The German Socialist Labour Party in Poland – Left (german: Deutsche Sozialistische Arbeitspartei in Polen – Linke, DSAP–Linke; pl, Niemiecka Socjalistyczna Partia Robotnicza w Polsce – Lewica) was a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

in the

Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 1918 and 1939. The state was established on 6 November 1918, before the end of ...

. The party was founded on October 3, 1930, as a

leftist Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

split from the

German Socialist Labour Party of Poland The German Socialist Labour Party of Poland (german: Deutsche Sozialistische Arbeitspartei Polens, abbreviated DSAP, pl, Niemiecka Socjalistyczna Partia Pracy w Polsce) was a political party organizing German Social Democrats in interbellum Poland ...

(DSAP) in

Łódź Łódź, also rendered in English as Lodz, is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located approximately south-west of Warsaw. The city's coat of arms is an example of canti ...

.Kowalski, Werner.
Geschichte der sozialistischen arbeiter-internationale: 1923 - 19
'. Berlin: Dt. Verl. d. Wissenschaften, 1985. p. 319 Most of the members of the North Łódź party branch of DSAP () joined DSAP–Linke in the split. The DSAP–Linke also attracted some recruits from of the erstwhile DSAP. Some other DSAP–Linke members were recruited amongst German and

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...

ish workers in

Stryków Stryków (german: 1943-45 Strickau) is a town in central Poland, in Łódź Voivodeship, in Zgierz County. It has 3,428 inhabitants (2020). History Early history The first mention of Stryków was in 1387. Stryków was a village situated on the ...

Brzeziny Brzeziny (; yi, ברעזין, ''Brezin'') is a town in Poland, in Łódź Voivodeship, about 20 km east of Łódź. It is the capital of Brzeziny County and has a population of 12,326 as of December 2021. It once was a thriving Jewish sht ...

and Tomaszów. However, the total membership of DSAP–Linke didn't exceed 200.Blachetta-Madajczyk, Petra.
Klassenkampf oder Nation?: deutsche Sozialdemokratie in Polen 1918–1939. Schriften des Bundesarchivs, 49
'.

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...

: Droste, 1997, pp. 97–8. DSAP–Linke was led by Heinrich Scheibler, who had been the chairman of the ''Lodz-Nord'' party branch of DSAP and who in 1930 had become member of the DSAP Party Council. Schlieber had advocated that DSAP should seek cooperation with other leftwing parties, for unity between socialists and communists in struggle against

reaction Reaction may refer to a process or to a response to an action, event, or exposure: Physics and chemistry *Chemical reaction *Nuclear reaction *Reaction (physics), as defined by Newton's third law *Chain reaction (disambiguation). Biology and me ...

. Other founding members of DSAP–Linke were Johann Rückert, Oskar Fiebig, Adolf Jedich, and Joseph Dillner. After the split, the relations between DSAP–Linke and the mother-party DSAP (or ''DSAP–Rechts'', i.e. 'DSAP–Right', as DSAP–Linke branded the party) were antagonistic. DSAP–Linke characterized DSAP and the

Polish Socialist Party The Polish Socialist Party ( pl, Polska Partia Socjalistyczna, PPS) is a socialist political party in Poland. It was one of the most important parties in Poland from its inception in 1892 until its merger with the communist Polish Workers' P ...

(PPS) as '

social fascists Social fascism (also socio-fascism) was a theory that was supported by the Communist International (Comintern) and affiliated communist parties in the early 1930s that held that social democracy was a variant of fascism because it stood in the way ...

', arguing that the leaderships of those two parties were laying the foundations for

fascism Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy an ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

. The DSAP press organs, on their behalf, began using the spelling 'Szajbel' for Scheibler's name, thus insinuating that he was Jewish (Scheibler had married a Jewish woman). The peak of activity of DSAP–Linke coincided with the 1930 October–November campaign ahead of the

parliamentary election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

. DSAP–Linke contested the election in coalition with the

Polish Socialist Party – Left Polish Socialist Party – Left ( pl, Polska Partia Socjalistyczna – Lewica, PPS–L), also known as the Young Faction ( pl, Młodzi, links=no), was one of two factions into which Polish Socialist Party divided itself in 1906. Its primary goal ...

, running on joint lists titled ''PPS–Lewica'' (List 23). The bloc propagated the formation of a Workers-Peasants government and self-rule for national minorities, political stands that attracted sharp attacks from the ''

Sanacja Sanation ( pl, Sanacja, ) was a Polish political movement that was created in the interwar period, prior to Józef Piłsudski's May 1926 ''Coup d'État'', and came to power in the wake of that coup. In 1928 its political activists would go on ...

'' government and the ''

Centrolew The ''Centrolew'' (, ''Center-Left'') was a coalition of several Polish political parties ( Polish People's Party "Wyzwolenie", German Socialist Labour Party of Poland, Polish People's Party "Piast", National Workers' Party, Polish Socialist Part ...

'' opposition coalition (in which the DSAP participated). The Polish government classified the DSAP–Linke as 'crypto-communist'. The list on which Scheibler was the number 2 candidate was declared invalid by the Polish government.Blachetta-Madajczyk, Petra.
Klassenkampf oder Nation?: deutsche Sozialdemokratie in Polen 1918–1939. Schriften des Bundesarchivs, 49
'.

: Droste, 1997, p. 99. On January 5, 1931 DSAP–Linke organized an assembly in Łódź. The political police, assisted by uniformed policemen, arrested all participants and party materials were seized. 46 participants were accused of anti-state activities. In October 1931, a legal case against twenty-two party cadres accused of connections with the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

, was opened. Scheibler was threatened with two years imprisonment, but on March 23, 1932 he was found 'not guilty'.Blachetta-Madajczyk, Petra.
Klassenkampf oder Nation?: deutsche Sozialdemokratie in Polen 1918–1939. Schriften des Bundesarchivs, 49
'.

: Droste, 1997, pp. 99–100. After a short existence, DSAP–Linke became defunct. Already after the 1930 election, the view inside the party was that the party was lacking prospects for the future. Sometime around 1932 Scheibler joined the

Communist Party of Poland The interwar Communist Party of Poland ( pl, Komunistyczna Partia Polski, KPP) was a communist party active in Poland during the Second Polish Republic. It resulted from a December 1918 merger of the Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland a ...

(KPP). Most members of the political activist core of DSAP–Linke also joined KPP. Some former DSAP–Linke members rejoined DSAP.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:German Socialist Labour Party in Poland - Left 1930 establishments in Poland 1932 disestablishments in Poland Defunct socialist parties in Poland Labour parties Political parties disestablished in 1932 Political parties established in 1930 German political parties in Poland