Erich Garske (21 November 1907 - 13 December 1943) was a German political activist (

KPD The Communist Party of Germany (german: Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands, , KPD ) was a major political party in the Weimar Republic between 1918 and 1933, an underground resistance movement in Nazi Germany, and a minor party in West German ...

) and, after 1933, a resistance activist. He was executed by the

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in N ...

in December 1943.

Biography

Erich Garske was born in 1907. He was a technical draftsman by profession. In January 1933, when the

took power, he was already a member of the

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. ...

. The Nazis lost little time in transforming Germany into a one-

party dictatorship A one-party state, single-party state, one-party system, or single-party system is a type of sovereign state in which only one political party has the right to form the government, usually based on the existing constitution. All other parties ...

. Party political activity became illegal, and after the Reichstag Fire in February 1933, the authorities devoted particular energy to outlawing activities undertaken on behalf of the Communist Party. Garske nevertheless remained politically active, producing satirical cartoons for the illegal newspapers produced by peace activists. 1933 was also the year in which Erich Garske married Charlotte Schaepe. By the end of 1933 many German communist activists had been arrested, while others had fled into exile. The Garskes did not emigrate and were not, in the short term, arrested. Indeed, when the Communist Party in exile smuggled people back into Germany from Prague, Moscow or Paris to work on party matters, one of the places where they might be hidden and accommodated was in the Garskes' apartment in central Berlin. As early as 1934 they secretly accommodated , a close party colleague of

Robert Stamm Robert Stamm (16 July 1900 – 4 November 1937) was a German politician, a Communist (KPD) member of the Reichstag from Bremen, and a victim of the Nazi régime. Already by the age of 14, Robert Stamm had become involved with the Socialist You ...

. From 1942 their Berlin apartment was the work-place and a communications hub for "Alfred". Erich Garske was able to help Alfred in his work by producing satirical drawings and other art work for illegal party publications, notably with a news journal called "Der Friedenskämpfer" (''"The Fighter for Peace"''). "Alfred" was the code name used by Wilhelm Knöchel, an exceptionally effective communist resistance organiser. Erich Garske and Wilhelm Knöchel were arrested at the Garskes' home by the

Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one orga ...

on 30 January 1943. Charlotte was arrested on 17 February 1943. On 9 November 1943, the special "People's Court" sentenced Erich and Charlotte Garske to death. Erich was killed - sources use the verb "murdered" - on 13 December 1943, Charlotte Garske on 16 December 1943, both at the punishment prison at Berlin-Plötzensee.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Garske, Erich 1907 births 1943 deaths Executed communists in the German Resistance Communists in the German Resistance Communist Party of Germany politicians People from Berlin executed at Plötzensee Prison Member of the Knöchel-Seng-Group