Rudi Opitz

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Rudolf (Rudi) Opitz 'tombstone in Leipzig's southern cemetery

Rudolf Franz Opitz , known as Rudi Opitz (born February 19, 1908 in Leipzig ; † August 7, 1939 in Buchenwald concentration camp ) was a Leipzig photographer and chemigrapher , opponent and victim of National Socialism .

Life and work

Rudolf Opitz was born in 1908 as the child of a company assistant and grew up in the difficult times of the First World War and the subsequent unrest in the north of Leipzig. After completing elementary school, he learned the profession of reproduction photographer and chemographer at the company Körner und Sohn . From 1923 he was a member of the Communist Youth Association . After completing his training, he got a job in Niedersedlitz near Dresden and then in Düsseldorf . After his wedding and his return to Leipzig, he became unemployed in 1929. In 1931 he joined the KPD and became a member of the party's city leadership. From 1933 he was actively involved against the ruling National Socialists. For a short time he was employed by the Junkers aircraft factory in Koethen . Before his imprisonment he lived again in Leipzig- Gohlis .

Arrest and imprisonment

On August 23, 1935, he was arrested for " preparing a treasonous enterprise ". After 17 months in custody, he was to two years prison sentenced of which he the missing three months in prison Zwickau was serving. He was then transferred to the newly built Buchenwald concentration camp , where he received prisoner number 2317, later 2712. He initially worked in the library / bookbinding command, then in the SS photo laboratory. He used his position to secretly reveal negatives of atrocities committed by the SS by released prisoners.

When Rudolf Opitz learned that his release was imminent, he tried to smuggle more photos out of the camp. On June 29, 1939, however, a negative of an execution was found on him, whereupon he was assigned to the building of the holding cell and was placed under strict arrest. After standing in the dark cell for three days, normal arrest was ordered. On August 7, 1939, he was killed by the prison cell construction supervisor Martin Sommer after he had been chained to a steam heater for three days. In the files, the murder was described as "suicide by hanging" .

Memory of Rudolf Opitz

In the GDR Rudi Opitz was honored as an anti-fascist and resistance fighter:

  • Rudi-Opitz-Strasse in Leipzig-Gohlis, inaugurated in 1945 (previously Fabricestrasse)
  • Memorial stone in Gohlis, inaugurated in 1950
  • The street station Gohlis II (Landsberger Straße) was called "Jugendbahnhof Rudi Opitz" from 1950
  • Rudi-Opitz-Oberschule (94th Polytechnic Oberschule) in Leipzig-Grünau, inaugurated 1985 (name until 1992)

In 2009, a stumbling stone was inaugurated in Gohlis in memory of Rudi Opitz in Blumenstrasse .

literature

  • Dieter Kürschner: His photos from the concentration camp exposed the Nazis . Leipziger Volkszeitung, 2008
  • Buchenwald concentration camp, Post Weimar / Thür.
  • Buchenwald Book of the Dead

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Dieter Kürschner, Mona Hohler: Rudi Opitz , Stolpersteine ​​Leipzig.
  2. ^ Matthias Mitdank, Peter Schäfer: A youth train for trade fair traffic. In: Tram magazine .
  3. ^ Leipzig-Lexikon, entry Rudi-Opitz-Oberschule
personal data
SURNAME Opitz, Rudi
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Opitz, Rudolf Franz
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German photographer and chemigrapher, opponent and victim of National Socialism
DATE OF BIRTH February 19, 1908
PLACE OF BIRTH Leipzig
DATE OF DEATH August 7, 1939
Place of death Buchenwald concentration camp