Erich Ziegler (February 20, 1914 – May 6, 2004) was a German politician and resistance activist. He was active in the "

Heinz Kapelle Heinz Kapelle (17 September 1913 in Berlin – 1 July 1941 in Berlin) was a leader of the Young Communist League of Germany (''Kommunistischer Jugendverband Deutschlands;'' KJVD) in Berlin in the 1930s. By training he was a book printer, having l ...

Group" during the 1930s. After the war, Ziegler was a prominent leader of the

Socialist Unity Party of West Berlin The Socialist Unity Party of West Berlin (german: Sozialistische Einheitspartei Westberlins, SEW) was a communist party in West Berlin. The party was founded on 24 November 1962, when the West Berlin local organization of the Socialist Unity Pa ...

(SEW).

Early years

Ziegler was born in Neukölln in 1914 and grew up in a

working class The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colo ...

family. After finishing ''

Volksschule The German term ''Volksschule'' generally refers to compulsory education, denoting an educational institution every person (i.e. the people, ''Volk'') is required to attend. In Germany and Switzerland it is equivalent to a combined primary ('' ...

'' schooling, he became a bakers' apprentice.Waldman, Eric.
Die Sozialistische Einheitspartei Westberlins und die sowjetische Berlinpolitik
'. 1972. p. 84 In 1929 he witnessed clashes between police and demonstrators on May Day in Neukölln. He joined the

Young Communist League of Germany The Young Communist League of Germany (, abbreviated KJVD) was a political youth organization in Germany. History The KJVD was formed in 1920 from the Free Socialist Youth () of the Communist Party of Germany, A prior youth wing had been forme ...

in the same year. His wife, Elli (née Fuchs), was an activist of the Socialist Workers Youth (the youth wing of the

SPD The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been t ...

Resistance struggle

Erich and Elli Ziegler continued their political activities after the National Socialist take-over in 1933. Erich Ziegler was fired from his job. In the fall of 1934 the Zieglers opened two bookshops, that functioned as centres of distribution of underground anti-fascist propaganda.Unsere Zeit.
Selbstloser Kämpfer für Sozialismus
' To make ends meet, Erich Ziegler also worked delivering newspapers during these years. In 1936 he was drafted to the ''

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the '' Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previo ...

''. As the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

drew closer, Erich Ziegler and Heinz Kapelle built up a resistance group in Berlin. The group encompassed activists from the Young Communist League, the Socialist Workers Youth and Catholic youth groups. Once the war broke out in 1939, the group to which the Zieglers belonged began distributing anti-war propaganda in Berlin, calling for the overthrow of

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

and demanding an end to hostilities with neighbouring countries.Jahnke, Karl Heinz.
Ermordet und ausgelöscht: zwölf deutsche Antifaschisten
'. Freiburg: Ahriman-Verl, 1995. pp. 47, 49-50 Between October 15–17, 1939 the state authorities conducted a crack-down on the resistance activists in Berlin. The group that Ziegler belonged to was broken up. Erich and Elli Ziegler were arrested on October 17, 1939. They endured months in Gestapo captivity before their trial in February 1941. Ziegler was held at the

Moabit Moabit () is an inner city locality in the borough of Mitte, Berlin, Germany. As of 2016, around 77,000 people lived in Moabit. First inhabited in 1685 and incorporated into Berlin in 1861, the former industrial and working-class neighbourhood i ...

prison. At their trial Heinz Kapelle was sentenced to death and Erich Ziegler to life imprisonment. Elli Ziegler was sentenced to three years imprisonment, other defendants were sentenced to prison terms ranging from one to ten years.

Post-war years

After Liberation, he founded the Anti-Fascist Youth Committee of Berlin-Neukölln. During this period Ziegler worked closely with the youth secretary 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. ...

Erich Honecker Erich Ernst Paul Honecker (; 25 August 1912 – 29 May 1994) was a German communist politician who led the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) from 1971 until shortly before the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989. He held the posts ...

. They enjoyed cordial relations with young social democrats, with whom they shared experiences from the resistance struggle. Ziegler took part in the construction of the Free German Youth and the Democratic Sports Movement of Greater Berlin. Between 1950 and 1954 Ziegler served as First Secretary of the

Tempelhof Tempelhof () is a locality of Berlin within the borough of Tempelhof-Schöneberg. It is the location of the former Tempelhof Airport, one of the earliest commercial airports in the world. The former airport and surroundings are now a park called ...

branch of the

Socialist Unity Party of Germany The Socialist Unity Party of Germany (german: Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands, ; SED, ), often known in English as the East German Communist Party, was the founding and ruling party of the German Democratic Republic (GDR; East German ...

(SED), and between 1954 and 1959 as the First Secretary of SED in

Wedding A wedding is a ceremony where two people are united in marriage. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnic groups, religions, countries, and social classes. Most wedding ceremonies involve an exchange of marriage vo ...

. In 1959 he was included in the

West Berlin West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...

Leadership of SED (''Westberliner Leitung der SED''), as its Second Secretary.Teichert, Olav.
Die Sozialistische Einheitspartei Westberlins Untersuchung der Steuerung der SEW durch die SED
'. Kassel: Kassel Univ. Press, 2010. p. 56

SEW leader

When the Socialist Unity Party of Germany-West Berlin (later renamed the Socialist Unity Party of West Berlin, SEW) was founded as an independent party in 1962, Ziegler was named Second Secretary of the Presidium of the party. Between May 1967 and April 1977 he served as Vice Chairman of the party. Ziegler led the SEW delegation at the

1976 Conference of Communist and Workers Parties of Europe The Conference of Communist and Workers Parties of Europe was an international meeting of communist parties, held in the city of East Berlin, capital of the communist-governed East Germany, on 29–30 June 1976. In all, 29 parties from all Europe ...

, held in East Berlin.
Blätter für deutsche und internationale Politik, Volume 21, Issues 7-12
'. Paul-Rugenstein Verlag., 1976. p. 833 After withdrawing from full-time politics Ziegler would continue some political activities, giving lectures to youth movements about his experiences of the underground struggle against the Hitler regime. At the time of his death in 2004, he was the last survivor of the Heinz Kapelle group.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ziegler, Erich 1914 births 2004 deaths Communists in the German Resistance Socialist Unity Party of Germany politicians Socialist Unity Party of West Berlin politicians People from Neukölln