It's Marx's birthday on May 5, and I can't help but think of the first time I visited Marx's tomb 47 years ago.
Xiong Lei and a group of four people took a group photo in front of Marx's tomb, and the third from the left is Xiong Lei, the author of this article
It was February 13, 1977, and I went to the UK with a total of 12 people from the Haihong Bearing Factory of the former First Ministry of Machinery Industry to the United Kingdom to commemorate this revolutionary mentor of the proletariat and working people all over the world.
The sky was a bit overcast and typical of London. Our film was limited and shared, so I respectfully transcribed all the English text on the inscription.
Judging from the inscription, not only Marx is buried here, but also his wife Yanni, daughter, grandson and maid, a total of 6 people. His grandson died six days after Marx's death at the age of five.
We were carefully looking at the inscription when an old Englishman came up to greet us.
Knowing that we were from China, the old man kindly introduced himself as Bill, a retired worker, who lived not far away, often came to visit, and was also a volunteer guardian of Marx's tomb.
Bill said Highgate Cemetery belonged to a private company that had tried to close the cemetery and fire its staff. After hearing the news, nearby residents spontaneously organized a petition against the closure of the cemetery, and the authorities agreed to continue to open it.
Bill said that this cemetery was the only cemetery in London that was open to the public at that time, and because there were no full-time security personnel, Marx's tomb was vandalized several times by lawbreakers. Some scribbled on the faces of bronze statues of Marx, and some even planted bombs. In 1970, they tried to dig a hole in the nose of the statue to put explosives in, but they didn't, so they placed the bomb in front of the monument, and as a result, the surrounding tombs were also destroyed. In 1974, the most powerful time was to knock down the bronze statue. The bronze statue we see is the fourth bronze statue that has been erected.
Comrade Xiong Xianghui and his wife Comrade Chen Xiaohua took a group photo in front of Marx's tomb in 1962
Bill showed us a photo of himself with the young performers of the Chinese martial arts troupe at Marx's tomb. He said that he was also a very enthusiastic person when he was younger, believing that the world was always changing. Now he automatically visits Marx's tomb often, and every time he sees people coming to see Marx's tomb, especially many young people, he feels very encouraged. He said that when our country is like yours, and the workers run the country, we must build a good tomb for Marx.
Before leaving Marx's tomb, another old lady came and saw that we were from China and took the initiative to greet us. She said she was German, married to England, and visited Marx's grave every week. On one occasion, she said, she met admirers from 21 countries at Marx's grave.
47 years have passed, and we, who were "young" in Bill's eyes back then, have also entered the age of antiquity. Bill and the enthusiastic old lady are probably long gone. However, from the visit of our ambassador to the United Kingdom to visit Marx's tomb, we can feel that Marx is still with the Communist Party of China.