MANES SPERBER
55
serve as an admonition to me. Because of it I hesitated too long, for
almost five years, to break with a communism gone sour. Because of
it I have never ceased to regard the cause of working people as my
own - although since that time without illusions, with a confidence
that nothing else has paralleled.
Like so many others, once the Reichstag fire had taken place, I
seldom spent my nights at home, but at the homes of friends who
had no need to fear the morning house checks by the police and the
SA. At the apartment of the family that gave me shelter the night of
March 5, a proletarian comrade from another district of the city
turned up, a man of about thirty-five who was well known in his fac–
tory and in the Party for his intelligence, militancy, and boldness; he
influenced not only fellow-believers, but others as well.
Hannes, as he was called even by those who knew him only
slightly, had been up and about since early morning, patrolling the
voting centers, to make sure that the SA did not prevent known op–
ponents of the Nazis from entering. Uniformed Nazis had sur–
rounded all the community and district offices, and according to the
particular situation were trying to curry favor or intimidate, and to
drive away anyone they suspected of opposition.
We sat by the radio and waited for the election results, which at
first came only in a trickle and with the passing hours more
profusely- until long after midnight. We drank, joked, and at times
discussed the matter seriously. We were expecting no surprises; the
decision this time would not come from the ballot boxes. The op–
timists among us, who were sure the Communist Party would gain
many votes, especially at the expense of the Socialist Party, were
disappointed; we others saw our drop in votes as moderate and
ascribed it not only to the terror tactics of the Nazis but also to the
passivity of the Party, which had left some disenchanted and driven
others, the many unemployed in the Ruhr area, for instance, into
the enemy camp.
Hannes and I stayed by the radio until about two o'clock, but
by that time had had enough. We made ourselves comfortable on
mattresses and wanted to sleep. But sleep did not come easily. After
a while Hannes said that he was too uneasy to sleep. So I sat up and
lit a cigarette. After several false starts, Hannes finally managed to
say what was on his mind. He simply wanted me to give him a
psychological explanation for something that had happened to him
that morning in front of the Schoneberg City Hall. Nothing
