Revolutionary Hamburg: The Nazi Socialists Win

michael Streich

During the 1920s and until February 1933, Albert Walter was one of the most prominent leaders of the German Communist Party and the head of an international maritime union that sought to achieve Comintern (Communist International) goals throughout the world. Working out of Hamburg, Walter developed a highly organized system of control and intelligence. His shift in alliance to the Nazis and subsequent work for German intelligence prior to the outbreak of war shocked the Communist Party.

 

The Early Years in Hamburg

 

According to Communist defector Richard J.H. Krebs (alias Jan Valtin), Albert Walter was made a political commissar of the Baltic fleet by Lenin himself during a visit to Moscow shortly after the end of World War One. Walter had been a seaman, held in the United States after German merchant ships were seized. Returning to Hamburg after the war, he rapidly rose in the ranks of the party.

 

German Communists had been very active in the maritime trade. Their success among sailors of the Imperial fleet led to the naval mutiny of 1918 that turned Bremen into a war zone. Recognizing the value of converting sailors, the Comintern established the International Propaganda and Action Committee of Transport Works in 1922 with Albert Walter at the head.

 

This committee inaugurated the “Hamburg Method” designed to document every ship, the Communist cells aboard that ship, and all ship destinations. Through this efficient system, propaganda was sent throughout the world and local “clubs” established to further party goals. The Committee was headquartered in Hamburg because of the city’s great marine industry.

 

Throughout the early twenties, Soviet Russian officers were smuggled into Hamburg to “train” activists, turning these young men into “Red Marines.” Additionally, the international propaganda efforts paid off: at its height, the Committee supported 72 newspapers and over 4,000 worldwide Communist cells. Albert Walter facilitated the funding for the massive operation.

 

The Immediate Years before Hitler

 

In 1930 Albert Walter traveled to Moscow to attend a conference, part of which was to organize a new Seamen International. Goals included the formulation of plans to effectively tie up capitalist shipping in the event of war. This resulted in the International of Seamen and Harbor Workers (ISH for short), headed by Albert Walter. Revolutionary action included espionage as well as organizing cells. ISH had operating cells in 22 countries and 19 colonies while supporting 47 international clubs, including both coasts of the United States.

 

Arrest and Capitulation

 

Albert Walter was arrested during the night of February 27^th, 1933 – the night of the Reichstag fire, along with other Communist leaders, and eventually imprisoned at Fuhlsbuettel Concentration Camp. Repeatedly tortured, he refused to break.

 

Richard Krebs, in his autobiography, states that Albert Walter had an “Achilles Heel,” which was his mother. Walter was utterly devoted to her. The Gestapo took him to a cell and allowed him to peer inside. Walter saw his mother and was told that if he did not work for the Gestapo, she would be tortured and executed.

 

This story conflicts with that told by members of his family who maintained that it was his friendship with the regional Gauleiter that got him out of the camp and convinced him to work for the Nazis.

 

After the War

 

Albert Walter was no stranger to politics and he was a survivor. In 1949 he became a member of the new German parliament, representing Hamburg on behalf of the conservative “Deutschen” Party (German Party) until 1957. He spent his retirement years in Hamburg, bequeathing his estate to the Seamen’s Union upon his death in 1980. This included a hand-carved chess set given to him by V. Molotov in the years before the war.

 

Sources:

 

Jan Valtin, Out of the Night (New York: Alliance Book Corporation, 1941)

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