Robert Siewert (30 December 1887 – 2 November 1973) was a German politician who fought in the German Resistance against

National Socialism Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was frequ ...

. He was a survivor of

Buchenwald concentration camp Buchenwald (; 'beech forest') was a German Nazi concentration camp established on Ettersberg hill near Weimar, Nazi Germany, Germany, in July 1937. It was one of the first and the largest of the concentration camps within the Altreich (pre-1938 ...

, where he helped save the life of

Stefan Jerzy Zweig Stefan Jerzy Zweig (28 January 1941 – 6 February 2024) was a Polish-German author and cameraman. He is known as ''the Buchenwald child'' from the novel by Bruno Apitz, '' Naked Among Wolves''. He survived the Buchenwald concentration camp at a ...

(through causing the death of a Romani boy named Willi Blum), among others.

Biography

Youth, war and the early Weimar years

Siewert was born the son of a carpenter in Schwersenz,

Province of Posen The Province of Posen (; ) was a Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1848 to 1920, occupying most of the historical Greater Poland. The province was established following the Greater Poland Uprising (1848), Poznań Uprisi ...

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

(today

Swarzędz Swarzędz (German language, German: ''Schwersenz'') is a town in west-central Poland with 29,766 inhabitants. It is the seat of a mixed urban-rural commune called Gmina Swarzędz with 40,166 inhabitants. The town is situated in the Poznań metropo ...

Poznań County Poznań County () is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Greater Poland Voivodeship, west-central Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms passed in 1998. ...

in Poland). He learned the trade of masonry and became a member of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

(SPD) in 1906. From 1908 to 1915, he worked as a bricklayer in Switzerland, where he got to know

Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...

and

Heinrich Brandler Heinrich Brandler (3 July 1881 – 26 September 1967) was a German communist, trade unionist, politician, revolutionary activist, and political writer. Brandler is best remembered as the head of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) during the par ...

. Siewert was a soldier during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, serving on the eastern front, while also working for the

Spartacist League The Spartacus League () was a Marxist revolutionary movement organized in Germany during World War I. It was founded in August 1914 as the International Group by Rosa Luxemburg, Karl Liebknecht, Clara Zetkin, and other members of the Social De ...

. In 1918, he was a member of the Soldiers' Council of the 10th Army. After that, he became 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). In 1919, Siewert was the district political leader in the

Ore Mountains The Ore Mountains (, or ; ) lie along the Czech–German border, separating the historical regions of Bohemia in the Czech Republic and Saxony in Germany. The highest peaks are the Klínovec in the Czech Republic (German: ''Keilberg'') at ab ...

and in 1919 and 1920, he was a delegate to the party congress and then secretary to the unification congress when the KPD merged with the

USPD The Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany (, USPD) was a short-lived political party in Germany during the German Empire and the Weimar Republic. The organization was established in 1917 as the result of a split of anti-war members of t ...

. He was elected to the Central Committee at the KPD congresses in 1921 and 1923. In 1922, he was a delegate to the Fourth World Congress of the

Communist International The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern and also known as the Third International, was a political international which existed from 1919 to 1943 and advocated world communism. Emerging from the collapse of the Second Internationa ...

and he joined the leadership of the KPD publishers. He became the political leader in

Chemnitz Chemnitz (; from 1953 to 1990: Karl-Marx-Stadt (); ; ) is the third-largest city in the Germany, German States of Germany, state of Saxony after Leipzig and Dresden, and the fourth-largest city in the area of former East Germany after (East Be ...

in 1923. Siewert's political position was between the " Brandlerists" and the "middle group/conciliators," which led in 1924 to his being relieved of his party functions and being sent to

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 ...

, where he was only allowed to handle minor party responsibilities. Working with

Hans Beck Hans Beck (6 May 1929, Greiz – 30 January 2009, Markdorf) was the German inventor of Playmobil toys. He is often described as "The Father of Playmobil". He began to make toys at an early age and trained as a cabinet maker, before being recrui ...

, he organized a workers' delegation to go to the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. Later, he worked as editor of ''Einheit'' (''Unity'') magazine, which was oriented toward left-leaning

Social Democrats Social democracy is a social, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achieving social equality. In modern practice, s ...

. In 1926, Siewert was elected to the Saxon

Landtag A ''Landtag'' (State Diet) is generally the legislative assembly or parliament of a federated state or other subnational self-governing entity in German-speaking nations. It is usually a unicameral assembly exercising legislative competence ...

, where he served till 1929.

Opposition to the Stalinization of the KPD

Siewert's position as a "Brandlerist" in opposition to the growing

Stalinization Stalinism (, ) is the totalitarian means of governing and Marxist–Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union (USSR) from 1927 to 1953 by dictator Joseph Stalin and in Soviet satellite states between 1944 and 1953. Stalinism in ...

of the KPD caused him to be relieved of all party responsibilities in 1928, and on 14 January 1929 he was expelled from the KPD. Siewert became an active functionary of the

Communist Party Opposition The Communist Party of Germany (Opposition) (), generally abbreviated as KPO or KPD(O), was a communist opposition organisation established at the end of 1928 and maintaining its existence until 1939 or 1940. After the rise of Adolf Hitler and the ...

(KPO) and a member of the district leadership of West Saxony. He held his seat in the Saxon parliament as one of the five members of the KPO faction. From 1931 to 1936, he worked as business manager of the newspaper ''Arbeiterpolitik'' (''Labor Policy''), first in

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

and then in Berlin. From 1933 till his arrest in late 1934, he was part of the initial national leadership of the KPO with

Erich Hausen The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, Eirik, or Eiríkur is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization). The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-No ...

and

Fritz Wiest Fritz is a common German male name. The name originated as a German diminutive of Friedrich or Frederick (''Der Alte Fritz'', and ''Stary Fryc'' were common nicknames for King Frederick II of Prussia and Frederick III, German Emperor), as w ...

Resistance to Nazism

Siewert was charged by the Nazis with

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 ...

and sentenced at the Volksgerichtshof to three years at hard labor in a

Zuchthaus Prisons in Germany are a set of penal institutions in the Federal Republic of Germany. Their purpose is rehabilitation--to enable prisoners to lead a life of "social responsibility without committing criminal offenses" upon release--and public saf ...

. After serving his term in

Luckau Luckau (Lower Sorbian: ''Łuków'') is a city in the district of Dahme-Spreewald in the States of Germany#States, federal state of Brandenburg, in eastern Germany. Known for its beauty, it has been dubbed "the Pearl of Lower Lusatia". Origin of t ...

, rather than being released, he was sent to

. There, he moved politically toward the KPD and became involved in the leadership of the

underground resistance Underground Resistance (commonly abbreviated to UR) are an American musical collective from Detroit, Michigan. Producing primarily Detroit techno since 1990 with a grungy four-track musical aesthetic, they are also renowned for their militant ...

at the camp. He often took a stand for Jewish prisoners and for the imprisoned children and he organized a class to teach bricklaying to Polish and Jewish children, an act that saved the lives of many. In late August 1944, Siewert gave a speech at an illegal memorial organized by

Willi Bleicher Willi Bleicher (; 27 October 1907 – 23 June 1981) was one of the best known and, according to at least one source, one of the most important and effective German trades union leaders of the post-war decades. In 1965 Yad Vashem recognized Will ...

for

Ernst Thälmann Ernst Johannes Fritz Thälmann (; 16 April 1886 – 18 August 1944) was a German communist politician and leader of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) from 1925 to 1933. A committed communist, Thälmann sought to overthrow the liberal democr ...

, who had recently been executed by the Nazis. As a result, he was subjected to reprisals and was under growing threat of execution, when the camp was liberated in April 1945.

After 1945, political repression

After the war, Siewert rejoined the KPD and began in

Halle (Saale) Halle (Saale), or simply Halle (), is the second largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony-Anhalt. It is the sixth-most populous city in the area of former East Germany after (East Berlin, East) Berlin, Leipzig, Dresden, Chem ...

with the rebuilding of the KPD in the

Province of Saxony The Province of Saxony (), also known as Prussian Saxony (), was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia and later the Free State of Prussia from 1816 until 1944. Its capital was Magdeburg. It was formed by the merger of various territories ceded ...

. By July 1945, he was being rejected by the secretariat of the SED Central Committee because of his KPO activities and he was replaced as district party leader. Nonetheless, he was able to become the first vice president of the Province of Saxony and later, Minister of the Interior of

Saxony-Anhalt Saxony-Anhalt ( ; ) is a States of Germany, state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of and has a population of 2.17 million inhabitants, making it the List of German states ...

. In 1950, the SED began launching campaigns against the one-time members of the KPO, initiating repressive measures against Siewert and others. Siewert was demoted as Minister and installed in a minor position within the Ministry.Bill Niven
''The Buchenwald child: truth, fiction, and propaganda''
Camden House (2007) Retrieved 15 April 2010 Furthermore, he was forced to write a self-critical article in ''Neuen Deutschland'' (''New Germany''), which was published on 25 January 1950. A few weeks later, on 15 March, it was labeled "inadequate" and he was forced to write another, even more self-critical article. One issue was the Central Party Control Commission's view that the KPO had not ''become'' an agent of

financial capitalism Finance capitalism or financial capitalism is the subordination of processes of production to the accumulation of money profits in a financial system. Financial capitalism is thus a form of capitalism where the intermediation of saving to inves ...

, but rather had been one from the beginning.

Rehabilitation

After Stalin's death and the revelation of his crimes, the SED was "destalinized" and Siewert was rehabilitated. He was recognized with a number of national awards. He remained employed in the Ministry of Construction and was active in the leadership of the GDR's

Union of Persecutees of the Nazi Regime Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Unio ...

. Siewert died on 2 November 1973 in Berlin and was laid to rest in the "Pergolenweg" of the Memorial to the Socialists at the

Zentralfriedhof Friedrichsfelde The Friedrichsfelde Central Cemetery () is a cemetery in the borough of Lichtenberg in Berlin. It was the cemetery used for many of Berlin's Socialists, Communists, and anti-fascist fighters. History When the cemetery was founded in 1881 it ...

. The official SED obituary called him one of the "closest comrades of Ernst Thälmann," founder of the KPD. Three official memorial brochures omitted any mention of his leadership or activity in the KPO.

Legacy

There are streets in

Berlin-Karlshorst Karlshorst (, ; ; literally meaning ''Karl's nest'') is a locality in the borough of Lichtenberg in Berlin. It is home to a harness racing track, the Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft Berlin (''HTW''), the largest University of Applied Scien ...

and Chemnitz named after Siewert.Map link to Robert-Siewert-Straße, 09122 Chemnitz, Germany
Google Maps. Retrieved 14 April 2010 In Beutha,

Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...

, there is an elementary school named after Siewert. Siewert, who was the first Construction Minister in the GDR, was memorialized in 1976, three years after his death, when a road construction regiment of the

National People's Army The National People's Army (, ; NVA ) were the armed forces of the East Germany, German Democratic Republic (DDR) from 1956 until 1990. The NVA was organized into four branches: the (Ground Forces), the (Navy), the (Air Force) and the (Bord ...

, based in Neuseddin, near

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and largest city of the Germany, German States of Germany, state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the Havel, River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...

was named for him. There is a

commemorative plaque A commemorative plaque, or simply plaque, or in other places referred to as a historical marker, historic marker, or historic plaque, is a plate of metal, ceramic, stone, wood, or other material, bearing text or an image in relief, or both, ...

for Siewert in Berlin in the area where he lived after the war (see photo).

Footnotes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Siewert, Robert 1887 births 1973 deaths People from Swarzędz Politicians from the Province of Posen Social Democratic Party of Germany politicians Communist Party of Germany politicians Communist Party of Germany (Opposition) politicians Socialist Unity Party of Germany politicians Members of the Provisional Volkskammer Members of the Landtag of Saxony-Anhalt German editors German Army personnel of World War I German resistance members Buchenwald concentration camp survivors Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit (honor clasp)