"The Roter Frontkämpferbund (German: [ˈʁoːtɐ ˈfʁɔntˌkɛmpfɐbʊnt], "Alliance of Red Front-Fighters"), usually called Rotfrontkämpferbund (RFB), was a far-left paramilitary organization affiliated with the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) during the Weimar Republic. It was officially a non-partisan and legally registered association. The organisation was banned as extremist by the governing Social Democrats in 1929.
The first local branches of the RFB were established in July 1924. The group's inaugural nationwide meeting was held in February 1925 in Berlin, where Ernst Thälmann was elected to lead the federal committee. Die Rote Front ('The Red Front') was the newspaper of the RFB. The greeting of "Rot Front!" (English: Red Front!) while giving a clenched fist salute gave rise to the expression Rotfront, often used among friends and foes to refer to the organization instead of its full title. The clenched fist "protecting the friend, fighting off the enemy" (German: „schützend den Freund, abwehrend den Feind“) was the symbol of the RFB, used on all its insignia, and its registered trademark from 1 March 1926. In May 1926, during a flag parade, activists used it as a sign of rallying to the movement and as an oath to defend the USSR.[citation needed]" - (en.wikipedia.org 10.08.2021)
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