Alfred Grünberg (18 February 1902 in

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; ) is the Capital city, capital of the Germany, German States of Germany, state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is on the Elbe river. Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archbishopric of Mag ...

– 21 May 1942 in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

) was a worker, a member of the

Communist Party of Germany The Communist Party of Germany (, ; KPD ) was a major Far-left politics, far-left political party in the Weimar Republic during the interwar period, German resistance to Nazism, underground resistance movement in Nazi Germany, and minor party ...

(KPD) and a resistance fighter against the

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

régime.

Life

Alfred Grünberg got involved quite early in the Communist

youth movement The following is a list of youth organizations. A youth organization is a type of organization with a focus upon providing activities and socialization for minors. In this list, most organizations are international unless noted otherwise. ...

, and in 1928, he joined the KPD in which he served as political leader of a street cell in

Bohnsdorf Bohnsdorf () is a district in the borough Treptow-Köpenick of Berlin, Germany. It is located in the south-east of the city. History The locality was first mentioned in 1375 with the name of ''Benistorp''. Geography Position The locality is situa ...

, a Berlin neighbourhood nowadays part of

Treptow-Köpenick Treptow-Köpenick () is the ninth Boroughs of Berlin, borough of Berlin, Germany, formed in Berlin's 2001 administrative reform by merging the former boroughs of Treptow and Köpenick. The borough was formerly part of East Berlin. Overview Among ...

, until 1933. He published many leaflets for the KPD and wrote letters to

doctor Doctor, Doctors, The Doctor or The Doctors may refer to: Titles and occupations * Physician, a medical practitioner * Doctor (title), an academic title for the holder of a doctoral-level degree ** Doctorate ** List of doctoral degrees awarded b ...

s and other professional people warning them about

Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

and his henchmen, and touting

freedom Freedom is the power or right to speak, act, and change as one wants without hindrance or restraint. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving oneself one's own laws". In one definition, something is "free" i ...

. After the KPD was banned in 1933 after Hitler and the Nazis came to power, he busied himself between 1936 and 1938 as a courier between

and

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

for the KPD's political leadership in exile. As Grünberg was coming back to Bohnsdorf from Prague shortly before

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

in 1938, he hid some writings that he had brought along at a feed dealer's, so that he could later hand them out on

Christmas Eve Christmas Eve is the evening or entire day before Christmas, the festival commemorating nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus. Christmas Day is observance of Christmas by country, observed around the world, and Christma ...

to those to whose letterboxes they were destined, dressed as

Santa Claus Santa Claus (also known as Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle or Santa) is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring gifts during the late evening and overnight hours on Chris ...

(or

Father Christmas Father Christmas is the traditional English name for the personification of Christmas. Although now known as a Christmas gift-bringer, and typically considered to be synonymous with Santa Claus, he was originally part of a much older and unrela ...

). After the

war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

broke out in 1939, Grünberg was politically active at the

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works. He was arrested many times, but for good in February 1940. In January 1941, he was given a

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where Prisoner, people are Imprisonment, imprisoned under the authority of the State (polity), state ...

term of 15 months. On 10 January 1942, he was sentenced to death at the '' Volksgerichtshof'' for

high treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its d ...

, along with Kurt Steffelbauer and Johann Gloger, and on 21 May 1942, he was

hanged Hanging is killing a person by suspending them from the neck with a noose or ligature strangulation, ligature. Hanging has been a standard method of capital punishment since the Middle Ages, and has been the primary execution method in numerou ...

at Plötzensee Prison in Berlin. Grünberg lived on Schönefelder Straße, which today bears the name Grünbergallee in his honour.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Grunberg, Alfred 1902 births 1942 deaths Executed communists in the German Resistance People from Saxony-Anhalt executed at Plötzensee Prison Politicians from Magdeburg People from the Province of Saxony People executed by hanging at Plötzensee Prison