Gerhard Steinig

Gerhard Steinig (born January 3, 1913 in Magdeburg , † January 2, 1937 in Teruel ( Spain )) was a German resistance fighter against National Socialism .

Life

Steinig was born into a working class family. His father was a violation of the First World War invalid . Steinig spent his childhood and youth in Magdeburg-Buckau , a district of Magdeburg at that time inhabited primarily by workers.

Politically interested Steinig joined the Communist Youth Association (KJVD) and was particularly involved in the Red Sports Unit . In 1931 he became a member of the KPD . Professionally he worked as a locksmith .

After the seizure of power by the Nazis in 1933 Rocky continued to work in the now banned KPD. He played a part in converting party work to illegal working methods. Steinig was arrested briefly in the spring of 1933. After his release, however, he was active again in the resistance. He distributed self-made leaflets and worked as a courier for the party.

Following a dangerous incident, his party decided to emigrate to the Soviet Union . He started studying at the West University of the Communist International . Together with the graduates of his course, he went to Spain in 1936 to fight on the Republican side in the Spanish Civil War. In Spain he did a short training in the International Brigades . He then became political commissar in the Chapayev battalion , which had been reorganized. However, he fell shortly afterwards during an assault.

In his hometown Magdeburg, a street is named Steinigstraße in his honor.

literature

• Beatrix Herlemann : Steinig, Gerhard. In: Guido Heinrich, Gunter Schandera (ed.): Magdeburg Biographical Lexicon 19th and 20th centuries. Biographical lexicon for the state capital Magdeburg and the districts of Bördekreis, Jerichower Land, Ohrekreis and Schönebeck. Scriptum, Magdeburg 2002, ISBN 3-933046-49-1 .