Ottomar Geschke
Ottomar Geschke | |
|---|---|
Geschke speaking at a Victims of Fascism rally in Berlin, September 1946 | |
| Member of the Volkskammer for Berlin | |
| In office 18 March 1948 – 17 May 1957 | |
| Preceded by | Constituency established |
| Succeeded by | Multi-member district |
| Member of the Reichstag for Reichswahlvorschlag | |
| In office 5 January 1925 – 31 July 1932 | |
| Preceded by | Multi-member district |
| Succeeded by | Multi-member district |
| Member of the Landtag of Prussia for Berlin | |
| In office 10 March 1921 – 5 January 1925 | |
| Preceded by | Multi-member district |
| Succeeded by | Multi-member district |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 16 November 1882 |
| Died | 17 May 1957 (aged 74) |
| Resting place | Zentralfriedhof Friedrichsfelde |
| Party | SPD (1910–1917) USPD (1917–1919) KPD (1919–1946) SED (after 1946) |
| Other political affiliations | Spartacus League (1917–1918) |
| Occupation |
|
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | German Empire Revolutionaries Revolutionaries |
| Branch/service | Imperial German Army Spartacus League Antimilitärischer Apparat |
| Years of service | 1916–1918 1919 1923 |
| Battles/wars | World War I Spartacist Uprising German October |
Central institution membership
Other offices held
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Ottomar Georg Alexander Geschke (16 November 1882 – 17 May 1957) was a German politician, trade unionist and anti-Nazi activist.
Biography
Geschke was born into a blacksmith's family. After receiving an elementary education he trained as a locksmith and worked in Berlin. From 1908 he participated in the labor movement by joining the German Metal Workers' Union. In 1910, Geschke joined the SPD and in 1917, due to disagreement on the issue of providing military loans, he moved to the USPD. During the November Revolution of 1918 he was elected a member of the Berlin Workers' and Soldiers' Council.[1]
Geschke was a member of the Spartacus League and joined the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) in 1919. That year, he fought in the Spartacist uprising, for which he was imprisoned from June to November 1919. In 1920 he worked in the KPD's trade union department, and in 1923 he was elected to the Central Committee of the KPD as a representative of the left wing. That same year, he served in the party's military apparatus during preparations for the German October. From 1925 he was a member of the Central Committee and the Politburo of the party. He was a member of the Executive Bureau of the Red International of Trade Unions and from 1924 was a member of the Executive Committee of the Comintern. From 1921 to 1924 Geschke was elected to the Prussian Landtag. In the elections of 1924 he was elected to the Reichstag and retained his mandate until July 1932. Geschke did not support party leader Ernst Thälmann during the Wittorf Affair and was sidelined in the party as a result.[2]
For his anti-fascist activities, Geschke was repeatedly arrested and imprisoned in prisons and concentration camps. After the Nazis came to power in 1933, Geschke was arrested and held in the Lichtenburg, Sonnenburg and Buchenwald concentration camps. In 1940 he was released from prison and lived in Köslin under police surveillance.[1]
After the assassination attempt on Hitler on July 20, 1944, Geschke was again arrested and placed in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. In May 1945 he was liberated by the allied forces.[1]
After the Second World War, Geschke continued to be involved in politics and from May 19, 1945, to January 8, 1947, he worked in the magistrate of Greater Berlin, headed by Arthur Werner as a social adviser. In April 1946, Geschke joined the Socialist Unity Party (SED) and from 1946 to 1953 was on the board of the party's branch in Berlin. From 1947 to 1953 he was chairman of the Union of Persecutees of the Nazi Regime and was elected from this organization to the Volkskammer of the GDR. In 1953 he was elected to the presidium of the Committee of Anti-Fascist Resistance Fighters.[3]
He was buried in the Memorial of the Socialists at the Friedrichsfelde Central Cemetery in Berlin.[2]
Notes
- ^ Zentrale until 1925
References
- ^ a b c Hans Maur: Ottomar Geschke, Vorbild und Verpflichtung. Biographische Skizzen zu einem kampferfüllten Leben. Hrsg. von Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands SED, Bezirksparteiorganisation Frankfurt Oder, Frankfurt Oder 1982.
- ^ a b "Geschke, Ottomar | Bundesstiftung zur Aufarbeitung der SED-Diktatur". www.bundesstiftung-aufarbeitung.de (in German). Retrieved 2022-07-09.
- ^ "ND-Archiv: 18.05.1957: Ottomar Geschke gestorben". www.nd-archiv.de. Retrieved 2022-07-09.
External links
- Media related to Ottomar Geschke at Wikimedia Commons