Arthur Schille

Arthur Schille (born July 15, 1883 in Leipzig , † January 11, 1936 in Dresden ) was a German trade unionist and resistance fighter against the Nazi regime .

Life

Schille, a shaper by profession , joined the German Metalworkers' Association (DMV) in 1901 and joined the SPD in 1911 . During the Weimar Republic, he held responsible positions in the DMV in Saxony. From 1920 to 1928 Schille was employed in the Leipzig local administration of the DMV. In 1928 he moved from Leipzig to Dresden, where he became district secretary of the DMV.

After the " seizure of power " by the National Socialists and the smashing of the trade unions in 1933, Schille was dismissed. Shortly afterwards he became involved in the resistance against the Nazi regime and took part in political work in illegal trade union structures of the DMV. Schille made a significant contribution to consolidating the solidarity of the DMV members under the conditions of the Nazi dictatorship. After the social democratic unionist Richard Teichgräber , who had been a close friend of Schille's for years, was arrested in December 1934, Schille took over the liaison with many Saxon union officials within the framework of the illegal DMV. Schille forwarded reports of Nazi coercive measures and crimes abroad. For this purpose, he worked closely with Willy Rößler , Alfred Ebersbach and Heinrich Schliestedt . He corresponded with Schliestedt in particular via cover addresses and received a secret ink from him for unsuspicious correspondence. The ink only became visible when a fixer was used.

The Gestapo arrested Schille on January 7, 1936 . Since he refused to testify about his resistance activities, Schille was massively tortured. His wife was informed that he hanged himself on January 11, 1936 in the prison of the Dresden Police Headquarters. However, there are several reports from relatives who provide information about the condition of the body and which suggest that Schille was shot.

literature

• Sebastian Bödeker: Arthur Schille (1883–1936) , 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. 510-513.
• Luise Kraushaar : German resistance fighters 1933-1945. Biographies and letters . Volume 2. Dietz, Berlin 1970, p. 550 f.
• Klaus Mammach: Resistance 1933–1939. History of the German anti-fascist resistance movement in Germany and in emigration . Akademie-Verlag, Berlin 1984, p. 138.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ New forward. Sozialdemokratisches Wochenblatt , No. 142 (March 1, 1936), p. 1  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ; for details cf. Sebastian Bödeker: Arthur Schille (1883–1936) , 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. 510-513, here p. 513.