Dagobert Biermann
Encyclopedia
Dagobert Biermann was a Communist
and German resistance
fighter against National Socialism. His son is German singer and former East German dissident Wolf Biermann
.
to John and Louise Biermann, née Löwenthal. Biermann was Jewish. He and his wife, Emma, were members of the Communist Party of Germany
(KPD). Before the Nazis seized power
, a time when the KPD held the Social Democrats
(SPD) in disdain, Biermann believed there should be unity between the KPD and the SPD.
seized power
, Biermann went underground and published the Hamburger Volkszeitung ("Hamburg Peoples' Newspaper"). He and his group were discovered and Biermann was sentenced to two years at hard labor at Zuchthaus Lübeck
, where he met the lawyer, Herbert Michaelis
and the lathe operator, Bruno Rieboldt. Biermann was released in May 1935 and found employment as a metalworker at Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft on the waterfront, along with Rieboldt, who was also released. Biermann re-joined the KPD and resumed working with the German Resistance.
Biermann and Riebodt began working with Michaelis, with Rieboldt reporting to him about the armaments work and especially about the production of airplane motors and warships. In 1937, the Resistance group disclosed a secret weapons shipment from Adolf Hitler
to Spain's Francisco Franco
. Biermann learned of the shipment from his brother-in-law, Karl Dietrich, a ship captain. Biermann and other shipyard workers decided to collect whatever evidence they could of the shipment bound for Spain. Michaelis had contacts living abroad, in exile, who could help spread the word. One example of evidence was discovered in March 1937, when Dietrich slipped two unusual rifle cartridges to Biermann. Unlike normal munitions, these cartridges were unmarked, having no indication of manufacturer, date or type of bullet. Michaelis passed such information, along with reports of ship movements towards Spain and other materials to the head of the KPD in Basel, where it was then made public.
At the same time, leaflets and graffiti calling for solidarity with the Republicans
in the Spanish Civil War
began to appear at the harbor. A Gestapo
spy managed to infiltrate the Resistance group and Biermann and others were arrested. Bierman was charged with sabotaging Nazi ships. Michaelis was sentenced to death by the Volksgerichthof in 1939, even before the beginning of the Second World War. Biermann and others were sentenced to prison, Biermann receiving six years. In 1942, the Nazis decided to "eliminate" their Jewish political prisoners and Biermann was deported to Auschwitz concentration camp
, where he was killed on August 2, 1943.
Biermann is included in the Ernst Thälmann
Memorial and in the book, Streiflichter aus dem Hamburger Widerstand 1933-1945.
Communist Party of Germany
The Communist Party of Germany was a major political party in Germany between 1918 and 1933, and a minor party in West Germany in the postwar period until it was banned in 1956...
and German resistance
German Resistance
The German resistance was the opposition by individuals and groups in Germany to Adolf Hitler or the National Socialist regime between 1933 and 1945. Some of these engaged in active plans to remove Adolf Hitler from power and overthrow his regime...
fighter against National Socialism. His son is German singer and former East German dissident Wolf Biermann
Wolf Biermann
Karl Wolf Biermann is a German singer-songwriter and former East German dissident.-Early life:Biermann's father, who worked on the Hamburg docks, was a German Jew and a member of the German Resistance....
.
Background
Dagobert Biermann was born in HamburgHamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
to John and Louise Biermann, née Löwenthal. Biermann was Jewish. He and his wife, Emma, were members of the Communist Party of Germany
Communist Party of Germany
The Communist Party of Germany was a major political party in Germany between 1918 and 1933, and a minor party in West Germany in the postwar period until it was banned in 1956...
(KPD). Before the Nazis seized power
Machtergreifung
Machtergreifung is a German word meaning "seizure of power". It is normally used specifically to refer to the Nazi takeover of power in the democratic Weimar Republic on 30 January 1933, the day Hitler was sworn in as Chancellor of Germany, turning it into the Nazi German dictatorship.-Term:The...
, a time when the KPD held the Social Democrats
Social Democratic Party of Germany
The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...
(SPD) in disdain, Biermann believed there should be unity between the KPD and the SPD.
Resistance activity
After Adolf HitlerAdolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
seized power
Machtergreifung
Machtergreifung is a German word meaning "seizure of power". It is normally used specifically to refer to the Nazi takeover of power in the democratic Weimar Republic on 30 January 1933, the day Hitler was sworn in as Chancellor of Germany, turning it into the Nazi German dictatorship.-Term:The...
, Biermann went underground and published the Hamburger Volkszeitung ("Hamburg Peoples' Newspaper"). He and his group were discovered and Biermann was sentenced to two years at hard labor at Zuchthaus Lübeck
Lübeck
The Hanseatic City of Lübeck is the second-largest city in Schleswig-Holstein, in northern Germany, and one of the major ports of Germany. It was for several centuries the "capital" of the Hanseatic League and, because of its Brick Gothic architectural heritage, is listed by UNESCO as a World...
, where he met the lawyer, Herbert Michaelis
Herbert Michaelis
Dr. Herbert Michaelis was a German lawyer and Communist and a member of the German Resistance during the Third Reich.- Biography :...
and the lathe operator, Bruno Rieboldt. Biermann was released in May 1935 and found employment as a metalworker at Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft on the waterfront, along with Rieboldt, who was also released. Biermann re-joined the KPD and resumed working with the German Resistance.
Biermann and Riebodt began working with Michaelis, with Rieboldt reporting to him about the armaments work and especially about the production of airplane motors and warships. In 1937, the Resistance group disclosed a secret weapons shipment from Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
to Spain's Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco y Bahamonde was a Spanish general, dictator and head of state of Spain from October 1936 , and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in November, 1975...
. Biermann learned of the shipment from his brother-in-law, Karl Dietrich, a ship captain. Biermann and other shipyard workers decided to collect whatever evidence they could of the shipment bound for Spain. Michaelis had contacts living abroad, in exile, who could help spread the word. One example of evidence was discovered in March 1937, when Dietrich slipped two unusual rifle cartridges to Biermann. Unlike normal munitions, these cartridges were unmarked, having no indication of manufacturer, date or type of bullet. Michaelis passed such information, along with reports of ship movements towards Spain and other materials to the head of the KPD in Basel, where it was then made public.
At the same time, leaflets and graffiti calling for solidarity with the Republicans
Second Spanish Republic
The Second Spanish Republic was the government of Spain between April 14 1931, and its destruction by a military rebellion, led by General Francisco Franco....
in the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
began to appear at the harbor. A Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
spy managed to infiltrate the Resistance group and Biermann and others were arrested. Bierman was charged with sabotaging Nazi ships. Michaelis was sentenced to death by the Volksgerichthof in 1939, even before the beginning of the Second World War. Biermann and others were sentenced to prison, Biermann receiving six years. In 1942, the Nazis decided to "eliminate" their Jewish political prisoners and Biermann was deported to Auschwitz concentration camp
Auschwitz concentration camp
Concentration camp Auschwitz was a network of Nazi concentration and extermination camps built and operated by the Third Reich in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany during World War II...
, where he was killed on August 2, 1943.
Biermann is included in the Ernst Thälmann
Ernst Thälmann
Ernst Thälmann was the leader of the Communist Party of Germany during much of the Weimar Republic. He was arrested by the Gestapo in 1933 and held in solitary confinement for eleven years, before being shot in Buchenwald on Adolf Hitler's orders in 1944...
Memorial and in the book, Streiflichter aus dem Hamburger Widerstand 1933-1945.
Further reading
- Ursel Hochmuth and Gertrud Meyer, Editors. Streiflichter aus dem Hamburger Widerstand 1933-1945, Frankfurt am Main (1969) p. 342