Anton Plenikowski (19 November 1899 – 3 March 1971) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

communist politician of the

Free City of Danzig The Free City of Danzig (; ) was a city-state under the protection and oversight of the League of Nations between 1920 and 1939, consisting of the Baltic Sea port of Danzig (now Gdańsk, Poland) and nearly 200 other small localities in the surrou ...

and

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

Biography

Plenikowski was born in

Zoppot Sopot (; or ) is a seaside resort city in Pomerelia on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea in northern Poland, with a population of approximately 40,000. It is located in Pomerania Province and has the status of county – the smallest city in ...

, then a

town on the country's "North Sea" coast. He served in the

German Army The German Army (, 'army') is the land component of the armed forces of Federal Republic of Germany, Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German together with the German Navy, ''Marine'' (G ...

World War I 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 ...

and became a member of the Soldier's and Workers' council of Breslau in 1918. After the war he worked as a teacher in Zoppot. He was a member of the municipal parliament of Liessau (1925–28) and the district parliament of ''Landkreis Großer Werder'' (1926–1930). In 1926 he joined the

Social Democratic Party of the Free City of Danzig The Social Democratic Party of the Free City of Danzig () was a political party in the Free City of Danzig. After the creation of the Free City of Danzig in 1919, the Danzig branch of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) separated itself f ...

and the Communist Party in 1927. He represented the Communist Party in the

Volkstag The Volkstag (English: ''People's Diet'') was the parliament of the Free City of Danzig between 1919 and 1939. After World War I Danzig (Gdańsk) became a Free City under the protection of the League of Nations. The first elections to a const ...

parliament in 1928-1937, at times as leader of the Communist group in it. He was dismissed from public service in

1933 Events January * January 11 – Australian aviator Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand. * January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independen ...

. After the ban on the Communist Party on 28 May 1934 by the Nazi Government, it continued to run in the 1935 Volkstag elections as "List Plenikowski". In 1937 he emigrated to

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. In 1940-1941 he was detained at the Smedsbo prison camp. After his release, he settled down in

Uppsala Uppsala ( ; ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the capital of Uppsala County and the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inhabitants in 2019. Loc ...

. From 1943 onwards he was involved in the

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

branch of the KPD. Plenikowski returned to Germany in 1946. He joined 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) and worked in various positions in the SED administration. Plenikowski was 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 ...

in 1950-1967, candidate to the Central Committee of the SED (1954–1967) and head of the office of the council of ministers (1956–1963). Plenikowski died in the

East Berlin East Berlin (; ) was the partially recognised capital city, capital of East Germany (GDR) from 1949 to 1990. From 1945, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet occupation sector of Berlin. The American, British, and French se ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Plenikowski, Anton 1899 births 1971 deaths People from Sopot People from West Prussia Social Democratic Party of Germany politicians Communist Party of Germany politicians Candidate members of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany Members of the Provisional Volkskammer Members of the 1st Volkskammer Members of the 2nd Volkskammer Members of the 3rd Volkskammer Members of the 4th Volkskammer German Army personnel of World War I Free City of Danzig politicians German expatriates in Sweden Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit in gold Recipients of the Banner of Labor