Franz Czisch

Franz Czisch (* 1908 in Bamberg , † 1956 in Stuttgart ) was a German lawyer , businessman and Lord Mayor of Schwäbisch Gmünd .

Life

Czisch, baptized Catholic, was born in Bamberg as the son of a Jewish merchant. Like his wife Katharina (1909–1999), whom he married in 1934 in the Gmünder Franziskanerkirche , he studied law at the universities of Freiburg im Breisgau , Cologne and Berlin . Since Czisch was not allowed to work as lawyers because of his Jewish descent and his wife because of their former membership in the socialist student body, the couple took over the Gmünder branch of their father's confectionery chain.

As a so - called half - Jew , he had to struggle with various repressions during the National Socialist era , but was able to keep the confectionery business. In the summer of 1944, Czisch and his wife were supposed to be used for forced labor, which could be prevented by a medical certificate and help from the employment office. The order to go to the Siegfried Line was also canceled after a short time for health reasons. Thanks to the help of friends, he did not have to comply with the position order for the Volkssturm .

After the Second World War , Franz and especially Katharina Czisch became involved in helping displaced people. In 1945 Czisch was one of the co-founders of the Schwäbisch Gmünder CDU , the founding event took place in the city's Fuggerei . In 1946, Czisch was elected mayor by the local council, as he was not prejudiced. Important measures during his term of office were the removal of the war memorial from the Gmünd market square and the connection of Gmünd to the state water supply via the line from Rechberg , sometimes known today as the Czisch line .

In the course of the mayoral election in 1948, there was strong hostility that went as far as serious damage to property and social isolation. The Czischs' car was transported to the Rems and the windows smashed . The election on April 18 was finally won by his predecessor Franz Konrad , who had run for the CDU, with almost a two-thirds majority. The American occupation authorities forbade Konrad, who had already served as Lord Mayor of Schwäbisch Gmünd during the Nazi era, to take office. In the election on October 24, 1948, the CDU nominated Hermann Kah , who was the first directly elected mayor with a large majority.

In 1956, Czisch moved with the family to Stuttgart. There he died in a traffic accident towards the end of the year . Despite the ambivalent relationship between the city and Czisch, he received a few honors, such as the "Franz-Czisch-Strasse" in Schwäbisch Gmünd and the Franz and Katharina Czisch Prize for courage from the city of Schwäbisch Gmünd, which was first awarded in April 2013 , named after him and his wife.

Franz and Katharina Czisch had five children. Katharina Czisch was one of the founders of terre des hommes Germany. A plaque on the house that used to house the candy store commemorates them.

Web links

• Michael length: The Missed Reconciliation on psycholo.gy (main source; as of October 12, 2014).
• Michael length: forgetting does not create real reconciliation , in: Gmünder Tagespost, special issue 850 years Schwäbisch Gmünd, p. 38.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Regional studies / regional history working group Käthe Czisch, born in 1909 , topics on regional studies, accessed October 12, 2014.
2. ^ Jewish business and residential buildings in Schwäbisch Gmünd. Documentation on weller.to, section Marktplatz 23, accessed October 12, 2014.
3. ↑ ^{a b} Memory of Katharina Czisch ( 1909-1999 ) on schwaebisch-gmuend.de, accessed October 12, 2014.
4. ^ Post-war period on schwaebisch-gmuend.de, accessed October 12, 2014.
5. ↑ ^{a b} Schwäbische Post from May 22, 2015.
6. ↑ Memorial plaque for Katharina Czisch ( memento from October 16, 2014 in the Internet Archive ), Gmünder Tagespost from November 25, 2006.