EXCHANGE THE PRISONERS OF WAR FOR PCs!
That this slogan is preventing the splitting up of the Nazis is no counterargument. It is a real political fact that Germany will have to make reparations in the form of workers. So if there must be some, let it be active Nazis. If strict guidelines are worked out, there would be a guarantee that this action would not turn into a politically unwise wave of persecution. But many a quarrel upon the return of old enterprise leaders would thus find a simple, quick solution.
All these are only the ideas of a single person. But the problems and work connected with the prisoners of war are so enormous that they can be resolved only by many.
The best men must be freed up for this. The party must not continue to watch without doing anything, and ignorance is hereafter no longer an excuse.
A MILLION ANTI-BOLSHEVISTS ARE ON THEIR WAY
The goal is to win them over ideologically.
Karl Lewke
Berlin 034
Frankfurter Allee 333.
Berlin, December 2, 1945
Source: Letter from Karl Lewke to the Central Committee of the SED (December 2, 1945), BA-SAPMO, DY 30, IV2, II, 2II, 3-7.
Translation: Thomas Dunlap