The Search for Rosa Luxemburg

The grave of German socialist leader Rosa Luxemburg has long been a source of pilgrimage for left wingers. Luxemburg was murdered in 1919, two weeks after founding the German Communist party; but is she actually buried in the grave? That’s the question which has been asked in recent weeks after a headless torso was discovered in the basement of the forensics department of a Berlin hospital. The report I saw in the Guardian didn’t explain exactly why, but pathologists believe the torso might be that of Luxembourg, and they’re now searching the world for anything which might contain her DNA so they can do a test. At first they thought they’d be able to take it from the flaps of envelopes she licked shut, but apparently she dabbed them with water instead. A lock of hair has been traced to a US archive, relatives are being sought, even plants are being examined. In addition, the “grave” might be exhumed to see if there’s a body in it at all.