George Engel

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Portrait George Engel

George Engel (born April 15, 1836 in Kassel , † November 11, 1887 in Chicago ) was a German anarchist and one of the eight accused in the Haymarket affair .

Life

George Engel lived with a foster family for a short time because his parents had died early. At the age of 14 he made an apprenticeship as a shoemaker and later worked in the painting trade . In 1868 he married; In 1872 he left Germany and went to Philadelphia in the USA , where he initially worked in a sugar factory. In 1874 he moved to Chicago and opened a toy store there.

In Chicago he made his first acquaintance with socialism . He went to a meeting of the International Workers' Association (ILO) and became a member. He was instrumental in founding the North American Socialist Labor Party .

On May 1, 1886, a meeting was held on the Haymarket in Chicago to enforce an eight-hour work day . At that time, the number of workers striking for the eight-hour day in the United States was estimated at 300,000 to half a million. The strike was organized by the ILO, and as a speaker joined the editor of the anarchist journal Arbeiterzeitung , August Spies , on. More demonstrations followed after this strike. On May 4, 1886, about 3,000 people came to a gathering in Haymarket. The speakers were Albert Parsons , Samuel Fielden and August Spies. 180 police officers, led by John Bonfield, lined up, and Bonfield urged protesters to "disperse immediately and peacefully". A stranger to this day threw a bomb into the police officers standing by, killing eight people and injuring around 67. The exact number of those killed and injured could never be precisely determined. The author Stephen Kinzer wrote in the New York Times on September 15, 2004 of seven police officers killed.

Illustration of the seven people sentenced to death, 1887

Eight men who helped organize the strike were arrested because they were known to be anarchists: August Spies, Albert Parsons, George Engel, Adolph Fischer , Louis Lingg , Oscar Neebe , Michael Schwab and Samuel Fielden. There was no evidence that these men were linked to the bombing. The authorities decided to associate the arrested with the bombing as conspirators. Engel, like Spies and Fischer, was found guilty and sentenced to death . Engel wrote in a letter to Governor Richard Oglesby that the Governor should not show any leniency - he was innocent. He could be murdered, but not punished. The fact that George Engel was not present during the bombing did not play a role for the jury , and the prosecutor Julius S. Grinnel said that the "anarchy was being put to the test".

George Engel was married and had two children.

literature

Books:

Newspapers:

  • Stephen Kinzer: Chicago: An Ambiguous Memorial to the Haymarket Attack . In: The New York Times . September 15, 2004.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ About the life of George Engel . English, accessed September 3, 2011
  2. ↑ Illinois Labor History Society ( Memento of the original from September 9, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Brief information about George Engel. English, accessed September 3, 2011  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.illinoislaborhistory.org
  3. ↑ See: Phillip Sheldon Foner: The First May Day and the Haymarket Affair. May Day: A Short History of the International Workers' Holiday, 1886-1986 . Pp. 27-39.
  4. ↑ Cf. on this: Gabriel Kuhn: Neuer Anarchismus in den USA . P. 14 f.
  5. ↑ Information about the demonstration
  6. ↑ The number given in the article was taken from the Spartacus website
  7. ↑ See: Stephen Kinzer: Chicago: an Ambiguous Memorial to the Haymarket Attack. In: New York Times . September 15, 2004.
  8. ↑ George Engel letter to Governor Richard Oglesby ( Memento of the original from August 28, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . English, accessed September 3, 2011  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.chicagohistory.org
  9. ↑ Illinois Labor History Society ( Memento of the original from September 9, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Brief information about George Engel. English, accessed September 3, 2011  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.illinoislaborhistory.org
  10. ^ Chicago Haymarket . English, accessed September 3, 2011
personal data
SURNAME Angel, george
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German anarchist and one of the eight defendants in the Haymarket affair
DATE OF BIRTH April 15, 1836
PLACE OF BIRTH kassel
DATE OF DEATH November 11, 1887
Place of death Chicago