Willi Gall (3 October 1908 – 25 July 1941) 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

Gall was born in

Falkenstein Falkenstein or Falckenstein ("falcons' stone" in German) may refer to: Places Austria * Falkenstein, Lower Austria, a market town in the district of Mistelbach Germany * Falkenstein, Bavaria, a market town in the district of Cham * Falkenst ...

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

. He worked as a lathe operator and a truck driver, and 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) in 1929. Active in the local KPD group in Pethau near Zittau, Gall was elected to the local city council in 1932. After 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, Gall was active in the communist resistance. He emigrated to

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

in April 1933, and served as a courier between Zittau and

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

from 1934 until 1938. In 1938, he worked as an instructor in the "Zentrum" leadership department of the underground KPD. In 1938–39, he went to

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

illegally several times from Czechoslovakia and

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

, where he produced leaflets, newspapers and held contacts with the workers of various factories and companies. In December 1939, Gall was arrested along with over 100 resistance members from the Adlershof locality of Berlin. He was sentenced to death by the People's Court on 23 January 1941, and was executed by guillotine on 25 July 1941 in

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. Today's Weinauparkstadion in Zittau was named Willi-Gall-Stadion from 1955 until 1990. A street in

Mittelherwigsdorf Mittelherwigsdorf is a municipality in the district Görlitz, in Saxony, Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, a ...

outside Zittau is named Willi-Gall-Straße.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gall, Willi 1908 births 1941 deaths People from Falkenstein, Saxony People from the Kingdom of Saxony Communist Party of Germany politicians Executed communists in the German Resistance People executed by guillotine at Plötzensee Prison People from Saxony executed by Nazi Germany Member of the Knöchel-Seng-Group