Franz Schoppa

Franz Schoppa (born January 25, 1882 in Wyrow , † December 27, 1956 in Grabenstätt ) was a politician of the German minority in the Second Polish Republic ( KVP / DKV ) and a former member of the Silesian Parliament .

education and profession

After graduating from school, Franz Schoppa did an apprenticeship in the Eintrachthütte machine factory in the Beuthen district, and was then a technical employee there until 1933. In 1933 there were mass layoffs of German staff in Polish companies. As part of this campaign, Franz Schoppa von der Eintrachthütte retired early.

politics

Franz Schoppa was a functionary and board member of numerous German associations in Upper Silesia. He was also active in local politics and was a member of the city council and district council of Schwientochlowitz for many years. In September 1922 Franz Schoppa was a DKV candidate in the elections for the Silesian Sejm. Although he missed the mandate, he was able to move into parliament for Leopold Michatz on November 21, 1922 after his resignation. On May 2, 1925, he was elected to the party executive and 2nd secretary of the DKV. He also worked as an editor at the party organ of the DKV, the " Upper Silesian Courier ".

In 1922 he became a founding member and between 1933 and 1939 managing director of the Association of German Catholics in Poland (VdK). He was a supporter of VdK President Eduard Pant, who was ousted at the end of 1934, and defended him against attacks by the press.

expulsion

In September 1939, after the attack on Poland , the German workers were reintegrated into their old jobs. Franz Schoppa received his old job in the Eintrachthütte until the Red Army marched into Schwientochlowitz on January 24, 1945. At the end of January 1945, he was arrested and held in the Markthalle camp. After 14 days he was released on short notice thanks to the intercession of Catholic clergy, but after 8 days he was again locked in solitary confinement in prison for 20 days. After his release, he and his wife were evicted from their home. At the beginning of October 1945 he managed to leave the country thanks to the support of a former Polish Sejm member. The escape in December 1945 led to Berlin and then to Grabenstätt in the Traunstein district, where he spent the rest of his life.

literature

• Mads Ole Balling: From Reval to Bucharest. Statistical-Biographical Handbook of the Parliamentarians of the German Minorities in East Central and Southeast Europe 1919–1945. 2nd volume . 2nd Edition. Documentation-Verlag, Copenhagen 1991, ISBN 87-983829-5-0 , p. 770-771 .