Kurt Kresse (15 May 1904 – 11 January 1945) 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.

Biography

Kresse was born into a working-class family in Leipzig. In his youth, he worked as a miner and from 1924 onwards as a book printer. He joined the

Young Communist League of Germany The Young Communist League of Germany (, abbreviated KJVD) was a political youth organization in Germany. History The KJVD was formed in 1920 from the Free Socialist Youth () of the Communist Party of Germany, A prior youth wing had been forme ...

(KJVD) in 1920 and 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 1924. He served as member of the district leadership of the KPD in Western Saxony and as chairman of the workers' sports club "Fichte West" in Leipzig. After the Nazi Party came to power in 1933, Kresse was arrested and spent time in prison and in Colditz concentration camp. After his release, he joined the resistance group around Georg Schumann. Kresse's tasks included rebuilding the underground KPD organization, making contacts with other anti-fascists and committing acts of sabotage against the war production. On 19 June 1944, Kresse was arrested again. He was sentenced to death by the People's Court in Dresden on 21 November 1944, and executed by hanging on 11 January 1945 in Dresden together with fellow resistance fighters Georg Schumann and

Otto Engert Otto is a masculine German given name and a surname. It originates as an Old High German short form (variants ''Audo'', ''Odo'', ''Udo'') of Germanic names beginning in ''aud-'', an element meaning "wealth, prosperity". The name is recorded fro ...

. After the fall of the Nazi regime, his remains were buried in the Südfriedhof. A street in southwest Leipzig, Kurt-Kresse-Straße, was named after him in August 1945. A sporting field in Leipzig, Kurt-Kresse-Kampfbahn, also bears his name.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kresse, Kurt 1904 births 1945 deaths Politicians from Leipzig Communist Party of Germany politicians Executed communists in the German Resistance People executed by Nazi Germany by hanging People from Saxony executed by Nazi Germany People executed by Nazi courts Saefkow-Jacob-Bästlein Organization