Wilhelm Heidsiek

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Wilhelm Friedrich Heinrich Heidsiek (born January 4, 1888 in Preußisch Oldendorf ; † November 7, 1944 in Neuengamme concentration camp ) was a German resistance fighter against National Socialism . The Social Democratic politician was one from May 1933 to ban the SPD in June 1933 as a representative of Cuxhaven the Hamburg Parliament to.

Life

Heidsiek was the seventh child of a master carpenter. After attending elementary school in Preußisch Oldendorf and an apprenticeship as a typesetter in Bad Essen , he first worked in Herford and Essen , where he continued his education in evening courses at the technical and arts and crafts school. In May 1910 he came to Cuxhaven for the first time, which was part of Hamburg until the Greater Hamburg Law in 1937. As a typesetter for the Cuxhavener Volksblatt , he became a union member and member of the SPD. In 1912 he moved to Hamburg, where he used the opportunities for further training there.

During the First World War he served as a soldier from 1914 to 1918 and was awarded the Iron Cross, 2nd and 1st class.

After the end of his service, he first worked as a typesetter for the Hamburg foreign newspaper . With the support of the Hamburg regional association of the SPD, he returned to Cuxhaven to start a social democratic newspaper there. In October 1919 he became editor and board member of the planned newspaper company, in which he worked as a typesetter and printer at the same time. The new newspaper, which appeared for the first time on December 1, 1919, was named after the Cuxhaven landmark Alte Liebe , subtitled Cuxhavener Volksblatt for the Hamburg office of Ritzebüttel and the surrounding area . During the Kapp Putsch and the general strike in March 1920, Alte Liebe was the only Cuxhaven newspaper that appeared, which meant that it reached a larger readership. After taking over its own print shop, Alte Liebe achieved a circulation of around 3,000 copies with a population of 22,100 until it was banned on March 15, 1933.

In connection with his publishing activities, Heidsiek's ascent began within the Cuxhaven SPD. He soon belonged to the party executive and from 1929 was the first chairman and chairman of the 13-member Cuxhaven SPD council group. In addition, he took over the chairmanship of the local branch of the Reichsbanner Black-Red-Gold , which resulted in increased hostility and provocations from the National Socialists.

As a staunch opponent of the National Socialists, who had taken power on January 30, 1933 , in view of the violent riots of the SA on February 20, 1933, he wrote in the Alte Liebe :

“Anyone who announces the extermination of a worldview of 12 million Germans, who also ostracizes all parts of the German people who do not follow the 'national, authoritarian' government today, exacerbates the contrasts up to boiling point. [...] Anyone who preaches hatred [...] so that there are no longer political opponents but bitter enemies should not be surprised if a spark is enough somewhere to cause explosions. "

After the parliamentary elections March 5, 1933 , the Nazi rulers in supplying the information required DC circuit a new formation of the Hamburg Parliament with a breakdown according to the Hamburger Reichstag election result, excluding the already banned KPD . This citizenry, established on April 5, 1933, also included Heidsiek as one of the 35 SPD MPs. He demonstratively stayed away from the constituent meeting on May 10, 1933, together with the other SPD members of parliament . After the SPD was banned on June 22, 1933, the SPD deputies were excluded from citizenship by a Senate resolution.

The former Otterndorf prison

Heidsiek was also removed from all offices in Cuxhaven. Heidsiek was sentenced to ten weeks' imprisonment for participating in an unauthorized rally that took place before the Reichstag election on March 5, which he spent in Otterndorf prison from October 2 to December 16, 1933 . According to oral statements, he was later imprisoned in the Fuhlsbüttel concentration camp for seven months .

With the ban on the SPD, the Social Democratic press and the closure of the magazine Alte Liebe , which was last published on March 15, 1933, Heidsiek's family had lost their livelihood. Heidsiek's subsequent travel activities as a soap and detergent dealer and as a tax advisor enabled him to make contacts with party members and exiles in Scandinavia who were operating illegally. He also distributed publications of the social democratic resistance.

After the assassination attempt on July 20, 1944 , Heidsiek was arrested as part of the Grid Action and was imprisoned in Cuxhaven prison from August to October. Instead of being released, he was sent to the Neuengamme concentration camp, where he was listed as a " political prisoner " under the number 63,597 . He died there on November 7, 1944 under unknown circumstances. In the death register, which was kept in the infirmary of the Neuengamme concentration camp, “ heartbeat ” was given as the alleged cause of death. An identical report was sent to the Bremen Gestapo on November 11, 1944 .

Heidsiek left behind a wife and two grown children. In December 1944 his widow received the news of his death and the ashes from the Neuengamme concentration camp crematorium .

Posthumous honors

Stumbling stone for Wilhelm Heidsiek in front of the Hamburg City Hall
  • In 1948 the Hermannstrasse in Cuxhaven, where Heidsiek had lived and worked, was renamed Wilhelm-Heidsiek-Strasse.
  • The Cuxhaven-based Wilhelm-Heidsiek-Verlag, named after the resistance fighter, publishes a. a. Writings of the Friends 'Association on the history of the workers' movement in the city and district of Cuxhaven .
  • In memory of the murdered members of the Hamburg citizenship, Gunter Demnig laid a stumbling block for Wilhelm Heidsiek on June 10, 2012, to the left of the main entrance of the Hamburg City Hall .

literature

  • Jörn Lindner, Frank Müller: Members of the citizenship. Victim of totalitarian persecution. 3rd, revised and expanded edition. Published by the citizens of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg. Hamburg 2012, DNB 1023694999 , pp. 49-51.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Jörn Lindner, Frank Müller: Members of the citizenship. Victim of totalitarian persecution . 3rd edition, Hamburg 2012, pp. 49-50.
  2. ↑ Quotation from Alte Liebe No. 43 of February 20, 1933, printed by: Jörn Lindner, Frank Müller: Members of the Citizenship. Victim of totalitarian persecution . 3rd edition, Hamburg 2012, p. 50
  3. ↑ Jörn Lindner, Frank Müller: Members of the citizenship. Victim of totalitarian persecution . 3rd edition, Hamburg 2012, p. 51.
  4. ↑ Jörn Lindner, Frank Müller: Members of the citizenship. Victim of totalitarian persecution . 3rd edition, Hamburg 2012, p. 51, and footnote 81
  5. ↑ Jörn Lindner, Frank Müller: Members of the citizenship. Victim of totalitarian persecution . 3rd edition, Hamburg 2012, p. 51, footnote 82
  6. ↑ a b Wilhelm Heidsiek on Cuxpedia
personal data
SURNAME Heidsiek, Wilhelm
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Heidsiek, Wilhelm Friedrich Heinrich (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German politician (SPD), Member of the Bundestag, resistance fighter
DATE OF BIRTH January 4, 1888
PLACE OF BIRTH Prussian Oldendorf
DATE OF DEATH November 7, 1944
Place of death Neuengamme concentration camp