Paul Gersoni

Paul Gersoni (born September 24, 1884 in Berlin , † 1938 in the Soviet Union ) was a German functionary of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) and resistance fighter against National Socialism . After emigrating to the Soviet Union, he was a victim of the Stalinist purges during the Great Terror and shot in 1938.

Life

After primary school, Gersoni learned the profession of typesetter, which he practiced until he was called up in 1914. He fought in World War I until 1918 and then settled in Saarland .

In 1904 Gersoni joined the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). In 1919 he switched to the KPD and was a full-time member of the Saar district management until 1921. In 1921 he was employed by the party and was head of the KPD printing works in Leipzig until 1927 , then managing director of the KPD printing works in Hamburg and Frankfurt am Main and finally in Saarbrücken , where he was re-elected to the Saar district leadership.

After the National Socialists came to power and communist activities were banned in March 1933, Gersoni continued the party work in illegality. In 1935 he emigrated first to Paris , then to the Soviet Union, where he worked in the printing industry.

In July 1937 Gersoni was arrested by the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs of the USSR (NKVD) in the course of the Stalinist purges , sentenced to death and shot at an unknown time, probably in early 1938.

literature

• Hermann Weber , Andreas Herbst : German communists. Biographical Handbook 1918 to 1945 . 2nd, revised and greatly expanded edition. Karl Dietz, Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3-320-02130-6 ( online ).