Johann Becker (communist)

Johann Becker (born June 3, 1902 in Oberthal , † January 1, 1972 ibid) was a German worker and communist . During the Nazi era , he was imprisoned in various concentration camps for ten years . During his imprisonment in Buchenwald concentration camp , he met the writer Ernst Wiechert , who portrayed him as Hans in his report Der Totenwald (1939/45) .

Life

Becker came from a poor background and was involved in the KPD . In the run-up to the Saar referendum in 1935, he smuggled writings into the Saar area. In 1935 he was denounced for taking off a swastika flag . Arrested by the Gestapo on April 9, 1935 , Becker was sentenced to ten years in prison for preparing for high treason . First he was taken to the Emsland camp. Two years later he came to the Buchenwald concentration camp , where in 1938 he met the writer Ernst Wiechert , who was temporarily imprisoned there as a prisoner . Wiechert portrayed Becker, who had been made a barrack elder and thus a kapo by the SS , in his report Der Totenwald in the figure of the worker Hans.

In August 1940 Becker was transferred to the Dachau concentration camp , where he was liberated on April 30, 1945. On May 19, he returned to Oberthal. There he hired himself in the following years as a simple worker for the community, among other things. For a long time he worked as a grave digger . The approval of reparation and a reduction in earning capacity as a result of his imprisonment in a concentration camp proved difficult.

Commemoration

The television journalist Günther Ruschel traced Becker's life in 2008 in the documentary Johann Becker - Stille Zeit - Fragments einer Leben . On November 22nd, 2008 a memorial plaque was unveiled on Imweilerplatz in Oberthal.

literature

• Volker Fuchs: A silent witness, a courageous person. In: Saarbrücker Zeitung , No. 271, November 20, 2008. ( PDF )
• Volker Fuch: The story of a brave and good man. In: Saarbrücker Zeitung , No. 275, November 25, 2008. ( PDF )

Movie

• Günther Ruschel: Johann Becker - Silent Time - Fragments of a Life . Germany 2008, documentary, 55 min.

Web links

• Documentary Johann Becker - Silent Time - Fragments of a Life in Saarland Film and excerpts from interviews from the documentary on the website of the production company Dewaworld .