Memorial to the memory of 96 members of the Reichstag murdered by the National Socialists

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The memorial in front of the Berlin Reichstag building (2010)

The memorial to the memory of 96 members of the Reichstag murdered by the National Socialists is located in front of the Reichstag building in Berlin . The monument, which from the club perspective Berlin was initiated recalls since 1992 to a part of the Reichstag of the Weimar Republic, between the " seizure " of the Nazis in 1933 and the end of World War II in 1945 forced were killed or from the consequences of their detention died. An official memorial for the members of the Nazi regime persecuted is located inside the Reichstag building.

prehistory

Names and dates of life on the plates of the monument (2009)

On the initiative of AL- MP Hilde Schramm , the Berlin House of Representatives decided unanimously on May 23, 1985 that a memorial plaque for MPs with their “name, occupation, date of birth and death with reference to the place and circumstances of death, party affiliation and place of origin” should be placed in the Reichstag building as a member of parliament and the period of membership in the Reichstag ”. Philipp Jenninger , who as President of the Bundestag exercised the house rules in the Reichstag, pleaded for a general text and pointed out that the data mentioned could hardly be obtained in full. In September 1985 the CDU and FDP spoke out against mentioning party membership on the memorial plaques.

In autumn 1985 the historians Wilhelm Heinz Schröder and Rüdiger Hachtmann published a preliminary inventory of the members of the Reichstag of the Weimar Republic as victims of National Socialism. It contained short biographies of 83 members of parliament who were murdered by the National Socialist regime, who died in custody or shortly after they were arrested. Of these, 40 were members of the KPD and 33 were members of the SPD. In the spring of 1986, the Bundestag Presidium gave the Commission for the History of Parliamentarism and Political Parties a research assignment on the Reichstag members of the Weimar Republic during the National Socialist era. In 1991 a biographical documentation was published on the political persecution, emigration and expatriation of Reichstag members between 1933 and 1945. A proposal by the historian Wilhelm Heinz Schröder to design the memorial plaque as a mosaic that could be supplemented by new research results, which delays the realization of the Monument could be avoided.

In view of the lengthy realization of the memorial in the Reichstag, the association Perspektive Berlin e. V. around the journalist Lea Rosh unveiled a provisional plaque not far from the Reichstag building on September 1, 1989. The memorial plaque, intended as a "positive provocation", contained the initially controversial data on individual MPs; it was co-financed by two unions.

On February 26, 1992, President of the Bundestag, Rita Süssmuth , inaugurated the memorial for the persecuted members of the Reichstag from the Weimar Republic in the Reichstag building. The memorial consists of a large-format photo work by Katharina Sieverding , which is supposed to symbolize the burning Reichstag , as well as three memorial books. The books designed by Klaus Mettig contain biographical information on 120 murdered MPs and other MPs who were in custody, emigrated or were subjected to other persecution. The memorial is located in the parliamentary lobby. At the inauguration, Süssmuth explicitly recalled the KPD MPs, who had been persecuted in a special way. NSDAP MPs who were executed after the so-called Röhm Putsch in 1934 were excluded from the award , as they were leading National Socialists until the end, according to Süssmuth.

On September 12, 1992 Lea Rosh presented the memorial to the public in memory of 96 members of the Reichstag who were murdered by the National Socialists. The German Trade Union Federation , the Tiergarten District Office and the Senator for Cultural Affairs contributed to the total cost of the project of 150,000 DM . The monument was designed by the Berlin art students Klaus Eisenlohr, Justus Müller and Christian Zwirner under the direction of Dieter Appelt . It consists of 96 standing cast iron plates with irregular edges, each about 120 centimeters wide and 60 centimeters high, on which the name, party affiliation, dates and place of death of the 96 members are listed. At both ends of the installation, panels are embedded in the floor with inscriptions.

Following the memorial project, the Chronos documentary “Parliamentarians under the swastika. The persecution of Reichstag members of the Weimar Republic - 1933 to 1945 ”. Michael Kloft directed, Dagmar Gassen wrote the book and Wilhelm Heinz Schröder, who had also prepared the data for the memorial and the memorial book, took over the scientific management. The film can be seen in the Bundestag exhibition in the German Cathedral . The documentary deals with the various forms of persecution of parliamentarians in the Weimar Republic by the National Socialists after 1933. First, the year 1933 is described with the first wave of terror, the loss of a job and everyday life in fear. Then the fates in exile, the forced emigration and extraditions to Germany are presented. The chapter “Prison and Concentration Camps” recalls the victims of the National Socialist terror, especially Jewish parliamentarians. The section " Resistance " provides an overview of the participation of MPs from all political directions in the resistance against National Socialism.

Alphabetical list of the people on the monument

The MPs belonged to the following parties:

The following list contains names, dates, and party affiliations as recorded on the records.

First and Last Name birth
year
death
year
Place of death and circumstances Party
affiliation
Julius Adler * 1894 † 1945 Bergen-Belsen concentration camp KPD
Hans Adlhoch * 1884 † 1945 Munich, previously death march BVP
Eduard Alexander * 1881 † 1945 Transport to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp KPD
Julius Assmann * 1868 † 1939 Bodino, Poland, murdered DVP
Elise Augustat * 1889 † 1940 Lägerdorf, consequences of imprisonment, Ravensbrück concentration camp KPD
Bernhard Bästlein * 1894 † 1944 Brandenburg prison KPD
Artur Becker * 1905 † 1938 Burgos, Spain, murdered KPD
Anton bias * 1876 † 1945 Dachau concentration camp SPD
Adolf Biedermann * 1881 † 1933 Found dead near Recklinghausen SPD
Conrad Blenkle * 1901 † 1943 Berlin-Plötzensee prison KPD
Fritz Bockius * 1882 † 1945 Mauthausen concentration camp center
Clara Bohm-Schuch * 1879 † 1936 Berlin, after-effects, women's prison in Berlin, Barnimstrasse SPD
Eugene Bolz * 1881 † 1945 Berlin-Plötzensee prison center
Rudolf Breitscheid * 1874 † 1944 Buchenwald concentration camp SPD
Lorenz Breunig * 1882 † 1945 Sachsenhausen concentration camp SPD
Conrad Broßwitz * 1881 † 1945 Dachau concentration camp SPD
Otto Eggerstedt * 1886 † 1933 Esterwegen concentration camp SPD
Eugen Eppstein * 1878 † 1943 Lublin concentration camp KPD
Helene Fleischer * 1899 † 1941 Stadtroda, previously Gera City Prison KPD
Albert Funk * 1894 † 1933 Police headquarters in Recklinghausen KPD
Otto Geiselhart * 1890 † 1933 District court prison Günzburg SPD
Otto Gerig * 1885 † 1944 Buchenwald concentration camp center
Paul Gerlach * 1888 † 1944 Sachsenhausen concentration camp SPD
Ernst pit * 1890 † 1945 Bergen-Belsen concentration camp KPD
Franz Haindl * 1879 † 1941 Sonnenstein-Pirna State Agency DBP
Eduard Hamm * 1879 † 1944 Berlin Lehrterstrasse prison DDP
Ernst Heilmann * 1881 † 1940 Buchenwald concentration camp SPD
Rudolf Hennig * 1895 † 1944 Sachsenhausen concentration camp KPD
Franz Herbert * 1885 † 1945 Mauthausen concentration camp BVP
Eugene Herbst * 1903 † 1934 Dachau concentration camp KPD
Christian Heuck * 1892 † 1934 Neumünster prison KPD
Guido Heym * 1882 † 1945 Shot by the SS in Weimar KPD
Rudolf Hilferding * 1877 † 1941 Paris La-Sante prison SPD
Gustav Hoch * 1862 † 1942 Theresienstadt concentration camp SPD
Lambert Horn * 1899 † 1939 Sachsenhausen concentration camp KPD
Friedrich Husemann * 1873 † 1935 Sögel, consequences of imprisonment, Esterwegen concentration camp SPD
Albert Janka * 1907 † 1933 Reichenbach concentration camp KPD
Heinrich Jasper * 1875 † 1945 Bergen-Belsen concentration camp SPD
Friedrich Jendrosch * 1890 † 1944 Sachsenhausen concentration camp KPD
Reinhold Juergensen * 1898 † 1934 Fuhlsbüttel concentration camp KPD
Eugene Kaiser * 1879 † 1945 Dachau concentration camp SPD
Albert Kayser * 1898 † 1944 Buchenwald concentration camp KPD
Franziska Kessel * 1906 † 1934 Penitentiary Mainz KPD
Anton Krzikalla * 1887 † 1944 Sachsenhausen concentration camp KPD
Franz artist * 1888 † 1942 Berlin, after-effects of the Lichtenburg concentration camp SPD
Max Lademann * 1896 † 1941 Sachsenhausen concentration camp KPD
Julius Leber * 1891 † 1945 Berlin-Plötzensee prison SPD
Paul Lejeune-Jung * 1882 † 1944 Berlin-Plötzensee prison ChrNA / KVP
Richard Lipinski * 1867 † 1936 Bennewitz, previously ill-treated in custody SPD
Karl Mache * 1880 † 1934 Kislau concentration camp SPD
Max Maddalena * 1895 † 1943 Brandenburg-Görden prison KPD
Ludwig Marum * 1882 † 1934 Kislau concentration camp SPD
Stefan Meier * 1889 † 1944 Mauthausen concentration camp SPD
August merges * 1870 † 1945 Braunschweig Wolfenbüttel prison SPD
Franz Metz * 1878 † 1945 Geretsried, consequences of imprisonment at Dachau concentration camp SPD
Julius Moses * 1868 † 1942 Theresienstadt concentration camp SPD
Arthur Nagel * 1890 † 1945 Bergen-Belsen concentration camp KPD
Theodor Neubauer * 1890 † 1945 Brandenburg-Görden prison KPD
Franz Petrich * 1889 † 1945 Sonnenburg prison SPD
Andreas Portune * 1875 † 1945 Roslau SPD
Friedrich Puchta * 1883 † 1945 Munich, consequences of imprisonment at Dachau concentration camp SPD
Serious plaster * 1896 † 1933 Berlin-Moabit remand prison KPD
Siegfried Rädel * 1893 † 1943 Berlin-Plötzensee prison KPD
Paul Redlich * 1893 † 1944 Brandenburg, consequences of imprisonment at Sonnenburg concentration camp KPD
Walter Reek * 1878 † 1933 Gdansk prison SPD
Ernst Reinke * 1891 † 1943 Flossenbürg concentration camp KPD
Max Richter * 1881 † 1945 Neustädter Bucht, transport to Neuengamme concentration camp SPD
Theodor Roeingh * 1882 † 1945 Sachsenhausen concentration camp center
Julius Rosemann * 1878 † 1933 Hamm police prison SPD
Karl Sattler * 1896 † 1945 Bergen-Belsen concentration camp KPD
John Schehr * 1896 † 1934 Berlin Columbiahaus concentration camp KPD
Michael Schnabrich * 1880 † 1939 Sachsenhausen concentration camp SPD
Ernst Schneller * 1890 † 1944 Sachsenhausen concentration camp KPD
Ernst Schneppenhorst * 1881 † 1945 Berlin Lehrterstrasse prison SPD
Werner Scholem * 1895 † 1940 Buchenwald concentration camp KPD
Georg Schumann * 1886 † 1945 Dresden remand prison KPD
Walter Schütz * 1897 † 1933 Murdered by the SA in Königsberg KPD
Hugo Sinzheimer * 1875 † 1945 Bloemendaal-Overeen, consequences of imprisonment in Theresienstadt concentration camp SPD
Willi Skamira * 1897 † 1945 Brandenburg-Görden prison KPD
Fritz Soldmann * 1878 † 1945 Wernigerode, consequences of imprisonment in Buchenwald concentration camp SPD
Robert Stamm * 1900 † 1937 Berlin-Plötzensee prison KPD
Johannes Stelling * 1877 † 1933 District court prison Berlin-Köpenick SPD
Franz Stenzer * 1900 † 1933 Dachau concentration camp KPD
Walter Stocker * 1891 † 1939 Buchenwald concentration camp USPD, KPD
Georg Streiter * 1884 † 1945 Ravensbrück concentration camp DVP
August Streufert * 1887 † 1944 Neuengamme concentration camp SPD
Hermann Temple * 1889 † 1944 Oldenburg, consequences of imprisonment in Wolfenbüttel prison SPD
Johanna Tesch * 1875 † 1945 Ravensbrück concentration camp SPD
Ernst Thalmann * 1886 † 1944 Buchenwald concentration camp KPD
Mathias theses * 1891 † 1944 Sachsenhausen concentration camp KPD
Nikolaus Thielen * 1901 † 1944 Mauthausen concentration camp KPD
Fritz Voigt * 1882 † 1945 Berlin-Plötzensee prison SPD
Paul Voigt * 1876 † 1944 murdered in Berlin SPD
Paul Wegmann * 1889 † 1945 Bergen-Belsen concentration camp USPD
Georg Wendt * 1889 † 1948 Berlin, previously Brandenburg prison SPD
Lotte Zinke * 1891 † 1944 Ravensbrück concentration camp KPD

Data at a glance

The memorial records a total of 96 people, including 90 men and 6 women. With regard to the party affiliation of the listed MPs, representatives of the left-wing parties (KPD, SPD or USPD) dominate, from whose ranks 85 of the named come: These are divided into the individual left parties with 43 (KPD), 41 (SPD) and 1 ( USPD). From the camp of the middle parties or denominational parties of the Weimar Republic, 9 deputies are listed on the monument, 4 of them center and two BVP as well as one each from the Chr.NA, DBP and DDP. The moderate-right DVP finally included two of the listed MPs. MPs from the right wing parties DNVP and NSDAP are not represented on the memorial, although a number of MPs murdered by the National Socialists are known at least from the ranks of the NSDAP. The background to not including these was the fact that, as Rita Süssmuth explained on the occasion of the inauguration of the monument, they were leading representatives of the regime until their death and were only killed in the context of internal power struggles and not because of opposition to National Socialism itself. Technically speaking, the exceptions to this are the farmer Andreas von Flotow , who had sat for the NSDAP in the Reichstag for a few months in 1932, but then turned against the party and at the turn of 1932/1933 had participated in attempts to split it, which is why he was murdered by the SA in 1933, and Wolf-Heinrich von Helldorff , who was a member of the NSDAP from 1933 to 1944 and then executed in 1944 for his involvement in the attempt to overthrow the Nazi regime on July 20, 1944 had been, so that z. B. Martin Schumacher uses the turning away of these temporary Nazi Reichstag deputies from the Hitler movement and their active participation in measures directed against their rule (or claims to rule) as an opportunity to place them in the series of dated from Regime to sort the murdered.

The majority of the MPs listed in the memorial were murdered in the early phase (18 people) or in the final phase (52) of the Nazi regime: in 1933 and 1934, eleven and seven of the named were killed, respectively, while in 1944 and in 1945 20 and 32 MPs were killed. 23 MPs were put to death between 1935 and 1943. No year of death is given for two others.

Member of Parliament Georg Wendt is a special case ; he died in 1948 as a result of the serious health problems inflicted on him by the National Socialists.

47 MPs are listed as having died in concentration camps and 27 as having died in prisons or penitentiaries. Two others are reported as murdered while being transported to the concentration camp. In the end, seven were identified as having died as a result of concentration camps and three as having died as a result of imprisonment in prison.

In the case of some of the people who are defined as "murdered" on the memorial, the research, contrary to their clear classification on the memorial as murder victims, is actually undecided as to whether they were actually murdered or whether they died in accidents or through suicide. This applies, for example, to the SPD member Adolf Biedermann , who was found dead next to a railway line near Recklinghausen on May 11, 1933, and whose circumstances the research group around Martin Schumacher considers unsecured.

literature

  • Martin Schumacher (Hrsg.): MdR The Reichstag members of the Weimar Republic in the time of National Socialism. Political persecution, emigration and expatriation 1933–1945 , 3rd exp. Edition Düsseldorf 1994.

Web links

Remarks

  1. Mache died according to the information given by Martin Schumacher (ed.): MdR Die Reichstag members of the Weimar Republic in the time of National Socialism. Political persecution, emigration and expatriation 1933–1945. Droste-Verlag, Düsseldorf 1991, ISBN 3-7700-5162-9 , p. 381, 1944 in the Groß-Rosen concentration camp .
  2. The statement "Braunschweig Prison Wolfenbüttel" is misleading or incorrect. August Merges did not die in Wolfenbüttel prison , but after his release at home in Braunschweig from the long-term consequences of the abuse suffered by the Gestapo while in prison .

Individual evidence

  1. Quoted from Malte Lehming: End of a seven-year dispute about proper commemoration. In: Der Tagesspiegel , February 27, 1992, p. 2.
  2. ^ Wilhelm Heinz Schröder, Rüdiger Hachtmann: The Reichstag deputies of the Weimar Republic as victims of National Socialism. Preliminary inventory and biographical documentation. ( Memento from September 29, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 1.6 MB) In: Historical Social Research / Historical Social Research. (HSR) Volume 10, 1985, ISSN  0172-6404 , pp. 55-98.
  3. Martin Schumacher (Ed.): MdR The Reichstag members of the Weimar Republic in the time of National Socialism. Political persecution, emigration and expatriation 1933-1945. Droste-Verlag, Düsseldorf 1991, ISBN 3-7700-5162-9 .
  4. a b Malte Lehming: End of a seven-year dispute about the right commemoration. In: Der Tagesspiegel , February 27, 1992, p. 2.
  5. ^ German Bundestag : Art in the Bundestag - Katharina Sieverding. (Accessed July 31, 2010)
  6. Memorial for Nazi victims inaugurated in the Berlin Reichstag , in: Der Tagesspiegel , February 27, 1992, p. 1.
  7. Remembering everyone. , in: Der Tagesspiegel , September 13, 1992, p. 14.
  8. Memorial in memory of the murdered members of the Reichstag , Federal Agency for Civic Education, accessed on July 25, 2017.
  9. Gerhard Schildt, In: Horst-Rüdiger Jarck, Günter Scheel (ed.): Braunschweigisches biographisches Lexikon. 19th and 20th centuries. Hahn, Hannover 1996, ISBN 3-7752-5838-8 , p. 410.
  10. See also: so-called " post obligation ", which was introduced in 1933
  11. Memorial for Nazi victims inaugurated in the Berlin Reichstag , in: Der Tagesspiegel , February 27, 1992, p. 1.
  12. Schumacher MdR, pp. 86 and 100.
  13. Martin Schumacher / Martin Schumacher / Katharina Lübbe / Wilhelm Heinz Schröder: MdR The Reichstag members of the Weimar Republic in the time of National Socialism. political persecution, emigration and expatriation, 1933–1945. A biographical documentation , Düsseldorf 1994, p. 34.

Coordinates: 52 ° 31 '4.6 "  N , 13 ° 22' 28.7"  E