would instantly march in company formation into the town with flags flying and the band playing.
In the station yard we were received by a yelling crowd, numbering many thousands. “Murderers”, “bandits”, “robbers”, “criminals”, were the pet names which those pattern founders of the German Republic showered upon us. The young Storm Detachment maintained perfect order. We marched to the court of the Hofbrauhauskeller in the centre of the town.
In order to prevent the crowd from following us, the police locked the gates of the court on us. As this was intolerable, I demanded that the police should open the gates. After long hesitation, they complied.
We marched back by the road we had come to our quarters, and there we had finally to face the crowd. The representatives of true Socialism, equality and brotherhood took to throwing stones. Our patience was at an end, and we hit right and left for ten minutes, and a quarter of an hour later there was no more red to be seen in the streets.