Werner Rudiger

Werner Rüdiger (born October 21, 1901 in Berlin ; † January 16, 1966 there ) was a Berlin politician ( SPD ) and a victim of both German dictatorships.

After elementary school, Werner Rüdiger worked as an unskilled worker, metal worker, elevator operator and commercial clerk.

He joined the SAJ in 1914 , since 1919 he was a member of the SPD (treasurer of the 28th department), and later also of the Reichsbanner . After 1933, Rüdiger distributed the Red Assault Troop in addition to the New Forward . Because of this illegal party activity, he was arrested on December 17th in his apartment and taken to Berlin-Moabit in custody. On February 12, 1934, he was indicted by the Superior Court of Appeal, but on May 26th he was acquitted for lack of evidence. Nevertheless, Rüdiger continued to help prisoners for the illegal SPD. He kept in touch with the party executive in Prague and is also said to have been responsible for distributing up to 1200 issues of the Little Forward . Despite multiple interrogations, he remained free until the end of the war. After the end of the Second World War he was one of the founders of the SPD Berlin , became district chairman of the SPD Prenzlauer Berg and was elected second state chairman on August 9, 1945 at the first regular party congress.

He was a consistent opponent of the forced union . In March 1946 he was arrested for his attitude and held from February 2 to 17, 1946. After the SMAD prevented the strike ballot in the Eastern sector and thus paved the way for the founding of the SED in Berlin, Werner Rüdiger remained a member of the SPD in East Berlin in April 1946 .

On October 20, 1946, Werner Rüdiger was elected to the Berlin city council. The 1948 election, which could only be carried out in the western sectors, confirmed his mandate.

On February 25, 1949, Werner Rüdiger was arrested as a member of parliament despite his immunity . In October 1950 he was sentenced to 25 years in prison for “anti-Soviet attitudes” (meaning the spread of the social democratic telegraph in the eastern sector of Berlin). He was released after five years of political imprisonment in the Waldheim correctional facility .

The public took an active part in his fate. The House of Representatives recalled at the beginning of each session to Werner Rüdiger. After his release, he was a member of the House of Representatives from 1954 for two terms until 1963.

literature

• Dennis Egginger-Gonzalez: The Red Assault Troop. An early left-wing socialist resistance group against National Socialism (= Writings of the German Resistance Memorial Center, Analyzes and Representations, Volume 11). Lukas, Berlin 2018, a. a. Short biography on p. 490f. ISBN 978-3-86732-274-4 .
• Werner Breunig, Siegfried Heimann , Andreas Herbst : Biographical Handbook of Berlin City Councilors and Members of Parliament 1946–1963 (=  series of publications by the Berlin State Archives . Volume 14 ). Landesarchiv Berlin , Berlin 2011, ISBN 978-3-9803303-4-3 , p. 226 (331 pages).
• Dennis Egginger: The Red Assault Troop. In: Hans Coppi , Stefan Heinz (ed.): The forgotten resistance of the workers. Trade unionists, communists, social democrats, Trotskyists, anarchists and forced laborers (= history of communism and left-wing socialism. 16). Dietz, Berlin, 2012, ISBN 978-3-320-02264-8 , pp. 91-106.
• Ditmar Staffelt : The reconstruction of the Berlin social democracy 1945/46 and the unity question. 1986, ISBN 3-8204-9176-7 , p. 433.
• Annette Kaminsky: Places of Remembrance: Memorial signs, memorials and museums on the dictatorship in the Soviet Zone and GDR. 2nd edition, 2007, ISBN 3-86153-443-6 , page 109 ( online ).
• Klaus Schroeder, Peter Erler: History and Transformation of the SED State: Contributions and Analyzes. 1994, ISBN 3-05-002638-3 , page 77 online
• Social Democratic Party of Germany. Board of Directors: Committed to Freedom: Memorial Book of German Social Democracy in the 20th Century. 2000, p. 279.