Rote Hilfe

The Rote Hilfe ("Red Aid") was the German affiliate of the International Red Aid. The Rote Hilfe was affiliated with the Communist Party of Germany and existed between 1924 and 1936.

The Rote Hilfe was first organized as a result of the political repression in April 1921 following bloody strikes and communist rebellions in central Germany in March of that year. It was formed after a decision the Communist Party of Germany (KPD). In November 1921, a "Berlin Committee" was created as a central committee.

The Fourth World Congress of the Comintern in Moscow from 5 October - 12 November 1922, called for "the creation of organizations to render material and moral aid to all captives of capitalism in prison." This effort later became the International Red Aid, (also known by its Russian abbreviation, MOPR). The Rote Hilfe Deutschlands (RHD) was founded on 1 October 1924 as an organization affiliated with the KPD. Artist Heinrich Vogeler, was one of the founding members and was elected to the Central Committee. The first chairman was Wilhelm Pieck, later the first and only president of the German Democratic Republic. He was previously the leader of the Juristischen Zentralstelle of the Landtag of the Weimar Republic and the Reichstag faction of the KPD. After 1925, Clara Zetkin assumed leadership of the RHD. After the death of Julian Marchlewski that same year, she also led the MOPR.

In the beginning, the organization was active with the campaign, "Rote Hilfe for the victims of war and work", part of an international campaign to support war victims and those disabled at work. The main emphasis of the work was the support of arrested members of the Rotfrontkämpferbund, the Socialist Workers' Party of Germany, Communist Workers' Party of Germany, unionists, as well as unaffiliated individuals and their family members.

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