Willy Jentsch

Willy Hermann Jentsch (also Willi ; born April 22, 1892 in Barschdorf , Province of Silesia ; † May 26, 1966 in Potsdam ) was a German politician ( SPD and SED ) and mayor .

Life

The bricklayer's son Willy Jentsch attended elementary school, completed an apprenticeship as a butcher and worked in this profession. Later he went hiking. In 1911 Jentsch became a member of the Central Association of Butchers . In 1912 he joined the Social Democratic Party of Germany . Jentsch did his military service from 1914 to 1918 during the First World War . In 1918/1919 he took part in the November Revolution in Berlin. From 1919 he worked as a worker in the Reichsbahn repair shop in Berlin . Jentsch became a works council and member of the Greater Berlin local administration of the General German Trade Union Federation . In 1923 he was District Secretary of the German Railway Union (DEV) in the East District in Schneidemühl; later he took over functions in the Union of Railway Workers in Germany . In 1924 Jentsch moved to Frankfurt (Oder) and was there from 1924 to 1933 secretary of the SPD subdistrict Frankfurt-Lebus, Ost- and Weststernberg. From 1926 to 1933 he was also a city councilor in Frankfurt (Oder); also member of the Brandenburg Provincial Parliament . In 1926 Jentsch was one of the founders of the non-profit housing cooperative Gewoba . From April to July 1933 Jentsch was a deputy member of the Prussian State Council.

After the National Socialists came to power, Willy Jentsch was arrested on March 21, 1933 in the Frankfurt (Oder) trade union building. This was followed by so-called protective custody in the Sonnenburg concentration camp until September 1933. After his release, he continued the resistance against the National Socialists in the small social democratic resistance group "Max", which produced and distributed leaflets. On December 17, 1935, Jentsch was arrested again. He was arrested in Moabit and sentenced in August 1936 to one year and six months in prison by the Berlin Court of Appeal . The eight-month pre-trial detention was taken into account in the judgment. From July 30, 1938 to June 26, 1938, Jentsch was imprisoned in Luckau prison. At times he is said to have been imprisoned in Frankfurt (Oder) prison. On August 30, 1938, Jentsch was transferred to the Buchenwald concentration camp . In the Buchenwald camp he gradually approached the communist movement. From then on he oriented himself primarily towards the Communist Party of Germany . He is also said to have worked in the structures of the illegal KPD in the Buchenwald concentration camp. On April 22, 1945, he was a participant in a conference in the Buchenwald concentration camp organized by communists. In June 1945 Willy Jentsch took part in organizing the release of the former prisoners from the Buchenwald concentration camp.

After the end of the war, Jentsch was head of organization of the KPD in the Frankfurt (Oder) district in 1945/46; after the union of the KPD and SPD to form the SED, 1946 head of the SED organization. On December 24, 1945, he opened the children's home in the Grüner Weg in Frankfurt (Oder). His wife became the first leader. From 1946 to 1950 Jentsch was a member of the SED district administration in Frankfurt (Oder); 1946 to 1948 chairman of the Frankfurt (Oder) district board of the Association of Mutual Farmers Aid ; from October 1946 mayor and deputy mayor of Frankfurt. Jentsch was responsible for the police and other important areas. After Oskar Wegener's resignation , the city council elected Willy Jentsch on February 17, 1949 in a secret ballot with 38 votes in favor, 1 against and 8 abstentions as mayor of Frankfurt (Oder).

Some controversial decisions with a long-term impact on Frankfurt (Oder) are attributed to Willy Jentsch. When it came to the decision to demolish the castle in the Markendorf district of Frankfurt , he was quoted as saying “The crow's nest must go”. Jentsch is said to have brought about the demolition of the former college building of the Brandenburg University Viadrina . With the words “Engineers - we don't need such a lighthouse. We are workers. ”He is said to have prevented the State Building School from reopening in Frankfurt. The state building school was settled in Cottbus in 1948 and developed into the Brandenburg Technical University Cottbus .

In 1950 Jentsch left Frankfurt (Oder) and became head of department in the Brandenburg Regional Association of Agricultural Cooperatives in Potsdam. In 1952/1953 he was state secretary of the association of those persecuted by the Nazi regime in the state of Brandenburg and, from its establishment on July 25, 1952, of the Potsdam district . From 1953 to 1956, Jentsch worked as the head of the Labor and Vocational Training Department at the Potsdam District Council .

Honors

The street Am Schlangenfenn in Potsdam was named Willy-Jentsch-Straße from 1979 to 1992.

On April 29, 2014, a stumbling block for Willy Jentsch was laid in Beckmannstrasse 3 in Frankfurt (Oder) .

literature

Siegfried Mielke , Stefan Heinz : Railway trade unionists in the Nazi state. Persecution - Resistance - Emigration (1933–1945) (= trade unionists under National Socialism. Persecution - Resistance - Emigration. Volume 7). Metropol, Berlin 2017, ISBN 978-3-86331-353-1 , pp. 258, 524-525 (short biography).

Web links

Jentsch, Willy. In: Federal Foundation for the Processing of the SED Dictatorship. Retrieved October 13, 2017 .

Individual evidence

↑ Martin Kaule: Brandenburg 1933-1945: the historical travel guide . 1st edition. Ch. Links Verlag, Berlin 2014, ISBN 978-3-86153-669-7 , pp. 53 .
↑ Karin Sandow: A children's house for 65 years - MOZ.de. In: moz.de. December 22, 2010, accessed October 13, 2017 .
↑ FAQ / Willy Hermann Jentsch (1949-1950). In: stadtarchiv-ffo.de. City Archives Frankfurt (Oder), accessed on October 16, 2017 .
↑ Thomas Gutke: The quiet homecoming of Carl Friedrich. In: moz.de. October 17, 2015, accessed October 16, 2017 .
↑ Joachim Widmann: We'll get you soft: Reports from everyday life in a dictatorship . Bouvier, 1997, ISBN 978-3-416-02672-7 .
^ Klaus Arlt: The street names of the city of Potsdam. History and meaning . In: Communications from the Sanssouci Study Group. Association for Culture and History Potsdam e. V. 4th year, issue 2, 1999, p. 12 .
↑ Laying locations. In: stolpersteine-ffo.de. Retrieved October 13, 2017 .
↑ Annette Herold: A Social Democrat at the top of the city - MOZ.de. In: moz.de. April 8, 2014, accessed October 13, 2017 .

personal data
SURNAME	Jentsch, Willy
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Jentsch, Willy Hermann (full name); Jentsch, Willi
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German politicians (SPD and (SED)) and Lord Mayor
DATE OF BIRTH	April 22, 1892
PLACE OF BIRTH	Perschdorf , Province of Silesia
DATE OF DEATH	May 26, 1966
Place of death	Potsdam

[1] Martin Kaule: Brandenburg 1933-1945: the historical travel guide . 1st edition. Ch. Links Verlag, Berlin 2014, ISBN 978-3-86153-669-7 , pp. 53 .

[2] Karin Sandow: A children's house for 65 years - MOZ.de. In: moz.de. December 22, 2010, accessed October 13, 2017 .

[3] FAQ / Willy Hermann Jentsch (1949-1950). In: stadtarchiv-ffo.de. City Archives Frankfurt (Oder), accessed on October 16, 2017 .

[4] Thomas Gutke: The quiet homecoming of Carl Friedrich. In: moz.de. October 17, 2015, accessed October 16, 2017 .

[5] Joachim Widmann: We'll get you soft: Reports from everyday life in a dictatorship . Bouvier, 1997, ISBN 978-3-416-02672-7 .

[6] Klaus Arlt: The street names of the city of Potsdam. History and meaning . In: Communications from the Sanssouci Study Group. Association for Culture and History Potsdam e. V. 4th year, issue 2, 1999, p. 12 .

[7] Laying locations. In: stolpersteine-ffo.de. Retrieved October 13, 2017 .

[8] Annette Herold: A Social Democrat at the top of the city - MOZ.de. In: moz.de. April 8, 2014, accessed October 13, 2017 .