Otto Brass (21 December 1875 – 13 November 1950) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

communist politician and anti-fascist activist. Born in Wermelskirchen in the

Rhine Province The Rhine Province (german: Rheinprovinz), also known as Rhenish Prussia () or synonymous with the Rhineland (), was the westernmost province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia, within the German Reich, from 1822 to 1946. It ...

, Brass became a file maker. In 1903, he became an administrator of the Remscheid workers' health insurance fund, then was appointed the business manager of the local socialist newspaper. He became active in 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), but due to his opposition to World War I, in 1917, he joined the Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany (USPD) split. He was active in the

workers' and soldiers' council A workers' council or labor council is a form of political and economic organization in which a workplace or municipality is governed by a council made up of workers or their elected delegates. The workers within each council decide on what thei ...

movement. In 1919, Brass was elected to the Weimar National Assembly, then serving in the Reichstag. He supported strikes in February and April 1919, while cautioning moderation. He was a founding member of 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), serving on its central committee, although he resigned from that in February 1921. He then opposed the

March Action The March Action (German "März Aktion" or "Märzkämpfe in Mitteldeutschland," i.e. "The March battles in Central Germany") was a 1921 failed Communist uprising, led by the Communist Party of Germany (KPD), the Communist Workers' Party of Germa ...

uprising, and so was expelled from the KPD at the start of 1922. He joined up with the Communist Working Group, and followed it in rejoining the USPD, which in turn then rejoined the SPD. Brass lost his seat in the Reichstag in 1924, and became a publisher in Berlin. He was a leading member of the German Popular Front, and anti-Nazi group, in the 1930s, but was arrested in 1938 and spent the entirety of World War II in Brandenburg Prison. After the war, he rejoined the KPD and lived in

East Berlin East Berlin was the ''de facto'' capital city of East Germany from 1949 to 1990. Formally, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet sector of Berlin, established in 1945. The American, British, and French sectors were known as ...

, serving on the executive of the Free German Trade Union Federation.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brass, Otto 1875 births 1950 deaths People from Wermelskirchen People from the Rhine Province Social Democratic Party of Germany politicians Independent Social Democratic Party politicians Communist Party of Germany politicians Communist Working Group (Germany) politicians Socialist Unity Party of Germany politicians Members of the Weimar National Assembly Members of the Reichstag 1920–1924 Free German Trade Union Federation members