Hans Westermann (July 17, 1890 – March 16, 1935) was a German Communist, politician and fighter in the
German Resistance German resistance can refer to:
* Freikorps, German nationalist paramilitary groups resisting German communist uprisings and the Weimar Republic government
* German resistance to Nazism
* Landsturm, German resistance groups fighting against France d ...
against the
Third Reich. He died in
Nazi
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 ...
custody days after being arrested 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 ...
.
Biography
Westermann was born in Hamburg and was trained as a tailor. He joined 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 ...
(SPD) in 1910, where he was a member of the left wing and volunteered in several capacities. in 1914, he was drafted into the navy, though opposed to the war. During this period, Westermann sympathized with the
Spartacus League
The Spartacus League (German: ''Spartakusbund'') was a Marxism, Marxist revolutionary movement organized in Germany during World War I. It was founded in August 1914 as the "International Group" by Rosa Luxemburg, Karl Liebknecht, Clara Zetkin, ...
and the
Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany. In November 1918, during 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 ...
, he was elected delegate of the
minesweeper flotilla in the Kiel
Sailors' council. In 1919, he joined the
Communist Party of Germany
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 ...
(KPD) and in 1921, became the
full-time party secretary in
Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
, timezone1 = Central (CET)
, utc_offset1 = +1
, timezone1_DST = Central (CEST)
, utc_offset1_DST = +2
, postal ...
, where he was primarily responsible for the
Works council.
[Hermann Weber/Andreas Herbst: ''Deutsche Kommunisten. Biographisches Handbuch 1918 bis 1945''. Karl Dietz Verlag, Berlin (2004), p. 862, ]
In 1925, Westermann was briefly expelled from the KPD after he advocated a waiver of
Ernst Thälmann's candidacy in favor of Social Democrat
Otto Braun, a tactical move meant to thwart a victory by
Paul von Hindenburg
Paul Ludwig Hans Anton von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg (; abbreviated ; 2 October 1847 – 2 August 1934) was a German field marshal and statesman who led the Imperial German Army during World War I and later became President of Germany fro ...
in the second round of the
German presidential election in 1925. He was readmitted after the ultra-left leadership of
Ruth Fischer and
Arkadi Maslow
Arkadi Maslow ; russian: Аркадий Маслов , born Isaak Yefimowich Chemerinsky ; russian: Исаак Ефимович Чемеринский (March 9, 1891 – November 20, 1941) was a communist politician in the German Republic, ...
was removed and in 1927, he was elected to the Hamburg district leadership of the KPD. A short time later, he was elected to the
Hamburg Parliament. Within the KPD, Westermann was considered to be a
trade union
A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...
expert. He was aligned with the
Conciliator faction The Conciliator faction was an opposition group within the Communist Party of Germany during the Weimar Republic and the Third Reich. In East Germany, after World War II, the German word for conciliator, ''Versöhnler'', became a term for anti- Mar ...
and was opposed to the increasingly militant verbal attacks by the ultra-left party leadership under Thälmann, particularly with regard to trade union policy, which was elevating the position of
Revolutionary Trade Union Opposition
A revolutionary is a person who either participates in, or advocates a revolution. The term ''revolutionary'' can also be used as an adjective, to refer to something that has a major, sudden impact on society or on some aspect of human endeavor.
...
policy. Westermann was also aligned with those in favor of closer ties and cooperative efforts with the SPD. These positions caused Westermann to be expelled from the party in 1930 along with
Heinrich Stahmer and
Albert Sanneck, also Conciliators. Westermann then resigned his parliamentary seat and, with his common-law wife, founded in Hamburg his own independent and unnamed Conciliator group, sometimes referred to the "Westermann Group".
After the Nazis
seized power in 1933, Westermann's group began working underground, focusing on
dock
A dock (from Dutch language, Dutch ''dok'') is the area of water between or next to one or a group of human-made structures that are involved in the handling of boats or ships (usually on or near a shore) or such structures themselves. The ex ...
and shipyard workers and employees. Westermann was arrested and kept in detention between June 1933 and August 1934. On his release, made contact with other Conciliator groups both within and outside the KPD, such as the Committee for Proletarian Unity, founded by
Eduard Wald Eduard Wald (10 March 1905 – 5 November 1978) was a Communist politician, trade unionist and member of the German Resistance against Nazism.
Biography
Eduard Wald, known as Edu, was born in Kiel, Germany, where he attended school. He reached up ...
. His relationships with the KPD improved and he and his group were again admitted into the party in 1935. Shortly after he had begun reorganizing the Hamburg party, which had been weakened by Gestapo attacks, Westermann and numerous others were arrested late March 5, 1935 or early March 6. A few days later, Westermann was killed at
KoLaFu in Hamburg.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Westermann, Hans
German resistance members
Deaths in police custody in Germany
German trade unionists
1890 births
1935 deaths
Politicians from Hamburg
Communist Party of Germany politicians