August Rudloff

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

August Rudloff (born September 23, 1884 in Mechterstädt ; † June 10, 1966 in Eisenach ) was a German trade unionist, local politician and prisoner in the Buchenwald concentration camp .

Life

August Rudloff Monument in Eisenach (2011)

August Rudloff was born in Mechterstädt as the eldest son of the bricklayer and farm laborer Heinrich Rudloff, his father was a Saxe-Gotha delegate at the founding congress of the Social Democratic Workers' Party (SDAP) in Eisenach in 1869. The mother worked as a laundress and casual laborer in agriculture, the family had another son and daughter.

education

The school education included the elementary school in the hometown of Mechterstädt and the elementary school in the nearby district town of Gotha . The lively and inquisitive boy was suggested by his teachers for a teaching scholarship, but he turned down this favor in order to take up an apprenticeship as a locksmith . The locksmith trade also took him to Austria and Holland as a journeyman . When he returned home, he lived with his family, who had now settled in Eisenach.

SPD functionary

After completing his apprenticeship, he asked for admission to the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) in 1905 and at the same time became a member of the German Metalworkers' Association , and he found his professional home in the Eisenach vehicle factory . The development of party politics and the wing battles in the SPD before the outbreak of World War I deeply disappointed Rudloff. When the war broke out, Rudloff became a conscript and was drafted in 1914 at the age of 30. He was deployed to France, most recently on the Eastern Front in Russia , where he was released from active military service in 1917 as a seriously wounded man.

After returning home and recovering, Rudloff adopted a political stance that had been radicalized by the war, he sympathized with the USPD group founded in Eisenach on June 10, 1917 , which soon gained political influence with Karl Hermann and other frustrated Social Democrats. The November Revolution of 1918 was followed by further political disputes, which Rudloff existed as an active member of the Eisenach workers 'and soldiers' council . Even within this small group, struggles over the direction of the continuation of the revolution dominated.

With the establishment of the Weimar Republic , Rudloff, as the elected workers 'and soldiers' council and political agitator, exerted further influence on his workers in the Eisenach constituency, who, with the textile companies, machine and vehicle factories and railway workers, now made up the majority of the city's population. With 4055 votes, the Rudloff list achieved the most seats in the city council and Rudloff was the target of his also radicalized political opponents. The monument to the fallen in March in Eisenach and another memorial stone near Mechterstädt today commemorate the bloody events in March 1920. Together with Karl Hermann, August Rudloff was sent as a delegate to the USPD congress in Halle in 1920 , where a majority of the USPD decided to join the Communist International and thus into the KPD , which then called itself the United Communist Party of Germany (VKPD). It grew to over 300,000 members and thus became a mass party. Rudloff's political activity in Eisenach was shaped by the limited possibilities and contradictions of that time. Together with the Protestant pastor Emil Fuchs, he founded the Eisenach adult education center as early as 1919 . After the seizure of power of the Nazis Rudloff has been set as a political opponent under pressure and imprisoned several times. He spent the war time as a political prisoner in Block 4 in the Buchenwald concentration camp .

Post-war activity

In the Soviet occupation zone , Rudloff became the KPD chairman of the Eisenach party cell. At the age of 62, he joined the SED after the unification party conference in April 1946 . His health problems as a result of his imprisonment in the camp and his old age left him no time for a political career in the GDR, which was founded in 1949 . He was elected to the Eisenach city council and worked there for trade and supply. Rudloff also had great merits, together with Karl Hermann, in the rapid reconstruction of the war-torn town and the Eisenach vehicle factory. Rudloff was the head of the municipal business enterprise (KWU) until retirement. After retiring, August Rudloff often appeared as a party veteran and agitator; he died on June 10, 1966 in Eisenach at the age of 82.

Honors

literature

  • Rolf Bartko: On the 100th birthday of Eisenach's honorary citizen August Rudloff . In: Stadtverwaltung Eisenach (Ed.): EISENACH-information . Issue 8/84. Eisenach 1984, p. 2-6 .
  • Rolf Bartko: From the history of the workers' movement in the city of Eisenach . In: Eisenacher Schriften zur Heimatkunde, Heft 23, Eisenach 1983, 72S.
  • NN: Memorials and memorials of the revolutionary working class in the Eisenach district . In: Eisenacher Schriften zur Heimatkunde, Heft 3, Eisenach 1978, pp. 14–15.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Gerd Bergmann: Eisenacher street names . In: Eisenach Information (Hrsg.): Eisenacher Schriften zur Heimatkunde . Issue 44. Eisenach 1990.
  2. ^ The honorary citizens of the Wartburg city In: Mitteldeutsche Allgemeine, Lokalseite Eisenach, No. 20 of January 25, 1994 p. 20
personal data
SURNAME Rudloff, August
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Trade unionist, Buchenwald prisoner, local politician
DATE OF BIRTH September 23, 1884
PLACE OF BIRTH Mechterstädt
DATE OF DEATH June 10, 1966
Place of death Eisenach