Josef Steidle
Josef Steidle (born February 24, 1908 in St. Georgen , Tettnang district; † June 20, 1938 in Plötzensee prison , Berlin ) was a German KPD functionary, resistance fighter against National Socialism and a victim of the Nazi judiciary.
Life and activity
Steidle joined the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) in 1930 , where he initially took on tasks as a district cashier. In 1932 he attended a political training course at the Comintern School in Moscow . After his return to Germany he became organ leader of the Antimilitarist Apparates (AM apparatus), the KPD's military intelligence service in Württemberg.
After the National Socialists came to power , Steidle was active in the communist underground movement in Germany. On June 14, 1933 he was arrested while trying to meet the KPD functionary Wilhelm Kox , but was released in December 1933.
From the beginning of 1934 Steidle was active in the Württemberg district management of the banned KPD, in which he took over the management of the military policy department (or the AM apparatus) following on from his earlier work. In this capacity he participated in the years 1934 and 1935 in collecting information about the military armament of the Nazi state that was beginning at that time. For this purpose he recruited, among other things, workers who worked in armaments factories as informers. They stole documents about the armaments plans and activities of the regime or passed on observations and information that they could make about them at their workplaces to Steidle. He passed on the materials and knowledge gained in this way to foreign cells of the KPD and the Comintern in cooperation with the Polleiter of the Württemberg district leadership, Stefan Lovasz . So Steidle and Lovasz informed the foreign KPD / Comintern agencies z. B. on the production of combat aircraft in the Dornier works in Friedrichshafen and on the construction of an underground ammunition facility for the army in Scheuen near Celle .
After Steidle's activities were exposed through treason, he was arrested on December 5, 1935 by the Secret State Police. After prolonged pre-trial detention, he was finally brought before the 2nd Senate, together with Lovasz and the student Lieselotte Hermann, who was active in his intelligence service, and his informant Artur Göritz for preparation for high treason (Lovasz) or treason in unity with preparation for high treason (Steidle, Herrmann, Göritz) charged by the People's Court . The trial took place from June 8 to 12, 1938 in Stuttgart, where the Senate traveled specifically for this trial. The court, which assessed the defendants' activities as arms espionage for the Soviet Union, found them guilty and sentenced them to death.
Steidle was executed on June 20, 1938 in the courtyard of the Berlin-Plötzensee prison by executioner Friedrich Hehr .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Ditte Clemens: Silence about Lilo: The story of Liselotte Herrmann. BS-Verlag, Rostock 2003, ISBN 3-89954-013-1 , p. 84.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Steidle, Josef |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German KPD functionary and victim of the Nazi justice system |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 24, 1908 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | St. Georgen , Tettnang district |
| DATE OF DEATH | June 20, 1938 |
| Place of death | Berlin |