Excerpts from Rosa Luxemburg’s Prison Letters (1904–1918)

Editor’s Note: The first letters below are taken from an anthology edited by Luise Kautsky, Letters to Karl and Luise Kautsky from 1896 to 1918, translated and published in English in New York by Robert M. McBride & Co. in 1925. The letter to Sophie Liebknecht dated November 21, 1916, is taken from the compilation Letters From Prison produced by the Publishing House of the Young International in 1923. As for the remaining letters, they are from various other sources, including Soviet ones.

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To Karl Kautsky

Zwickau Prison, 1904.

Dear Carolus:
Thanks for the information. I, too, had not expected much from the Press Committee.¹ I shall now refrain for the present from publishing the article, for I can well understand that a press discussion can’t be conducted adequately from the prison cell. There is one thing, though, that I want to urge most earnestly upon you: write a few words to [Georgi] Plekhanov² (his address, if necessary, is to be found in my home), in order to inform him as to the fate of the article; he is waiting for its publication. Will you do that? Thank you in advance! Reassure him that later, when I am free again, we shall certainly find an opportunity to raise the whole question and to say the right thing in our press. (Tell him, too, that the executive committee of the party is on our side.)
So you now have other fights to fight! I am quite happy about this, for it shows that these dear people felt our victory in Amsterdam quite severely. As far as I can judge the situation, they intend to have their revenge at Bremen—and that is a broth that we shall salt good and hard for them! That’s why I am vexed at your envying me the cell. I don’t doubt but that you will hit Kurt,³ George⁴ & co. quite thoroughly on their so-called heads. But you must do it with spirit and joy and not as though it were a bothersome intermezzo, for the public always senses the spirit of the combatants, and the joy of battle gives resonance to a controversy and ensures moral superiority. To be sure, you are now quite alone, as I observe; August⁵ will surely remain in the vineyard of the Lord till Point 18, and Arthur dear and Pauly dear⁶ are “elegiac,” as you put it. Would that thunder and lightning struck them seven fathoms deep into the ground, if they can still be “elegiac” after such a congress!!—between two battles, when one is happy to be alive! Carl, this present “brawl” is certainly not a forced skirmish, fought out in the gray atmosphere of listlessness, such as you have been compelled to fight many a time in recent years! The interest of the masses is astir again; I feel it even here, penetrating through the prison walls. And don’t forget that the Internationale is now looking with bated breath upon us—I should rather say, upon you, for the starting point of the whole controversy is Amsterdam. I am writing you all this not to stir you up to rebellion—I am not so devoid of good taste as all that, but rather to make you happy at the controversy, or at least to transmit my joy to you, for here in No. 7 I can’t do much with that commodity.
Do you know, I have thought a great deal about Amsterdam, about the general position of the international movement and the prospects of our Marxism in the Internationale.⁷ There is so much to say to you about it, but that must wait. The moral of the whole story for me is this: there is an immense amount of work to do and especially an immense amount to study—I mean the movement in the different countries. I have a feeling that we (the Germans) will gain a supremacy and influence even by the mere knowledge of the movement in the other countries; and on the other hand I feel that we shall strengthen our position (in the narrower sense) within the German movement by our very approach to the Internationale. In a word, I am happy to be alive.
Please send me your articles, but in the form of clippings. I am sure that Clara is not “elegiac” but appreciates her contact with you and me. Both of you will have hot days ahead in Bremen. Do arrive at an understanding with her in time; one can depend on her. I should so much like to have a letter from her. À propos of the 4th Volume,⁸ when will it appear? You see, I should like to write a review of it; a number of thoughts about this material are crowding into my head.
And now to you, dearest Luise, or rather, now only to you, for this whole letter is for you too. Oftentimes you understand my mood better and more quickly (if there is anything to “understand”). There was so much I wanted to write, and yet I must be so brief! Well then, only this much, that your letters put me in the sunniest frame of mind. Thank you a thousand times for every word. You are giving me such a vivid picture of your surroundings! Send the heartiest letters from me to Holland. Write often, but only when you like to—don’t force yourself to. I kiss you all and the boys. Greetings to Granny.

Your
Rosa.

[P.S.] Louise dear, write to Troelstra⁹ and tell him that I shall embrace the first opportunity to visit Frau Sjoukje¹⁰ when we get there. You may send a photograph perfectly safely. Write me two words immediately from Bremen¹¹ as to what the situation there is.

To the Editors of the Neue Zeit

Barnim Street Jail
Berlin, December 25, 1915.

Comrades: In February Franz Mehring¹² will be 70 years old. I should like to ask whether you would like to have me write a short article of about 1½ printed pages, for this occasion and how long before I should have to send it in?¹³ I cannot send this inquiry openly to you, since the article would have to be in your hands before my liberation [February 18, 1916] and I am anxious to publish it without having it censored here. (It would appear, of course, only after my return to freedom).
For this reason I request you to send me the reply by the same route.

With socialist greetings,
Rosa Luxemburg.

To the Editors of the Neue Zeit

Barnim Street Jail
Berlin, January 6, 1916.

Comrades: I am engaged in writing a counter-criticism in defense of my book on “Accumulation” and should like to ask whether you would be ready to publish this work as a supplement to the N. Z.,¹⁴especially since it is in the main a reply to the criticism by Otto Bauer¹⁵ published in the N. Z. I estimate that it will be 4–5 printer’s sheets long. My observations will be conveyed in the most popular manner possible, without any mathematical schemes and will be calculated to give the wider public an idea of the problems involved and an insight into their practical, political significance. At the same time I should like to request you kindly to inform me how much time, in that case, I should have in which to furnish the manuscript so that it may reach you in time for the next supplement.¹⁶

With socialist greetings
R. Luxemburg.

To Luise Kautsky

Barnim Street Jail
Berlin, September 13, 1916.

Carissima,¹⁷
I really don’t know where my thoughts are to look for you now (your last sending bore the postmark Krummhübel¹⁸). In any case I trust these lines will reach you.
Your birthday greeting on the 11.8 [August 8th]. brought me rather sad joy: for the first time I could not even send you a letter; I am permitted to write but two letters monthly, added to which is the time it takes for them to travel—four days to three weeks—I hope you have gained something out of your summer and have recuperated nicely.
I now have a request to make. You know about the Korolenko translation on which I am at work.¹⁹ Could you look about for a publisher? I am hardly in a position to stir here. Dietz²⁰ has declined, just as I expected. There remain therefore only bourgeois publishers or possibly the Neue Welt²¹ or Döscher in the Vorwärts. Turn in my name to whomever you consider best (only not to Diedrichs²² in Jena). For your information the following: the exact title is A History of My Contemporary. In reality it is an autobiography of Korolenko, an excellent work of art, at the same time a first-rate cultural and historic document; it embraces the period of liberal reforms under Alexander II,²³ the Polish uprising, the first oppositional and revolutionary stirrings in Russia, and thus reflects the transition from the old feudal Russia to the present capitalistic. Moreover, the scene is laid in Volhynia,²⁴ in other words, in the western border provinces, where Russian, Polish and Ruthenian²⁵ elements make a curious mixture. Size 28 printer’s sheets. Hannes Diefenbach²⁶ acted as godfather to the first chapters. I know that he would be pleased. Ask him whether it is possible to send him the continuation out to the front, i.e., whether between his ever equally victorious spring and autumn offensives and defensives he would find leisure to read this thing and of course to return it soon. You see, I have great respect for his literary taste, and for him it would be a change from his rough warrior’s task. Write soon, for then I shall receive the letter “in due time.” I embrace you and send many greetings to all Hans-es, including the young painter and your boys.

Your Rosa.

[P.S.] Many thanks to Hannes for the Triumphgasse.²⁷ What is his address, anyway, I have already forgotten it.

To Luise Kautsky

Wronke²⁸ Prison
Undated, with the official mark, “seen D.7.2.”

Dearest Lulu²⁹:
So you are quiet and cheerful again, I hope. With sympathetic understanding you have felt my pronounced sensitiveness, and I thank you for it. I have, as a matter of fact, become somewhat like a human being without skin: I shudder at every shadow that falls upon me. It seems that the year in Barnim street, then the four months of frantic work and now again seven months of solitude in various stages have not passed by without leaving their mark.
Do you know what idea is now pursuing and frightening me? I imagine to myself that I am about to go into a gigantic hall filled to overflowing, that the strong light, the babel of voices of the multitude strike me, and that the usual thunderous applause greets and accompanies me as I make my way toward the platform—and I have the feeling that I shall suddenly take French leave! I am seized with a horror pleni³⁰ and even the prospect of sitting together with five or six friends and of possibly having to hear loud laughter is depressing. Oh, you have no idea what a torture it was, when after the year in Barnim street I had to receive 80 (literally 80) persons on the very first day and say a few words to each one of them. The memory of my cell seemed like a paradise to me. And now additional seven months have been loaded onto me.
But that makes no difference! I hope this fear will leave me, especially when warm weather sets in and spring comes at last. And it is then, precisely, that I want to see you here—in May. I am making a certain very definite calculation in connection therewith, which will surely meet with your approval, after once we have had a chance to talk together here. So make your arrangements accordingly.
When I am with you again, you will, as usual, take me on your lap in your large, deep chair, I shall bury my head in your shoulder, and Hans will play us the Moonlight Sonata or the second movement from the Pathétique.³¹ Then everything will be all right again.
A thousand thanks for what you are doing for my Korolenko. But what am I saying! Hasn’t it always been self-evident that you are showing nothing but kindness to me? A hearty hug to you!

Ever and unchangeably your
R.

To Sophie Liebknecht

Wronke Prison
November 21, 1916.

My dear little Sonichka,³²
I hear from Mathilde³³ that your brother has been killed at the front. The idea that you have this fresh blow to endure is a great shock to me. Lately there has been one trouble after another.
And yet I cannot be with you, to cheer you up a little!… I am uneasy, too, at the thought of your mother, wondering how she will bear this new sorrow. These are sad days, and all of us have lost many of our loved ones. As during the siege of Sevastopol,³⁴ every month seems a year. I do hope I shall be able to see you soon, for I am longing to do so. How did you hear about your brother; through your mother, or direct? What news of your other brother?
I did so much want to send you something by Mathilde, and I had absolutely nothing but the little colored kerchief; don’t make fun of it; I only sent it to show that I love you. Write a line or two as soon as you can, to let me know you are all right.
Love to Karl and your dear self.

Your
Rosa

[P.S.] Much love to the children.

To Stefan Bratman-Brodowski,³⁵, ³⁶

Breslau Prison
September 3, 1918.

Dear Comrade,
Your note pleased me very much. At last we are gradually beginning to communicate with each other again. When will we, God willing, speak and work with each other again?!… Thank you for the presents. I am not really badly off for food, think of Leo [Jogiches]³⁷ instead, who needs it very badly. It seems to me that you could now get in touch with him,³⁸ which would certainly please him a lot. I would prefer regular news rather than food—all kinds: about the Beki,³⁹ about our people and their work (what you hear about) and also about the situation in Switzerland [everything] which one cannot find out from the press. I am very interested in as lively as possible contact with what is going on and it is sometimes most difficult to get information from the (geographically) nearest sources,⁴⁰ partly because there are only a few people and they are terribly busy, but mostly because they are fools and daydreamers (I am referring to the Germans).
On what terms are our people now with the left PPS [Polish Socialist Party]?⁴¹ Something surprises me: at the beginning of the war inasmuch as I spoke to Walecki,⁴² it seemed to me that there were almost no differences (between us and them), I thought that the war situation would even hasten a convergence. Meanwhile comrades from Poland (or also from Russia) write to me that they have drifted apart from the Left [PPS] who are completely disorientated. What do you know about it[?] In any case, give my greetings to Walecki.
Stand your ground, till we meet again at work! A warm handshake.

RL

[P.S.] It would also interest me if you could supply me with interesting items being published in Switzerland when it is convenient.
I would like to know what role Robert Grimm,⁴³ the Nationalrat,⁴⁴ is playing at present. Can one still count on him? How do the Swiss (lefts like Platten & Co.⁴⁵) view the politics of the Beki?

To Adolf Warski⁴⁶

Berlin,
End of November or beginning of December 1918.

When our party (in Poland) is full of enthusiasm for Bolshevism and at the same time (in a secretly printed pamphlet) has come out against both the Bolsheviks’ Brest⁴⁷ peace and their agitation with the slogan of “national self-determination” then it is enthusiasm coupled with a critical spirit—what more could we desire! I too shared all your reservations and doubts but on the most important questions have dropped them and in many cases have not gone as far as you. Terrorism certainly indicates weakness but it is aimed at internal enemies who build their hopes on the existence of capitalism outside Russia and receive support and encouragement from there. If a European revolution comes, then the Russian counter-revolutionaries will not only lose their support but—what is more important—their courage too. In other words the Bolshevik terror is, above all, an expression of the weakness of the European proletariat. Indeed the agrarian relationships [in Russia] which have been established are the most dangerous, the sorest point of the Russian revolution. But here too the truth holds good—that even the greatest revolution can only accomplish what development has ripened. This sore point too can only be healed through the European revolution. And this is coming!…

To Vladimir Ilyich Lenin⁴⁸

Berlin,
December 20, 1918.

My dearest Vladimir,
I am making use of the journey of uncle⁴⁹ to send you all warmest greetings from our family, [The Spartakusbund] from Karl [Liebnecht], Franz [Mehring] and the others. May God grant that the coming year will fulfill all our wishes.
All the best!
Uncle will tell you about our circumstances and activities. In the meantime I press your hands and send you my greetings.

Rosa

1. Press committee of Vorwärts.—Louise Kautsky. [Vorwärts (Forward) was the official newspaper of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD).—Material.]
2. One of the founders of the Russian Social-Democratic party.—Louise Kautsky.
3. Kurt Eisner, later premier of the short-lived Bavarian Soviet Republic.—Louise Kautsky.
4. George Gradnauer, Saxon socialist leader.—Louise Kautsky.
5. August Bebel.—Louise Kautsky.
6. Arthur Stadthagen and Paul Singer.—Louise Kautsky.
7. This is the Second International, which was a Federation of socialist and labor parties existing between 1889 and 1916.—Material.
8. Kautsky was at that time preparing the fourth volume of Marx’s Capital.—Luise Kautsky.
9. Pieter Jelles Troelstra was the founder of the Social Democratic Workers’ Party {SDAP) (Netherlands). As a leader of the Dutch socialist movement, he is known for his failed 1918 attempt at insurrection (dubbed the “Troelstra’s Mistake”) and his advocacy for parliamentary reform.—Material.
10. Troelstra’s first wife.—Louise Kautsky. [Sjoukje Bokma de Boer is better known by her pen name, Nienke van Hichtum. She was a Dutch children’s author and prominent socialist activist.—Material.
11. Socialist party convention in Bremen, September 18–24, 1904.—Louise Kautsky.
12. Franz Mehring was a German Marxist historian, politician, and leading theorist of the SPD’s left-wing. He was also co-founder of the Spartacus League alongside Rosa Luxemburg.—Material.
13. The editors had already arranged with Eduard Bernstein about a birthday article for Mehring, and it was Bernstein who wrote it.—Louise Kautsky.
14. The Neue Zeit.—Material.
15. One of the best known present leaders in the socialist movement of German Austria. Foreign minister in one of the early cabinets following the revolution.—Robert M. McBride.
16. The editors replied as follows: “To Mrs. Dr. R. Luxemburg. Berlin, January 6, 1916. Dear Comrade Rose: The publishers have informed us during the summer of this year that, in order to keep down expenses, we may no longer print supplements, nor are we to exceed 32 pages per number—which hardly gives us space to discuss the questions of the day thoroughly. Under these circumstances it is unfortunately impossible for us to publish as extensive a contribution as you offer us. As to what the conditions with reference to space will be after the war, that, of course, it is impossible to foretell now. With friendly greetings on behalf of the editors of the N. Z., E. Wurm.”—Luise Kautsky.
17. Italian for “dearest.”—Material.
18. Today known as Karpacz, this Polish town located in Silesia (Śląsk in Polish, and formerly a German territory) was well known as a prominent spa resort.—Material.
19. Vladimir Korolenko (1853–1921) was a Russian-Ukrainian humanist writer and Narodnik (agrarian socialist, “populist”) activist. While imprisoned in 1918, Luxemburg translated Vladimir Korolenko’s A History of My Contemporary from Russian into German.—Material.
20. Constantin Dietz (1866–1942) was a German social-democratic printer and publisher.—Material.
21. The Neue Welt (“New World”) was a German socialist publishing house and periodical associated with the SPD.—Material.
22. Diederichs Verlag was founded by Eugen Diedrich and operated in the Thuringian city of Jena.—Material.
23. Alexander II (1818–1881), known as the “Czar Liberator,” was the emperor of Russia who emancipated the serfs in 1861. However, he was later assassinated by revolutionary populists (the aforementioned “Narodniks”) for refusing to grant a constitution.—Material.
24. Volhynia is a historic region in Eastern Europe, spanning parts of modern-day Ukraine, Poland, and Belarus.—Material.
25. Ukrainian.—Material.
26. Hannes (or “Hans”) Diefenbach (1884–1917) was a German physician and close friend of Rosa Luxemburg who was killed in action during World War I. His death profoundly affected Luxemburg, who maintained a deep intellectual and emotional correspondence with him throughout her imprisonment.—Material.
27. A novel by Ricarda Huch.—Luise Kautsky.
28. Today spelled Wronki, in Polish.—Material.
29. Luise Kautsky.—Material.
30. Latin for “fear of fullness,” describing Luxemburg’s feeling of being suffocated by an accumulation of tasks and social obligations.—Material.
31. Pathétique refers to Ludwig van Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor, Op. 13; its second movement (Adagio cantabile) is celebrated for its profound, lyrical beauty and sense of calm.—Material.
32. Sophie Liebknecht: early member of the Communist party of Germany (KPD) and wife of Karl Liebknecht.—Material.
33. Mathilde Jacob (1873–1943) was Rosa Luxemburg’s devoted secretary and close friend.—Material.
34. The 1854–1855 siege of Sevastopol (the largest city of the Crimean peninsula) was the centerpiece of the Crimean War, where Allied forces (French, Sardinian, Ottoman, and British) captured the strategic Russian port after a full year of brutal trench warfare and heavy bombardment.—Material.
35. Stefan Bratman-Brodowski (1880–1937) was a Polish-Jewish revolutionary and diplomat who served as a close associate of Rosa Luxemburg in the Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania (SDKPiL).—Material.
36. Originally written in Polish. Published in Moscow by Feliks Tych in Internationale wissenschaftliche Korrespondenz zur Geschichte der deutschen Arbeitebewegung (IWK), September 1991, II.3, 360.—IWK.
37. Leo Jogiches (1867–1919) was a Polish-Jewish revolutionary and the longtime political partner and former romantic companion of Rosa Luxemburg.—Material.
38. Probably via Mathilde Jacob, Rosa Luxemburg’s secretary.—IWK.
39. Bolsheviks.—Material.
40. Probably a reference to the Berlin Spartacus group comrades.—IWK.
41. The Left PPS originated when the PPS in Russian Poland split in 1906. The right-wing of the PPS then set up its own party under Jozef Pilsudski. Shortly before the outbreak of war fusion negotiations between the two groups were well advanced. Bratman-Brodowski led the negotiations on behalf of Social Democracy. The fusion finally came about in mid-December 1918 when both founded the Communist Party of Poland.—IWK.
42. Maksymilian Horwitz-Walecki (1877–1937) a key left PPS leader who discussed with Rosa Luxemburg the fusion of the two Polish Parties at Berlin in 1914 and 1915.—IWK.
43. Robert Grimm (1881–1958) Chairman of the Swiss Social Democracy and from 1911 a deputy in the National Assembly. During World War I he led the International Socialist Commission in Berne (i.e., the Zimmerwald movement).—IWK.
44. Nationalrat is the German word for a Swiss National Deputy. Why Rosa Luxemburg wished to stress this is unknown.—IWK.
45. This refers to the Swiss socialist Fritz Platten and his associates, who famously organized the “sealed train” that transported Lenin and other revolutionaries from Switzerland through Germany to Russia in 1917.—Material.
46. Originally written in Polish. Related by Adolf Warski in Rosa Luxemburg’s Position on the Tactical Problems of the Revolution, Hamburg 1922, 6–7.—IWK.
47. The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was the 1918 separate peace agreement between the new Soviet government and the Central Powers, which ended Russia’s participation in World War I at the cost of massive territorial concessions.—Material.
48. Originally written in Russian. Published in Pravda, 2 February 1919.—IWK.
49. Eduard Fuchs (1870–1940) was instructed by the headquarters of the Spartakusbund [Spartacus League] to get directly in touch with Lenin and other influential representatives of the Russian Communist Party (Bolshevik) and the Soviet state. He offered his services because during the war he had met Lenin several times in Switzerland, had his confidence, and had been entrusted by the Soviet government with the function of Civil Commissioner for the Russian prisoners of war in Germany. Using this mission he traveled to Soviet Russia where he spoke with Lenin between the 26th and 28th December in Moscow. Edward Fuchs handed over the letter and draft program written by Rosa Luxembourg entitled What does the Spartacusbund Want?—IWK.