Josef Rudnick (25 May 1917 – 14 July 2009) was a German businessman and politician of the

Christian Democratic Union of Germany The Christian Democratic Union of Germany (german: link=no, Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands ; CDU ) is a Christian democratic and liberal conservative political party in Germany. It is the major catch-all party of the centre-right ...

Biography

Rudnick was born in Sichts (today Żychce, Kashubia, Poland) in the Prussian Province of West Prussia and grew up in Deutsch Krone. He was active in catholic Youth organizations and founded a local group of young Catholics in 1935–36, which caused persecution by the Nazi authorities including a house search and an interrogation by the Gestapo. Ulrich Breulmann: ''Josef Rudnick (92) ist gestorben''
/ref> After World War II Rudnick was expelled from his hometown, which became Polish and worked at the administration of

Rheine Rheine () is a city in the district of Steinfurt in Westphalia, Germany. It is the largest city in the district and the location of Rheine Air Base. Geography Rheine is on the river Ems, approx. north of Münster, approx. west of Osnabrück a ...

in 1945–49. In 1950 Rudnick founded a clothing company, which became one of the leading German shirt-producers with about 1500 employees.N.N.: ''Josef Rudnick ist tot''
He also engaged in the political reconstruction and was a founding member of the local CDU of the

Kreis Steinfurt Steinfurt () is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the northern part of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Bentheim, Emsland, district-free Osnabrück and the Osnabrück district, Warendorf, district-free Münster, Coesfeld, Borke ...

and their Youth organisation Junge Union. Already throughout the 1960s and 70's Rudnick started to approach textile factories in Eastern Europe such as Wolczanka S.A. in Łódź. He was an active supporter of the Catholic Church in Poland and benefited the construction of the Church of the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy in Łódź. Rudnick organised several transports of humanitarian aid throughout the Martial law in Poland. Josef Rudnick died on 14 July 2009, four weeks after his wife.

Awards

Rudnick was honored with * Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland * Verdienstorden des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen * Ludwig-Erhard-Medaille für Verdienste um die Soziale Marktwirtschaft * Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland * Honorary citizen of Łódź * Papal merit medal (2002)Rudnick ist ein Mann mit grossem Herzen
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rudnick, Josef 1917 births 2009 deaths People from Chojnice County People from West Prussia Businesspeople from North Rhine-Westphalia Christian Democratic Union of Germany politicians Members of the Order of Merit of North Rhine-Westphalia Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany People from Wałcz