Left-Extremist Endeavours

Successful recruitment of
members despite the
Trotzkyite "Linksruck-
Netzwerk"
small number of supporters and scarcity of resources, the majority
of these groups kept a low profile.
Some of the groups made major efforts to make the general
public aware of their organizations and to recruit new members;
in instances, these efforts were successful. Overall, the number
of German Trotzkyites has risen to about 2,350 (1998: 2,200).
The "Sozialistische ArbeiterGruppe" (SAG - "Socialist Workers’
Group") - the German section of the umbrella organization "International
Socialists" (IS; headquarters in London) - again was
the most successful group in recruiting supporters. With the help
of its cover organization "Linksruck-Netzwerk" (LR - "Left-Swing
Network") which was founded in 1994, it conducted a focused
and successful infiltration programme directed primarily against
"Young Socialists" in the SPD (Social Democratic Party of Germany).
For this purpose, it made use of the so-called "entrism"
tactics, which had been developed by Trotzkyists already in the
1930s: Trotzkyists will join competing left-wing, including democratic,
groups, and try to anchor their policies in these groups, to
win over members or even to bring whole organizational structures
under their control.
Some 1,000 participants attended its annual mass event "Rosa
Luxemburg Days" (21 - 24 May in Frankfurt/Main). The organizers
reported that recruitment of members had been successful.
By the end of the year, the LR had between 1,000 and 1,100
(1998: 900) members working in more than 50 local groups
(1998: 40) which form five regional divisions - North, East, West,
Centre and South. During the second half of 1999, the LR made
an abrupt turn away from the SPD [Social Democratic Party of Germany],
which it had previously courted, by staging a campaign
entitled "An End to Schröder's CDU politics!". It did not, however,
give up the entrism tactics employed by it so far.
Also the second largest Trotskyite formation in Germany, the
"Sozialistische Alternative Voran" (SAV - " Socialist Alternative
Forward") - which is the German section of the "Committee for a
Workers' International" (CWI; headquarters in London) - experienced
membership gains. As in 1998, the SAV ran in Landtag
and local elections. In some cities, for instance Aachen [Aix-la-
Chapelle] and Rostock, it won up to 0.8 % of the votes, and managed
to use the election contest for publicizing its organization
and for recruiting new members.
The re-activation, begun in 1998, of the front organization
"Jugend gegen Rassismus in Europa" (JRE - "Youth against Racism
in Europe"; most recent membership figure: more than
1,000) met only with moderate success. By now, groups have
been re-established in Göttingen, Cologne, Rostock, Dresden
�����