Karl Ibach (April 3, 1915 – May 3, 1990) was a German member of the resistance against the

Third Reich Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

and later, a writer and politician.

Biographical details

Ibach was born in

Elberfeld Elberfeld is a municipal subdivision of the German city of Wuppertal; it was an independent town until 1929. History The first official mentioning of the geographic area on the banks of today's Wupper River as "''elverfelde''" was in a doc ...

, today part of

Wuppertal Wuppertal (; "''Wupper Dale''") is, with a population of approximately 355,000, the seventh-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia as well as the 17th-largest city of Germany. It was founded in 1929 by the merger of the cities and tow ...

, Germany. At the age of 16, he joined the

Young Communist League The Young Communist League (YCL) is the name used by the youth wing of various Communist parties around the world. The name YCL of XXX (name of country) originates from the precedent established by the Communist Youth International. Examples of Y ...

and later, the

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. ...

(''Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands'' or KPD). He had planned to become a bookseller, but in spring 1933, was arrested and detained at the

Kemna concentration camp Kemna concentration camp (german: Konzentrationslager Kemna, KZ Kemna) was one of the early Nazi concentration camps, created by the Third Reich to incarcerate their political opponents (ostensibly in protective custody) after the Nazi Party firs ...

in Wuppertal, becoming one of the youngest prisoners at the age of 18. He spent 74 days at Kemna and was not tortured. Ibach was apparently seen by the SA guards as having been a misguided teenager and was allowed to work in the camp administration office.David Magnus Mintert (2007), p. 237 He was released in October 1933, when the SA released a large number of prisoners. He continued his resistance activities, fleeing 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 ...

, but was arrested again shortly after returning to Germany. He was charged with suspicion of preparing to commit

high treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

and was convicted in Hamm to an 8-year sentence in a Zuchthaus. Until 1943, he was imprisoned in Nazi concentration camps and Zuchthouses, in

Esterwegen Esterwegen is a municipality in the Emsland district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. Geography Esterwegen lies in northwest Germany, less than from the Dutch border and about from the sea. Demographics In 2015 the population was 5,280. Government ...

, Börgermoor and Zuchthaus Waldheim. In 1943, he was transferred to

Lager Heuberg Lager Heuberg (Camp Heuberg) () is a Bundeswehr quarters located in the southern corner of the '' Truppenübungsplatz Heuberg'' (Heuberg military training area) in (Baden-Württemberg), near the city of Stetten am kalten Markt. From March to Dece ...

and Punishment Division 999, where he was drilled for later military deployment to the front to defend the

. In 1944, Ibach became a

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of w ...

and was released in 1947. In 1948, Ibach published a report about his experiences at Kemna. For more than three decades, his and Willi Weiler's published reports were the only published sources of information about the history of the regional concentration camp system. Karl Ibach was a co-founder and director of the Union of Persecutees of the Nazi Regime. From 1950 to 1971, he was the director of the

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

branch. From 1954 to 1969, he was the vice chairman of the ''Zentralverband demokratischer Widerstandskämpfer- und Verfolgtenorganisationen'' (Central Association of Democratic Resistance Fighters and Persecuted Organizations) and a member of the presidium of the ''Fédération Internationale Libre des Déportés et Internés de la Résistance'' (Free International Federation of Deportees and Internees of the Resistance) in the Barmen neighborhood of Wuppertal. He became a member of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Fo ...

in 1957 and supervised the electoral district 76, Landesliste

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more than 18 million inha ...

from 1957 to 1980.

Recognition and honors

Ibach's book was republished in 1980 with a foreword by

Johannes Rau Johannes Rau (; 16 January 193127 January 2006) was a German politician ( SPD). He was the president of Germany from 1 July 1999 until 30 June 2004 and the minister president of North Rhine-Westphalia from 20 September 1978 to 9 June 1998. In th ...

, then

Minister-President A minister-president or minister president is the head of government in a number of European countries or subnational governments with a parliamentary or semi-presidential system of government where they preside over the council of ministers. I ...

and later

President of Germany The president of Germany, officially the Federal President of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: link=no, Bundespräsident der Bundesrepublik Deutschland),The official title within Germany is ', with ' being added in international corres ...

, who was from Wuppertal."Vorkriegszeit und Zweiter Weltkrieg in Wuppertal: KZ Kemna"
ZeitSpurenSuche.de Retrieved January 7, 2012 In 1985, Ibach was awarded the Honorary Ring of the city of Wuppertal. The street above Beyenburger Straße in Wuppertal, across from the former grounds of Kemna concentration camp is named after Karl Ibach and is the location of the memorial for the camp.
Jugendring Wuppertal e.V. Retrieved January 6, 2012

Sources

* Peter Steinbach, ''Karl Ibach. Zur Biographie eines Widerstandskämpfers'', Wissenschaftsverlag Richard Rothe, Passau 1990 * Karl Ibach, ''Kemna: Wuppertaler Konzentrationslager 1933–1934'', Peter Hammer Verlag, Erstauflage 1948, Wuppertal

Footnotes

References

External links

*

German teaching materials about Kemna concentration camp with postcard from Karl Ibach. Retrieved January 5, 2012 {{DEFAULTSORT:Ibach, Karl Social Democratic Party of Germany politicians German resistance members German communists Kemna concentration camp survivors 1990 deaths 1915 births Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Esterwegen concentration camp survivors Börgermoor concentration camp survivors