The next morning — the 21st of July — the delegates made their way to the Père Lachaise, where the Communards made their last stand in the bloody May week of 1871, and where the “sacred band” who fought there also found their death. The huge wreath that the German delegates laid on Sunday on the mass grave of the Communards who fell in 1871 in the Père Lachaise cemetery stood for the Immortals; it was the size of a large mill wheel and was carried alternately by 16 men. The inscription was written in gold letters on a large black satin ribbon. “Congrès international ouvrier socialiste de Paris, July 21, 1889. In a long series of addresses by representatives of all nations (including Vaillant, Cipriani, Longuet, Liebknecht — the latter in German and French) celebrated the memory of those “who died for the cause of the proletariat”. The basic idea of all these speeches was: “The commune is dead, long live the commune.”
Liebknecht had previously given a short address at Ludwig Börne’s grave, in which he celebrated the memory of “this martyr of freedom and cosmopolitanism”. Then the German delegates laid a splendid wreath on Börne’s grave. —128— After the delegates had visited Blanqui’s grave, some of them went to the Montmartre cemetery. Hoffmann (Halle an der Saal) laid a beautiful large wreath on Heinrich Heine’s grave on behalf of the German Social Democrats. The wreath bore the inscription on a white satin ribbon with golden letters: “Henri Heine les socialistes Allemandes, July 21, 1889” Hoffmann pointed out the services Heine did for the cause of the proletariat.
At the fraternization banquet held on Sunday evening in the Rue St. Mandé , Vaillant (Paris) toasted the “New International”, Liebknecht (Germany) toasted the “fraternization of the peoples through socialism” and “the United States of the world” and Palmgreen (Denmark) “the unbreakable solidarity of all proletarians”, a delegate from the south of France “the fraternal assistance of the workers of all countries”, which had so splendidly proved itself with the unfortunate miners in St. Etienne.
After the communal singing of the Marseillaise, the dance began, which kept those present together in the most cheerful mood until late into the night. The morning of July 22nd had long dawned when the delegates started their way home, cheering for the Commune and the Social Democrats.