Babylon Berlin by Volker Kutscher Read Free Book Online Page B

followed by the grey uniforms of the RFB . Now and then a banner was raised and Rath recognised the faces that also adorned the front of Communist Party headquarters on nearby Bülowplatz: Lenin, Liebknecht, Luxemburg. A holy trinity of Ls.
    Since arriving in Berlin, he had grown increasingly infuriated by the audacity of the communists, the way they decorated their party headquarters with the portraits and slogans of these enemies of the state. Hail the world revolution! The sheer nerve of it, and now they were carrying these slogans in front of police headquarters. Down with the demonstration ban . Keep the streets free on the 1st of May! On an enormous piece of red fabric they had written: Long live the Soviet Union, fight for a Soviet Germany! To the left was a resplendent Soviet star; to the right a hammer and sickle. More and more red flags were fluttering above the heads of those marching. An underground worker had planted a red flag on one of the steam hammers at Alex. High up in the offices of the Castle they could hear the crowd chanting: ‘Down with the dem-on-stration ban!’
    The grey and brown of the workers’ caps was surrounded by the black of the shakos and the blue of the uniforms. Another police van emerged from Königstrasse and a troop of officers sprang from the platform, chin straps tightly fastened. The cops on the square formed a line of blue, drew their batons and stormed forth in unison. The chorus of voices quietened and ceased and a murmur went through the crowd. Batons began their whistling descent.
    Those demonstrating on the front line ducked under the blows. Some fell and some were bundled into a Black Maria, amongst them a man with a red standard. Still the throng would not be deterred. A short step back and they were pressing forward once more. A wooden banner knocked the shako off an officer’s head. The first stones were launched. The crowd had resumed their chant: ‘Down with the dem-on-stration ban!’
    ‘Have we taken on fire brigade duties as well?’ Rath asked. At the tram stop in front of the UFA cinema down below, two officers were attaching a fire hose to a hydrant.
    ‘New tactic,’ Wolter replied. ‘Water instead of batons. The demonstrators are about to get wet.’
    Scarcely had the two officers connected the hose when the command sounded: charge the line! The officer with the hose waded into the middle of the crowd, which scattered in surprise. Some were knocked to the ground by the force of the jet, and sent rolling on the wet asphalt.
    ‘Nice work. Watering the communists,’ Wolter said.
    ‘The commissioner’s got the whole force on high alert for this?’ asked Schultes. ‘Socialist hysteria, that’s what I call it. Later this afternoon these communists will be sitting back at home by the fire, drying their wet things. Enough revolution for one day. People will have had their fun and order will be restored.’
    ‘I wouldn’t be so sure,’ said Wolter. ‘The RFB are getting weapons and training from Moscow. They’re not just playing.’
    ‘We’ve always managed to bring the Reds into the line,’ said Schultes. ‘They tried to stage a revolution ten years ago and what became of it? The minute things get serious, they throw in the towel.’
    ‘Let’s hope so,’ said Wolter and made a concerned face. ‘At any rate, we can’t allow this rabble to take over the streets.’
    ‘No,’ Schultes replied, ‘but the Nazis with their brownshirts aren’t much better. Better marchers perhaps.’
    ‘They don’t shoot police officers.’
    Schultes fixed his gaze on Uncle. ‘Law and order must be maintained at all times. You’re right there, DCI Wolter.’
    ‘That’s the job of uniform, not CID,’ said Rath. ‘I for one am happy that we have nothing to do with politics, only criminals.’
    ‘Politicians, criminals – who said they aren’t one and the same?’ Schultes replied and everyone laughed.
    Rath gazed thoughtfully out of the window. Ten years