Hans Kahle

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Hans Kahle on a stamp of the GDR

Hans Kahle (born April 22, 1899 in Charlottenburg ; † September 1, 1947 in Ludwigslust ) was a German KPD and SED functionary, interbrigadist , journalist and chief of the People's Police in Mecklenburg.

Life

Kahle grew up as the son of a senior official. He attended high school in Charlottenburg and, from 1913, the Prussian main cadet school in Lichterfelde . From 1917 to 1918 he fought as an ensign, later as a lieutenant in World War I, and in July 1918 he was taken prisoner by the French , from which he was released in February 1920.

After the war he began a commercial apprenticeship and attended the Berlin School of Commerce . From 1921 to 1926 he was a commercial clerk in Mexico , in 1927 he returned to Germany and worked as a journalist.

Since 1928 he was a member of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD). From 1930 to 1933 he worked as an editor, later as the publishing director of the weekly Arbeiter-Sender and as chairman of the Free Radio Association and as an employee of the KPD's military apparatus. In April 1933 he emigrated to Switzerland, where he sought political asylum in Zurich. Kahle was recognized as a political refugee, but had to leave Switzerland a year later because he had disregarded the requirements of the authorities. He got to France. There he worked as a journalist, z. B. as editor of » Tribunal « and organized for the International Red Aid in Spain relief operations for those persecuted by the Asturian miners' uprising . In 1936 he worked in Paris on the organizing committee of the International Brigades in Spain until he went to Spain himself in October. There he fought in the Spanish Civil War on the Republican side in the International Brigades until 1938 . Initially he was in command of the Edgar-André battalion , from November 1936 as a lieutenant colonel in command of the XI. International Brigade ("Thälmann"). Ludwig Renn was his chief of staff and Gustav Artur Dorf was his war commissioner . When he was tied to bed because of an injury in January / February 1937 and his wife Gertrud, who had rushed to Spain, was looking after him, he kept the command of the brigade in his hands. In April 1937 he was appointed commander of the 17th Division of the People's Army. From October 1937 to September 1938 he commanded the 45th Sturmdivision, at times he was given command of the entire Ebro Front . He was next to Wilhelm Zaisser ("General Gómez") the most influential German officer in the republican army. In the autumn of 1938 he left Spain and went to France. In January 1939, his German citizenship was revoked. In the same month he was interned in France . But he was soon released again and received an entry permit for England, where he arrived in February 1939. From August 1939 to 1946 he was a member of the management of the KPD organization in Great Britain. In May 1940 he was interned in Great Britain as an "enemy alien" and transported to the Isle of Man and later to Canada. Persistent protests resulted in his release in November 1941, he returned to London and then worked as a military correspondent for various newspapers. He was a founding member of the Free Germany Movement in Great Britain in 1943 and a member of its working committee and executive branch.

In February 1946 he returned to Germany and reported immediately to the KPD in Berlin, despite his poor health as a result of a stomach ailment. He was commissioned to work in the management department of the KPD state leadership in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. On March 17, 1946 he was finally appointed head of the newly created People's Police in the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and in April 1946 a member of the SED state executive . On August 22, 1947, he had to undergo severe gastric surgery which he did not survive. He died in Ludwigslust in 1947 at the age of 48.

Honors

  • The school in Karstädt was named after Kahle during the GDR era.
  • In 1966, Sandstrasse in Schwerin was renamed Hans-Kahle-Strasse. It was named back in 1991 in Sandstrasse. The Hans-Kahle-Haus , the seat of the district authority of the German People's Police in the GDR, also lost its honorable name.
  • A memorial stone in Karstädt was supposed to be removed in 2004 for political reasons, but it is a listed building .
  • The Mot-Schützenregiment 27 of the NVA was named after him, as well as a VP-Readiness in Neustrelitz.

Fonts

  • Know your enemy! , ING Publications, London 1943 (24 pp.)
  • Under Stalin's command. A review of Soviet strategy and tactics , Russia Today Society, London 1943 (43 pp.)
  • They plotted against Hitler. The story behind the attempt on Hitler's life , ING Publications, London 1944 (23 pp.)
  • One triumphant year. A unique survey of Red Army successes. 26th anniversary of the Red Army , Russia Today Society, London 1944 (15 pages)
  • Stalin, the soldier , Metcalfe & Cooper, London 1945 (24 pp.)

literature

  • Jakob Taube: Hans Kahle (1899-1947). The forgotten commander of the Thälmann Brigade , Leipziger Universitätsverlag, 2017, ISBN 978-3-96023-107-3 .
  • Biography of Hans Kahle. in: Felix Bossow: Gravestones tell stories. Ehrenfriedhof Victims of Fascism. Work and life e. V., Schwerin 2005, pp. 32-33.
  • Heinz Bergschicker: German Chronicle 1933–1945. A picture of the times of the fascist dictatorship / Wiss. Advice: Olaf Groehler . Verlag der Nation, Berlin 1981, 2nd dgs. 1982 edition (ill. P. 145)
  • Gottfried Hamacher. With the assistance of André Lohmar: Against Hitler - Germans in the Resistance, in the armed forces of the anti-Hitler coalition and the "Free Germany" movement: short biographies . Rosa Luxemburg Foundation, Berlin. Volume 53. ISBN 3-320-02941-X ( PDF )

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Günthart, Erich; Günthart, Romy: Spanish opening 1936. Red Zurich, German emigrants and the fight against Franco . Chronos-Verlag, Zurich, ISBN 978-3-0340-1375-8 , p. 81-87 .
  2. ↑ a b Werner Abel: Fighters for Freedom: Hans Kahle died 70 years ago Source: “Our time” (uz), Friday, September 1st, 2017
  3. ^ "For a socialist fatherland - life pictures of German communists and activists from the very beginning", Military Publishing House of the GDR, 1981
personal data
SURNAME Kahle, Hans
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German interbrigadist, KPD functionary, SED functionary, journalist and chief of the People's Police in Mecklenburg
DATE OF BIRTH April 22, 1899
PLACE OF BIRTH Charlottenburg
DATE OF DEATH September 1, 1947
Place of death Ludwigslust