thrashing SPD and quickly striking KPD.”²⁶In line with this kind of aggressive
language(e.g., cold, sharp,tough, terse, energetic), impatient calls for more
emotional restraint becamearecurringfeature in critical comments on proletar-
ian performance, with too much expressivity seen asasign of bourgeois deca-
dence and social reformism and with discipline, steadfastness,and self-control
extolled as essential communist virtues.
To offerafew examples from the instructional manuals of communist thea-
ter and agitprop, the actorsinaplaybyHans Marchwitza wereinstructed not to
succumb to sentimental or melodramatic impulses and to“deliverall sentences
in aclear,hard, untheatricaltone.”²⁷ElsewhereJohannesR. Becher (1891–1958)
warned performers not to present political slogans as if frozen in time and place.
Instead he recommended:“Addmovement.But onlymovements modeled on re-
ality.Don’tstagesymbolic dances.”²⁸It was as part ofacoordinated campaign
against too much emotion thatDer Agitator(1931–1932, TheAgitator),ashort-
livedjournalpublished by the RotFront organization, offered practical advice
on effective public speaking and street agitation. No detail was deemed irrele-
vant,with one program for the KPD’s1932election campaign even offering
tips on how not to extend one’shand:“Aclass-conscious workerwill never ex-
tend his hand, never!Because he cannot be found begging;instead, he must de-
mand.Itell youagain, youmust understand thatyoudemeanyourselvesend-
lesslyinthe eyes of the bourgeoisie, the ruling class, whenyoustand in front
of theirdoors and ask for scraps from their tables.”²⁹
The Nazi takeover of power in 1933 resultedinthe violent suppression of the
communist habitus in political life and public performance. Oneofthe lastis-
sues ofDas Rote Sprachrohr,alreadyproduced under conditions of illegality,
contains the haunting imageofaworker standing in front ofawall,with his
raised hands suggestingascene of execution, andadesperate plea written
across the page:“It cannotend that way!”By the end of theyear,almostall
of the artists and performers mentioned in this chapter had left the country.
After 1945, the majority returnedto East Germanytoonce again lend their exper-
tise to the definition of the correctKlassenstandpunkt.As one of the first,Maxim
Vallentin arrivedfrom the Soviet Union to trainanew generation of actors at the
Deutsche Theaterinstitut inWeimarand build upadistinctlysocialist German
Gustavvon Wangenheim,Chor der Arbeit(Berlin:Vereinigung InternationalerVerlagsanstal-
ten, 1924),110.
Hans Marchwitza,“Die roteSchmiede,”Das rote Sprachrohr1.4(1929): 10.
JohannesR.Becher,“Die Partei,”Das rote Sprachrohr1.4(1929):4.
Das rote Sprachrohr. MaterialfürAgitproptruppen und Arbeiter-T heatervereine(Berlin: Zentra-
lagitpropder KPD und des KJVD,1932), 16.
TakingaStand: The HabitusofAgitprop 253