Johannes Donath

Johannes ("Hans") Donath (born November 3, 1906 ; † January 29, 1989 in Dresden ) was a German climber and mountaineer . As an opponent of National Socialism, he was sentenced to four years in prison in 1934. From 1951 to 1953 he was Secretary General of the Tourism Section of the GDR.

Life

Donath was already very enthusiastic about sports as a teenager and loved nature and mountains, so that he, who had completed an apprenticeship as a tool fitter, joined the Socialist Workers' Youth (SAJ) in 1921 and in 1923 the tourist association "Die Naturfreunde" (TVDN) founded in 1895 . As the Saxon state association and sub-organization of this tourist association, the United Climbing Departments (VKA) was formed in the mid-1920s , also known as the Red Mountain Climbers . Donath joined these in 1928. In 1930 the Red Mountaineers were excluded from the tourist association. The KPD-affiliated athletes from then on formed the Naturefriends opposition. United Climbing Departments eV (NF-O VKA).

In 1932 Johannes Donath organized the 1st German Workers' Caucasus Expedition. He and his group climbed 20 peaks, 14 of which were first ascents and two new routes. In the Nazi press, this expedition was denigrated as a luxury trip for red bigwigs , against which Donath expressed indignation.

As a combat unit , communist organization and party within the meaning of the law of July 14, 1933 , the VKA was banned by the National Socialists. Nonetheless, Donath continued to stand up for the interests of the VKA in Dresden, and at the end of 1933 took over the overall management of the banned organization. On February 28, 1934, she was arrested for this reason, and charges were brought against him on July 16, 1934. On September 6, 1934, he was sentenced to four years in prison and a loss of honorary rights for life. In July 1938 he was released from prison.

In the final phase of the Second World War, Donath was drafted into Penal Division 999 in February 1943 , from which he returned to Dresden in September 1945. A month later he joined the KPD .

In January 1946 he began his service as a cultural advisor in the public education department of the Dresden City Council. Since the re-admission of Friends of Nature was problematic in the Soviet occupation zone, the "Antifascist Tourist Movement (ATB)" was founded, which after the forced unification of the KPD and SPD to form the SED in the "Unity Tourist Movement (ETB)" and shortly thereafter in "Nature and Heimatfreunde ”was renamed. At the “Friends of Nature and Home Friends” conference in Leipzig in November 1947, Johannes Donath was elected to the provisional management team alongside Hans Frank, Walter Kohl and Fritz Petzold. But as early as September 1948, following political pressure, it was decided to discontinue activities and the members were asked to join the German Sports Committee (DS). Johannes Donath did this and in 1948 took over the management of the tourism section of the Saxony State Committee of the DS. He held this position until 1950, after which he was General Secretary of the Tourism Section of the GDR until he was released from this position in 1953. From then on Donath worked in the VEB transformer and x-ray plant "Hermann Matern" in Dresden. In 1978 he retired.

Fonts (selection)

• Tourism and its systems in the GDR . In: Sportorganisierungs , 1952, H. 5, Juli, S. 158-160.

literature

• Fritz Leder: Johannes Donath 80 years. In: der tourist , 1985, no. 11 and 12, p. 13.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Fritz Leder: Johannes Donath 80 years. In: der tourist , 1985, no. 11 and 12, p. 13.