Robinson successfully defended his school from closure, fought for the unification of the teaching unions, mentored future trade union leaders and transformed teaching at the Marx Memorial Library, writes JOHN FOSTER

FOR years, German communist weekly Unsere Zeit (UZ) held a biennial festival of left politics, culture and music, the “Pressefest,” in Dortmund’s Revier Park.
It was a big event, attracting thousands every other summer. Debates took place in a relaxed atmosphere: there was even a swimming pool in which comrades could take a dip when they fancied a break.
But the last Dortmund Pressefest took place before Covid, and UZ and the German Communist Party (DKP) held last weekend’s event — dubbed the Peace Days rather than the Pressefest — like 2022’s, on a much smaller scale in Berlin.

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