Arthur Lieberasch

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Arthur Lieberasch (born November 2, 1881 in Döbeln ; † June 10, 1967 in Leipzig ) was a communist , trade union official , member of the Saxon state parliament in the Weimar Republic and resistance fighter against the Nazi regime.

Life

Arthur Lieberasch was born on October 20, 1881 in Döbeln, Saxony, as the son of a cigar worker. After attending primary school, he trained as a locksmith. In 1901 he joined the free trade union German Metal Workers' Association (DMV), in which he soon took over several functions. Later on, Lieberasch was known throughout Saxony for his trade union activities, after he was promoted to first representative of the DMV in Leipzig in 1919 . He joined the SPD as early as 1905 . In 1917 Lieberasch joined the newly founded USPD . In the revolutionary days of 1918 he was a member of the Leipzig Workers 'and Soldiers' Council in a leading position . Lieberasch soon followed the consistent path of many functionaries who turned to communism.

In 1920 he was a delegate of the USPD's party congress on October 12, 1920, which went down in history as a split party convention. Lieberasch joined the KPD with the left-wing USPD majority , which then called itself the VKPD for about 2 years . He now increasingly occupied positions that were important for the KPD in Saxony. In 1921 he became a city councilor in Leipzig, where he also headed the KPD parliamentary group from 1927. In the elections to the 2nd Saxon state parliament in 1922, Lieberasch received a mandate as a member of parliament, which he was able to maintain in the elections to the 3rd state parliament. At its first meeting, the KPD put him up as a candidate for the office of First Deputy President of the State Parliament, as the party, as the second largest parliamentary group, claimed this position for itself. However, the candidacy failed due to the bourgeois majority in the state parliament. Lieberasch was primarily responsible for trade union issues within the KPD. Belonging to the right wing, in 1928 he was one of the spokesmen in the party wing struggles in Saxony. Coming from the traditional trade union movement, Lieberasch could not follow the ultra-left course of the new party leadership and also opposed the social fascism thesis . Inevitably, his views collided with those of important Saxon KPD functionaries such as Rudolf Renner or Walter Ulbricht . Thus Lieberasch was expelled from the KPD in January 1929. He transferred to the KPO and participated in its development in West Saxony.

In the Saxon state parliament he formed from January 15, 1929 with four other members, including Robert Siewert and Paul Böttcher, their own KPO parliamentary group. The Nazi threat realistic einschätzend, he emigrated already in early 1933 in Switzerland to Schaffhausen , a major KPO starting point. From exile, he became involved against the Nazi regime and maintained close ties to representatives of illegal groups from Leipzig until around 1938. In 1939 he was expatriated from the German Reich and thus lost his citizenship. He received financial support from international organizations that were close to the KPO in the past.

Lieberasch survived the war under great privation and was only allowed to return to his Saxon homeland in June 1948, when his wife was already dying. He joined the SED and applied for recognition as a "fighter against fascism" (KgF). After he was initially denied this recognition, Lieberasch was still recognized as a KgF after his objection in September 1949.

At the beginning of the 1950s, former KPO members in their ranks were subjected to massive checks and reprisals by the SED leadership. Since Lieberasch did not distance himself from KPO politics, he was expelled from the SED in February 1951. He did not describe the formation of the KPO as a fundamental mistake, as was expected of him, but merely as a violation of discipline. In 1957, Lieberasch was re-admitted to the SED in the course of de-Stalinization and worked in the party on economic issues. In 1958 he received the medal for fighters against fascism from 1933 to 1945 .

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personal data
SURNAME Dear ash, Arthur
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Saxon KPD member of the state parliament in the Weimar Republic
DATE OF BIRTH October 20, 1881
PLACE OF BIRTH Chub
DATE OF DEATH June 10, 1967
Place of death Leipzig