Max Benkwitz
Max Benkwitz (born July 23, 1889 in Groitschen , † October 12, 1974 in Zeitz ) was a German politician (SPD; USPD; KPD; SED).
Life
Max Benkwitz attended elementary school from 1895 to 1903 . Then he learned the craft of molding. In 1909 he joined the trade union and in 1912 the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). During the First World War he switched to the Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany (USPD), a split from the SPD that was being recruited from the left wing of the SPD. After the war, Benkwitz worked as a miner until autumn 1923, when he became unemployed.
In 1920 Benkwitz took part in the fight against the Kapp putschists . In the same year he joined the Communist Party of Germany (KPD). From 1920 to 1927 he worked as a functionary in Zeitz. In the following years he was the first secretary of the KPD district leadership Halle-Merseburg, later as head of the KPD sub-district Zeitz. Then he also had the post of 1st secretary in Silesia and Upper Silesia. From May to December 1924 Benkwitz was a member of the Reichstag in Berlin. His mandate was received through his party's proposal for a Reich election. Despite his parliamentary status, Benkwitz was arrested repeatedly during the Weimar Republic and sentenced to imprisonment by several courts, including the Leipzig Reichsgericht , for "decomposing the police force", "preparing for high treason", illegally continuing the Red Front Fighters' League, which was banned in 1929, and despising the Republic. He was, for example, 1927 to two years' imprisonment convicted.
From 1924 to 1928 Max Benkwitz was a member of the Provincial Parliament of the Province of Saxony . From 1930 to 1933 he was the branch manager of the New German Publishing House in Halle.
After the National Socialist seizure of power, Benkwitz was active in the underground KPD. From 1933 to 1937 he was imprisoned in the Lichtenburg , Esterwegen and Sachsenhausen concentration camps . He spent the years 1939 to 1945 in Buchenwald concentration camp , where he belonged to the communist camp resistance.
In 1945 Benkwitz became 1st secretary of the KPD district leadership Zeitz and city council in Zeitz. In 1946 he became a member of the SED through the compulsory unification of the SPD and KPD . From 1946 to 1950 he was one of the two chairmen of the SED district board and the SED district leadership in Zeitz. From 1950 to 1952 he was chairman of the state party control commission in Saxony-Anhalt. From 1952 to 1954 he was an employee of the SED district leadership in Halle. Between 1954 and 1958 Max Benkwitz was employed as a department head of the city administration in Halle, later in Zeitz.
Max Benkwitz was awarded the Patriotic Order of Merit in silver (May 6, 1955) and gold (1964), the bar of honor for the Patriotic Order of Merit in Gold (1969) and in 1959 the Labor Banner .
Fonts
- Before our republic came into being. Memories. Hall 1972.
literature
- Hermann Weber , Andreas Herbst : German communists. Biographisches Handbuch 1918 to 1945. Karl Dietz Verlag, Berlin 2004, ISBN 3-320-02044-7 , p. 87. Online
- Federal Ministry for All-German Issues : SBZ biography, 1961, p. 32.
Web links
- Literature by and about Max Benkwitz in the catalog of the German National Library
- Max Benkwitz in the database of members of the Reichstag
Individual evidence
- ↑ Frank Hirschinger : Gestapo agents, Trotskyists, traitors. 2005, p. 218.
Berlin : Max Sens (1949–1950) | Hans Keuert (1951–1952) • Brandenburg : Heinrich Mosler (1948–1952) • Mecklenburg : Otto Sepke (1949–1950) • Saxony : Fritz Große (1948–1949) | Arthur Ullrich (1949–1952) • Saxony-Anhalt : Erich Besser (1949–1950) | Max Benkwitz (1950–1952) • Thuringia : Martha Gäbler (1948–1949) | Richard Eyermann (1949–1952)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Benkwitz, Max |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German miner and politician (SPD, USPD, KPD, SED), MdR |
| DATE OF BIRTH | July 23, 1889 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Groitschen |
| DATE OF DEATH | October 12, 1974 |
| Place of death | Time |