Editing Philipp Scheidemann (section)

=== Scheidemann as embodiment of the enemy to the Republic's opponents ===
Scheidemann was an embodiment of the "Weimar system" for both the extreme right and left. Taking advantage of the ambiguity of his surname, the term "Scheidemann" was used as an invective against supporters of the Republic ('Scheide' can mean either 'scabbard' or 'vagina'). After such usage had become common among militaristic-nationalist circles during the World War, the Spartacus League used it with an appeal to the workers and soldiers of Berlin on 10 November 1918,<ref>{{Cite book |title=Die Deutsche Revolution 1918–1919. Dokumente |publisher=Fischer Verlag |year=1968 |editor-last=Ritter |editor-first=Gerhard A. |location=Frankfurt am Main |pages=82 ff |language=de |trans-title=The German Revolution 1918–1919. Documents |editor-last2=Miller |editor-first2=Susanne}}</ref> when socialists in the government were defamed as "Scheidemänner" ('Scheide men') who had "hounded" the working class into war.

On Whit Sunday, 4 June 1922, while Scheidemann was mayor of Kassel, an attempt was made on his life. During a walk with his daughter, Hans Hustert (who would later be an [[SS]] adjutant to [[Heinrich Himmler]]) and Karl Oehlschläger sprayed him in the face with [[Hydrogen cyanide|prussic acid]]. The third man who took part in the assassination attempt is said to have been Erwin Kern, one of the men who murdered Foreign Minister [[Walther Rathenau]] three weeks later. Scheidemann survived the assassination attempt because strong winds prevented the perpetrators from spraying him so that the poison entered his mouth and nose. Later, after Scheidemann received repeated death threats and his house was smeared with swastikas, he always carried a pistol on walks to defend himself against attackers. The assassination attempt against him was part of a series of political murders that included among others [[Matthias Erzberger]], one of the signers of the Armistice of 11 November 1918, and Walther Rathenau. The perpetrators were members of the [[Organisation Consul]] (the group mainly responsible for the murder series), the [[Deutschvölkischer Schutz- und Trutzbund]] (German Nationalist Federation for Protection and Defense), the Freikorps [[Ehrhardt Brigade]] and the Iron Division. The men who attacked Scheidemann were caught the same year and sentenced to long prison terms.