Kurt Frolich

Kurt Frölich (born May 27, 1893 in Leipzig , † June 7, 1941 in Dresden ) was a Dresden worker functionary and resistance fighter .

Life

Frölich's urn grave in the Heidefriedhof

Kurt Frölich grew up as a child of Leipzig workers. After attending school, he learned the profession of typesetter . He joined the socialist youth movement and later the SPD . Due to the upbringing in his parents' home and his own experiences as a soldier in World War I , he became a staunch opponent of the war and took part in the November Revolution in 1918 . Disappointed by the politics of the right-wing SPD leadership during the November Revolution, Frölich temporarily joined the anarchist movement.

In 1919 Frölich became a member of the "East settlement" association, which supported the young Soviet power . During this time he met his future wife Elsa Frölich (1898–1990). He took part in the fighting against the Kapp Putsch in Leipzig in 1920 . In the same year he became a member of the KPD . From 1921 to 1925 he lived and worked with his family in the Soviet Union .

Frölich returned to Germany with his family in 1925 and took a job in Dresden in the printing works of the KPD daily newspaper for East Saxony, the Workers' Voice . He belonged to the KPD district leadership in East Saxony and worked as a propagandist and instructor, especially in Dresden- Leuben .

After the seizure of power , Kurt Frölich was arrested in March 1933, taken to the Volkshaus , which had been converted into a prison , and abused by the SA . He was later transferred to Pretrial Prisons I and II of the Dresden Higher Regional Court and, after his conviction, was first transferred to the Colditz concentration camp and, in 1937, to the Sachsenburg concentration camp . Although Frölich was released due to his health, he died as a result of the abuse he had suffered. His urn grave is located in the honor grove of the Dresden Heath Cemetery, where his wife was later buried.

Commemoration

Kurt-Frölich-Strasse in Dresden

In 1946 the Krusestrasse in Dresden-Strehlen was renamed Kurt-Frölich-Strasse. The 66th Polytechnic High School was given the honorary name "Kurt Frölich"; after the reunification it became the 66th middle school. The painting Worker and Machine , created in 1924 and showing Kurt Frölich, is by Wilhelm Lachnit . Among other things, it was shown in a special exhibition at the New Masters Picture Gallery in 2000 .

literature

• Kurt Frolich . In: Museum for the History of the City of Dresden: Biographical notes on Dresdner Strasse and squares that recall personalities from the labor movement, the anti-fascist resistance struggle and the socialist rebuilding . Dresden 1976, p. 28.

Web links

• Kurt Frölich in the Stadtwiki Dresden

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Lisa Werner: Between Hope and Resignation. The New Masters Picture Gallery is reminiscent of Wilhelm Lachnit . In: Dresdner Latest News , February 28, 2000, p. 10.