Fritz Wiest

Friedrich Karl "Fritz" Wiest (born July 21, 1895 in Botnang ; † December 4, 1983 in Stuttgart ) was a German communist union official and resistance fighter against the Nazi regime.

Life

Wiest was the son of a hacksaw. He attended elementary school in Botnang and completed an apprenticeship as a belt maker . In 1910 he joined the youth organization of the German Metal Workers' Association (DMV), for which he soon took over functions. He was also involved in the Socialist Workers' Youth (SAJ). At the same time, Wiest was actively involved in workers' sports and with the "Friends of Nature". At the end of 1913 he became a member of the SPD .

Wiest was seriously wounded during the First World War. In 1917 he joined the USPD , in which the war opponents gathered. Wiest took part in the November Revolution in Stuttgart . He was therefore temporarily in custody at the beginning of November 1918. From the time the KPD was founded , he belonged to this party, for which he was active as youth secretary from 1921 Württemberg. In connection with the activities of the KPD, he was arrested again several times in the early 1920s. At times he was the secretary of the International Workers Aid (IAH). From 1924, Wiest took over responsibility for workers' sports at the KPD headquarters.

Wiest was expelled from the party in early 1929 as a critic of the “ultra-left” policy of the KPD that began in 1928. Wiest then joined the newly formed Communist Party Opposition (KPO). For the KPO, Wiest was also involved in the resistance against the Nazi regime. In the Reich leadership of the illegal KPO, which was based in Berlin, Wiest took over the function of union leader from spring 1933 to early 1935. The difficulties of illegal trade union work in Berlin led to massive conflicts in the KPO. Wiest had spoken out in favor of a strategic cooperation between the KPO and the illegal unit association of metal workers in Berlin (EVMB), which had a certain strength in Berlin but was hostile to social democracy. His commitment was therefore at times criticized by other KPO cadres. At the end of 1934, Wiest was replaced by Walter Uhlmann in the important role of union leader for the KPO . Instead, Wiest took over the role of political director of the illegal KPO from 1935 onwards.

Wiest went into exile soon after, as he was threatened with arrest. He lived in France for a short time and later in Prague , where he stayed until 1938. He fled to Norway via Belgium and Denmark . In 1940 he emigrated to Scotland with his wife Anna on a British warship because Norway was occupied by German troops. Wiest was interned in Scotland and soon after was sent to a British camp in Canada . In 1941/42 he was transferred to the Isle of Man , where his wife had previously been interned separately from him. In 1942 both were released from internment. They then lived in London , where Wiest worked as a metal worker.

Fritz Wiest and Anna Wiest did not return to the Federal Republic of Germany until 1957. They moved to Stuttgart, where Wiest was committed to the group of workers policy until his death .

literature

• Wiest, Fritz In: Hermann Weber , Andreas Herbst : German Communists. Biographical Handbook 1918 to 1945 . 2nd, revised and greatly expanded edition. Karl Dietz, Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3-320-02130-6 .
• Stefan Heinz : Friedrich Wiest (1895–1983). In: Siegfried Mielke , Stefan Heinz (eds.) With the collaboration of Julia Pietsch: Emigrierte Metallgewerkschafter in the fight against the Nazi regime (= trade unionists under National Socialism. Persecution - Resistance - Emigration. Volume 3). Metropol, Berlin 2014, ISBN 978-3-86331-210-7 , pp. 431-442.