Fritz Kehler

Friedrich Leopold Gustav Kehler (born July 31, 1889 in Dortmund ; † September 5, 1972 there ) was a German trade unionist . From 1956 to 1958 he was federal chairman, then honorary chairman of the police union (GdP).

Live and act

Fritz Kehler was born on July 31, 1889 in Dortmund as the fifth child of a large family. He attended an elementary school in Dortmund and then began to work to contribute to the livelihood of his family. In 1910 he joined the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) and the Central Association of Stokers and Machinists and Professional Members of Germany . From October 1911 to September 1913 he did his military service with the 4th Lorraine Infantry Regiment No. 136 in Strasbourg . He then briefly returned to his profession, but was drafted back into the military on August 3, 1914 when the First World War broke out . He was deployed on the Eastern Front, where he was seriously wounded and taken prisoner by Russia in October 1914. Before returning to Dortmund in January 1919, he worked briefly in looking after prisoners of war.

In February 1919 he was elected to the works council of Hoesch-Hüttenwerke . Finally, in January 1920, he was elected union secretary. On May 20, 1921, he married Elfriede Karoline Kubik, the couple had a son: Manfred (born June 8, 1926). During the occupation of the Ruhr in 1923, he actively participated in the resistance against the French and Belgian troops. The occupation also meant that the officers of the police, which had been converted from a communal to the state Prussian, were expelled and the remaining police employees tried to fill the gap with party and trade union members. On October 23, 1923, Fritz Kehler also joined the police service and later became a member of the criminal investigation department.

He also joined the police force again. He joined the Association of Prussian Polizeibeamter (Schraderverband) and was elected to the official representation. From 1925 he headed the local branch of the Dortmund Association, later became a member of the district board and assessor on the entire board. In addition, from 1926 he was also involved in the Reichsbanner Schwarz-Rot-Gold and in 1932 co-founded the Iron Front in Dortmund.

After the National Socialist " seizure of power " he was one of the first Dortmund officials to be removed from service on March 12, 1933; he was dismissed on August 29 of the same year due to the law to restore the civil service . At the same time he received a service procedure with the aim of withdrawing his retirement pension and the title, which was discontinued in the spring of 1934. In the meantime he had received no pay and due to the short period of service his pension was so low that he could not support his family from it. Fritz Kehler therefore moved with his family to Hörste an der Lippe in September 1933 . Attempts to find work there or to become self-employed were prevented by the NSDAP. The family earned their living by accommodating vacationers and peddlers. Only through the mediation of his brother-in-law did he get a job as a warehouse worker at the United Aluminum Works in Lünen in June 1939 .

After the end of National Socialist rule, Kehler reported back to his old office and resumed his service as a police lieutenant on August 1, 1945. A short time later he was promoted to the police council, in March 1946 he took over the general inspection of the criminal police, from July of the same year he was head of the section of the Dortmund police headquarters in Lünen. He was again involved in trade unions and in 1948 was one of the founders of the Federation of Police Officers in North Rhine-Westphalia. This went on in 1950 in the police union. After he retired in 1954, he was elected federal chairman of the police union in May 1956. Just two and a half years later, he placed the office in the hands of the younger Werner Kuhlmann . He was then elected honorary chairman of the Police Union.

Fritz Kehler died on September 5, 1972 at the age of 83 in Dortmund.

literature

• Dieter Knippschild: Kehler, Friedrich Leopold Gustav (Fritz) . In: Hans Bohrmann (Ed.): Biographies of important Dortmunders. People in, from and for Dortmund . tape 3 . Klartext, Essen 2001, ISBN 3-88474-954-4 , p. 105 ff .

Individual evidence

1. ^ Dieter Knippschild: Kehler, Friedrich Leopold Gustav (Fritz) . In: Hans Bohrmann (Ed.): Biographies of important Dortmunders. People in, from and for Dortmund . tape 3 . Klartext, Essen 2001, ISBN 3-88474-954-4 , p. 105 ff .