Siegmund Neumann

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Siegmund "Siggi" Neumann , actually Paul Brandenburg , (born February 14, 1907 in Tarnów ; † November 27, 1960 in Frankfurt am Main ) was a German communist and social democratic functionary and trade unionist.

Life

Neumann attended the Karl Marx School in Berlin as a high school graduate . For some time he studied political science at the German University of Politics and at the Humboldt University . At that time he was involved in the communist student faction (Kostufra). He then completed an apprenticeship as a bookseller and later worked as a commercial clerk in the clothing industry.

Neumann joined the KPD in 1926 and took on various functions in the Berlin party. He was also active in trade unions. Within the party, he was one of the so-called compromisers who criticized the political line of the party leadership at the time and advocated cooperation with the SPD, for example . Since 1929 he was also one of the critics of the policy pursued by the RGO .

After the beginning of the National Socialist rule , Neumann first emigrated to Paris . There he kept himself afloat with the trade in ready-made goods. As an alleged supporter of Bukharin , he was expelled from the KPD in 1934. Thereupon he turned to the KPD-O .

In 1937 he took part in the Spanish Civil War as a volunteer . He fought in the ranks of the Partido Obrero de Unificación Marxista (POUM). He was badly wounded in the process. After the POUM was banned, he returned to France that same year before going to Stockholm in 1938 . There he worked as a metal worker and was a member of the Swedish Metalworkers Association. He was also a member of the national group of German trade unionists in Sweden. Together with Fritz Rück he belonged to the left wing of this organization. He opposed the concept of a unified union without socialist-Marxist commitment. However, in Swedish exile he approached the SAP socialists and moved with them in the direction of the SPD. In doing so, he also distanced himself from Marxist positions.

In 1946 he returned to Germany. He joined the SPD because of the rejection of communist Germany policy and published the anti-Stalinist publication “Is the Soviet Union Socialist?” On the recommendation of Herbert Wehner, he was initially a freelancer and later an advisor to the party executive.

On behalf of the board, he headed the SPD's east office . The fact that, of all people, a former communist headed the anti- SED institution met with criticism from some party functionaries. It was by no means intended that Neumann should manage the office alone. In addition, the long-time social democrat Stephan Thomas was deputy head. Both built the east office into a functional organization.

She headed the office until the summer of 1948. Neumann had been thinking of resigning for some time. The factual background was the dispute about the importance of refugee care on the one hand or news gathering on the other. Neumann also came under pressure from internal critics who even accused him of espionage. He survived this conflict. He came under pressure again when his conspiratorial methods of obtaining information led to numerous arrests in the Soviet Zone .

According to other sources, he became head of the SPD's works group department as early as 1947. His task was, among other things, to influence the personnel policy of the DGB unions in the interests of the SPD. He represented a strictly anti-communist position and was anxious to push back the communist influence in the trade unions. Neumann was head of the so-called circle of ten in the 1950s. In this, social democratic union officials who had previously belonged to socialist or communist organizations exchanged ideas. In 1954 he moved to the main board of IG Metall . His job there was to write the history of the metalworkers' union.

literature

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Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Julia Angster: Consensus Capitalism and Social Democracy: The Westernization of the SPD and DGB. Munich, 2003 p. 338
  2. ↑ Wolfgang Buschfort: The East Office of the SPD: From the foundation to the Berlin crisis. Munich, 1991 p. 22f.
  3. ↑ Wolfgang Buschfort: The East Office of the SPD: From the foundation to the Berlin crisis. Munich, 1991 p. 54f.
  4. ↑ Julia Angster: Consensus Capitalism and Social Democracy: The Westernization of the SPD and DGB. Munich, 2003 p. 401
personal data
SURNAME Neumann, Siegmund
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Neumann, Siggi (nickname); Brandenburg, Paul (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German communist and social democratic functionary and trade unionist
DATE OF BIRTH February 14, 1907
PLACE OF BIRTH Tarnów
DATE OF DEATH November 27, 1960
Place of death Frankfurt am Main