Paul Wegmann

Paul Wegmann (born September 17, 1889 in Ronsdorf , today in Wuppertal ; † April 3, 1945 in Bergen-Belsen ) was a left-wing German politician, trade unionist, member of the Reichstag and resistance fighter against National Socialism .

Life

Memorial plaque for the victims of Nazi persecution at the Ronsdorfer Ämterhaus

Stumbling block at the house, Dahmestraße 69, in Berlin-Bohnsdorf

The son of a textile worker worked as an errand boy as a child and initially completed an apprenticeship as a blacksmith. Since he did not like the training, he learned the mechanic and locksmith trade in Kronberg . After completing his second training, he went on a hike and worked in various metal professions. In 1903 he joined the DMV in Plauen . A few years later he joined the SPD . As an opponent of the social democratic truce policy , he supported Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht after the outbreak of World War I in 1914 . After founding the USPD in 1917, he joined the new left-wing socialist party. Soldier since 1916, Wegmann deserted a little later and lived in illegality until the November Revolution. Wegmann, who at that time had already been living in Berlin-Charlottenburg for a few years, was actively involved in preparing for a revolutionary overthrow to end the war.

During the November Revolution, Paul Wegmann was a member of the USPD, editor of the Saxon USPD regional newspaper Freiheit , one of the leaders of the Revolutionary Obleute and a member of the Executive Committee of the Berlin Workers 'and Soldiers' Council . In the Prussian Committee of the Executive Council of Workers and Soldiers, which also existed, he was responsible for domestic political developments. Wegmann belonged to the left wing of the USPD, which merged with the KPD in late 1920 . At the unification convention of both parties in December 1920, Wegmann was elected to the central committee of the party as one of three representatives of the Berlin-Brandenburg party district of the VKPD . In the united party, however, like most prominent trade unionists coming from the USPD, he only stayed for a short time; in the context of the internal disputes after the “ March Action ” in 1921, he was accused of breaking party discipline in January 1922 together with Otto Brass a . a. locked out. Wegmann joined the Communist Working Group (KAG), which a few months later became part of the USPD. On July 10, 1922, he replaced the late Ernst Däumig (again as a member of the USPD) in the Reichstag , but did not (again) join the SPD - like most of the other USPD MPs soon afterwards. In the internal party disputes over the attitude to the Ruhr crisis in 1923, Wegmann supported the position of the second Reichstag deputy and party chairman Georg Ledebour who remained with the USPD . He left the party together with Ledebour in early 1924 and took part in the establishment of the Socialist League . After Wegmann left the Reichstag, he initially hardly appeared politically.

After 1924 Wegmann attended courses at the German University for Politics in Berlin. From 1927 he was a youth worker in Berlin-Weißensee . Due to political differences with the administration, he resigned from the service. From 1930 Wegmann found a new job as a district youth worker in Zeitz . There he was again active in the SPD, which he had joined in 1927. From 1931 he is said to have become more involved in the SAPD environment , although there is no evidence of his membership. He gave a series of lectures on youth policy issues to both social democrats and left-wing socialists. After the takeover of the NSDAP Wegmann was dismissed from his work as a youth worker. Afterwards he belonged to a resistance group consisting of SPD and SAPD members in Zeitz.

The first time came Wegmann in February 1934 for eight months in detention . The persecutors released him for lack of evidence. The second pre-trial detention lasted from late 1935 to early 1937, which he spent in Halle. The charge, which also came about through denunciation and treason, was: preparation for high treason . Wegmann was charged with his illegal political resistance work. In addition, there was Wegmann's political past as a member of the USPD in the Reichstag, his social and political commitment as a district youth worker until 1933, his commitment to the “ Red Aid ” and the support of penniless relatives of imprisoned party members. After taking 14 months of pre-trial detention into account, he was sentenced to two years in prison. He served this in the Magdeburg prison, among other places. After serving his official prison sentence at the end of 1937, Wegmann should have been released. However, he remained in police custody because it was believed that he would continue to pose a political threat. In March 1938 he was sent to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp with the help of a protective custody order from the Gestapo . Released in the spring of 1940, Wegmann worked for a time in a Berlin coal merchant until he was captured again as part of the Grid Action at the end of August 1944. After being detained again in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp, his health deteriorated. Diabetes and a weakened immune system had made his earlier prison terms a torture. In February 1945 he was transferred to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp together with other sick prisoners . Wegmann died there of severe diabetes and typhus shortly before the camp was liberated .

Wegmann was married to Anni Wegmann (née Bruhnke). The marriage ended in divorce in 1944 at the request of both parties. Wegmann had three children - a daughter and two sons, who now live in Berlin and the surrounding area.

Honors

Memorial stone in Berlin-Bohnsdorf , u. a. for Paul Wegmann

• In Zeitz a street bears Paul Wegmann's name; a school named after him, in front of whose former building a memorial stone commemorates Wegmann and a children's home named after him no longer exists, on the former building of the council of the Zeitz district a memorial plaque points to Paul Wegmann.
• There is a memorial plaque in Berlin-Mitte on Scheidemannstraße / Platz der Republik .
• In the garden of the Volkshaus Bohnsdorf in Berlin-Bohnsdorf , a memorial stone commemorates Paul Wegmann, among others.
• On June 1, 2017, a stumbling block was laid in front of his former residence, Berlin-Bohnsdorf, Dahmestraße 69 .

literature

• Wegmann, Paul . In: Hermann Weber , Andreas Herbst : German Communists. Biographical Handbook 1918 to 1945. 2., revised. and strong exp. Edition. Karl Dietz Verlag, Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3-320-02130-6 .
• Siegfried Mielke , Stefan Heinz : Paul Wegmann (1889-1945). In: Siegfried Mielke, Stefan Heinz (eds.) With the collaboration of Julia Pietsch: Trade unionists in the Oranienburg and Sachsenhausen concentration camps. Biographical Handbook, Volume 4 (= trade unionists under National Socialism. Persecution - Resistance - Emigration. Volume 6). Metropol, Berlin 2013, ISBN 978-3-86331-148-3 , pp. 271-294.

Web links

Commons : Paul Wegmann  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Cf. on this: Short biography in Weber / Herbst: Deutsche Kommunisten , pp. 847f; Private letters from prison . Privately owned
2. ^ Report on the negotiations of the unification congress of the USPD (Left) and the KPD (Spartakusbund) from December 4th to 7th, 1920 in Berlin . Berlin 1921, p. 270.
3. ^ Negotiations of the Reichstag. I. electoral period 1920. Volume 380, Berlin 1924, p. 7955 ( digital copy )
4. ↑ Dieter Engelmann: The successor organizations of the USPD . In: Contributions to the history of the labor movement (BzG) . 01/1991, Berlin 1991, p. 41f.