Fritz Henßler (12 April 1886 – 4 December 1953) was a German

Social Democratic Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...

politician. Henßler was born in Altensteig. He joined the

Social Democratic Party of Germany The Social Democratic Party of Germany ( , SPD ) is a social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the party's leader since the 2019 leadership election together w ...

(SPD) in 1905. He became managing editor of the ''Westfälische Allgemeine Volkszeitung'', the Social Democratic party organ in the

Westphalia Westphalia (; ; ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants. The territory of the region is almost identical with the h ...

region. From 1920 to 1933 Henßler was leader of the SPD branch

Dortmund Dortmund (; ; ) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the List of cities in Germany by population, ninth-largest city in Germany. With a population of 614,495 inhabitants, it is the largest city ...

and from 1922 to 1933 chairman of the SPD in the district "Western Westphalia". In 1930 he was elected into the Reichstag. After the

NSDAP The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor, the German Workers ...

came to power, Henßler had to give up his public offices. He was arrested by the

Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, 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 F ...

in 1936 and was sentenced to one year in the prison Steinwache. However, instead of being released after one year, Henßler was sent to

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 t ...

in 1937, where he was interned until 1945. He survived the

Death march A death march is a forced march of prisoners of war, other captives, or deportees in which individuals are left to die along the way. It is distinct from simple prisoner transport via foot march. Article 19 of the Geneva Convention requires tha ...

Mecklenburg Mecklenburg (; ) is a historical region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The largest cities of the region are Rostock, Schwerin, Neubrandenburg, Wismar and Güstrow. ...

in April and May 1945. Henßler continued his political activities after the war. From 1946 to 1953 he was chairman of the SPD group in the state parliament of Northrhine-Westphalia and at the same time

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

of Dortmund. He was elected into the

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet (assembly), Diet") is the lower house of the Germany, German Federalism in Germany, federal parliament. It is the only constitutional body of the federation directly elected by the German people. The Bundestag wa ...

in 1949. In 1953 Henßler rejected to again run for the Bundestag and he rejected the position as second federal chairman of the SPD. He collapsed at a conference in November 1953 and died in Witten on 4 December 1953.

References

Biography at Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung

Fritz Henßler at Landtag-NRW
{{DEFAULTSORT:Henssler, Fritz Social Democratic Party of Germany politicians 1886 births 1953 deaths Sachsenhausen concentration camp survivors Members of the Reichstag of the Weimar Republic Mayors of Dortmund