Ernst Schrader (trade unionist)

Ernst Schrader (born April 3, 1877 in Zützen , † July 13, 1936 in Berlin ) was a German police officer and union leader. Among other things, he was chairman of the Association of Prussian Police Officers, a police union known as the Schrader Association .

Life

He came from a humble background. The father was a road worker. Schrader attended the local elementary school. After school he joined the Prussian army and since 1895 was a member of the 1st Guard Uhlan Regiment in Potsdam . It was unusual for a working-class son to serve in this aristocratic unit.

He left the army with the rank of corporal and joined the Berlin police force in 1901 as a sergeant . In 1902 he married. The marriage resulted in two daughters.

Schrader took part in the founding of the Association of Berlin Policemen in 1913 and was elected member of the board of this first interest group for police officers in Prussia . The association was soon banned but continued to operate illegally. Like others, he suffered from reprisals and was downgraded, among other things, to a simple policeman. In long negotiations the police leadership succeeded in tolerating the efforts.

In 1915 the association of comrades' clubs was officially founded. It initially had about 6,000 members. Schrader was elected chairman. The association was expanded to include all of Prussia in 1917 and renamed the Association of the Royal Protection Team of Prussia . During the November Revolution , Schrader negotiated with members of the Workers 'and Soldiers' Council during the siege of the Berlin police headquarters .

Because he was later elected full-time chairman of his association, he retired from active police service in 1920. During his tenure, other associations joined the organization. In 1919 the Reich Association of Police Officers in Germany was founded with Schrader as chairman. The association joined the German Association of Officials . In 1923, a unified Prussian police officer organization was established through merger. The Association of Prussian Police Officers was known colloquially as the "Schrader Association". In 1932 the organization had 117,000 members. Schrader was also involved in international cooperation with comparable foreign associations. In 1927, the Fédération Internationale des Fonctionnaires de Police was founded as an international police association . Schrader acted as secretary of this association from 1930.

He maintained good relations with, among others, the Prussian Interior Minister Carl Severing . Schrader exercised a considerable influence in the coming into existence of the Prussian Police Officer Act of 1927. By participating in preparatory consultations and through pressure from the association, it was possible to help shape the law in the interests of the police officers.

At an unknown time, Schrader joined the SPD . For this he ran in vain for the Reichstag in 1928 . Despite his own party-political ties, he continued to advocate the association's political neutrality. In 1930 he became a member of the federal management of the DBB.

Schrader acquired a dilapidated estate in 1931 and planned to bring it back up. However, he fell seriously ill and was unable to continue his association activities for a long time. His wife died that same year.

The political situation for the association's work deteriorated more and more at the end of the republic. Mainly for health reasons, Schrader asked in June 1932 that he be released from office as chairman. The association initially did not comply and only gave him leave before he was granted dismissal in August.

The now de facto leaderless association came under pressure from the NSDAP . Although no longer chairman, Schrader was also personally attacked. The association itself soon came under the influence of the National Socialists. In January 1933 the republican forces were able to prevail again for a short time. The new regime forced the dissolution of the association in July 1933 in favor of the National Socialist Association of German Police Officers.

Schrader applied for admission to the new association, but was taken into protective custody a short time later in September 1933 and taken to the Oranienburg concentration camp. He was released in December 1933 as part of an amnesty. In 1935 he married a second time. After suffering from cancer for a long time, he died in 1936.

Web links

• Biography in political prisoners of the Oranienburg concentration camp
• Biography on the part of the gdp