Two other Christian Democraticleaders who are little known outsideGermany , but important for the eco-nomic power they wield in the FourthReich, are big and genial Dr. Erich Köhler , President of the Bundestag,and former President of the BizonalEconomic Council; and Dr. Ludwig Erhard , who has been appointed to theimportant job of Economics Ministerby Adenauer . A veteran economist andadministrator, Erhard is given muchcredit for the success of the currencyreform of 1948. Erhard was Minister of Economics for Bavaria after thewar, and then stepped into the BizonalEconomics job when Dr. JohannesSemmler was fired by General Clay for slandering American Military Gov-ernment. Erhard is the foremost ex-ponent of free enterprise in westernGermany . When he removed virtuallyall controls in December, 1948, con-sumers in a dozen cities demonstratedagainst him, and even his supporters inmilitary government and the German Economic Administration felt that hehad gone too far. But he stuck to hisguns, refused to control prices, and leftthe economy of western Germany freeand booming, blessed with inflatedprofits for the lucky and enterprising.
The Communist Party in west Ger many is led by one of the most unex-pected characters in German politics,a dapper, suave man named Max Reimann . A handsome cynic who goesin for English tailoring and drives aMaybach( the German Rolls Royce),Reimann started out a miner, becamea Communist functionary in the early1920's, and spent six years in Sachsen-hausen concentration camp. Leaderof the Communist Party in the British zone since 1945, he was defeated inhis local district for the Bundestag, butholds a seat under proportional repre-sentation, thanks to which his party hasfifteen representatives. He impressesmost strangers as a likable man and acongenial enfant terrible. He seems toenjoy embarrassing the Social Demo crats by voting with them, and oftensteals their thunder by attacking themilitary government authorities evenmore vigorously than Schumacherdoes. As long as the Communists ofwestern Germany poll only 5.6 per centof the popular vote, as they did inthe last election, Reimann will remainat worst a nuisance.
Considerably more than a nuisanceare some of the right- wing extremistslike General Otto Ernst Remer , promi-nent in the affairs of the ultrana-tionalist, militarist German RightistParty.
Remer was a major on duty in Berlin in 1944. The July conspirators knewhim as a disciplined career officerwho could be depended upon to obeywho could be depended upon to obeyorders from his superiors. A short timeafter the bomb at Hitler 's headquartersexploded, the conspirators in Berlin sent Remer at the head of a detach-
Dr. Ludwig Erhard
ment of soldiers to arrest Goebbels ,take over the country's propagandamachinery, and announce the newgovernment's intention of signing anarmistice as soon as possible. BetterNazi than soldier, Major Remer al-lowed the persuasive Goebbels to putthrough a long distance telephone callto Wolfschanze , Hitler 's headquarters near Rastenburg , where Hitler him-self, still bleeding and dazed, came tothe phone and assured Remer that hewas indeed alive and that the major'sduty was to obey Goebbels and arrestthe conspirators. This Remer pro-ceeded to do, earning tremendous hon-ors and a big promotion. Later, Remer led the Führer Escort Brigade in theBattle of the Bulge. His élite armored
unit captured St. Vith , then broke itsteeth on the 84th Infantry Divisionnear Hotton. Its remnants joined thefinal unsuccessful assaults on Bastogne .
Remer remained obscure for sometime following the capitulation, thenturned up in the British Zone and setabout organizing right- wing national-ists. There is some evidence that hereceived encouragement, perhaps help,from agents of the Soviet military ad-ministration, who would be delightedto see extreme nationalism revived inwest Germany to support the Russians '" unity" campaign.
Also on the lunatic fringe of German politics is Alfred Loritz , Führer of theseparatist Bavarian Economic Recon-struction Party, which now has twelveseats in the Bundestag.
In the midst of these partisans andcrackpots, President Theodor Heuss appears as a rock of stability. An oldmember of the pre- Hitler Liberal Par-ty, Professor Heuss is now leader of theFree Democrats, a free- enterprise, anti-clerical party.
As President of the Federal Republic of Germany - a position somewhatsimilar in function to those of the Pres-ident of France and the British King-Heuss will have the task of keeping thecentripetal pressures of the occupationauthorities and the centrifugal forcesof the various parties and factions frombreaking up the still shaky hull of theFourth Reich.
These German politicians are the menin whom the western powers have en-trusted a considerable measure of con-trol over the groping and truncatedGerman state. It is probably a goodthing that none of them has given in-dications of having the organizationalability of Disraeli , the diplomacy ofTalleyrand , the integrity of Lincoln, orthe determination of Peter the Great .Both major parties believe in demo-cratically elected governments, and areprepared to leave their offices peaceful-ly if the voters wish. While the univer-sal dissatisfaction with the Oder- Niesseline will keep the country in a fermentof irritation and anger for many years,regardless of its government, no re-sponsible leader of the two main partieshas expressed any intention of prepar-ing for rectifications by force. On thecontrary, all agree on Germany 's needforpeace, not for a year or two, but forgood.-JOHN SCOTT
The Reporter, October 11, 1949
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