Mathias Wilms

Mathias Wilms (also Matthias Wilms ), (born March 11, 1893 in Roetgen , † September 28, 1978 in Aachen ) was a German social democratic politician and trade unionist.

Live and act

Mathias Wilms was the third of seven children of the married couple Johann August Wilms and mother Maria Helene, née Krings. His father was a baker, but Mathias Wilms learned after finishing elementary school - like many of his peers - the profession of a weaver and chain turner.

From 1911

At the age of 18 he joined the free trade union textile workers' association . The Aachen police became aware of him early on, and at that time they carefully registered every union activity.

In 1924 he became chairman of the works council at the Delius textile company in Aachen. Two years later he became managing director of the textile workers' association. At the same time, in 1923, his involvement in the Social Democratic Party of Germany ( SPD ) began. He actively fought against the National Socialists and their ideology. Between 1930 and 1933 he worked full-time as a secretary for the free trade unions .

From 1933

After the seizure of power he was arrested for the first time on March 10, 1933 by the National Socialists. He was arrested again on December 11, 1933 for comments hostile to Hitler and sentenced by the Hamm court on September 26, 1934 to 18 months in prison for preparation for high treason . He had to serve his prison sentence in Siegburg. He remained in custody until 1935. After his release he was regularly interrogated by the Gestapo . Wilms then worked as a weaver until 1944.

Out of consideration for his family, who were also threatened by the National Socialists, Wilms held back with spectacular actions. The contact with other social democrats and trade unionists did not break off. Mathias Wilms later on:

"After my court ruling, I was more careful about who I talked to."

In 1944 he was in protective custody in Aachen.

Mathias Wilms explained his role in the Third Reich:

“I was one of those 'little people', so small that hardly anyone noticed me”.

This was a modest self-portrayal, as later turned out to be historical, because Mathias Wilms was demonstrably one of the driving and leading forces of the Aachen resistance.

From 1945

After the liberation, Mathias Wilms was one of the few people to whom the military government certified that they were one hundred percent free from any trace of Nazism.

After Aachen was liberated from the Nazi dictatorship, Mathias Wilms belonged to a small group of five people, including the resistance fighter Anna Braun-Sittarz , who met regularly from December 1944 and prepared the reestablishment of the union.

The FDGB was founded in Aachen on March 18, 1945, and Mathias Wilms also took over as chairman. In the Army-Illustrierte Yank , the American military journalist Debs Myers reported in detail on the founding meeting of the first free trade union on German soil after the Second World War.

“There was silence in the long room. The lean, bald man at the front of the lectern picked up a few sheets of paper with trembling hands and began to speak. He spoke slowly and solemnly, as if he wanted to keep his words so insistent that everyone should understand:

'Our interrupted fight against fascism continues. From that moment on there is again a free trade union in Germany. '"

The founding event took place in front of about 80 people, whose clothes - as observers noticed - were old and worn and their physical condition was terrifying. For Mathias Wilms this was a moving moment. He continued, the report continued, with the words:

“It was a long way to get here. Many are no longer with us. "

Mathias Wilms tried several times to continue his speech, but did not succeed. The events of the last few years overwhelmed him. He ended the inaugural meeting with the words “That's all” .

Mathias Wilms quickly found words again in the next few days, because he had triggered an avalanche in the Aachen region with his start-up. In June 1945 there were already around 1,300 union members in five local associations in the neighboring cities. Mathias Wilms' biggest problem was the number of former Nazis who now wanted to become members. Mathias Wilms, who, like Ludwig Philipp Lude, called for a strict and clear exclusion of former NSDAP members and fellow travelers, could not prevail with his conviction. At least he was able to prevent a former member of the NSDAP from taking up a position in the union or exerting influence in the union. The union leadership was actually made up of avowed anti-fascists who had either been in prison or in a concentration camp . Mathias Wilms explained with a laugh, but also with a worried expression:

"It is a sad testimony for a country when the people you can trust are the ones who were in prison."

Mathias Wilms saw the main task of the trade unions in educational work, so that history should not repeat itself again. The exchange with international trade unions was also very important to him.

Mathias Wilms found his final resting place in the Ostfriedhof in Aachen .

politics

He was also politically active:

• From May to October 1946 he was a member of the Aachen City Council as a member appointed by the military government.

• From October 2, 1946 to April 19, 1947 he was a member of the Appointed State Parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia .

Honors

• The city of Aachen honored Mathias Wilms' achievements with a street name.

Mayor Jürgen Linden said at the celebrations:

“It took 60 years before the founding chairman of the unified trade union in Aachen was honored with a street name. I am pleased that with Mathias-Wilms-Platz we are commemorating an outstanding personality of the Aachen trade union movement. There are not many names of trade unionists in Aachen in our street directory. In return, there are all the more memories of Aachen entrepreneurs. With the Mathias-Wilms-Platz a balance is created in a certain way. "

• In 1969 Mathias Wilms received the Federal Cross of Merit.
• A hall in the DGB building in Aachen was named after him.

literature

• DGB-Bildungswerk NRW eV (Hrsg.): "Creates the unit" - Aachen 1945: The free German trade unions are founded . Essen 2005
• The Monschauer Land - Yearbook 2007; Monschau 2007 ( digitized )

Individual evidence

1. ^ Debs Myers: Union in Germany . In: Yank Magazine . tape 4 , no. 7 , August 3, 1945, p. 6 ( archive.org ).
2. ^ Mathias Wilms at the state parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia
3. ↑ Press release of the city of Aachen quoted. to: Klarmann's World (Blog)