Otto Trillitzsch

Otto Trillitzsch (born October 16, 1898 in Gera ; † April 15, 1974 in Dresden ) was a German machine fitter , editor of a workers' newspaper, resistance fighter against National Socialism , prisoner in Buchenwald concentration camp , party functionary ( USPD / KPD / SED ) and foreign correspondent of the " New Germany ".

Life

Trillitzsch came from a working class family in Gera . His mother was a textile worker , his father a weaver . After attending primary school, he learned the trade of machinist. In 1916 he joined the German Metal Workers Association (DMV) and the Socialist Workers' Youth (SAJ). In the same year he was drafted into service in the Imperial Navy and had to take part in the First World War . Towards the end of 1918 he refused to transfer his unit to a "security service" of the SPD People's Commissar for Army and Navy Gustav Noske , which is why he was arrested . Since 1919 he worked again in his profession in Gera. There he joined the Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany (USPD). He was also elected Chairman of the Works Council. In 1920 he became a member of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD). When the Thuringian workers' government was formed in 1923 , he represented his party in the extra-parliamentary committee. In 1924 he became editor of the " Ostthüringer Arbeiterzeitung ". In 1929 he attended the Reich Party School "Rosa Luxemburg" . From 1930 to 1933 he was editor of the " Thüringer Volksblatt ", a KPD regional newspaper.

Grave of Otto Trillitzsch in the Heidefriedhof in Dresden

After the NSDAP seized power , he did illegal resistance work in Thuringia and the Ruhr area , where he made contact with Werner Eggerath . In 1935 he was arrested and imprisoned in various prisons and in Buchenwald concentration camp .

When the Nazi rule was eliminated, Trillitzsch became a member of the provisional KPD district leadership in April 1945. Together with Paul Hockarth , during the change of occupation powers, he prepared the publication of the “ Thuringian People's Newspaper ”, which he now headed as editor-in-chief. As a member of the KPD district leadership, he was characterized by a spirit of partnership. From 1948 to 1950 he was editor of the “ Thuringian People ”, then editor-in-chief of the “ Sächsische Zeitung ” in Dresden . From 1953 to 1956 he worked in Moscow as a correspondent for the SED newspaper “Neues Deutschland”.

Trillitzsch died in Dresden in 1974 and was buried in the Heidefriedhof .

publication

• Das Volk , organ of the district leadership of the SED in Erfurt, 1971

Honors

• The 23rd Polytechnic High School in Gera was named after the GDR

literature

• Steffen Kachel : A red-red special path? Social Democrats and Communists in Thuringia 1919 to 1949 . Publications of the Historical Commission for Thuringia, Small Series Volume 29, p. 569.
• Kirsten Nies:  Trillitzsch, Otto . In: Who was who in the GDR? 5th edition. Volume 2. Ch. Links, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-86153-561-4 .