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Right side, approached us and stated that they would cross over to us. Adolf Hoffmann introduced me to a young lady-teacher—whose name was Bock, if I am not mistaken. She declared with tears in her eyes, that up till now she had been hesitating, but that now she will come over to our side. Our comrades told us that many workers walked up to Crispien and Dittman, and said to them angrily: "What lies you were telling of them (meaning us—the Russian Bolsheviks)! Some of the Right delegates were clearly inclined in our favour.
Brass, the chairman of the Lefts, who had many friends in the Right section, assured us that evening that after my speech the Right section had a sitting in two distinct groups. True, these groups were afterwards reunited by the efforts of the Rights' leaders, but a certain cleavage remained none the less. The Left increased not only in numbers but also in moral strength. It became more united, and more deeply felt the righteousness of our cause. That night the Communist International brought about the complete transformation of the Left section of the Independent party into a Communist Party. The same night also witnessed the disintegration of the newly-formed party of the Rights Independents. A new Left wing was immediately formed. Ludwig Wurm, and some others, were named as the leaders of this Left Wing of the Right. If we had made certain concessions we could possibly have gained that wavering Left wing of the Rights on to our side. But we preferred not to do it. Let these vacillating elements remain in the party of the Right Independents. Our party must be as firm as a rock, as hard as stone—and such it will remain.
The highest praise was bestowed on my speech by my opponents. The local bourgeois papers wrote that the speech had a "demonaic" effect on the Congress. This description of my speech was written in all the bourgeois papers. All the central organs of the bourgeoisie which appear in Berlin (by that time the strike was over and the papers began to appear( such as the "Berliner Tagesblatt," "Deutsche Tageszeitung," "Vossische Zeitung" and others, gave the most flattering accounts of the oratorical merits of the speech. "Vorwarts," the organ of Scheidemann, described the speech as "first rate." "Freiheit," the organ of the Left Independents, called it super-
