Rotfrontkämpferbund

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Communist leaders Ernst Thälmann (left) and Willy Leow (right) in front of parading troops of Rotfrontkämpferbund during their national meeting in Berlin, June 1927.

Emblem of the Rotfrontkämpferbund (RFB)

Rotfrontkämpferbund (RFB, other variants: Der Rote Frontkämpferbund, Roter Frontkämpferbund) (English: Red Front Fighters' League, Red Front Fighters Association) was a paramilitary organization of the Communist Party of Germany created on 18 July 1924 during the Weimar Republic. Its first leader was Ernst Thälmann. It was banned in 1932.

The RFB engaged in street fights with the Nazi party's Sturmabteilung (SA) before being banned.

Greetings and paper

They had a greeting: "Rot Front!" ("Red Front!") was spoken while the right arm was raised with fist clenched, fingers facing forward.

The RFB issued their official newspaper, Die Rote Front.

There was also a youth organization (ages 16–21), Rote Jungfront (Young Red Front).

Der rote Wedding (Red Wedding), lyrics by Erich Weinert and music by Hanns Eisler (1928) is an anti-Nazi battle hymn for the Red Front:

The drums are beating

The working class is marching...

See also

Weimar paramilitary groups