Read on Twitter
Horst Wessel was born on the 9th of October, 1907, in a suburb of Berlin, to a middle class family of clergy. He passed his high school Abitur and went to study law. Throughout his adolescence, he drifted through a series of nationalist youth groups. /1
In each of these groups, Wessel was an enthusiastic participant, often joining in to instigate brawls with left-wing groups. Throughout the late 1920s and early 1930s, Berlin was the scene of frequent street battles. /2
In 1926 Wessel joined the Sturmabteilung/Stormtroopers or 'SA'. This was the paramilitary arm of the Nazi Party, initially made up of WW1 veterans and petty thugs, and later on, young men keen looking for purpose and a ladder up. /3
Wessels drive, determination and propensity for a fight led to him being noticed by Josef Goebbels, who had been sent to Berlin to lift the profile of the Nazi Party. Not only was he sent to a number of events both to train, and speak, but he quickly rose through the ranks. /4
When Wessel wasn't speaking, or leading his SA unit to beat and terrorise left-wing groups, he had a girlfriend, Erna Janicke, who worked as a sex worker near Alexanderplatz. She moved in with him in 1929, causing a rift with his landlady, who tried to evict the pair. /5
Scared that Wessel's SA friends would prevent the eviction of Wessel and his girlfriend, his landlady reached out to the local KPD - or German Communist Party - to force him out. /6
On the 14th of January, Albrecht Hoehler, a KPD member, turned up to the apartment. When Wessel opened the door Hoehler shot Wessel with a revolver. He would die nine days later. /7
Upon Wessel's death, Berlin's Nazi leadership began his transformation into a martyr. His funeral was filmed and distributed throughout Germany. His likeness and story were reproduced in books, magazines, posters and other media. /8
A marching song - 'Die Fahne Hoch' - was named 'Horst-Wessel-Lied', or 'The Horst Wessel Song' and sung by SA units, as well as the Hitler Jugend and BDM (Bund Deutscher Madel) throughout the time of Nazi rule. /9
Horst Wessel's life - one of violence, thuggery and intimidation in the stews surrounding Berlin's Alexanderplatz - was rehabilitated to make him a paragon of Germanic male virtue. He became a symbol that drove the further persecution of other political groups. /10
So when you hear about Jay Bishop/Aaron Danielson's death in Portland, remember the story of Horst Wessel, and how his history was rewritten to make him a battleflag, a symbol to rally around. /11
History echoes and echoes and echoes. The same things reverberate throughout politics and street movements over the decades. Understand what's being done and don't forget the objective truth... /12
Jay Bishop was a member of a violent street gang. Still, his was a life wasted, due to hate and violence. /FIN
