Max Riedel

Max Riedel (born December 14, 1903 in Berlin , † April 12, 1990 in East Berlin) was a German communist resistance fighter .

Life

Riedel grew up in Berlin-Moabit . After primary school, he learned the saddlery trade in Berlin-Wilmersdorf from April 1918 .

In 1918 Riedel joined the Socialist Workers' Youth (SAJ), in 1919 he switched to the Free Socialist Youth (FSJ), close to the USPD . In 1920 he became a member of the KPD , for which he took over functions in the Berlin-Moabit sub-district leadership from 1923.

From 1921 to 1923 Riedel worked in the embassy of the Soviet Union . He then worked as a saddler in various Berlin companies.

After the beginning of National Socialism , Riedel was a member of the illegal KPD sub-district leadership Berlin-Moabit. He took on special responsibility for the illegal operating groups at Osram , AEG -Turbinenbau and Ludwig Loewe & Co. in Berlin-Moabit. At the same time, Riedel was actively involved in the production and distribution of illegal writings that agitated against the Nazi regime.

In mid-January 1934 the Gestapo arrested Riedel. He was badly mistreated. From February 1, 1934, Riedel was on remand in prison in Berlin-Moabit. On August 30, 1934, the Berlin Court of Appeal sentenced him to 21 months in prison for “preparing for high treason”. The prison term he served in prison Luckau.

After his release from prison, Riedel worked again as a saddler. He continued to participate in the resistance against the Nazi regime, among others with Bernhard Zessin . At the same time, Riedel supported the relatives of politically persecuted communists financially.

In January 1943 Riedel was drafted into the Wehrmacht. He was taken prisoner by the British in northern Germany. In early 1946 he returned to Berlin and joined the SED . Riedel initially became the head of a resettlement camp. He then worked in the central administration for resettlers and in the German Economic Commission (DWK). Riedel later worked in the VEB glass processing and abrasives in Berlin-Weißensee .

Literature / sources

• History workshop of the Berlin association of former participants in the anti-fascist resistance, victims of the Nazi regime and surviving dependents (BV VdN) e. V. (Ed.): Resistance in Berlin against the Nazi regime 1933 to 1945. A biographical lexicon , Volume 6. Trafo-Verlag, Berlin 2004, ISBN 3-89626-356-0 , p. 151 (short biography).
• Landesarchiv Berlin , inventory C Rep. 118-01, No. 11478 (documents in connection with the recognition as a "victim of fascism").