On a cold spring night in March 1933, a train from Munich was heading for Berlin. In the carriage, the lights were dim, and many passengers leaned their heads on the back of their seats and fell asleepThere was only one middle-aged man in his forties who was reading a newspaper intently in his wobbly seat: the Bulgarian Commander-in-Chief Georgi Dimitrov.
Dimitrov was reading the morning newspaper of the same day, the first page of which carried the news of the burning of the Reichstag in Berlin on the night of February 27, in large bold black lettersThe newspaper also said that the Reichstag was burned by the Commander-General, which Dimitrov had expected.
On January 30 of this yearHindenburg, the German Consul General, appointed HitlerAs commander-in-chief, Hitler began to build up an open fascist army, arresting a large number of progressives at once. On March 5, parliamentary elections were to be held in Germany, and Hitler's National Socialist Party, that is, the fascist Nazi Party, wanted to obtain an absolute majority in the parliamentary elections, and in order to win the parliamentary elections, the National Socialist Party had to outlaw the anti-fascist forces and the general leader in advance, otherwise the National Socialist Party's plan to obtain an absolute majority in the parliament would be frustrated.
The so-called burning of the Capitol that is happening today is exactly thatHitlerA step in the premeditated plan of the fascists was actually carried out by the Goering minions. Their aim was to suppress all anti-fascist forces and the German Governor-General. Dimitrov expected that the conditions for the work of the German Commander-General would become increasingly difficult.
Sure enough, a few days after he returned to Berlin, Ernst Thälmann** of Germany died. At the same time, thousands of German consul generals, progressive lawyers, journalists, and other intellectuals were also included. Progressive newspapers were also seized. It was becoming more and more difficult for him to stay and work in Berlin.
At this time, he was assuming the leadership of the Western European Bureau of the Comintern. The work required him to travel frequently to and from Germany and many other European countries to get to know and guide the activities of the Consulates-General in these countries. While he was worried about Thälmann's safety, he was preparing to move to another country.
On March 9, while Dimitrov was busy with the finishing touches in Berlin, he was denied thanks to a denunciation by the fascist Helmai. He was accompanied by two Bulgarian consul generals. Hitler's fascist newspapers boasted that the three Bulgarian consuls-general arrested on 9 March and the so-called "consul general" Van der Lube and others arrested on the spot on 27 February during the burning of the Reichstag were arsonists
He also said that the arrest of these people was to smash a conspiracy of world communism. After a period of uproar in the fascist newspapers, on August 3, a so-called indictment with lies and trickery was put together on 235 pages of typed paper.
The indictment concludes that Dimitrov, the leader of the Bulgarian Consulate General, at least instructed and connived at his accomplices to participate in the burning of the Reichstag. The fascists, after some painstaking planning, tried to put their long-planned Reichstag arson on Dimitrov and the German Commander-General, and they complacently declared the Reichstag arson case "the case of Lube and his associates" and handed it over to the Fourth Chamber of the Reichscourt in Leipzig.
The date is set for September 21, 1933. After Dimitrov and others, German progressives formed an International Rescue Committee. They set up an international commission of inquiry composed of eminent lawyers to investigate in detail the circumstances surrounding the burning of the Capitol and published a book on the truth about the Capitol arson.
Prior to 21 September, the International Commission of Inquiry met under the chairmanship of the eminent British lawyer Dan Prett. This is the world-famous "London Counter-Trial". On September 20, the day before the Imperial Tribunal**, the "London Counter-Trial" group published the verdict of Dimitrov and the consul-general's innocence, while raising well-founded suspicions.
Or they were burned according to their instructions. The materials published by the International Commission of Inquiry against the trial had a tremendous impact on the international community, and even the prosecutors and judges in Leipzig had to take into account the conclusions reached by the International Commission of Inquiry.
On 21 September, the trial began in Caibizig. The fascist Nazis were so confident that they brought in searchlights, tape recorders, movie cameras, and installed loudspeakers at the intersections of the streets so that passers-by could hear the trial, and they also called in a large number of foreign journalists to listen to the trial. Clause.
One or two days, Lube was tried. On the third day, the trial of Dimitrov began. At that time, prominent lawyers from several countries volunteered to defend Dimitrov, but the Reichscourt did not allow him to freely choose his defender, instead appointing a German lawyer, Dr. Tücher, to defend him.
So Dimitrov decided to defend himself himself. Therefore, he is both the "accused" and the defender of the "accused" in court. On September 23, Dimitrov, the Bulgarian leader of the Consulate-General who had been a printer since the age of twelve, and had dedicated himself to the cause of the proletariat since the age of twenty, stood majestically in the court, fearlessly proclaiming that he was a proletarian and that his life consisted of the struggle for the victory of communism.
He forcefully pointed out that he was not in Berlin at all when the Reichstag **;He then argues that the burning of the Reichstag was the work of the enemies of communism. Dimitrov turned the court where the Nazis tried him into a place to propagate communism and expose the evil plots of fascism. Even the president of the court felt that the initiative of the trial had been taken away from him, and that it was Dimitrov who was in control of the direction of the trial. The judge hurriedly withdrew from the courtroom for deliberations, and the result of the deliberation was that Dimitrov abused his power to carry out communist propaganda, and he was not allowed to ask any more questions.
But foreign journalists in the courtroom and many pedestrians on the street listened to Dimitrov's strong speech. "Dimitrov was intellectually brilliant and brilliant, and he turned the dock into an indictment," it was said approvingly. Then Dimitrov shouted: "The Comintern demands a complete understanding of the truth about the burning of the Reichstag, and millions are waiting for an answer!"”
The president was dumbfounded and had to hastily announce an adjournment. A little later, the President went so far as to announce that Dimitrov had been barred from appearing three times because of a procedural quarrel between the accused and the President. Dimitrov immediately wrote to ** and launched an offensive on the court. At the end of the letter, he said: "I am my own defender, and by doing so, you are openly depriving me of my right to defend myself.
If you do not allow me to appear in court, I will consider whether it is still necessary. On November 4, Goering, president of the Reichstag and one of the Nazi leaders, had to step in personally. Dressed as a stormtrooper's ** and followed by a squad of attendants, Goering came to the courtroom in a posture of rooting out communism, and for an hour and a half he made a barbble speech, presenting so-called "important" but contradictory witnesses and testimonies.
As soon as Goering's words fell, Dimitrov asked: "May I ask Mr. Goering, what is the matter with which you said that Lube had a party card of the consul general, and the three policemen who arrested him had already proved in court that they had not found any party cards?"This question made the lively Goering embarrassed, and his answer was incoherent, and the preface did not match the afterword.
Immediately barked wildly: "The Arson of the Congress was committed by the Commander-in-Chief, and the Commander-in-Chief should be eliminated." Dimitrov bravely fought back: "This party that should be eliminated rules one-sixth of the planet - the Soviet Union, which has normal diplomatic relations and activities with Germany. As a result, thousands of Germans have jobs to do and are not unemployed. ”
Goering glared at Dimitrov dryly, searching for dry intestines, but could not find a single word that could refute Dimitrov. The president of the court hurriedly came out to help, saying: "The defendant is forbidden to carry out communist propaganda. But the witty, brilliant orator Dimitrov debunked the essence of Goering's remarks in just one sentence: "Here Mr. Goering conducted the propaganda of the National Socialist Party!Like an enraged beast, Göring roared in despair in the courtroom and shouted at Dimitrov: "Get out, ** hands!".This fascist has so far personally stripped off the cloak of the trial "ceremony" and completely lost his prestige.
The "accusations" of the fascists against Dimitrov and others, as well as the so-called "proofs", are inconsistent and full of loopholes. In the end, the president had to hurriedly order the police to take Dimitrov out of the courtroom. And Dimitrov's last words as he left the courtroom were "Mr. Goering, you are probably afraid to answer the question I asked, right?"But the fascists trembled when they heard it, and they couldn't resist it.
On 6 December, at the fifty-second meeting of the Tribunal**, the President declared the conclusion of the Tribunal's investigation. 13 December is set as the date for the final statement to the plaintiff. On this day, the Prosecutor General went so far as to say that the arson of the Congress was "a signal from the Third International for the establishment of a Soviet state in Germany." He also stated that all the defendants were consul generals;Although Lubé was not a party member, he was also a consul general in terms of his beliefs and activities. On December 16 it was Dimitrov's turn to speak.
He published the world-famous Prosecution of Trial. Dimitrov said: "I want to defend myself, an accused consul general. I want to defend my communist honor. I want to defend my ideals, my communist beliefs. I want to defend the meaning and content of my life. "Dimitrov profoundly exposed the conspiracy of the fascist Nazis to create the Reichstag arson. He pointedly pointed out that the Reichstag arson was a pre-orchestrated conspiracy to massacre the German working class and its vanguard leaders. He also said that it was not only the General Leaders but also other workers' organizations that suffered from the fascist terror, and that they had been banned one by one.
At the end he made an impassioned statement in court: "When Galileo was punished, he declared: "The earth still turns!".The Commander-General, who had the same determination as Galileo the Elder, declared today: "The earth still turns!".The wheels of history are turning towards the inevitable and unbreakable ultimate goal of communism!”
Dimitrov's speech was the bravest indictment of fascism, and at the same time expressed his firm belief in the triumph of the communist cause. The German fascist tribunal, which could not find any evidence that the Consul General was the main culprit in the Reichstag arson, had to acquit Dimitrov and two other Bulgarian consul generals on December 23, 1933 under the strong pressure of the international community and the heroic and tenacious struggle of Dimitrov. Dimitrov and other commanders became the victors of the Leipzig trials.
One day in March 1934, in the Italian meeting room, Lieutenant General Barrera, the head of the Italian fascists and the original representative of Spain, was engaged in a dirty secret meeting. Mussolini said proudly: "As long as you have certain obligations......."We will give you generous material assistance. Lieutenant General Barrera understood that Mussolini's "certain obligations" meant that they were meant to overthrow the newly established Spanish Republic, so he immediately wrote a note and handed it to Mussolini, asking him to support a large number of military **.
Mussolini looked at what was written on the note and immediately said: "We can now provide 10,000 guns, 20,000 ammunition, 20,000 machine guns, and 1.5 million pesetas (Spanish dollars) for your disposal." After a pause, he said generously: "In the future, according to the situation, military assistance to you will be increased." ”
Lieutenant General Barrera was overjoyed by Mussolini's "generosity," and when he left the meeting room at the end of the talks, he saluted Mussolini and bowed his head, showing infinite gratitude. This took place in the third year of Spain's overthrow of the monarchy and the establishment of a republic.