Otto Gedlich

Otto Gedlich (born July 31, 1887 in Dresden , † June 3, 1936 in Pirna ) was a German communist and resistance fighter against National Socialism .

Life

With his wife Meta he founded an outpatient milk business in 1927 , which they operated until 1936. Gedlich joined the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) as early as 1919 .

After the " seizure of power " by the National Socialists , Gedlich was one of the most active distributors of illegal printed matter in Pirna. Together with his wife Meta, he also worked as a courier and delivered illegal documents. The couple's apartment was an important meeting point and contact point for the illegally working communists. It also offered accommodation to persecuted people on several occasions. In June 1933 the KPD sub-district leader Oswald Rentsch met Erna Scholz from Heidenau and Rudolf Gebauer and Walter Richter ("Florian") from Dohma there ; the latter kept in touch with the comrades who had emigrated in Czechoslovakia .

Gedlich was arrested on December 27, 1933 and later sentenced to two years in prison for "preparing for high treason " , which he served in Zwickau prison. He was released early on June 3, 1935. Due to severe abuse in prison, Gedlich was so weakened that he was incapable of detention. Despite the self-sacrificing care of his wife, he died on June 3, 1936 as a result of the abuse he had suffered in prison.

Honors

The street in Copitz where his former home is located bears his name.

literature

• Author collective: Chronicle 1933–1945. On the history of the anti-fascist resistance struggle on the territory of the former Pirna administration . Socialist Unity Party of Germany, district leadership Pirna, committee of anti-fascist resistance fighters of the GDR district committee Pirna / Sebnitz 1983.
• District leadership of the SED Pirna, Commission for the Investigation of the history of the local labor movement (ed.): Memorials, monuments, memorials and Mahnstätten the labor movement and the anti-fascist resistance movement in the circle Pirna . 2nd revised edition, Pirna 1984, p. 29.