Iron Front

The Iron Front was an anti-Nazi, anti-monarchist, and anti-communist paramilitary organization formed in Germany on 16 December 1931 by the Social Democratic Party (SPD) with the Catholic Centre PartyFact|date=March 2008 and others, originally to counter the right-wing Harzburg Front formed by the National Socialist German Workers Party, the Stalhhelm and the German National People's Party. The organization sought to engage the old Reichsbanner Schwarz-Rot-Gold, the SPD youth organization, and labor and liberal groups as a united front. The SPD rallied to the Iron Front, held mass demonstrations, fought fascists in the streets, and armed themselves. This is more than the SPD leaders wanted, but SPD workers grew increasingly revolutionary. In 1933 the organization was banned.

Its logo, the Antifascist Circle (three arrows, pointing south-west/to the lower-left inside a circle) was designed by [http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergei_Stepanowitsch_Tschachotin Sergei Tschachotin] , former assistant to the physiologist Ivan Pavlov in 1931 [Friedrich-Wilhelm Witt, "Die Hamburger Sozialdemokratie in der Weimarer Republik". Unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Jahre 1929/30 - 1933" ("Hamburg Social Democracy in the Weimar Republic". With special consideration of the years 1929/30 - 1933"), Hannover 1971, p. 136, Sergei Tschachotin, "Dreipfeil gegen Hakenkreuz" ("Three Arrows Against the Swastika"), Kopenhagen 1933 (Source: Biography of S. Tschachotin) - Book was reviewed by Dieter Rebentisch in the periodical, "Archiv für Sozialgeschichte" ("Archives for Social History") #12 (1972), p. 679-???, ISSN 0066-6505] [Dr. Richard Albrecht, PhD., " [http://www.amazon.de/Dreipfeil-gegen-Hakenkreuz-Symbolkrieg-Deutschland/dp/3638389510/ “Dreipfeil gegen Hakenkreuz” - Symbolkrieg in Deutschland 1932] " ("“Three Arrows Against the Swastika” - symbol war in Germany 1932". Historical Case-Study in Anti-Nazi-Propaganda Within Germany and Western Europe, 1931-35"), pub. January 2005] . It was designed so as to be able to easily cover Nazi swastikas. The meaning of the three arrows have been interpreted differently. One claim is that they stood for the opponents of the iron front, the three enemies of the democracy: communism, monarchism and national socialism. Another claim is that they stand the three columns of the German workers' movement: a party, a trade union and the Reichsbanner Schwarz-Rot-Gold as symbols for the political, economic and physical strength of the Iron Front.Fact|date=March 2007

About its formation, [http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_H%C3%B6ltermann Karl Hoeltermann] (chairman of the Reichsbanner) commented "The year 1932 will be our year, the year of victory of the republic over its opponents. One day nor one hour more do we want to remain in the defensive - we attack! Attack on the whole line! We must be part of the general offensive. Today we call - tomorrow we strike!"Fact|date=March 2007

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