Ernst Friedrich (25 February 1894 – 2 May 1967) was a German anarcho-pacifist.

Life

Childhood and youth

Ernst Friedrich was born in Breslau (now

Wrocław Wrocław (; german: Breslau, or . ; Silesian German: ''Brassel'') is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the River Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, rou ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

) as the 13th child of a cleaning lady and a saddler. After finishing elementary school, he started an apprenticeship as a bookprinter in 1908. Soon after, he quit the apprenticeship and started studying acting. He earned money by working in a factory. He was one of the founders of the Breslau Association for Youth Workers. In 1911, he became a member of the

Social Democratic Party of Germany 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 the ...

. From 1912 until 1914 he travelled in Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Switzerland. In 1914, he made his acting debut in his hometown and had a performance at the royal theater in

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and, with around 183,000 inhabitants, largest city of the German state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...

World War I

He was drafted in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and decided to become a

conscientious objector A conscientious objector (often shortened to conchie) is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion. The term has also been extended to object ...

. As a result, he was admitted to a mental hospital. He was convicted of

sabotage Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening a polity, effort, or organization through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. One who engages in sabotage is a ''saboteur''. Saboteurs typically try to conceal their identitie ...

of military activities and imprisoned in Potsdam in 1917. At the end of 1918 he came free due to the

German Revolution of 1918–1919 The German Revolution or November Revolution (german: Novemberrevolution) was a civil conflict in the German Empire at the end of the First World War that resulted in the replacement of the German federal constitutional monarchy with a dem ...

Weimar Republic

Friedrich was actively involved in the

Spartacist uprising The Spartacist uprising (German: ), also known as the January uprising (), was a general strike and the accompanying armed struggles that took place in Berlin from 5 to 12 January 1919. It occurred in connection with the November Revolutio ...

. After the end of the war, he was a member of the youth organisation Freie sozialistische Jugend by

Karl Liebknecht Karl Paul August Friedrich Liebknecht (; 13 August 1871 – 15 January 1919) was a German socialist and anti-militarist. A member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) beginning in 1900, he was one of its deputies in the Reichstag from ...

and

Rosa Luxemburg Rosa Luxemburg (; ; pl, Róża Luksemburg or ; 5 March 1871 – 15 January 1919) was a Polish and naturalised-German revolutionary socialist, Marxist philosopher and anti-war activist. Successively, she was a member of the Proletariat party, ...

. After its dissolution in 1920, he founded his own anarchist youth group "Freie Jugend" in Berlin. The group was also founded in Preußen, Sachsen, Thüringen, Rheinland, Westfalen as well as in Austria an Switzerland. The magazine ''Freie Jugend'' connected the different groups and was published by Friedrich until 1926. From 1923 on, the group fusioned with the Syndikalistisch-Anarchistische Jugend Deutschlands (SAJD), an

anarcho-syndicalist Anarcho-syndicalism is a political philosophy and anarchist school of thought that views revolutionary industrial unionism or syndicalism as a method for workers in capitalist society to gain control of an economy and thus control influence in b ...

youth movement that promoted

antimilitarism Antimilitarism (also spelt anti-militarism) is a doctrine that opposes war, relying heavily on a critical theory of imperialism and was an explicit goal of the First and Second International. Whereas pacifism is the doctrine that disputes (especia ...

. In between the two World Wars, he was an antimilitarist activist. Among other activities, he was a speaker at an anti-war demonstration in front of

Berlin Cathedral The Berlin Cathedral (german: link=yes, Berliner Dom), also known as the Evangelical Supreme Parish and Collegiate Church, is a monumental German Evangelical church and dynastic tomb (House of Hohenzollern) on the Museum Island in centra ...

on 31 July 1921 that had over 100,000 participants. His flat in Friedrichshain became a meeting place and a commune for young anarchists. In 1925, he founded the Anti-Kriegs-Museum (Anti-War Museum) in Berlin, because he wanted to create a space for

peace education Peace education is the process of acquiring values, knowledge, attitudes, skills, and behaviors to live in harmony with oneself, others, and the natural environment. There are numerous United Nations declarations and resolutions on the importance ...

. His most famous book '' Krieg dem Kriege'' ("War against War"), which was published in 1924, was a direct result of his research for the museum. It shows the atrocities of war in pictures. Berlin_plaque_Ernst_Friedrich

Later he published the weekly magazine ''"Die schwarze Fahne"'' ("The Black Flag") which had a circulation of up to 40,000 copies. Friedrich was close friends with

Henry Jacoby Henry Sylvester Jacoby (born 1857, died 1955) was an American educator, born at Springtown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, He was graduated from Lehigh University in 1877 and during the season of 1878 was connected with the topographical corps of the ...

and

Erich Mühsam Erich Mühsam (6 April 1878 – 10 July 1934) was a German-Jewish antimilitarist anarchist essayist, poet and playwright. He emerged at the end of World War I as one of the leading agitators for a federated Bavarian Soviet Republic, for which ...

. Jacoby called him in retrospect an "apostle of a radical youth movement, prophet of an anti-hierarchical socialism ndaggressive antimilitarist". As editor of the magazine "Freie Jugend" he dedicated a number of the magazine in 1924 to the political prisoners of the Weimar Republic, among them Erich Mühsam. His publications were often banned or confiscated and Friedrich was regularly charged with different offences. The lawyer

Hans Litten Hans Achim Litten (19 June 1903 – 5 February 1938) was a German lawyer who represented opponents of the Nazis at important political trials between 1929 and 1932, defending the rights of workers during the Weimar Republic. During one trial i ...

defended him on several occasions. On 14 November 1930, he was sentenced to one year in jail due to his political activities. He was involved in the distribution of antimilitarist texts among police and military.

Third Reich and World War II

He was a victim of Nazi terror already before

Hitler's rise to power Adolf Hitler's rise to power began in the newly established Weimar Republic in September 1919 when Hitler joined the '' Deutsche Arbeiterpartei'' (DAP; German Workers' Party). He rose to a place of prominence in the early years of the party. Be ...

in 1933. He was the victim of violent assaults by the

Sturmabteilung The (; SA; literally "Storm Detachment") was the original paramilitary wing of the Nazi Party. It played a significant role in Adolf Hitler's rise to power in the 1920s and 1930s. Its primary purposes were providing protection for Nazi ral ...

regularly and the windows of his museum were destroyed so often that he could not find insurance for it anymore. After the

Reichstag fire The Reichstag fire (german: Reichstagsbrand, ) was an arson attack on the Reichstag building, home of the German parliament in Berlin, on Monday 27 February 1933, precisely four weeks after Nazi leader Adolf Hitler was sworn in as Chancellor of ...

he was arrested on 28 February 1933. The museum was demolished by the Nazis and turned into a Sturmabteilung facility. After his release he escaped to other European countries in December 1933. For some time he was able to hide in the

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...

project Rest Home. In 1936, he opened a new museum in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

, which was again destroyed after the German invasion of Belgium in 1940. Ernst Friedrich escaped with his son, also called Ernst, to France. There he was arrested by the

Vichy regime Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its terr ...

and became a prisoner in the St. Cyprien camp, and afterwards in the

Gurs internment camp Gurs internment camp was an internment camp and prisoner of war camp constructed in 1939 in Gurs, a site in southwestern France, not far from Pau. The camp was originally set up by the French government after the fall of Catalonia at the e ...

.Julian Nordhues
''Der Anarchist und Antimilitarist Ernst Friedrich''
retrieved 17 December 2016. After 18 months, he was able to escape. In 1943, he was discovered 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 organi ...

. He escaped once more and became a member of the

French Resistance The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...

. Close to the village

Barre-des-Cévennes Barre-des-Cévennes (, literally ''Barre of the Cévennes'') is a commune in the Lozère department in southern France. Population See also *Communes of the Lozère department The following is a list of the 152 communes of the Lozère depa ...

in the Département Lozère he ran the farm "La Castelle" together with his second wife Marthe Saint-Pierre. Friedrich fought in the liberation of

Nîmes Nîmes ( , ; oc, Nimes ; Latin: ''Nemausus'') is the prefecture of the Gard department in the Occitanie region of Southern France. Located between the Mediterranean Sea and Cévennes, the commune of Nîmes has an estimated population of 148,5 ...

and

Alès Alès (; oc, Alès) is a Communes of France, commune in the Gard Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie regions of France, region in southern France. It is one of the Subprefectures in France, su ...

. He was wounded twice. He saved about 70 children of a Jewish children's home from being deported.

After World War II

After the war, Friedrich became a member of the

French Socialist Party The Socialist Party (french: Parti socialiste , PS) is a French centre-left and social-democratic political party. It holds pro-European views. The PS was for decades the largest party of the "French Left" and used to be one of the two major p ...

. Since 1947, he was working on building up a new anti-war museum in Paris. He received a grant of 1,000 dollars from an international foundation. He bought a boat and turned it into the peace boat ''Arche de Noé'' ("Noah's Ark"). He parked it at the

Seine ) , mouth_location = Le Havre/Honfleur , mouth_coordinates = , mouth_elevation = , progression = , river_system = Seine basin , basin_size = , tributaries_left = Yonne, Loing, Eure, Risle , tributarie ...

island at

Villeneuve-la-Garenne Villeneuve-la-Garenne () is a commune in the northern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris in the Hauts-de-Seine department in the Île-de-France region. History The commune of Villeneuve-la-Garenne was created on 9 ...

. He published three numbers of the magazine ''Bordbrief'' from 1950 until 1953. In 1954 he received compensation money for losing his property and for his wounds due to the Third Reich. With this money, he bought 3,000 m² of forest on a Seine island close to

Le Perreux-sur-Marne Le Perreux-sur-Marne (, literally ''Le Perreux on Marne'') is a commune in the Val-de-Marne department in the eastern suburbs of Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 re ...

. There he built an international youth center in 1954. From 1961 on, it was a youth center for working youth. Towards the end of his life he was suffering from severe depression.Reinhard Müller
''Ein Portrait des Anarchisten und Widerstandskämpfers Ernst Friedrich''
In: ''Friedolins Befreiung. Zeitschrift für Antimilitarismus und Gewaltfreiheit für freie Menschen und solche, die es werden wollen'', , Jg. 1999, Nr. 4. His grave is at the 5th division of the cemetery of

Val-de-Marne Val-de-Marne (, "Vale of the Marne") is a department of France located in the Île-de-France region. Named after the river Marne, it is situated in the Grand Paris metropolis to the southeast of the City of Paris. In 2019, Val-de-Marne had a pop ...

.knerger.de
Das Grab von Ernst Friedrich
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Legacy

The island he bought was sold after his death. His literary estate was destroyed. In 1982, the anti-war museum in Berlin was reopened.

Writings

* ''Proletarischer Kindergarten. Ein Märchen- und Lesebuch für Kinder''. Illustrations by

Käthe Kollwitz Käthe Kollwitz ( born as Schmidt; 8 July 1867 – 22 April 1945) was a German artist who worked with painting, printmaking (including etching, lithography and woodcuts) and sculpture. Her most famous art cycles, including ''The Weavers'' and ''T ...

, Karl Holtz,

Otto Nagel Otto Nagel (27 September 1894 – 12 July 1967) was a German painter, graphic designer and long-time head of the Berlin Academy of Arts who was one of the most prolific artists of East Germany. Life Born at Berlin-Wedding, Nagel was the son ...

and others. Buchverlag der Arbeiter-Kunst-Ausstellung, Berlin 1921. * '' Krieg dem Kriege! Guerre à la guerre. War against War.'' 2 volumes. Verlag ''Freie Jugend'', Berlin 1924 and 1926. * ''Festung Gollnow'' (part of the series ''Menschen im Käfig''). With pictures by Svend Nielsen. Kulturverlag, Berlin 1932. * ''Das Anti-Kriegsmuseum''. Berlin 1926. * ''Vom Friedensmuseum zur Hitlerkaserne. Ein Tatsachenbericht über das Wirken von Ernst Friedrich und Adolf Hitler'' (autobiography), Schwarz, St. Gallen / Genossenschafts-Buchhandlung, Zurich 1935. Editor of the following magazines: * ''Freie Jugend'' (1919–1926) *''Die Waffen nieder!'' (1921) *''Der freie Mensch'' (1924) * ''Schwarze Fahne'' (1925–1929) * ''Bordbrief'' (1950–1953)

References

Bibliography

* Christian Bartolf, Dominique Miething: Ernst Friedrich (1894–1967). In: Thomas Friedrich (Hrsg.): ''Handbuch Anarchismus''. Springer VS, Wiesbaden 2023.

online In computer technology and telecommunications, online indicates a state of connectivity and offline indicates a disconnected state. In modern terminology, this usually refers to an Internet connection, but (especially when expressed "on line" or ...

* Thomas Kegel: ''"Krieg dem Krieg!" Ernst Friedrich – Anarchist und revolutionärer Antimilitarist''. In: ''Graswurzelrevolution'', Heft 115, June 1986 * Thomas Kegel: ''Ernst Friedrich. Anarchistische Pädagogik in Aktion''. In: Ulrich Klemm (ed.): ''Anarchismus und Pädagogik. Studien zur Rekonstruktion einer vergessenen Tradition'', pp. 126–137. Dipa Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1991 * Ulrich Klemm: ''Ernst Friedrich''. In: Hans Jürgen Degen (ed.): ''Lexikon der Anarchie''. Verlag Schwarzer Nachtschatten, Bösdorf/Plön 1993 * Ulrich Linse: ''Die anarchistische und anarcho-syndikalistische Jugendbewegung, 1918–1933''. Dipa Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1976 * Ulrich Linse: ''Ernst Friedrich zum 10. Todestag'' (= ''Europäische Ideen'', Heft 29). Verlag Europäische Ideen, Berlin 1977 * Nicolas Offenstadt: ''L'image contre la guerre. Autour d'Ernst Friedrich''. In: Thérèse Blondet-Bisch, Robert Frank, Claire Lebeau (ed.): ''Voir. Ne pas voir la guerre. Histoire des représentations photographiques de la guerre'', pp. 270–275. Somogy, éditions d'Art/BDIC, Paris 2001 * Tommy Spree: ''Ich kenne keine "Feinde". Der Pazifist Ernst Friedrich. Ein Lebensbild''. Anti-Kriegs-Museum, Selbstverlag, Berlin 2000 * Bérénice Zunino: ''Pacifisme et violence. Femmes et enfants dans la pédagogie de la paix d'Ernst Friedrich''. In: ''Les cahiers Irice'', ISSN 1967-2713, Jg. 4 (2011), Heft 2, pp. 111–136 {{DEFAULTSORT:Friedrich, Ernst 1967 deaths 1894 births Emigrants from Nazi Germany to Belgium Anarcho-pacifists German anarchists Gurs internment camp survivors Escapees from Nazi concentration camps French Resistance members