Otto Gaudig
Otto Gaudig (born January 27, 1878 in Leißling ; † April 13, 1945 near Langenfeld ) was a city councilor for the KPD in Mülheim an der Ruhr from 1924 to 1933 and an opponent of the Nazi regime .
Life
Otto Gaudig was born in Leißling, Saxony, as the illegitimate child of Sofia Klara Gaudig. Raised by his grandparents, he learned the trade of shoemaker at the request of his grandfather. After completing his training, he found work in Wiesbaden, Düsseldorf and Cologne. In 1898 he did his military service as a company cobbler and from 1900 worked as a milling cutter for Krupp in Essen. From 1906 he became involved in the SPD , which started his political activities. In 1907 he returned to his birthplace Leißling to earn his living there, first as a shoemaker and later as a poultry farmer. After a short time he returned to the Ruhr area, settled in Mülheim an der Ruhr and found work with his old employer Krupp.
After the First World War his real political career began. He resigned from the SPD and joined the Spartakusbund . In 1919 he was a delegate of the Essen workers 'and soldiers' council and was elected to the Mülheim city council for the first time in 1924 as city councilor of the KPD . In the same year his employer fired him because he was one of the leaders of a workers' uprising.
In 1927 and 1928 Gaudig was a member of the finance and culture committee of the city of Mülheim. In 1929 he was re-elected city councilor of the KPD and confirmed in this office in 1933. Shortly afterwards, the KPD was banned and he was arrested. Otto Gaudig was transported to the Börgermoor concentration camp , where he remained imprisoned until March 1934. From 1942 he was in contact with his former KPD companion Willi Seng . As a result, he was targeted by the Gestapo. He was accused of rebuilding the KPD and arrested again in February 1943. On August 24, 1944, Otto Gaudig was sentenced to eight years in prison by the Hamm Higher Regional Court for “preparing for high treason”.
On April 13, 1945, a few weeks before the liberation by the Americans, Otto Gaudig was taken from the penitentiary by the Gestapo together with twelve other prisoners and shot in the Wenzelnberg Gorge near Langenfeld .
A stumbling block in Wedauer Strasse in Mülheim an der Ruhr reminds of Otto Gaudig .
literature
- Peter Grafe, Bodo Hombach u. a. (Ed.): Mülheim an der Ruhr - an idiosyncratic city . Klartext Verlag, Essen 1990. pp. 146–155.
- The 20th century of the Gaudigs: Chronicle of a working class family in the Ruhr area . Compiled by Ludger Fittkau . Klartext Verlag, Essen 1997. pp. 65-73.
Web links
Other sources
- City archive Mülheim an der Ruhr, inventory 1550 No. 1 (Mülheim personalities)
- City archive Mülheim an der Ruhr, inventory 2001 (reparation files)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Gaudig, Otto |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German local politician (KPD) |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 27, 1878 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Chisel |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 13, 1945 |
| Place of death | near Langenfeld |