Hans Stein (7 December 1894,

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

– 3 July 1941,

Harrogate Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Harrogate in North Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist destination and its visitor at ...

) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

broadcaster and political activist during the 1920s and 1930s. Stein initially studied Philosophy, linguistics and history, but he left his studies to volunteer for the army during the

First World War 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 ...

, gaining the

Iron Cross The Iron Cross (german: link=no, Eisernes Kreuz, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, and later in the German Empire (1871–1918) and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). King Frederick William III of Prussia est ...

first and second class. He returned to his studies in 1919 gaining a doctorate in economics, economic history and social policy in 1921. Following this he was employed initially as an assistant at the Westdeutschen Rundfunk AG (WERAG). In September 1928 he was promoted to Head of economics and social affairs remaining there until 1933. Walter Stern was his assistant. He joined the

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 ...

in 1923 and was involved in delivering free seminars on folklore in Cologne. In 1925 he became a scientific correspondent with the Marx-Engels Institute and a member of the

Marx-Engels-Gesamtausgabe ''Die Marx-Engels-Gesamtausgabe'' (''MEGA'') is the largest collection of the writing of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in any language. It is an ongoing project intended to produce a critical edition of the complete works of Marx and Engels tha ...

. During this period he visited Moscow several times. Following the

Nazi seizure of 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 dismissed from his position for political reasons. Failing to find any other work he emigrated to the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, getting work at the

International Institute of Social History The International Institute of Social History (IISH/IISG) is one of the largest archives of labor and social history in the world. Located in Amsterdam, its one million volumes and 2,300 archival collections include the papers of major figur ...

(IISH), where he ran the German department until 1937. After more difficulties, he was part of the exodus of the IISH when they fled to

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stein, Hans 1894 births 1941 deaths German broadcasters

Archive

References