie der

Friedrich Ebert Foundation The Friedrich Ebert Foundation (''German: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung e.V.; Abbreviation: FES'') is a German political party foundation associated with, but independent from, the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). Established in 1925 as the ...

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...

Plakat des "Dringenden Appells" des ISK.
(Fotomech. Wiedergabe am Ende der Einleitung des Gedenkartikels für den Nelson-Schüler und -Freund

, isolierte Darstellun
''hier''
schärfer bei Vergrößerung)
''Skandal bei Freigabe des 1. Reichsautobahnabschnittes 1935''
von A. Pilz

der

Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung The Friedrich Ebert Foundation (''German: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung e.V.; Abbreviation: FES'') is a German political party foundation associated with, but independent from, the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). Established in 1925 as the ...