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who now rule the German Reichstag, immediately fell in with the view advanced by Bernstein, mainly that Martov is the victim, and 1 the sinful oppressor. Martov was immediately taken under the august protection of the Black Hundred majority of the German Reichstag. My expulsion was sanctioned by the same majority.
Bernstein said: "We must have the right of asylum; to give refuge to a foreigner is a sacred duty. In my free, beloved German Republic the right of asylum must certainly exist.. Otherwise there is no democracy. But … (and here begins this little "but") this right of asylum must exist for those who are oppressed, not for the oppressors. This Zinoviev fellow who has arrived from Petrograd is an oppressor. But my venerable friend Martov is quite on a different footing—he is the oppressed, persecuted by Zinoviev and the Bolshevik patty; we must give him hospitality."
The whole bourgeois parliament got up and cheered Bernstein, the father of all the Opportunists. They all reiterated: "That is right, we fully agree with it! We shall grant Martov the right of asylum, he is a persecuted man."
We can ask ourselves, what reward did these people deserve, since they succeeded so thoroughly in opening the eyes of the people. What else could we wish for? The White Guards of Germany, all the bourgeois, and the landowning parties, all the reactionary groups of Germany, get up, tenderly squeeze Martov's hand, and say: "Our dear persecuted friend, come with us, we shall protect you; as to the representative of the Petrograd and the other workers of Russia—he is an oppressor."
Truly a sight for the gods. We hardly need better propaganda. What could be clearer and more instructive than Martov walking arm in arm with Wulle and white-guard officers with those who protected the murderer of Karl Liebknecht. And the whole chorus singing concert, "We are the oppressed!" the thing could never be made clearer than that. If the German bourgeoisie says, "Martov is our man, let us embrace him," they surely know what they are about. And, indeed, the Mensheviks are bound to fall on the neck of the European bourgeoisie. A bird will always espy his mate at a distance.
