Siegfried Rädel
Encyclopedia
Siegfried Rädel was a German
politician
, a member of the Communist Party of Germany
(KPD) and a resistance fighter against the Nazi
régime.
-Copitz, Saxony
.
At the age of 20, in 1913, Rädel became a soldier
. With his Pioneer Battalion, he lived through four years of World War I
on the front lines and was wounded twice.
In 1919, his colleagues elected him as the chairman of the plant council at the rayon works in Pirna.
As of 1921, he was a town councillor in Pirna and leader of the KPD faction. He also became a member of the KPD central committee, and from 1924 to 1933, a member of the Reichstag
. With some interruptions, he was for many years either a candidate or a member of the KPD central committee.
Rädel's commitment to the relief efforts for those affected by flood
waters in the Gottleuba and Müglitz valleys between 1927 and 1932 is well known, as is his commitment to dam
construction aimed at controlling the floods. However, such a system of dams was not realized until much later, between 1958 and 1974 – retention basins in Buschbach, Liebstadt, Friedrichswalde-Ottendorf, Mordgrundbach and Glashütte
, and the Gottleuba dam.
Rädel's endeavours to organize social initiatives, powers, and organizations led in 1927 to the founding of the Work Community of Social-Political Organizations (Arbeitsgemeinschaft sozialpolitischer Organisationen; ARSO) on a national scale. The ARSO, with Rädel as publisher, published the magazine
Proletarische Sozialpolitik beginning in May 1928.
Rädel was among the German delegates at the World Peace Congress in August 1928 in Amsterdam
.
After Adolf Hitler
and the Nazis seized power
in 1933, Rädel had to go into exile. He went to Prague
, France
, the Soviet Union
, and Zurich
. The Party began proceedings against him for "factional activities", but this ended with a simple reprimand.
The Swiss police arrested him in late 1936 along with his common-law wife, Maria Weiterer, with whom he had lived and worked since 1927. In France, where he found himself after being expelled from Switzerland
, the Secretariat of the KPD Central Committee, which at that time was based in Paris
, transferred to Rädel the leadership of the Communist emigrant organization.
Rädel took part in attempts to build up an antifascist people's front while in France. At the KPD's "Bern Conference" in Draveil near Paris, he was chosen to be one of the 17 members of the Central Committee. Among his circle of German émigré friends were Heinrich Mann
, Lion Feuchtwanger
, Rudolf Leonhard
, Leonhard Frank
and Paul Merker. Extensive work in publicity was undertaken against fascist German aggression politics. However, with the German-Soviet non-aggression pact came the arrest and detention in 1940 of every German Communist émigré in France, including Rädel, who was delivered to Le Vernet concentration camp.
In 1942, Rädel was handed over to the Gestapo
by the Vichy
régime. In a high treason
trial
, he was sentenced by the Volksgerichtshof to death on 25 February 1943, shortly before his 50th birthday, and executed on 10 May 1943 in the infamous "murder garage" at Brandenburg Prison.
The rayon
plant in Pirna was named after Rädel when Pirna was part of East Germany. With reunification
, his name disappeared, and in the end, the rayon plant was later shut down and then demolished. However, a street in downtown Pirna is still named after him.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
, a member of the Communist Party of Germany
Communist Party of Germany
The Communist Party of Germany was a major political party in Germany between 1918 and 1933, and a minor party in West Germany in the postwar period until it was banned in 1956...
(KPD) and a resistance fighter against the Nazi
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
régime.
Biography
Rädel was born in PirnaPirna
Pirna is a town in the Free State of Saxony, Germany, capital of the administrative district Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge. The town's population is over 40,000. Pirna is located near Dresden and is an important district town as well as a Große Kreisstadt...
-Copitz, Saxony
Saxony
The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....
.
At the age of 20, in 1913, Rädel became a soldier
Soldier
A soldier is a member of the land component of national armed forces; whereas a soldier hired for service in a foreign army would be termed a mercenary...
. With his Pioneer Battalion, he lived through four years of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
on the front lines and was wounded twice.
In 1919, his colleagues elected him as the chairman of the plant council at the rayon works in Pirna.
As of 1921, he was a town councillor in Pirna and leader of the KPD faction. He also became a member of the KPD central committee, and from 1924 to 1933, a member of the Reichstag
Reichstag (Weimar Republic)
The Reichstag was the parliament of Weimar Republic .German constitution commentators consider only the Reichstag and now the Bundestag the German parliament. Another organ deals with legislation too: in 1867-1918 the Bundesrat, in 1919–1933 the Reichsrat and from 1949 on the Bundesrat...
. With some interruptions, he was for many years either a candidate or a member of the KPD central committee.
Rädel's commitment to the relief efforts for those affected by flood
Flood
A flood is an overflow of an expanse of water that submerges land. The EU Floods directive defines a flood as a temporary covering by water of land not normally covered by water...
waters in the Gottleuba and Müglitz valleys between 1927 and 1932 is well known, as is his commitment to dam
Dam
A dam is a barrier that impounds water or underground streams. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates or levees are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions. Hydropower and pumped-storage hydroelectricity are...
construction aimed at controlling the floods. However, such a system of dams was not realized until much later, between 1958 and 1974 – retention basins in Buschbach, Liebstadt, Friedrichswalde-Ottendorf, Mordgrundbach and Glashütte
Glashütte
Glashütte is a town in Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge, Free State of Saxony, Germany, which was the birthplace of the German watchmaking industry. The city has a population of about 4,700. Historically it was first mentioned in a document around 1445...
, and the Gottleuba dam.
Rädel's endeavours to organize social initiatives, powers, and organizations led in 1927 to the founding of the Work Community of Social-Political Organizations (Arbeitsgemeinschaft sozialpolitischer Organisationen; ARSO) on a national scale. The ARSO, with Rädel as publisher, published the magazine
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
Proletarische Sozialpolitik beginning in May 1928.
Rädel was among the German delegates at the World Peace Congress in August 1928 in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
.
After Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
and the Nazis seized power
Machtergreifung
Machtergreifung is a German word meaning "seizure of power". It is normally used specifically to refer to the Nazi takeover of power in the democratic Weimar Republic on 30 January 1933, the day Hitler was sworn in as Chancellor of Germany, turning it into the Nazi German dictatorship.-Term:The...
in 1933, Rädel had to go into exile. He went to Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, and Zurich
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
. The Party began proceedings against him for "factional activities", but this ended with a simple reprimand.
The Swiss police arrested him in late 1936 along with his common-law wife, Maria Weiterer, with whom he had lived and worked since 1927. In France, where he found himself after being expelled from Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, the Secretariat of the KPD Central Committee, which at that time was based in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, transferred to Rädel the leadership of the Communist emigrant organization.
Rädel took part in attempts to build up an antifascist people's front while in France. At the KPD's "Bern Conference" in Draveil near Paris, he was chosen to be one of the 17 members of the Central Committee. Among his circle of German émigré friends were Heinrich Mann
Heinrich Mann
Luiz Heinrich Mann was a German novelist who wrote works with strong social themes. His attacks on the authoritarian and increasingly militaristic nature of pre-World War II German society led to his exile in 1933.-Life and work:Born in Lübeck as the oldest child of Thomas Johann Heinrich Mann...
, Lion Feuchtwanger
Lion Feuchtwanger
Lion Feuchtwanger was a German-Jewish novelist and playwright. A prominent figure in the literary world of Weimar Germany, he influenced contemporaries including playwright Bertolt Brecht....
, Rudolf Leonhard
Rudolf Leonhard
Rudolf Leonhard was a German author and communist activist.-Life:Leonhard came from a family of lawyers and studied law and Philology in Berlin and Göttingen...
, Leonhard Frank
Leonhard Frank
Leonhard Frank was a German expressionist writer. He studied painting and graphic art in Munich, and gained acclaim with his first novel, The Robber Band...
and Paul Merker. Extensive work in publicity was undertaken against fascist German aggression politics. However, with the German-Soviet non-aggression pact came the arrest and detention in 1940 of every German Communist émigré in France, including Rädel, who was delivered to Le Vernet concentration camp.
In 1942, Rädel was handed over to the Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
by the Vichy
Vichy France
Vichy France, Vichy Regime, or Vichy Government, are common terms used to describe the government of France that collaborated with the Axis powers from July 1940 to August 1944. This government succeeded the Third Republic and preceded the Provisional Government of the French Republic...
régime. In a high treason
High treason
High treason is criminal disloyalty to one's government. Participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplomats, or its secret services for a hostile and foreign power, or attempting to kill its head of state are perhaps...
trial
Trial (law)
In law, a trial is when parties to a dispute come together to present information in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court...
, he was sentenced by the Volksgerichtshof to death on 25 February 1943, shortly before his 50th birthday, and executed on 10 May 1943 in the infamous "murder garage" at Brandenburg Prison.
The rayon
Rayon
Rayon is a manufactured regenerated cellulose fiber. Because it is produced from naturally occurring polymers, it is neither a truly synthetic fiber nor a natural fiber; it is a semi-synthetic or artificial fiber. Rayon is known by the names viscose rayon and art silk in the textile industry...
plant in Pirna was named after Rädel when Pirna was part of East Germany. With reunification
German reunification
German reunification was the process in 1990 in which the German Democratic Republic joined the Federal Republic of Germany , and when Berlin reunited into a single city, as provided by its then Grundgesetz constitution Article 23. The start of this process is commonly referred by Germans as die...
, his name disappeared, and in the end, the rayon plant was later shut down and then demolished. However, a street in downtown Pirna is still named after him.