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.No.That type of citizen is of no use to anyone.On the other hand the National Socialist meetings were by no means  peaceable affairs.Two distinctWeltanschhauungen raged in bitter opposition to one another, and these meetings did not close with themechanical rendering of a dull patriotic song but rather with a passionate outbreak of popular nationalfeeling.It was imperative from the start to introduce rigid discipline into our meetings and establish the authority ofthe chairman absolutely.Our purpose was not to pour out a mixture of soft-soap bourgeois talk; what we hadto say was meant to arouse the opponents at our meetings! How often did they not turn up in masses with afew individual agitators among them and, judging by the expression on all their faces, ready to finish us offthere and then.Yes, how often did they not turn up in huge numbers, those supporters of the Red Flag, all previouslyinstructed to smash up everything once and for all and put an end to these meetings.More often than noteverything hung on a mere thread, and only the chairman s ruthless determination and the rough handling byour ushers baffled our adversaries intentions.And indeed they had every reason for being irritated.The fact that we had chosen red as the colour for our posters sufficed to attract them to our meetings.Theordinary bourgeoisie were very shocked to see that, we had also chosen the symbolic red of Bolshevism andthey regarded this as something ambiguously significant.The suspicion was whispered in German Nationalistcircles that we also were merely another variety of Marxism, perhaps even Marxists suitably disguised, orbetter still, Socialists.The actual difference between Socialism and Marxism still remains a mystery to thesepeople up to this day.The charge of Marxism was conclusively proved when it was discovered that at ourmeetings we deliberately substituted the words  Fellow-countrymen and Women for  Ladies andGentlemen and addressed each other as  Party Comrade.We used to roar with laughter at these sillyfaint-hearted bourgeoisie and their efforts to puzzle out our origin, our intentions and our aims.We chose red for our posters after particular and careful deliberation, our intention being to irritate the Left,so as to arouse their attention and tempt them to come to our meetings  if only in order to break them up  sothat in this way we got a chance of talking to the people.In those years it was indeed a delightful experience to follow the constantly changing tactics of ourperplexed and helpless adversaries.First of all they appealed to their followers to ignore us and keep awayfrom our meetings.Generally speaking this appeal was heeded.But, as time went on, more and more of theirfollowers gradually found their way to us and accepted our teaching.Then the leaders became nervous and258Mein Kampfuneasy.They clung to their belief that such a development should not be ignored for ever, and that terrormust be applied in order to put an end to it.Appeals were then made to the  class-conscious proletariat to attend our meetings in masses and strike withthe clenched hand of the proletarian at the representatives of a  monarchist and reactionary agitation.Our meetings suddenly became packed with work-people fully three-quarters of an hour before theproceedings were scheduled to begin.These gatherings resembled a powder cask ready to explode at anymoment; and the fuse was conveniently at hand.But matters always turned out differently.People came asenemies and left, not perhaps prepared to join us, yet in a reflective mood and disposed critically to examinethe correctness of their own doctrine.Gradually as time went on my three-hour lectures resulted insupporters and opponents becoming united in one single enthusiastic group of people.Every signal for thebreaking-up of the meeting failed.The result was that the opposition leaders became frightened and onceagain looked for help to those quarters that had formerly discountenanced these tactics and, with some showof right, had been of the opinion that on principle the workers should be forbidden to attend our meetings.Then they did not come any more, or only in small numbers.But after a short time the whole game started allover again.The instructions to keep away from us were ignored; the comrades came in steadily increasingnumbers, until finally the advocates of the radical tactics won the day.We were to be broken up.Yet when, after two, three and even eight meetings, it was realized that to break up these gatherings waseasier said than done and that every meeting resulted in a decisive weakening of the red fighting forces, thensuddenly the other password was introduced:  Proletarians, comrades and comradesses, avoid meetings of theNational Socialist agitators.The same eternally alternating tactics were also to be observed in the Red Press.Soon they tried to silence usbut discovered the uselessness of such an attempt.After that they swung round to the opposite tactics.Daily reference was made to us solely for the purpose of absolutely ridiculing us in the eyes of theworking-classes.After a time these gentlemen must have felt that no harm was being done to us, but that, onthe contrary, we were reaping an advantage in that people were asking themselves why so much space wasbeing devoted to a subject which was supposed to be so ludicrous.People became curious.Suddenly therewas a change of tactics and for a time we were treated as veritable criminals against mankind.One articlefollowed the other, in which our criminal intentions were explained and new proofs brought forward tosupport what was said.Scandalous tales, all of them fabricated from start to finish, were published in order tohelp to poison the public mind.But in a short time even these attacks also proved futile; and in fact theyassisted materially because they attracted public attention to us.In those days I took up the standpoint that it was immaterial whether they laughed at us or reviled us, whetherthey depicted us as fools or criminals; the important point was that they took notice of us and that in the eyesof the working-classes we came to be regarded as the only force capable of putting up a fight.I said tomyself that the followers of the Jewish Press would come to know all about us and our real aims.One reason why they never got so far as breaking up our meetings was undoubtedly the incredible cowardicedisplayed by the leaders of the opposition.On every critical occasion they left the dirty work to the smallerfry whilst they waited outside the halls for the results of the break up.We were exceptionally well informed in regard to our opponents intentions, not only because we allowedseveral of our party colleagues to remain members of the Red organizations for reasons of expediency, butalso because the Red wire-pullers, fortunately for us, were afflicted with a degree of talkativeness that is stillunfortunately very prevalent among Germans.They could not keep their own counsel, and more often thannot they started cackling before the proverbial egg was laid [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]