Peter Lütsches

Peter Lütsches (7 November 1898 – 31 October 1959) was a German politician, journalist and survivor of Sachsenhausen concentration camp. Before 1933 he was active in the Centre Party. After the Second World War he became involved in the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) and in organizations representing victims of Nazism.^[1][2]

He is known for his imprisonment in Sachsenhausen and for his later role in the post-war split between the Vereinigung der Verfolgten des Naziregimes (VVN) and the anti-communist Bund der Verfolgten des Naziregimes (BVN).^[3][4]

Lütsches was born on 7 November 1898. During the Weimar Republic he worked as a merchant and was active in Catholic political circles associated with the Centre Party.^[5]

Later historical research described Lütsches as a controversial figure. Boris Spernol notes that he appeared in 1934 as an NSDAP-Hospitant in the council of his home town of Süchteln, a point that later became relevant in post-war controversies about his political biography.^[6]

In 1935 Lütsches moved to the Netherlands. In Utrecht he worked with a Catholic refugee aid organization that assisted people persecuted under the Nazi regime. After the German occupation of the Netherlands he was arrested and deported to Sachsenhausen concentration camp.^[7][8]

Research on post-war victim organizations states that Lütsches survived Sachsenhausen and later used this status prominently in public political life.^[9]

After 1945 Lütsches returned to Germany and became politically active in North Rhine-Westphalia. He served as a member of the appointed Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia from 19 December 1946 to 19 April 1947 as a representative of the CDU.^[10]

He later worked as a journalist in Düsseldorf and became active in organizations of former victims of National Socialism.^[11]

Lütsches was initially involved in the VVN. During the early Cold War he became one of the founders of the BVN, which positioned itself as anti-communist and was associated with Christian Democratic circles. He served as chairman of the BVN from 1950 to 1953.^[12][13]

Lütsches was also mentioned among former concentration camp prisoners involved in the International Commission against Concentration Camp Regimes. A publication of the Landeszentrale für politische Bildung Sachsen-Anhalt lists him, together with Franz Ballhorn, among former Centre Party politicians from Germany who had previously been imprisoned in Sachsenhausen.^[14]

Lütsches died on 31 October 1959.^[15]

Historians have described him as a controversial figure in post-war West German politics of memory. Research has linked his prominence in anti-communist victims' organizations to broader Cold War conflicts over the representation of Nazi persecution and resistance.^[16][17]

• Biography of Peter Lütsches at the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia