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Wilhelm Leuschner (15 June 1890, in
Bayreuth Bayreuth (, ; bar, Bareid) is a town in northern Bavaria, Germany, on the Red Main river in a valley between the Franconian Jura and the Fichtelgebirge Mountains. The town's roots date back to 1194. In the 21st century, it is the capital of U ...
, Bavaria – 29 September 1944, in Berlin- Plötzensee) was a trade unionist and
Social Democratic Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote soci ...
politician. An early opponent of Nazism, he organized underground resistance in the labour movement. As a result of involvement with the assassination attempt on Hitler in 1944, Leuscher was executed.


Biography

Born in 1890 to stove fitter Wilhelm Friedrich Leuschner and seamstress Maria Barbara Dehler, Leuschner grew up in poverty. In 1903, he began an
apprenticeship Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a Tradesman, trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners ...
as a wood
sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...
. After finishing this in 1907, he joined the trade union and, on the occasion of the Jugendstil (
Art Nouveau Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Modern ...
) Exhibition, he moved to
Darmstadt Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it th ...
, where he worked in a furniture factory. In 1910, he joined 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) and became more deeply involved with the union. He also wed Elisabeth Batz in 1911. After fighting in the First World War on the Eastern Front in 1916, he became a city councillor and Chairman of the Darmstadt Unions in 1919. In 1924, he became a member of the Hesse Legislature (''
Landtag A Landtag (State Diet) is generally the legislative assembly or parliament of a federated state or other subnational self-governing entity in German-speaking nations. It is usually a unicameral assembly exercising legislative competence in non- ...
'') for the SPD. In 1928 he became Hesse's interior minister. In the ''Landtag'' at that time, Leuschner often found himself at odds with
jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyses and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal qualification in law and often a legal practitioner. In the Uni ...
and fellow ''Landtag'' member Dr.
Werner Best Karl Rudolf Werner Best (10 July 1903 – 23 June 1989) was a German jurist, police chief, SS-''Obergruppenführer'', Nazi Party leader, and theoretician from Darmstadt. He was the first chief of Department 1 of the Gestapo, Nazi Germany's secret ...
, who represented the
NSDAP 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 ...
, and would later go on to become very prominent in the Nazi régime. In January 1933, Leuschner was elected to the board of the
General German Trade Union Federation The General German Trade Union Federation (german: Allgemeiner Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund, ADGB) was a confederation of German trade unions in Germany founded during the Weimar Republic. It was founded in 1919 and was initially powerful enough to ...
. In April 1933, after the Nazis had seized power in Germany, Leuschner was forced to resign, and gave up his office of Hessian Interior Minister. The following May brought Leuschner's arrest in the course of the Nazis' union-breaking programme. In June, he was arrested once again, mistreated, and held for a year in prisons and
concentration camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...
s (Börgermoor and Lichtenburg). In June 1934, he was released from the concentration camp and began to build up a resistance network. In 1936, he took over a small manufacturing workshop which produced
pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...
utensils, but it soon became the hub of the "illegal Reich leadership of German unions". Leuschner struggled actively in those resistance groups close to the unions and maintained contact with the
Kreisau Circle The Kreisau Circle (German: ''Kreisauer Kreis'', ) (1940–1944) was a group of about twenty-five German dissidents in Nazi Germany led by Helmuth James von Moltke, who met at his estate in the rural town of Kreisau, Silesia. The circle was com ...
, and from 1939, also with the resistance group around
Carl Friedrich Goerdeler Carl Friedrich Goerdeler (; 31 July 1884 – 2 February 1945) was a monarchist conservative German politician, executive, economist, civil servant and opponent of the Nazi regime. He opposed some anti-Jewish policies while he held office and was ...
. After the planned coup d'état, Leuschner was most likely to become Germany's vice-chancellor; however,
Claus von Stauffenberg Colonel Claus Philipp Maria Justinian Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg (; 15 November 1907 – 21 July 1944) was a German army officer best known for his failed attempt on 20 July 1944 to assassinate Adolf Hitler at the Wolf's Lair. Despite ...
's 20 July 1944 attempt on
Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and then ...
's life at the
Wolf's Lair The ''Wolf's Lair'' (german: Wolfsschanze; pl, Wilczy Szaniec) served as Adolf Hitler's first Eastern Front military headquarters in World War II. The headquarters was located in the Masurian woods, near the small village of Görlitz in Ostp ...
in
East Prussia East Prussia ; german: Ostpreißen, label=Low Prussian; pl, Prusy Wschodnie; lt, Rytų Prūsija was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 187 ...
failed. Leuschner was arrested on 16 August 1944, and was brought before the Volksgerichtshof, where he was sentenced to death. The sentence was carried out on 29 September 1944 at
Plötzensee Prison Plötzensee Prison (german: Justizvollzugsanstalt Plötzensee, JVA Plötzensee) is a juvenile prison in the Charlottenburg-Nord locality of Berlin with a capacity for 577 prisoners, operated by the State of Berlin judicial administration. The d ...
in Berlin. Numerous schools, streets, and squares are named after Leuschner, including a school in
Darmstadt Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it th ...
and a square and accompanying
railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
in Leipzig. As of January 2018, according to ''
Zeit Online ''Die Zeit'' (, "The Time") is a German national weekly newspaper published in Hamburg in Germany. The newspaper is generally considered to be among the German newspapers of record and is known for its long and extensive articles. History The ...
'', there were 158 streets, paths, and squares in Germany named after Leuschner.Search for ''Wilhelm Leuschner.''
In: ''
Zeit Online ''Die Zeit'' (, "The Time") is a German national weekly newspaper published in Hamburg in Germany. The newspaper is generally considered to be among the German newspapers of record and is known for its long and extensive articles. History The ...
'', Wie oft gibt es Ihre Straße? The Germany state of
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 ...
awards a medal named "Wilhelm-Leuschner-Medaille".


See also

*
List of members of the 20 July plot On 20 July 1944, Adolf Hitler and his top military associates entered the briefing hut of the Wolf's Lair military headquarters, a series of concrete bunkers and shelters located deep in the forest of East Prussia, not far from the location of t ...


References


Sources


Biography


External links

*
Wilhelm Leuschner Foundation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leuschner, Wilhelm 1890 births 1944 deaths People from Bayreuth People from the Kingdom of Bavaria Social Democratic Party of Germany politicians People condemned by Nazi courts Executed German Resistance members People from Bavaria executed at Plötzensee Prison Executed members of the 20 July plot Börgermoor concentration camp survivors Members of the Landtag of Hesse-Darmstadt