Oskar Müller (25 June 1896 – 14 January 1970) was a German politician who was the first employment minister in

Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major histor ...

after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Early career

Müller was born in Wohlau in

Prussian Silesia The Province of Silesia (german: Provinz Schlesien; pl, Prowincja Śląska; szl, Prowincyjŏ Ślōnskŏ) was a province of Prussia from 1815 to 1919. The Silesia region was part of the Prussian realm since 1740 and established as an official p ...

as the son of a farmer. He fought in

World War I 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 ...

and became an officer. After the war, 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). Later, he was selected into the Prussian federal state parliament, to which he belonged until 1933. Beginning in 1928 Müller worked several years as an organization leader of the KPD in Hesse.

World War II

When the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...

came to power, Müller was declared one of their enemies. On 22 November 1933 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 ...

arrested him. He spent three years in a penitentiary and was held until 1939 at

Sachsenhausen Sachsenhausen () or Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg was a German Nazi concentration camp in Oranienburg, Germany, used from 1936 until April 1945, shortly before the defeat of Nazi Germany in May later that year. It mainly held political prisoners ...

. From June 1939 by August 1944 he found accommodation in the Offenbacher leather industry as an employee. In August 1944, he was again arrested for resisting the Nazis and imprisoned at

Dachau , , commandant = List of commandants , known for = , location = Upper Bavaria, Southern Germany , built by = Germany , operated by = ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) , original use = Political prison , construction ...

.Oskar Müller
DKP official website. Retrieved 20 March 2010

Post-war years

Although detention in the concentration camps had weakened Müller's health, he eagerly assisted in the

reconstruction of Germany The reconstruction of Germany was a long process of rebuilding Germany after the destruction endured during World War II. Germany had suffered heavy losses during the war, both in lives and industrial power. 6.9 to 7.5 million Germans had been k ...

. In October 1945 he became a minister for work and welfare under Prime Minister

Karl Geiler Karl Hermann Friedrich Geiler (10 August 1878 – 14 September 1953) was a German lawyer and politician. He was born in Schönau (Baden) and died in Heidelberg. Geiler, a university professor of economic law in Heidelberg and without affiliation t ...

, but was replaced in 1947. Müller concentrated on party work. In 1948, he again became a regional chairman of the KPD. In 1949 he was laid off, but remained part of the party executive committee of the KPD. From 1949–1953 Müller belonged to the German

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet") is the German federal parliament. It is the only federal representative body that is directly elected by the German people. It is comparable to the United States House of Representatives or the House of Commons ...

. He was briefly arrested in 1953. Since that time he worked as one of the presidents and as a Secretary-General of the anti-fascist ''Vereinigung der Verfolgten des Naziregimes'' ( VVN). Müller was a developer of the Hesse constitution, which carries his signature. Articles 41 and 42 plan the transfer of the large-scale industry in common property.

Lockout Lockout may refer to: * Lockout (industry), a type of work stoppage **Dublin Lockout, a major industrial dispute between approximately 20,000 workers and 300 employers 1913 - 1914 * Lockout (sports), lockout in sports leagues **MLB lockout, lock ...

was forbidden by the constitution. In agreement and in constant consultation with the trade unions by the Ministry of Labour, an exemplary works council law was created, in which participation in equal numbers was fully embodied. The Hessian constitution was well-admired and used as a model by other states.

References

1896 births 1970 deaths People from Wołów People from the Province of Silesia Communist Party of Germany politicians Members of the Bundestag for Hesse Union of Persecutees of the Nazi Regime members Sachsenhausen concentration camp survivors German Army personnel of World War I Prussian politicians Dachau concentration camp survivors Members of the Landtag of Hesse {{Germany-politician-stub

Early career

World War II

Post-war years

See also

References