Otto Baer (politician)

Otto Baer , also Otto Bär , (born February 1, 1881 in Jerichow , † April 23, 1966 in Magdeburg ) was Magdeburg's local politician and mayor .

Life

Baer came from a humble background. In 1898 he joined the leather workers' union. At first he was the house cashier here, but later became district manager. In 1900 Baer became a member of the SPD . Baer was one of the founders of the union insurance Volksfürsorge , of which he became managing director in 1914.

In 1917 he was elected chairman of the SPD Magdeburg. He moved into the Magdeburg city council for the SPD and held the position of city councilor from 1920 to 1933.

In 1928 he became President of the Provincial Parliament of the Province of Saxony . He also took over the chairmanship of the German Association of Cities and the Provincial Association of Cities. From 1930 to 1933 he was also the administrative director of the Magdeburg-Sudenburg hospital.

After the seizure of the Nazis in 1933 he was wanted by them. He was able to go into hiding, but was arrested in May 1933 and was held in so-called protective custody for two weeks . Until 1945, he was required to report weekly. There were many house searches.

He was unemployed until 1935 and then took over an insurance agency. Here he made use of former Social Democrats with great success, which aroused the suspicion of a resistance group in the Gestapo . He came along in 1936 for five months in detention . In 1938 he took over an insurance agency again, but in November 1939 he was obliged to work by the tax office. Due to the start of the Second World War, there was a considerable shortage of labor. Another imprisonment took place in August 1944 as part of the grid action . He was interned in Sachsenhausen concentration camp for six weeks .

On April 19, 1945, Baer was appointed Lord Mayor of Magdeburg by the commander of the US Army occupying the city of Magdeburg. The British Army, which took over command, deposed him, and the Soviet occupying power that followed permanently put him back in office. He was also appointed district president of the Magdeburg district. However, Baer only had his functions for about ten months.

He was then imprisoned by the NKVD for 10 weeks .

Later he was head of a department in the Ministry of Finance in Halle (Saale) .

Baer was reserved about the forced unification of the SPD and KPD in the area of ​​the Soviet occupation zone in 1946 . He was not recognized as being persecuted by the Nazi regime (VdN).

Honors

The city of Magdeburg named Otto-Baer-Strasse in his honor .

literature

• Beatrix Herlemann : Baer, ​​Otto. In: Guido Heinrich, Gunter Schandera (ed.): Magdeburg Biographical Lexicon 19th and 20th centuries. Biographical lexicon for the state capital Magdeburg and the districts of Bördekreis, Jerichower Land, Ohrekreis and Schönebeck. Scriptum, Magdeburg 2002, ISBN 3-933046-49-1 ( article online ).
• Martin Wiehle : Magdeburg personalities. Published by the Magistrate of the City of Magdeburg, Department of Culture. imPuls Verlag, Magdeburg 1993, ISBN 3-910146-06-6 .
• Andreas Herbst :  Baer, ​​Otto . In: Who was who in the GDR? 5th edition. Volume 1. Ch. Links, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-86153-561-4 .