Rudi Graetz

Rudi Graetz (born June 24, 1907 , † October 1, 1977 in Berlin , GDR ) was a German Esperantist and diplomat of the GDR.

Life

Political engagement and Esperanto

Before 1933

Graetz was a commercial clerk by profession . He took the autumn course in 1922 of the German Workers' Esperanto Association . This was the basis for his activities as an Esperanto teacher and chairman of the Workers' Esperanto Association in the Rostock district until 1933 . From 1924 to 1930 he was a member of the SPD , then from 1930 to 1933 a member of the KPD . He was also head of the Freethinkers Association from 1927 to 1933 . Among other things, Wilhelm "Willi" Eildermann passed on received text templates and money for the purchase of matrices for leaflets to Graetz as a functionary of the Rostock KPD, whereupon he and a comrade in Emil Neels' apartment with the call "Workers out to the mass strike! “Made.

In 1933 he was arrested by the Gestapo . At the time of National Socialism , the Esperantists were forbidden to work under threat of maximum punishment.

After the Second World War

From 1965 to 1977 Graetz was President of the Central Esperanto Working Group in the German Cultural Association (ZAKE); Esperanto Association in the Kulturbund der DDR , part of the government-related cultural association in the former German Democratic Republic (GDR), and committee member of the Universal Esperanto Association . After the revival of Esperantism in the GDR in 1965, Graetz was elected as his representative at the world congress and other international meetings. He was also a functionary of the Mondpaca Esperantista Movado (World Peace Antistatic Movement). As part of the Proletarian Esperanto Correspondence (PEK), he conducted an intensive exchange with the workers of the Soviet Union .

His articles have often appeared in the magazines PACO and DerEsperantist

Like Ludwig Schödl, Graetz stood behind the GDR - he was also a member of the SED - and yet at the same time wanted to advance Esperanto.

Professional activity in the GDR

From 1957 to 1964 he was a trade councilor and head of the GDR Chamber of Commerce in Iceland (1959–60) and Denmark (1960–64). From 1965 until his death in 1977 he was the trade fair director (1st chairman, director of exhibitions at the Ministry for Foreign and Inner German Trade (MAI) of the GDR, Berlin).

Awards

1977: Patriotic Order of Merit in Silver on the occasion of his 70th birthday awarded by Erich Honecker

literature

Fritz Wollenberg (Ed.): Esperanto Language and Culture in Berlin - Jubilee Book 1903-2003: Jubilea libro . Mondial, 2006, ISBN 1-59569-043-3 , pp. 345–346 (German, Esperanto, 368 p., Limited preview in Google Book Search).

Web links

Remarks

^ The holdings of the Foundation Archive of Parties and Mass Organizations of the GDR in the Federal Archives. Brief overview. Foundation archive of parties and mass organizations of the GDR in the Federal Archives, Volker Spieß, 1996, p. 94, NY 4279.
↑ ^a ^b ^c Ingrid Muth : The GDR foreign policy 1949–1972. Contents, structures, mechanisms . Ch. Links Verlag, Berlin 2000, pp. 291/292. ISBN 3-8615-3224-7 .
^ ^A ^b ^c Contributions to the history of the Kulturbund in Mecklenburg and in the Rostock district. Kulturbund der DDR , Rostock district management, 1985, pp. 69–72.
↑ Wolfgang Höch, Horst Bendig: The anti-fascist resistance struggle under the leadership of the KPD in Mecklenburg 1933 to 1945. Ed. By the district commissions for research into the history of the local workers' movement in the Rostock, Schwerin and Neubrandenburg district leaderships of the SED. Ostsee-Druck, Rostock 1970, p. 62.
^ The Esperanto youth in the GDR. esperanto.de
^ Estate of Graetz, Rudi (1907–1977)
↑ der esperantist : first edition (GDR, 1965) designed by Rudi Graetz
^ Hans Lindemann, Kurt Müller: Foreign cultural policy of the GDR. The cultural demarcation of the GDR from the Federal Republic of Germany. Neue Gesellschaft, 1974, p. 97. ISBN 3-8783-1183-4
↑ Torsten Bendias: The Esperanto Youth in the GDR. On the practice and lifeworld of social currents in state socialism. (= Volume 14 of studies on GDR society ), LIT-Verlag, Münster 2011, p. 71. ISBN 3-6431-1291-2
↑ Esperanto in the GDR is not entirely committed to the truth. A touch of Stalinism and a scandalous little game with the fire of the Cold War. , P. 6.
↑ Esperanto in the GDR is not entirely committed to the truth. A touch of Stalinism and a scandalous little game with the fire of the Cold War. P. 35.

personal data
SURNAME	Graetz, Rudi
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Grätz, Rudi
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German Esperantist and diplomat of the GDR
DATE OF BIRTH	June 24, 1907
DATE OF DEATH	1st October 1977
Place of death	Berlin , GDR

[1] The holdings of the Foundation Archive of Parties and Mass Organizations of the GDR in the Federal Archives. Brief overview. Foundation archive of parties and mass organizations of the GDR in the Federal Archives, Volker Spieß, 1996, p. 94, NY 4279.

[Muth-2] Ingrid Muth : The GDR foreign policy 1949–1972. Contents, structures, mechanisms . Ch. Links Verlag, Berlin 2000, pp. 291/292. ISBN 3-8615-3224-7 .

[Kulturbund_Bezirk_Rostock-3] A ^b ^c Contributions to the history of the Kulturbund in Mecklenburg and in the Rostock district. Kulturbund der DDR , Rostock district management, 1985, pp. 69–72.

[4] Wolfgang Höch, Horst Bendig: The anti-fascist resistance struggle under the leadership of the KPD in Mecklenburg 1933 to 1945. Ed. By the district commissions for research into the history of the local workers' movement in the Rostock, Schwerin and Neubrandenburg district leaderships of the SED. Ostsee-Druck, Rostock 1970, p. 62.

[5] The Esperanto youth in the GDR. esperanto.de

[6] Estate of Graetz, Rudi (1907–1977)

[7] der esperantist : first edition (GDR, 1965) designed by Rudi Graetz

[8] Hans Lindemann, Kurt Müller: Foreign cultural policy of the GDR. The cultural demarcation of the GDR from the Federal Republic of Germany. Neue Gesellschaft, 1974, p. 97. ISBN 3-8783-1183-4

[9] Torsten Bendias: The Esperanto Youth in the GDR. On the practice and lifeworld of social currents in state socialism. (= Volume 14 of studies on GDR society ), LIT-Verlag, Münster 2011, p. 71. ISBN 3-6431-1291-2

[10] Esperanto in the GDR is not entirely committed to the truth. A touch of Stalinism and a scandalous little game with the fire of the Cold War. , P. 6.

[11] Esperanto in the GDR is not entirely committed to the truth. A touch of Stalinism and a scandalous little game with the fire of the Cold War. P. 35.