Wilhelm Rietze (10 October 1903 – 28 August 1944) was a German

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

and

resistance fighter A resistance movement is an organized effort by some portion of the civil population of a country to withstand the legally established government or an occupying power and to disrupt civil order and stability. It may seek to achieve its objectives ...

against

Nazism Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

Biography

Rietze was born in Berlin-Köpenick. A metal worker by profession, he was at first a member of the German Metal Workers' Union and then joined the

Revolutionäre Gewerkschafts Opposition The Revolutionäre Gewerkschafts Opposition (Revolutionary Union Opposition) was the Communist union in Germany during the Weimar Republic.Larry Dean Peterson''German Communism, Workers' Protest, and Labor Unions: the Politics of the United Front in ...

. He was a 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) from 1930, and also active in the workers' sports club "Nordwest". 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 in 1933, Rietze continued working for the underground KPD. On 29 January 1934 he was arrested by 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 ...

and interned in

Columbia concentration camp Columbia concentration camp (also known as Columbia-Haus) was a Nazi concentration camp situated in the Tempelhof area of Berlin. It was one of the first such institutions established by the regime. Development Originally called ''Strafgefängni ...

; Rietze was sentenced to three years' imprisonment on 1 November 1934, which he served in

Luckau Luckau (Lower Sorbian: ''Łuków'') is a city in the district of Dahme-Spreewald in the federal state of Brandenburg, Germany. Known for its beauty, it has been dubbed "the Pearl of Lower Lusatia". Origin of the name The name appears to be a loca ...

prison. After his release, Rietze joined the resistance group around Robert Uhrig. However, he was arrested again on 4 February 1942 and spent more than two years in

Sachsenhausen concentration camp 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 ...

before being tried and sentenced to death by the People's Court on 6 July 1944. He was executed by guillotine on 28 August 1944 in

Brandenburg-Görden Prison Brandenburg-Görden Prison is located on Anton-Saefkow-Allee in the Görden quarter of Brandenburg an der Havel. Erected between 1927 and 1935, it was built to be the most secure and modern prison in Europe. Both criminal and political prisoners we ...

. A street in the

Prenzlauer Berg Prenzlauer Berg () is a locality of Berlin, forming the southerly and most urban district of the borough of Pankow. From its founding in 1920 until 2001, Prenzlauer Berg was a district of Berlin in its own right. However, that year it was incorp ...

borough of Berlin, Rietzestraße, was named after Rietze on 30 January 1952.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rietze, Wilhelm 1903 births 1944 deaths People from Treptow-Köpenick Communist Party of Germany politicians Executed communists in the German Resistance People executed by Nazi Germany by guillotine People from Berlin executed by Nazi Germany Sachsenhausen concentration camp prisoners