Armin Walther

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Armin Arthur Walther (born September 27, 1896 in Radebeul ; † October 14, 1969 in Dresden ) was a German resistance fighter against National Socialism , prisoner in the Hohnstein and Buchenwald concentration camps and works manager of a state- owned enterprise of the GDR .

Life

Walther joined the Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany (USPD) in 1918 and joined the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) in 1920 . From 1911 to 1933 he was a member of the German Metal Workers' Association (DMV), for which he took on several functions. From 1929 until the breakdown of the free trade unions, Walther was the main cashier of the DMV in the DMV administrative center in Riesa . In the 1920s and early 1930s, Walther became politically active against the emerging fascism . That is why he was also a member of the Reichsbanner Schwarz-Rot-Gold .

After the transfer of power to the NSDAP in 1933, he was taken into “ protective custody ” for four months towards the end of the same year and sent to the early Hohnstein concentration camp . After his dismissal in 1934 he continued to work illegally in union resistance structures of the DMV. The Gestapo arrested Walther on March 13, 1936 . On April 21, 1937, the Dresden Higher Regional Court sentenced him to a prison term of one year and nine months, which he served in the Zwickau prison. After the end of his official prison term, he was transferred to Buchenwald concentration camp in 1938 and assigned to the electricians' command there. Here he succeeded in building a transmitter that could send news from the concentration camp. He was also involved in the construction of reception systems. At the same time, after the liberation of the concentration camp, Walther was involved in the formulation of the "Buchenwald Manifesto of the Democratic Socialists".

After the end of the Second World War, he joined the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) and made himself available to help rebuild the economy . He joined the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED). He made a report available to the Dachau trial of 1957 against Nazi perpetrators in which he described the shooting of more than 8,000 Soviet prisoners of war in the Buchenwald concentration camp in the so-called stables .

In the GDR he became head of a state-owned company.

Publications

  • Marxist philosophy and scientific foundations of the materialist worldview / reading material for teaching 15. u. 16th, 1960.
  • Material and methodological information for teaching and lecturing in the institutions of cultural mass work in the German Democratic Republic / [7]. Methodischer Brief / H. 1956, 2nd small exhibition: The Origin of Life on Earth, 1956.

literature

  • Benjamin Rostalski: Armin Walther (1896-1969) , In: Siegfried Mielke , Stefan Heinz (ed.) With the assistance of Marion Goers: Functionaries of the German Metalworkers' Association in the Nazi state. Resistance and persecution (= trade unionists under National Socialism. Persecution - resistance - emigration. Volume 1). Metropol, Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3-86331-059-2 , pp. 565-570.
  • Emil Carlebach / Willy Schmidt / Ulrich Schneider (eds.): Buchenwald a concentration camp. Reports - Pictures - Documents , Bonn 2000, p. 125, ISBN 3-89144-271-8 .
  • Author collective: Buchenwald. Reminder and obligation. Documents and reports , Berlin 1983, p. 758.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Dates of death supplemented according to written information from the Radebeul City Archives from the civil status documents, given on April 30, 2013.
  2. ↑ Author collective ..., p. 340
personal data
SURNAME Walther, Armin
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Walther, Armin Arthur (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German resistance fighter and factory director
DATE OF BIRTH September 27, 1896
PLACE OF BIRTH Radebeul
DATE OF DEATH October 14, 1969
Place of death Dresden