Arthur Sodtke

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Arthur Sodtke (born December 25, 1901 in Inowrazlaw ; † August 14, 1944 in the Brandenburg penitentiary ) was a German resistance fighter against National Socialism .

Life

Memorial plaque on the house at Schönhauser Allee 39, in Berlin-Prenzlauer Berg

Arthur Sodtke came from an old family of craftsmen. His father Gustav Sodtke was a roofer in Inowrazlaw, Posen Province , until he moved to Berlin in 1904 , where he worked as a master roofer.

Arthur Sodtke learned the locksmith's trade in Berlin . He lived in the Berlin district of Prenzlauer Berg . In the meantime he also worked as a stoker and was an active member of the works council of the Berlin Schultheiss brewery . As a worker athlete, he held a position in the combat community for Red Sports Unit .

Sodtke joined the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) in 1929 . From 1933 he was actively involved in the fight against the National Socialist dictatorship. After a long period of unemployment, he got a job in the Berlin company of the Düren metal works . In 1936 he was arrested for distributing anti-fascist leaflets in this company, but was soon released again because the same leaflets were redistributed by his comrades. During the war he worked here together with Heinrich Preuß and Wilhelm Rietze in the resistance group led by Robert Uhrig , for which he established contacts with the workers from Borsig , Lindner and the Schultheiss brewery .

He was arrested on February 4, 1942 and initially sent to Sachsenhausen concentration camp . He was then taken to the Potsdam court prison . On June 21, 1944, the People's Court sentenced him to death along with Wilhelm Böse , Johann Pierschke , Walter Strohmann and Hermann Tops . The sentence was carried out in Brandenburg prison in August 1944 .

Honors

Sodtkestrasse street sign

literature

  • Luise Kraushaar et al .: German resistance fighters 1933 - 1945. Biographies and letters. Volume 2, Dietz-Verlag : Berlin 1970, page 286f
  • Karl-Heinz Gärtner: Berlin street names: a reference work for the eastern districts , Links-Verlag: Berlin 2nd edition 1995, ISBN 3-86153-103-8
  • Kurt Wolterstädt / Hermann Zech: On the history of Prenzlauer Berg

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Hermann Tops ( memento from September 16, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) biography
  2. ^ Street directory prenzlauerberg-kiez.de
  3. ^ History of prenzlauerberg-kiez.de
personal data
SURNAME Sodtke, Arthur
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German resistance fighter
DATE OF BIRTH December 25, 1901
PLACE OF BIRTH Hohensalza
DATE OF DEATH August 14, 1944
Place of death Brandenburg prison , Brandenburg an der Havel