Fritz Platten (8 July 1883 – 22 April 1942) was a Swiss

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, ...

politician and one of the founders of the

Communist International The Communist International (Comintern), also known as the Third International, was a Soviet-controlled international organization founded in 1919 that advocated world communism. The Comintern resolved at its Second Congress to "struggle by ...

Early life

Platten was born in the village of Tablat, now part of

St. Gallen , neighboring_municipalities = Eggersriet, Gaiserwald, Gossau, Herisau (AR), Mörschwil, Speicher (AR), Stein (AR), Teufen (AR), Untereggen, Wittenbach , twintowns = Liberec (Czech Republic) , website = ...

, on 8 July 1883, to and

Old Catholic The terms Old Catholic Church, Old Catholics, Old-Catholic churches or Old Catholic movement designate "any of the groups of Western Christians who believe themselves to maintain in complete loyalty the doctrine and traditions of the Great Chu ...

family. He was the son of Maria Strässle and Peter Platten, a German carpenter and innkeeper. Having moved to

Zürich , neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon , twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco Z ...

in 1892, he worked as an apprentice locksmith from 1898 to 1902. After working various jobs, Platten took part in the First Russian Revolution in

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the ...

, in 1906, for which he was jailed until escaping to Switzerland in 1908.

Career

Platten began his political career as a member of the

Social Democratic Party of Switzerland The Social Democratic Party of Switzerland (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei der Schweiz; SP; rm, Partida Socialdemocrata da la Svizra) or Swiss Socialist Party (french: Parti socialiste suisse, it, Partito Socialista Svizzero; PS), is a poli ...

, of which he was secretary between 1915 and 1919. In the 1917 federal election he was elected member the National Council for the

canton of Zürich The canton of Zürich (german: Kanton Zürich ; rm, Chantun Turitg; french: Canton de Zurich; it, Canton Zurigo) is a Swiss canton in the northeastern part of the country. With a population of (as of ), it is the most populous canton in the ...

, where he served until 1923. In 1921, along with other dissidents from the left-wing of the Social Democrats, Platten was one of the founding members of the

Communist Party of Switzerland The Communist Party of Switzerland (german: Kommunistische Partei der Schweiz; KPS) or Swiss Communist Party (french: Parti communiste suisse; it, Partito Comunista Svizzero; PCS) was a communist party in Switzerland between 1921 and 1944. It was ...

. After the collapse of the

Second International The Second International (1889–1916) was an organisation of Labour movement, socialist and labour parties, formed on 14 July 1889 at two simultaneous Paris meetings in which delegations from twenty countries participated. The Second Internatio ...

, Platten joined the Zimmerwald Movement. Fritz Platten is mostly known for having been the main organizer of

Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 1 ...

’s return trip from the exile in Switzerland back home to

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

after the

February Revolution The February Revolution ( rus, Февра́льская револю́ция, r=Fevral'skaya revolyutsiya, p=fʲɪvˈralʲskəjə rʲɪvɐˈlʲutsɨjə), known in Soviet historiography as the February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution and some ...

. Due to the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, the trip was not easily arranged, but Lenin and his company traveled through

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

in a

sealed train A sealed train is one that travels internationally under customs and/or immigration seal, without its contents legally recognized as entering or leaving the nations traversed between the beginning and end of the journey or subject to any otherwis ...

car. They then took the

ferry A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water ta ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...

and were greeted in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the capital and largest city of Sweden as well as the largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people live in the municipality, with 1.6 million in the urban area, and 2.4 million in the metropo ...

by the Swedish communist leaders Otto Grimlund,

Ture Nerman Ture Nerman (18 May 1886, in Norrköping – 7 October 1969) was a Swedish socialist. As a journalist and author, he was a well-known political activist in his time. He also wrote poems and songs. Nerman was a vegetarian and a strict teetotale ...

Carl Lindhagen Carl Albert Lindhagen (17 December 1860 – 11 March 1946) was a Swedish lawyer, politician, and pacifist. Carl Lindhagen was the chief magistrate (''borgmästare'') of Stockholm 1903–1930 (i.e. a legal position, not mayor). Life Lindhagen ...

and

Fredrik Ström Otto Fredrik Ström (10 July 1880 – 23 November 1948) was a Swedish politician, editor and a prolific writer. He held a seat in the Riksdag from 1916 to 1921 and from 1930 to 1948.Lars BjörlinOtto Fredrik Ström Riksarkivet.se. Retrieved 22 A ...

, who together with Platten had helped plan the trip. The train journey then continued through northern Sweden and

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bot ...

back to Russia and

St Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

Platten participated in the foundation of the

, and, as a representative of the Swiss Communist Party, spent much time in the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

. Platten was present when Lenin’s car was attacked in

Petrograd Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

on 14 January 1918 (1 January O.S.). The two were riding in the back of the car after having given a public speech at

Mikhailovsky Manege Michael Manege (''Mikhailovsky manezh''; russian: Михайловский манеж) is the Neoclassical building of an early 19th-century riding academy in the historic center of Saint Petersburg, Russia. It was converted into an indoor spor ...

. When the shooting started "Platten grabbed Lenin by the head and pushed him down. ... Platten’s hand was covered in blood, having been grazed by a bullet as he was shielding Lenin." Fritz

Death

Platten became a victim of the

Stalinist purges The Great Purge or the Great Terror (russian: Большой террор), also known as the Year of '37 (russian: 37-й год, translit=Tridtsat sedmoi god, label=none) and the Yezhovshchina ('period of Yezhov'), was Soviet General Secreta ...

of the 1930s. He was arrested in 1938 and moved to a prison camp near

Nyandoma Nyandoma (russian: Ня́ндома) is a town and the administrative center of Nyandomsky District in Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia, located south of Arkhangelsk, the administrative center of the oblast. Population: History Nyandoma was founded in ...

in 1939, where he was shot on 22 April 1942.Kevin McDermott ''The Comintern: A History of International Communism from Lenin to Stalin'', 1996. Page 146. He was rehabilitated in 1956.

Personal life

Platten was married to Berthe Zimmermann (1902-1937), also from Switzerland. In 1935, she was a top functionary for the OMS in Moscow as head of the courier section at the OMS headquarters of the OMS or International Liaison Department, the most secret section of the Comintern.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Platten, Fritz 1883 births 1942 deaths People from St. Gallen (city) Social Democratic Party of Switzerland politicians Swiss communists Members of the National Council (Switzerland) Comintern people Swiss people executed abroad Prisoners who died in Soviet detention Great Purge victims Swiss expatriates in the Soviet Union Swiss revolutionaries Swiss people of German descent Executed communists