War special

A wave of arrests in connection with the attack on Poland on September 1, 1939 by the National Socialist regime , which affected numerous leading representatives of the defeated opposition parties and especially trade unionists , is referred to as a special war campaign .

Immediately with the start of the attack on Poland came the arrest of numerous former politicians and trade unionists who were previously registered on wanted lists. Most of them were sent straight to a concentration camp . Some were previously tried for "preparing for high treason". After the end of their detention, these people were also mostly imprisoned in a concentration camp.

More than 70 people were affected by the special campaign. Among them were the Reichstag deputies Lorenz Breunig , Erich Lübbe , Cornelius Gellert , Franz Petrich , Michael Schnabrich , Ernst Schneppenhorst , Fritz Soldmann , the Landtag deputy Johannes Kleinspehn , the editors Lothar Erdmann , Theodor Haubach , as well as the general secretary of the Reichsbanner Schwarz-Rot-Gold Ernst Wille .

literature

Christel Wickert: Resistance and Persecution of German Social Democrats in the 20th Century . In: Social Democratic Party of Germany (ed.): Committed to freedom. Memorial book of the German social democracy in the 20th century . Marburg, 2000, ISBN 3-89472-173-1 , pp. 363-402. Online: PDF .