Oswald Laufer

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Memorial plaque on Karlsplatz in Wuppertal (2014)

Oswald Laufer (born April 8, 1905 in Elberfeld ; † March 7, 1933 in Wuppertal -Elberfeld murdered) was a German Social Democrat , member of the Reich Banner Black-Red-Gold and one of the first victims of the street terror of the SA after the National Socialist " seizure of power " .

Life

Laufer was the son of Polish immigrants. After attending school, he trained as a businessman and then worked in his father's junk shop in the centrally located Elberfeld address Wilhelmstrasse 45 at the intersection with Friedrichstrasse near Neumarkt .

In contrast to his parents, who were active members of the Jewish community , Laufer joined the SPD and was a leader in the local organization of the Reichsbanner since the end of 1930. Due to his political activities, he was repeatedly involved in violent disputes with the SA.

In June 1932 there was a “gathering of left-wing circles,” as the court put it in a later judgment. Laufer was one of the spokesmen for around a hundred Reichsbanner activists who attacked a group of the SA and drove them up Wilhelmstrasse. Witnesses said that Laufer shouted: “Boys, it's the Nazis, it's your turn!” In October 1932, following a complaint, he was sentenced to four months in prison for violating the peace . He only had to serve part of the prison sentence, as he was released as a result of the amnesty given by the Reich President in December 1932.

assassination

After the National Socialists came to power in the spring of 1933, Laufer was briefly taken into protective custody. Shortly after his release he received the following letter dated March 2, 1932 [sic!]:

"To the Reichsbahnführer [sic!] Lauffer [sic!], Wuppertal-Elberfeld, Wilhelmstrasse 45. According to [sic!] Your political activities, you have failed [sic!] To continue living in Germany. We therefore give you a deadline of up to to leave Germany by midnight on March 5, 1933 [,] otherwise you will have to face the consequences. We will inquire at the time indicated above whether you have complied with our request. Terror-Abwehrgruppe-Wuppertal. "

On March 7, 1933 Laufer was shot in the evening shortly after 18:00 of five SA men: That day came five SA men led by Willi Schneider, who used to guard storm the premises of the SA in the not distant Luis street belonged , past Simon Laufer's shop on Wilhelmstrasse. Oswald Laufer was at the door. After the SA men had passed ready, they suddenly turned around at the same time, ran towards Laufer and began to hit him. He staggered and tried to escape through Wilhelmstrasse by running through a gate at house number 35: the SA men followed him with drawn revolvers, m parked him in an alley where three or four shots were fired, one of which was Runner in the neck and another in the chest. Laufer collapsed while the SA men fled. The injured man was taken to a hospital, where only death could be determined. He had already died on the scene. The corpse had abrasions and scratches on the face, a wound on the central head, and a wound through the neck and chest. The last one had been fatal as it caused internal bleeding. In addition, the dead man pointed to wounds that indicate that the person shot down had been kicked by his attackers while lying on the ground.

Proceedings against the unidentified perpetrators were initiated on March 30, 1933 based on the ordinance of the Reich President on the granting of impunity of March 21, 1933 (exemption from punishment for "crimes committed in the struggle for the national uprising of the German people") in accordance with paragraphs 1.3 set.

In 1948 two of the three SA men still alive were sentenced to four and five years in prison for crimes against humanity .

Laufer was buried on March 10, 1933 in the Jewish cemetery in Wuppertal-Elberfeld (grave site: field J, row 5, no. 40). His parents died in the Lodz ghetto in 1942. One brother managed to escape to the United States.

On 7 March 1998, the shorter today Wilhelmstrasse at Karlsplatz 13, was in the extension 51 ° 16 '  N , 7 ° 9'  O , a plaque of the Wuppertal SPD attached, reminiscent of Laufer's murder.

literature

  • David Magnus Mintert: "Sturmtrupp der Deutschen Republik": the Reichsbanner Schwarz-Rot-Gold in Wuppertal, Edition Wahler, Grafenau 2002, ISBN 3-9808498-2-1 , p. 116 ff.
  • Jochen Bilstein: "Murder on Wilhelmstrasse. The fate of Oswald Laufers", in: Ders. This is where Mrs. Antonie Giese lived: the history of the Jews in the Bergisches Land: essays and documents , published on behalf of the Old Synagogue Wuppertal, 1998, pp. 64–66.

Web links

Commons : Oswald Laufer  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Edith Raim: Justice between dictatorship and democracy , p. 660.
  2. ↑ Edith Raim: Justice between dictatorship and democracy , p. 660.
personal data
SURNAME Laufer, Oswald
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German anti-fascist
DATE OF BIRTH April 8, 1905
PLACE OF BIRTH Elberfeld
DATE OF DEATH March 7, 1933
Place of death Wuppertal