Karl Buchwald (1889 – ?) was a German politician and

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 ( ...

ist. Buchwald was born in a working-class family in the Galician town of

Auschwitz Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...

on December 4, 1889. He became a trade unionist in 1907. On February 2, 1919, he joined the

Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany The Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Unabhängige Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, USPD) was a short-lived political party in Germany during the German Empire and the Weimar Republic. The organization was establish ...

(USPD) and became the local party chairman in Königshütte (present-day

Chorzów Chorzów ( ; ; german: link=no, Königshütte ; szl, Chorzōw) is a city in the Silesia region of southern Poland, near Katowice. Chorzów is one of the central cities of the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union – a metropolis with a population ...

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 ...

). He became a functionary of the German Metal Workers' Union (DMV) in July 1920, serving as the vice area director. 1922–1935 he served as in different posts in the union in Eastern

Upper Silesia Upper Silesia ( pl, Górny Śląsk; szl, Gůrny Ślůnsk, Gōrny Ślōnsk; cs, Horní Slezsko; german: Oberschlesien; Silesian German: ; la, Silesia Superior) is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia, located ...

, eventually becoming the secretary of the regional unit. Following the integration of Upper Silesia into Poland, Buchwald became a member of the

German Social Democratic Party of Poland German Social Democratic Party (german: Deutsche Sozialdemokratische Partei, DSDP) was a political party in Poland, founded on March 26, 1922.Blachetta-Madajczyk, Petra. Klassenkampf oder Nation?: deutsche Sozialdemokratie in Polen 1918–1939. ...

(DSDP). He was elected to the Silesian Sejm in 1922, and in the Sejm he joined the German Club. In 1926 he joined the club of the

Polish Socialist Party The Polish Socialist Party ( pl, Polska Partia Socjalistyczna, PPS) is a socialist political party in Poland. It was one of the most important parties in Poland from its inception in 1892 until its merger with the communist Polish Workers' P ...

(PPS) instead. Between 1930 and 1935 he served as a member of the Upper Silesia party leadership of the

German Socialist Labour Party of Poland The German Socialist Labour Party of Poland (german: Deutsche Sozialistische Arbeitspartei Polens, abbreviated DSAP, pl, Niemiecka Socjalistyczna Partia Pracy w Polsce) was a political party organizing German Social Democrats in interbellum Poland ...

(DSAP). In 1935 he broke away from the DSAP. The break with the party was provoked by developments in the trade union field. On March 3, 1935, a delegate conference of DMV in Upper Silesia was held at which Buchwald called for dissolving the union and merging with the Trade Union of German Workers in Poland (GDA) in its place (an initiative of the

German Labour Front The German Labour Front (german: Deutsche Arbeitsfront, ; DAF) was the labour organisation under the Nazi Party which replaced the various independent trade unions in Germany during Adolf Hitler's rise to power. History As early as March 1933, ...

Gleiwitz Gliwice (; german: Gleiwitz) is a city in Upper Silesia, in southern Poland. The city is located in the Silesian Highlands, on the Kłodnica river (a tributary of the Oder River, Oder). It lies approximately 25 km west from Katowice, the re ...

). Later the same month Buchwald was included in the GDA leadership.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Buchwald, Karl 1889 births German trade unionists Year of death missing