14
PARTISAN REVIEW
threatening than we could fathom and that we must act immediately.
Danton's threefold
"De l'audace"
had been cited by Marx, Lenin, and
everyone who wanted to characterize the law of revolutionary action.
Where was our boldness now?
We were not the only ones who could not bring themselves to
believe that the KPD would fight Hitler's seizure of power only with
words and not with weapons, nor the only ones who did not
permit
themselves to despair. Without great illusions or romantic effusions,
without any pathos or confidence of victory, hundreds of thousands pre–
pared in that gloomy autumn
to
risk their lives in an armed resistance
that would be meaningful even if defeat were as good as certain. With–
out belief in the imminent struggle we would have despaired and been
forced to abandon not only the cause but ourselves, the meaning of our
lives. Yes, there were hundreds of thousands who needed to think along
those lines in order to endure the past, the future, and themselves.
One day it happened that in the seminar on social policy at the
Hochschule fi.ir Politik eight students placed their notebooks and books
on their desks and ostentatiously shut them at the precise moment I be–
gan my lecture. It was certain that there were several Nazis among my
students, but up to that day they had not expressed their convictions in
disturbing fashion. Again and again I glanced at the desks of these young
people, who were exhibiting their negative stance with folded arms and
by staring into space, but I managed to lecture as though nothing had
happened. However, when the same scene was repeated a few days later,
I remained silent for a while on my rostrum, looked at each of the
demonstrators, and then said something like the following: "If you could
see yourselves through my eyes, you would be frightened by the way
your faces are changed - because you are following orders in doing
something that would be repugnant to you if you could permit your–
selves an independent judgment. As for my use of the familiar form of
address,
ihr
rather than
Sie,
you can think about it while you follow or–
ders and don't listen to me."
Three students later apologized. One wrote me a long letter, an–
other begged my pardon by telephone, and a third waited for me at the
front door; each of them wanted this to remain a secret between us. All
three emphasized that they regretted their conduct, but only because it
concerned me. As far as the cause was concerned, however, any personal
consideration was out of the question; as a Communist I ought to un–
derstand this quite well. The athletic young man by the front door
added these words to his declaration, which he had presented in a hoarse
voice: "By the way, you will see that we National Socialists will put
