US: Glück auf! Red Ruhr Army - Fair Wear - Unisex Organic T-Shirt - FREE DELIVERY

In April 1920, the Red Ruhr Army was suppressed. It was the last revolutionary mass movement in Germany to date, comprising approximately 50,000 armed workers. In March, a general strike involving nearly the entire German workforce broke out in response to the far-right Lüttwitz-Kapp Putsch. Subsequently, in Saxony, Thuringia, and especially the Ruhr region, attempts were made to escalate the general strike into a "proletarian revolution"—or rather, to complete the failed revolution of 1918–1919. Following fierce fighting against Reichswehr units and the security police, the Red Ruhr Army controlled the Rhineland-Westphalia industrial region. On April 2, the Social Democratic (SPD) government dispatched Reichswehr troops to crush the workers' uprising—doing so even though these units contained the very proto-fascist forces that, just days earlier, had supported and participated in the far-right coup against the SPD. By the time the fighting ended on April 12, at least 1,000 participants in the uprising had been massacred. These killings involved mass summary executions accompanied by targeted psychological torture. According to historian Klaus Gietinger, these practices—such as forcing victims to dig their own graves—set a precedent; just over two decades later, they became part of the repertoire of the police, SS, SD, *Einsatzgruppen*, and Wehrmacht during the mass murder of the Jewish population in the German Wehrmacht's Eastern Campaign.

The Red Ruhr Army was organized in a decentralized manner through independent executive councils formed in numerous cities across the Ruhr region. Unable or unwilling to recognize these proletarian grassroots structures—driven from below—as something progressive, the German Historical Museum’s website today states laconically: "The Red Ruhr Army, however, possessed neither a unified command center nor a shared political program."

This design pays tribute to the brave, insurgent, and today largely forgotten workers of the Red Ruhr Army; it was kindly provided to us by the Berlin-based Disorder Rebel Store. "Glück auf!" is the traditional German miners' greeting, deeply rooted in mining regions such as the Ruhr area.

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Meet your new favorite tee: it’s eco-friendly, organic, and chic. Made from 100% organic cotton, it’s soft like a cloud but sturdy enough for all your mid-season adventures. Topped with a classic fit, this t-shirt is the perfect choice.

• 100% organic combed ring-spun cotton
• Fabric weight: 4.6 oz./yd.² (155 g/m²)
• Regular fit
• Set-in sleeves
• 1 × 1 rib at collar
• Double-needle topstitch on the sleeves and bottom hems
• Self-fabric neck tape on the inside of the back
• The fabric of this product holds certifications for its organic cotton content under GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) and OCS (Organic Content Standard)
• Blank product sourced from Bangladesh

The sizes correspond to a bigger size in the European market, customers from that region should order a size down.

This product is made especially for you as soon as you place an order, which is why it takes us a bit longer to deliver it to you. Making products on demand instead of in bulk helps reduce overproduction, so thank you for making thoughtful purchasing decisions!

Size guide