Max Sens

Max Wilhelm Hermann Sens (born December 19, 1906 in Hamburg ; † December 6, 1962 ) was a German politician , party functionary ( KPD / SED ) and resistance fighter against the Nazi regime . He was a member of the Central Committee (ZK) and the Central Party Control Commission (ZPKK) of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED).

Life

Sens, the son of a salesman and decorator as well as a saleswoman, attended primary school from 1913 to 1921 and the vocational school in Hamburg from 1921 to 1925 . In 1924/25 he completed his training as an engraver in Hamburg, but was then unemployed. Between 1923 and 1925, Sens studied three semesters at the arts and crafts school (evening courses). From 1929 he worked as an engraver in Hamburg, later as an advertiser.

In 1925, Sens joined the Communist Youth Association of Germany (KJVD), the International Workers Aid (IAH) and the German Metal Workers Association . He became political director of the KJVD department in Neustadt , then the district center. From 1927 to 1929 he was a member of the KJVD district management in Wasserkante, where he was head of the agitprop department in 1927/28 and secretary in 1928/29.

In 1929 he joined the Revolutionary Trade Union Opposition and in 1930 the Communist Party of Germany (KPD). In 1929/30 he was an instructor at the ZK of the KJVD, from 1930 on the KPD Hamburg-Zentrum. In 1931 Sens became operational instructor of the KPD district leadership Wasserkante in Hamburg-Wandsbek , in 1932 he was secretary of the KPD sub district leadership Flensburg and 1932/33 secretary of the IAH state executive committee Wasserkante.

Sens took an active part in the illegal resistance struggle of the German communists against the Nazi regime. In 1933 he headed the KPD sub-district Kiel , then the sub-district Hamburg-Altona . In 1933/34 he was head of the Red Aid Germany (RHD) Wasserkante (code name "Walter") and in 1934/35 the department of agitation and propaganda of the RHD Reichsleitung (code name "Erich"). On April 25, 1935, Sens was arrested and spent in custody in Berlin-Moabit . In December 1935, sentenced to 15 years in prison by the “ People's Court ” for “preparation for high treason ”. He was first imprisoned in Berlin-Charlottenburg prison , then from 1936 to 1942 in Luckau prison and finally in Brandenburg-Görden prison until 1945 . In April 1945 he had to take part in the march of political prisoners from Brandenburg to Berlin.

After the liberation he was police inspector in Berlin-Spandau in May / June 1945 , then advisor to the social affairs department in the Berlin-Spandau district office. From 1945 to 1949 he was head of the KPD sub-district and first chairman of the SED district committee in Berlin-Spandau. From 1946 to 1950 he was also a member of the KPD district leadership for Greater Berlin and the SED state committee in Berlin. From 1946 to 1948 he was a member of the Berlin-Spandau district council and chairman of the SED parliamentary group.

In 1949/50 he served as the first chairman of the State Party Control Commission (LPKK) of the SED Berlin. From 1950 to 1959 he was a member of the ZPKK of the SED, from 1958 also its deputy chairman. In 1953/54 he studied at the party college at the Central Committee of the CPSU in Moscow. From 1954 to 1958 he was a candidate, from 1958 a member of the Central Committee of the SED. From 1959 to 1962 he acted as an agent of the Central Commission for State Control in the Dresden district and in 1962 in the Potsdam district .

Sens died in an accident, presumably by suicide of personal motives.

Awards

• Patriotic Order of Merit in Silver (May 6, 1955)
• Medal for fighters against fascism 1933 to 1945 (1958)
• Order " Banner of Labor " (1959)

literature

• Andreas Herbst , Gerd-Rüdiger Stephan, Jürgen Winkler (eds.): The SED - history, organization, politics. A manual . Dietz, Berlin 1997, ISBN 3-320-01951-1 , p. 1083
• Hans-Joachim Fieber et al. (Ed.): Resistance in Berlin against the Nazi regime 1933 to 1945. A biographical lexicon. Volume 7 [S]. Trafo-Verlag, Berlin 2004, ISBN 3-89626-357-9 , p. 321f.
• Bernd-Rainer Barth :  Sens, Max Wilhelm Hermann . In: Who was who in the GDR? 5th edition. Volume 2. Ch. Links, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-86153-561-4 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Spandau prefers Pgs . In: Neues Deutschland , November 26, 1948, p. 4.
2. ↑ Udo Grashoff: "In an attack of depression ...": Suicides in the GDR . Ch.links Verlag, Berlin 2010, p. 307.
3. ↑ Christine Fischer-Defoy (ed.): Willi Engels. Waiter, cook, communist: memories . Lukas Verlag, Berlin 2016, p. 260.