Kurt Lehmann (resistance fighter)

Kurt Lehmann (* 1906 in Barmen ; † 1987 in Wuppertal ) was a German seaman, communist functionary and resistance fighter against National Socialism .

Kurt Lehmann grew up in a family with five siblings; the father was a construction worker and the family lived in poor conditions. The Gestapo later wrote: “He comes from a fanatically communist family.” When Lehmann was 16 years old, his mother died and from then on he lived on his own. Until 1927 he made his way as a construction worker and finally went to Antwerp to be hired as a seaman.

In 1926 Lehmann joined the KPD . As he enjoyed a great reputation among his colleagues, he already held positions of responsibility in the KPD and in the Red Navy , a sub-organization of the Rofrontkampfbundes , to which mainly seamen and dock workers belonged. The members of the Red Navy were involved in serious, sometimes armed conflicts with the SA from 1930 onwards , which is why they were particularly hated by the National Socialists .

At the time of the “ seizure of power ” Kurt Lehmann was at sea and thus initially escaped arrest. From now on he only went to sea from Antwerp, where an active group was formed, which was joined by the communist activist Hermann Knüfken in 1935 . Lehmann and Knüfken stood in opposition to the policy of the KPD party leadership, which pleaded for an open fight against the Nazi regime; eventually her group separated from the KPD. Lehmann contacted Edo Fimmen , the Dutch general secretary of the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF). Until the beginning of the war , the Antwerp group continued to work with financial support from the ITF and built a network of shop stewards on over 250 ships. From 1935, Kurt Lehmann's brother Werner also joined the group. From August 1936 to January 1937 the brothers fought in the Spanish Civil War .

Under pressure from the German government, the Lehmann brothers, like other activists, were expelled from Belgium in 1938, even though the socialist mayor of Antwerp, Camille Huysmans , had campaigned for them. Thanks to the ITF, they were able to hire the British freighter Lucerie . This was followed by a long odyssey on various ships: the Lehmanns were not allowed to stay in Hong Kong , they were banned from land in London , and back in Belgium they were arrested, and after the ITF intervened, they were released on condition that they leave Belgium forever. In December 1938 Kurt Lehmann went to Oran , where he was also undesirable and later in Marseille . Back in Belgium he was sentenced to 40 days in prison and went back illegally to Marseille with his brother, from there to Dunkirk , where they were again imprisoned. After Fimmen intervened, they were briefly released, but were interned as “ enemy foreigners ” after the outbreak of war . When Fimmen was able to obtain their release again, France was attacked by the Wehrmacht . The Lehmanns were interned by the French in the North African camp Suzzoni and transferred from there to the notorious Berroughia camp. On July 1, 1941, the Vichy regime extradited the brothers to the Gestapo. One of them cut his wrists on the crossing to France, but was saved.

Kurt and Werner Lehmann were brought to the prison of the Reich Security Main Office in Berlin . Werner Lehmann died on September 21, 1941, the cause of death is unknown. Kurt Lehmann resisted the torture , and the Gestapo commissioner in charge noted: “During his interrogation, he strictly adhered to the guidelines issued by the Communist Party, not to name any persons during interrogation by the police. [...] He still has to be addressed today as an incorrigible opponent of National Socialist Germany. ” Up until the end of the war he was imprisoned in various prisons, most recently in the Dachau concentration camp .

After the end of the war Kurt Lehmann returned to Wuppertal , worked as a stoker in the British Army, later in the German Armed Forces and went to sea again for a short time. He wrote a report on the resistance of German seafarers , in which he was deeply disappointed that the anti-fascist resistance in the Federal Republic of Germany was not sufficiently appreciated. In 1953 he wrote to the writer Walter Hammer : “Today it is no longer good to talk about fighting. With the KPD one is considered a reformist, with the occupying power an anarchist. The fact is: I don't love a dictatorship! ” He died in 1987 without the public noticing his death.

References and comments

1. ↑ Dieter Nelles: “'That we hold our heads high, even if it should be cut off' - Wuppertal seafarers in the resistance”. P. 162
2. ↑ Dieter Nelles: “'That we hold our heads high, even if it should be cut off' - Wuppertal seafarers in the resistance”. P. 174
3. ↑ Dieter Nelles: “'That we hold our heads high, even if it should be cut off' - Wuppertal seafarers in the resistance”. P. 178

literature

• Dieter Nelles: "That we hold our heads high, even if it should be cut off" - Wuppertal sailors in the resistance ". In: “… We don't get broken.” Faces of the Wuppertal resistance. Edited by the Wuppertal Resistance Research Group. Essen 1995. pp. 159-179 online

Web links

• Werner Lehmann on gedenkbuch-wuppertal.de