Richard Wassermann

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Richard Wassermann (born February 25, 1898 in Linden ; † February 28, 1981 in Hanover ) was a social democratic resistance fighter , survivor of the Neuengamme concentration camp and mayor . The later municipal official was in 1945 , together with Kurt Schumacher , one of the first representatives of the SPD after the zero hour .

Life

Born in Linden at the time of the German Empire , Richard Wassermann completed an apprenticeship at Hanomag and made his first professional experience there. Even in the time of the Weimar Republic , he was from 1930 to 1933 employee of the city of Hanover. During this time - and also to 1933 - he led the department 22 of the SPD in Linden, having already on 17 November 1929 a member of the civil ruler - College had been elected (until 15 April 1933).

But with the " seizure of power " by the National Socialists , the state wanted, indeed controlled, tyranny began not only against those who think differently or even opposition members . Finally, Richard Aquarius was after on Adolf Hitler failed assassination attempt on 20 July 1944 and the middle of the Second World War , like many others imprisoned and in the Neuengamme concentration camp abducted.

In view of the American combat troops advancing to Hanover at the beginning of 1945 , the National Socialist Gauleiter Hartmann Lauterbacher read a call to the Germans who were still alive to hold on ("Dear dead as a slave ") over the wire radio - but brought himself in from Hanover on April 4th the Harz fortress in safety. The provisionally elected Lord Mayor of Hanover Egon Bönner and the city commander Paul Wilhelm Loehning were able to agree a non-fighting invasion of the Americans, who then occupied the city on April 10, 1945. As a result, the war for Hanover was over a few weeks before the death of Adolf Hitler and before the unconditional surrender of the Wehrmacht . Within a very short time the remaining citizens of Hanover organized themselves again according to democratic rules: On May 5th of that year a provisional board of the SPD local association Hanover with a total of 16 members had been formed, of which 5 were “not particularly prominent representatives of the SPD ”, namely Kurt Schumacher, Karl Lotz , Albin Karl , Hermann Hasselbring and - Richard Wassermann.

A few months later, Wassermann was elected provisional for the city of Bad Münder from October 24, 1945, and then, on December 15 of that year, full-time mayor of the city on the nearby Deister , with reference to civil service for 12 years . With his official title as "City Director" from January 11, 1946, he held this office until August 15, 1947, before he was in charge of the fortunes of the city of Visselhövede as City Director from September 1, 1947 to August 31, 1960 .

After his activities as city director, Wassermann remained present in public life: from 1961 to 1972 he was elected councilor in Visselhövede and at the same time a member of the Rotenburg district council .

Richard Wassermann died in Hanover in 1981.

Honors

  • The city of Hanover honors the former resistance fighter and mayor with the Richard-Wassermann-Weg, which was laid out in 1989 in the Mühlenberg district .

literature

  • Konrad Franke: The Lower Saxony SPD leadership in the change of the party after 1945 , at the same time dissertation 1981 at the University of Göttingen, in the series of publications of the Historical Commission for Lower Saxony and Bremen , Vol. 35, as well as sources and studies on the general history of Lower Saxony in modern times , Vol. 3, Hildesheim: Lax, 1980 ISBN 3-7848-3417-5 , passim ; Partial preview of Google books
  • Klaus Mlynek : AQUARIUS, Richard. In: Hannoversches Biographisches Lexikon , p. 376f .; Partial preview of Google books

References and comments

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g Klaus Mlynek: AQUARIUS ... (see literature)
  2. ↑ a b Konrad Franke: The change in the SPD leadership in Lower Saxony ... (see literature)
  3. ^ Klaus Mlynek: Second World War. In: Klaus Mlynek, Waldemar R. Röhrbein (eds.) U. a .: City Lexicon Hanover . From the beginning to the present. Schlütersche, Hannover 2009, ISBN 978-3-89993-662-9 , pp. 694f.
  4. ↑ Note: The Hannoversche Biographische Lexikon , here the only source so far on this part of Wassermann's biography , names - probably inadvertently - the “Kreis Rotenb e rg”.
  5. ^ Helmut Zimmermann : Richard-Wassermann-Weg. In: The street names of the state capital Hanover , Verlag Hahnsche Buchhandlung , Hanover 1992, ISBN 3-7752-6120-6 , p. 206
personal data
SURNAME Aquarius, Richard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German resistance fighter, politician (SPD), mayor and member of the district council
DATE OF BIRTH February 25, 1898
PLACE OF BIRTH Linden trees
DATE OF DEATH February 28, 1981
Place of death Hanover