Albert Norden (4 December 1904 – 30 May 1982) was a German

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

politician.

Early years

Albert Norden was born in Myslowitz,

Silesia Silesia (see names #Etymology, below) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at 8, ...

on 4 December 1904, one of the five recorded children born to the liberal rabbi (1870–1943) and his wife, Emilie Meseritz/Norden (1876–1931). In 1919, he joined the

Young Communist League of Germany The Young Communist League of Germany (, abbreviated KJVD) was a political youth organization in Germany. History The KJVD was formed in 1920 from the Free Socialist Youth () of the Communist Party of Germany, A prior youth wing had been formed ...

. The following year, 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 ...

. From 1923 onwards, he held editorial positions in various communist publications. Between 1931 and 1933, he was the editor of ''

Rote Fahne ''Die Rote Fahne'' (, ''The Red Flag'') was a German newspaper originally founded in 1876 by Socialist Worker's Party leader Wilhelm Hasselmann, and which has been since published on and off, at times underground, by German Socialists and Commun ...

'' ('Red Flag').Amos, Heike.
Politik und Organisation der SED-Zentrale 1949–1963: Struktur und Arbeitsweise von Politbüro, Sekretariat, Zentralkomitee und ZK-Apparat
'. Diktatur und Widerstand, Bd. 4.

Münster Münster (; ) is an independent city#Germany, independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a ...

: Lit, 2003, pp. 547–48.

In exile

In 1933 Norden emigrated to

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. He also spent time in exile in

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and

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

. In 1938, he returned to France. Norden was detained in France 1939–1940. In 1941, he was able to emigrate to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, his father died in the

Theresienstadt concentration camp Theresienstadt Ghetto was established by the SS during World War II in the fortress town of Terezín, in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia ( German-occupied Czechoslovakia). Theresienstadt served as a waystation to the extermination c ...

. In exile in

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and

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he worked with various popular front publications. He wrote some chapters, dealing with the international linkages of the German NSDAP, in the widely read 1933 '' Braunbuch über Reichstagsbrand und Hitlerterror'' ('Brown Book on

Reichstag Fire The Reichstag fire (, ) was an arson attack on the Reichstag building, home of the German parliament in Berlin, on Monday, 27 February 1933, precisely four weeks after Adolf Hitler was sworn in as Chancellor of Germany. Marinus van der Lubbe, ...

and Hitler Terror'). In 1940, he married Herta Fischer (1908–1990), and their son, Johnny, was born in October 1942. In October 1946 he returned to

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, where he became editor of the weekly ''Deutschlands Stimme'' ('Voice of Germany').

Political career in East Germany

In 1949, he was assigned as head of the Press Section of the Information Department of Ministerial Council of the German Democratic Republic, working under

Gerhart Eisler Gerhart Eisler (20 February 1897 – 21 March 1968) was a German politician, editor and journalist. Along with his sister Ruth Fischer, he was a very early member of the Austrian German Communist Party (KPDÖ) and then a prominent member of the ...

. In December 1952, he was purged from his position in the Press Department, but obtained a professorship at

Humboldt University The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public university, public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III of Prussia, Frederick W ...

.Herf, Jeffrey.
Divided Memory: The Nazi Past in the Two Germanys
'.

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

: Harvard University Press, 1997, p. 170. In 1954, he became director of the National Council of the National Front for a Democratic Germany. He would also become director of the Committee for German Unity. In 1955, he became a member of the Central Committee of the

Socialist Unity Party of Germany The Socialist Unity Party of Germany (, ; SED, ) was the founding and ruling party of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) from the country's foundation in 1949 until its dissolution after the Peaceful Revolution in 1989. It was a Mar ...

(SED). He was elected as one of the secretaries of the Central Committee. In 1958 he became a member of the

Politburo A politburo () or political bureau is the highest organ of the central committee in communist parties. The term is also sometimes used to refer to similar organs in socialist and Islamist parties, such as the UK Labour Party's NEC or the Poli ...

of the party. Norden served as head of the Agitation Committee of the Politburo, 1955–67. He was in-charge of the Information & Foreign Department of the Politburo until 1979. In 1958, he became a member of the ''

Volkskammer The Volkskammer (, "People's Chamber") was the supreme power organ of East Germany. It was the only branch of government in the state, and per the principle of unified power, all state organs were subservient to it. The Volkskammer was initia ...

'' (People's Chamber, the parliament of the GDR). In 1960 he became the head of the 'West Commission'. In June 1965 Norden suggested that regional elections in the German Democratic Republic should be open for alternate candidates. In 1963, Norden became a member of the National Defense Council, a post he held until 1979. In 1976 he became a member of the State Council. In April 1981, the then ailing Norden was left out of the Central Committee and Politburo at the 10th SED party congress. In the same year he left the ''Volkskammer'' and State Council positions.

Brown Book

After the war Norden argued in several publications, articles and speeches that there was a direct continuation between the Hitler and Adenauer governments. In 1965 the National Front published a work by Norden, '' Braunbuch'' ('Brown Book'), in which he accused over 1,900 politicians, state officials and other prominent persons in

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

of having worked for the Nazi regime in the past. The book became a reference in the West German

New Left The New Left was a broad political movement that emerged from the counterculture of the 1960s and continued through the 1970s. It consisted of activists in the Western world who, in reaction to the era's liberal establishment, campaigned for freer ...

, which increasingly had begun to question the official historiography on the Nazi period.Herf, Jeffrey.
Divided Memory: The Nazi Past in the Two Germanys
'.

: Harvard University Press, 1997, pp. 182–5.

Religious identity

Norden was born into a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

petty bourgeois ''Petite bourgeoisie'' (, ; also anglicised as petty bourgeoisie) is a term that refers to a social class composed of small business owners, shopkeepers, small-scale merchants, semi-autonomous peasants, and artisans. They are named as such ...

family, the son of a

rabbi A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...

.Timm, Angelika.
Jewish Claims against East Germany: Moral Obligations and Pragmatic Policy
'.

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

: Central European University Press, 1997. p. 61 As an adult, Norden declined to identify himself as a Jew. He was however, one of the most prominent persons of Jewish origin in East German society.Ó Dochartaigh, Pól.
The Portrayal of Jews in GDR Prose Fiction
'. Amsterdamer Publikationen zur Sprache und Literatur, 126.

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

: Rodopi, 1997. p. 14

References

External links

The thugs of Europe (1942) - a pamphlet on the Third Reich
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Norden, Albert 1904 births 1982 deaths People from Mysłowice Politicians from the Province of Silesia Jewish German politicians Jewish socialists Communist Party of Germany politicians Members of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany Members of the State Council of East Germany Members of the Provisional Volkskammer Members of the 3rd Volkskammer Members of the 4th Volkskammer Members of the 5th Volkskammer Members of the 6th Volkskammer Members of the 7th Volkskammer Academic staff of the Humboldt University of Berlin Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United States Recipients of the National Prize of East Germany Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit in gold