Johanna Melzer

Johanna Melzer (born August 7, 1904 in Oberwaldenburg ; † October 3, 1960 in Berlin ) was a member of the KPD and a functionary and a resistance fighter in the Ruhr area .

Life

In 1918 Melzer attended business school and in 1923 she became a member of the Communist Youth Association of Germany . A year later she became a member of the KPD and a member of the district leadership in the Ruhr area , from 1930 she was then also a member of the district leadership in Erfurt. She was arrested on August 26, 1934 for illegal activities in Dortmund / Ruhr area during 1933. In 1935, she was sentenced to 15 years in prison for preparation for high treason. Between March 19, 1935 and 1945, Melzer was imprisoned for ten years, first in the Ziegenhain prison and then in the Cottbus women's penal institution , and was given the name "Eiserne Johanna" because she remained silent and made no incriminating statements, although she was handcuffed for weeks .

After her release, she worked in Thuringia until 1946 , before returning to Dortmund in the same year, where she became a member of the district leadership of the KPD Ruhr. From 1947 to 1950 Johanna Melzer was a member of the state parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia . She was also a co-founder of the Democratic Women's Association of Germany (DFD) in the Federal Republic in 1947 and a member of the federal executive committee. “Because of her commitment against the re-militarization of the FRG, Johanna Melzer had to face another judicial process in 1952. She was accused of having printed leaflets entitled 'Allied Plan for Wehrmacht Finished' calling for a referendum to be conducted. In 1953 she evaded another arrest warrant before moving to the GDR in 1956. "

Honors

In 1989, the city of Dortmund named two streets in the harbor district in honor of Johanna Melzer and the resistance fighter Martha Gillessen .

Web links

literature

“Die Eiserne Johanna - A portrait of Hanna Melzer, drawn by Lore Junge on the occasion of her 80th birthday ”, published by BV DKP Ruhr / Westphalia, Essen 1984
Anja Killmer-Korn : “Grid and maple. The life of an upright German. ”Dietz Verlag. Berlin 1964.
“Gestapo prison concentration camp” - life reports of women from Dortmund, written by Lore Junge on the occasion of the meeting of women from the Mohringen, Lichtenburg and Ravensbrück concentration camps from May 22nd to 24th, 1992 in Dortmund
Melzer, Hanna . In: Hermann Weber , Andreas Herbst : German Communists. Biographisches Handbuch 1918 to 1945. 2nd, revised and greatly expanded edition. Dietz, Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3-320-02130-6 .

Individual evidence

↑ Erika Runge , Resisting Defenselessness (Conversation with Doris Maase ), in: "Kürbiskern" Heft 4/1975, p. 146.
^ Daniel Häfner, Bernd Müller: Cottbus liberated! | Perpetrator, victim, resistance in the 3rd Reich | Documentary processing of the events of April 22, 1945 in the greater Cottbus area. Self-published, Cottbus April 22, 2015, p. 28 .

personal data
SURNAME	Melzer, Johanna
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Melzer, Hanna; Iron Johanna (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German politician (KPD), MdL, resistance fighter against the Nazi regime
DATE OF BIRTH	August 7, 1904
PLACE OF BIRTH	Ober-Waldenburg
DATE OF DEATH	October 3, 1960
Place of death	Berlin

[1] Erika Runge , Resisting Defenselessness (Conversation with Doris Maase ), in: "Kürbiskern" Heft 4/1975, p. 146.

[2] Daniel Häfner, Bernd Müller: Cottbus liberated! | Perpetrator, victim, resistance in the 3rd Reich | Documentary processing of the events of April 22, 1945 in the greater Cottbus area. Self-published, Cottbus April 22, 2015, p. 28 .