Heinrich Bretthorst

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Heinrich Bretthorst's signature on February 6, 1948

Wilhelm Heinrich Bretthorst (born December 26, 1883 in Rahden , † September 17, 1962 in Leipzig ) was a German politician ( SPD / SED ).

Life

Bretthorst was born in Rahden ( Lübbecke district ). His father, Karl Heinrich Bretthorst, died when he was six years old, his mother Marie Sophie nee. Whimpering when he was eleven years old. He attended eight-grade elementary school and learned the carpentry trade. In spring 1903 he became a member of the German Woodworkers' Association. From 1903 to 1905 he did his military service. On October 6, 1906, he joined the SPD. From 1906 to 1914 he worked as an accounting officer for the people's welfare in Westphalia. After the outbreak of World War I , he was drafted into military service on August 2, 1914 (until May 19, 1918) and received the Iron Cross, second class . In 1920 he married his wife Ottilie Klara Hedwig (née Wüstehube), who gave birth to a son in 1923. The son, whose name was like his father Heinrich, was reported missing on the war front in 1944. He never returned.

Political career

On November 9, 1918 he became chairman of the soldiers' council in Brieg , Silesia. From May 1919 to 1923 he was the SPD sub-district secretary for Brieg- Ohlau . From 1923 to 1928 he worked as district manager of the woodworkers' association for the Upper Silesia district . From 1923 he was also a member of the Provincial Parliament for the Province of Silesia . From 1929 to 1933 he was district secretary of the SPD for the district of Wroclaw- Central Silesia .

After the National Socialists came to power , Bretthorst was imprisoned in 1933/34, including as a prisoner in the Dürrgoy concentration camp , and was then unemployed until 1938. In May 1938 he was assigned a job in a civil engineering company. From October 1938 he found work, among other things, as a table cabinet maker. On December 28, 1940 he was conscripted to Lübeck for armaments work. At the end of August 1944 he was used to build anti-tank trenches on the Polish border. At the end of January 1945 he was expelled from Silesia and settled in Leipzig. At the end of the Second World War , he found a job in the police headquarters from August 1 to October 3, 1945, which Heinrich Fleißner found him .

From October 1945 Bretthorst worked as sub-district secretary of the SPD Borna . Since November 15, 1945 he was a member of the extended district executive committee of the SPD Leipzig and chairman of the Borna sub-district.

At the beginning of February 1946, Bretthorst was briefly arrested by the SMA . After his release he became a member of the SED. From April 1946 to January 1947 he was the secretary responsible for the personnel policy department as well as for the departments for agriculture and nutrition of the SED district executive committee for West Saxony. Then he was secretary of the personnel policy department of the SED district committee in Leipzig.

In autumn 1947 he was elected to succeed Stanislaw Trabalski as chairman of the personnel policy department of the SED district executive in Leipzig. He held this office until August 1948.

From 1950 to 1952 he was a member of the Saxon state parliament for the SED . He was a member of the electoral examination committee and the examination committee. After the dissolution of the federal states, he became a member of the Leipzig district assembly in 1952, which he opened as senior president. At the end of 1953 Bretthorst resigned his mandate for health reasons.

literature

  • Michael Rudloff: Heinrich Bretthorst (1883–1962). From unity opponent to SED functionary. In: Michael Rudloff, Mike Schmeitzner (eds.): “Such pests also exist in Leipzig”. Social Democrats and the SED. Peter Lang, Frankfurt am Main 1997, ISBN 3-631-47385-0 , pp. 140-159.
  • Michael Rudloff, Thomas Adam, Jürgen Schlimper: Leipzig. Cradle of German social democracy. Metropol, Leipzig 1996, ISBN 3-926893-08-7 .
  • Mike Schmeitzner , Stefan Donth: The party to enforce dictatorship: KPD / SED in Saxony 1945-1952. Böhlau, Cologne et al. 2002, ISBN 3-412-07702-X , p. 542.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Sächsisches Staatsarchiv, Leipzig, serial. No .: 181, signed curriculum vitae dated February 6, 1948.
  2. ^ Sächsisches Staatsarchiv, Leipzig. Cadre files of the SED Leipzig, serial. No .: 181
personal data
SURNAME Bretthorst, Heinrich
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Bretthorst, Wilhelm Heinrich
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German politician (SPD, SED)
DATE OF BIRTH December 26, 1883
PLACE OF BIRTH Rahden
DATE OF DEATH 17th September 1962
Place of death Leipzig