Godfrey Andries Cremer: 11 May 1943 – 26 March 2012
It is with the greatest of sadness that CPGB-ML and Lalkar
announce the death of one of their staunchest comrades in the early hours of 26
March from pancreatic cancer and further complications arising therefrom.
Although he was diagnosed as suffering from this lethal disease only in
February, it was already in a very advanced state.
These lines are written
not only to mourn the death of Godfrey Cremer, but also to celebrate the life
of a remarkable communist, an ardent anti-imperialist, and a thorough
internationalist.
Godfrey, having always
had a deep concern for other people’s problems and troubles, started his
activities from very early on with a religious perspective. He was a Methodist
preacher in his youth, in which capacity he attempted to help people with their
daily problems. However, in the second half of the 1960s, as a postgraduate
student, he became involved in the mighty anti-war movement spawned by US imperialism’s predatory war against the Vietnamese and other Indochinese people. The Nazi-like
devastation wreaked by the US forces in Vietnam touched Godfrey, as it did tens
of millions of progressive people across the world, to the very core. He
participated in many of the anti-war protest movement in London.
This experience made
him re-evaluate his whole philosophy and question the value of individual
solutions to problems facing humanity – ranging from questions of war and peace
to the relations between the exploiting few and the overwhelming majority of
the exploited, as well as the relations between a tiny clique of exploiting
nations and the vast majority of super-exploited and oppressed countries. The
problems of hunger, destitution, unemployment, homelessness, racism and
oppression of women, Godfrey concluded, had no individual solution.
With this realisation,
he came to look for a different solution to the problems of humanity. This
realisation, this awareness, combined with his deep concern for ordinary
people, brought him to communism – Marxism-Leninism – whose ideals he was to
continue to espouse most passionately until his last breath. Meeting in the
early 1970s with Harpal Brar, Ella Rule, Kathy Sharp and a few other comrades,
Godfrey Cremer and Iris Sloley (whom Godfrey married in October 1973) began
seriously to devote themselves to the task of putting into practice –
ideologically, politically and organisationally – their newly-adopted world
outlook. They initially formed the Association of Communist Workers, an
organisation which played a significant role in the anti-revisionist movement.
In particular, it organised lectures on ‘Trotskyism or Leninism?’ which
subsequently became the basis of the book by Harpal Brar bearing the same name.
So strong was the
comradeship and friendship to become between Harpal, Ella, Godfrey and Iris
that many of the comrades in the CPGB-ML affectionately referred to them as the
Gang of Four. It is a source of great sadness to the surviving members of the
group that this term will lose its resonance.
From then on Godfrey
worked tirelessly in the cause of the emancipation of the proletariat and the
oppressed peoples of the world. His name is indelibly connected with the
movement for solidarity with the people of Vietnam, the people of Korea, Palestine, southern Africa (in particular Zimbabwe), Ireland, Libya, Syria and Iran.
He put politics before
all other considerations. It is a measure of his commitment to the struggle of
the Palestinian people for national liberation, and a measure of his dedication,
that on his wedding night in October 1973, he and Iris were busy writing a
leaflet and preparing for a demonstration in connection with the Yom Kippur
war, which doubtless made them very popular with their respective families!
Godfrey Cremer was an internationalist
through and through, as he fully realised that the struggle of the proletariat
in the imperialist countries for its emancipation from exploitation could never
be accomplished without rendering unreserved support to the liberation struggles
of the oppressed nations and people against imperialist oppression, war,
brigandage and super-exploitation. From this stance he never wavered, treating
with disdain and contempt the opportunist faint-hearts in the working-class
movement who pursue a line of conciliation towards their own imperialist
bourgeoisie.
It is a gauge of his
stature, and the high regard in which he was held, that dozens of messages of
condolence on his death have poured in from all over the world – from Cuba to the DPRK, from South Africa to America, Europe, Australia and Africa – all in recognition of
Godfrey’s service in the cause of proletarian internationalism.
In a message of
condolence from the DPRK embassy in London, Comrade Mun Myongsin, the third
secretary at the embassy, expressed “profound deepest condolence to the
bereaved family and comrades for the loss of our dear, precious and
irreplaceable comrade, Godfrey” (full message printed elsewhere in this
issue). The Political Counsellor at the Cuban embassy, Carlos Camps Garcia,
spoke to the CPGB-ML’s international secretary, Ella Rule, expressing great
sorrow on the death of Godfrey. He attended Godfrey’s funeral service and
stayed afterwards for the reception at Saklatvala Hall, Southall.
Avtar Jouhl, General
Secretary of the Indian Workers’ Association (Great Britain) expressed his
sadness at the untimely death of Godfrey Cremer, adding that his “experience
of friendship and comradeship is unforgettable”, that his contribution to Lalkar
was “immense”, and that “Godfrey’s departure is big loss to CPGB-ML,
IWA(GB) and to me and my family” (full message elsewhere in this issue).
Nearly 200 people,
representing many organisations, and from varied backgrounds, attended
Godfrey’s funeral with feelings of genuine sadness at the passing away of a
warm-hearted friend and comrade and an intrepid fighter for the cause of
socialism and national liberation.
He stood for the
defence of the gains of the working class in socialist countries. His defence
of the gains of the glorious Great October Socialist Revolution, the
construction of socialism in the USSR under the leadership of Lenin and Stalin,
and the mighty achievements of the Soviet Union, in fields ranging from the
economic through to the cultural, scientific, diplomatic and military, knew no
bounds. In the aftermath of the collapse of socialism in the former socialist
countries, he refused to go along with the prevailing torrent of anti-communist
propaganda unleashed by world imperialism – a propaganda that swept off their
feet many weak elements in the working-class movement.
It is therefore right
and proper that one of the messages of condolence on his death should have come
from Jacob Jugashvili, great grandson of that legendary proletarian
revolutionary, Joseph Vissarianovich Stalin.
Godfrey was also a leading figure, in his political
and professional capacity, in the struggle against racism, realising fully that
racism is an instrument used by the bourgeoisie to weaken the working class by
undermining its class unity, and thus harming the struggle of the proletariat
for its own social emancipation.
From 1992 to 2002, he worked as the head of Ealing
Racial Equality Council. His work on that body is remembered and cherished by
a huge number of people. Many people he had the occasion to work with were in
tears on hearing of his death. He worked closely with many organisations of
ethnic minorities, especially with the Indian Workers’ Association (Great Britain). Godfrey also served as a treasurer for the Campaign Against Racist Laws
(CARL) during that organisation’s existence from 1977 to 1982.
It is a measure of his stature in the community
that the Ealing and Southall Gazette of 6 April 2012 carried, on its
front page, the news of Godfrey’s death, with a picture of him and the
headline: “TRIBUTES TO GODFREY: shock at death of campaigner”. With the
subtitle “He had an ardent desire to help ordinary people”, the Gazette
went on to record some of Godfrey’s contribution and the tributes paid to him
by many people, including the leader and deputy leader of Ealing Council, both
of whom expressed their sadness at his passing and their appreciation of his
many talents. Julian Bell, the leader of Ealing Council, stated that Godfrey “made
a significant contribution to the borough over many years. It is a very sad
loss but he made his mark and for that he will always be remembered”.
Considering that Godfrey never hid his
Marxist-Leninist views, that he made withering criticisms of the Council’s
policies on a host of issues, that he was an irreconcilable enemy of social
democracy (the Labour Party) that he quite rightly regarded as an imperialist
party which waged wars against oppressed peoples abroad and attacked the
working class at home, it is a measure of the deep roots he had struck in the
community through dedication, hard work and fidelity to principles, that he
could inspire grudging respect even among circles that were in his life
extremely hostile to his outlook. Part of the explanation lies in the fact
that this remarkable man – forever hardworking, dedicated and self-effacing –
while he may have had many opponents, hardly had a single personal enemy. His
gentle manner, courteous behaviour, concern for others, and warm concern for
humanity obliged even his opponents to hold him in high regard.
It had been the ardent desire of Godfrey
Cremer to build a principled and truly revolutionary party of the British
proletariat. He grasped with joy the opportunity that presented itself to form
such a party when, along with a number of other comrades, he became a founding
member and one of the leading lights of the CPGB-ML in 2004. He devoted his all
to the defence, consolidation and development of this party, for through it,
and in it, he could see his hopes and lifelong work beginning really to bear
fruit. He greeted with his characteristic youthful joy every step forward
taken by the CPGB-ML.
In his ardent desire to serve the working
class, no job was beneath him. He was a dedicated organiser, possessed of great
ideological and technical competence, and a keen eye for detail. Without his
work, it is doubtful whether Proletarian, the party’s newspaper, or the
anti-imperialist bi-monthly Lalkar, would have ever got off the ground.
Godfrey was a scientist and a materialist
and he defended to the last the materialist world outlook, as would be
confirmed by people who had the opportunity to listen to his presentations to
the Stalin Society on Darwin and on the Soviet biologist, Lysenko.
As a materialist he understood that life,
like everything else, is in a state of flux, coming into being and going out of
existence. He applied this understanding to his own situation after having
been found to be suffering from pancreatic cancer, accepting his condition with
great fortitude and calling upon his family and close comrades to do likewise.
All that mattered to him was that the party’s work would continue to be done
and that the gap left by his impending demise would be filled by other
comrades. Literally up to a week before his death, a week marked by
debilitation, he continued to perform his duties as the London Organiser of the
Party, sending emails, telephoning comrades, and supervising the print room of
the Party.
“Death is not a misfortune for the one
who dies but for the one that survives”, Karl Marx used to repeat after
Epicurus.
Godfrey understood very well the truth
contained in this observation. His constant worry in the last two months of
his life was, not concern for his own self, but how well Iris (his wife), Katt
(his daughter) and all his comrades would cope with the work shortly to be
transferred from his to their shoulders.
The CPGB-ML and Lalkar, nay, the
British working-class movement, is poorer for the loss of this indefatigable
protagonist of the cause of the emancipation of the proletariat and the
liberation of humanity.
The great Soviet writer, Nikolai Ostrovsky
wrote that: “Man’s dearest possession is life. It is given to him but once,
and he must live it so as to feel no torturing regrets for wasted years, never
know the burning shame of a mean and petty past; so live that, dying, he might
say: all my life, all my strength, were given to the finest cause in the world
– the fight for the liberation of mankind.”
Without a shred of doubt, Godfrey had no
regrets for wasted years and no burning shame for a mean and petty past;
dying, he could truly repeat after Ostrovsky: all my life, all my strength
were given to the finest cause in all the world – the fight for the liberation
of mankind.
The movement of the proletariat and to the
work of the CPGB-ML, will continue, but we have lost a selfless and tireless
foot soldier to whom we always turned whenever anything needed to be done
urgently.
But we are not going to lose heart, if for
no other reason than that Godfrey Andries Cremer would not approve of such
behaviour. We shall honour this “deceased, living friend”, to use the
memorable words of Wilhelm Liebknecht on the death of Marx, by working as hard
as he did, with the same persistence, perseverance, steadfastness and selflessness
as he displayed in his service to the movement of the working class and the
oppressed peoples over a period of more than four decades.
He was a great, warm-hearted comrade, a
loyal friend, a loving husband, father and grandfather.
His dedication, cheerful disposition and
wit, will be missed not only by comrades of the CPGB-ML but even by our
opponents.
All those who had occasion to know him, or
work with him, had their lives enriched by the experience.
He will be sorely missed.
With these words we say farewell to a very
dear comrade, a friend and a brother.
Eternal Glory to Comrade Godfrey.