Werner Hansen

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Werner Hansen (born July 31, 1905 in Rethem an der Aller as Wilhelm Heidorn, † June 15, 1972 in Neuss ) was a social democratic German politician, trade unionist and anti-fascist resistance fighter . When and why he adopted the name Werner Hansen is unclear.

Life

After graduating from business school and completing a commercial apprenticeship, the son of a post office clerk initially joined the SPD in the mid-1920s . At the same time he was a member of the Central Association of Employees (ZdA) and Friends of Nature . In 1927 Hansen moved to Bremen , where he became a member of the International Socialist Combat League (ISK) and worked for its newspaper Der Funke . In Bremen, Hansen was also the chairman of the local section of freethinkers and worked from 1931 to 1933 as an honorary board member in the local administration of the ZdA.

After the seizure of power of the NSDAP in 1933 Werner Hansen could not remain public political activities in Bremen. So he moved to Cologne . There he used jobs as a kitchen helper in hotels as a cover for his illegal political work for the ISK and in the "Independent Socialist Union" (USG). At first he was the head of the illegal ISK base in Cologne. Between 1935 and 1937 Werner Hansen led the illegal work in the Rhineland (ISK district west) together with Hans Dohrenbusch and maintained contacts with the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) and other free trade union resistance groups. In the resistance he used the pseudonyms "Hans Klein" and "Schwarzer Willi" for camouflage in addition to "Werner Hansen".

After a wave of arrests among ISK functionaries and the break-up of the organization in the Rhineland, Werner Hansen fled to France in 1937 and to London in 1939, where he joined the ISK exile group. From June 1940 to September 1941 he had to spend as an enemy alien in an internment camp in Australia. After his release from internment and his return to England, he worked closely with Willi Eichler and Hans Gottfurcht . He was a leading member of the national group of German trade unionists in Great Britain. In addition, while in exile in Britain, he published a series of proposals for rebuilding the unions after the end of National Socialism. Hansen was also co-author of Re-Making Germany , published in London in 1945 .

In March 1945 Werner Hansen returned to the Rhineland with the help of the British military government , where he began to rebuild the trade unions as a member of the so-called Committee of Seven around Hans Böckler and, as Böckler's successor, headed the DGB secretariat in the British zone from 1946 to 1947 . From 1947 to 1956 he was in charge of the DGB district of North Rhine-Westphalia and was then a member of the DGB federal board until his retirement in 1969. Between 1953 and 1957 he represented the SPD in the Bundestag and was at times a member of the party presidium.

Works

  • Willi Eichler, Wilhelm Heidorn (d. I. Werner Hansen), Mary Saran and Minna Specht: Re-Making Germany . Foreword: James Griffiths . International Publishing Company, SVG, London, 1945.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Klaus Mertsching: Werner Hansen (1905 - 1972)
  2. ↑ Hans Dohrenbusch in the archive of the Institute for Contemporary History (PDF)
  3. ↑ The Mitverfasserinnen and the title it suggests that the font aware of the re-education concepts deposed and the ideas of the German Educational Reconstruction Committee was close to.
personal data
SURNAME Hansen, Werner
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Heidorn, Wilhelm (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German politician (SPD), Member of the Bundestag, anti-fascist resistance fighter
DATE OF BIRTH July 31, 1905
PLACE OF BIRTH Rethem an der Aller
DATE OF DEATH June 15, 1972
Place of death Neuss