Barbara Schack (; 20 September 1874 – 27 October 1958) was a

Sudeten German German Bohemians ( ; ), later known as Sudeten Germans ( ; ), were ethnic Germans living in the Czech lands of the Bohemian Crown, which later became an integral part of Czechoslovakia. Before 1945, over three million German Bohemians constitu ...

politician who served in the from 1933 until 1935. A member of the German Social Democratic Workers' Party, she led the

women's wing A women's wing, sometimes also known as a women's group or women's branch, is an auxiliary or independent front or faction within a larger organization, typically a political party, that consists of that organization's female membership or acts to ...

of the party for the entire

Interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period, also known as the interbellum (), lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days) – from the end of World War I (WWI) to the beginning of World War II ( ...

Biography

Barbara Schack was born on 20 September 1874 in

Cheb Cheb (; ) is a town in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 33,000 inhabitants. It lies on the Ohře River. Before the Expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia, expulsion of Germans in 1945, the town was the centre of the G ...

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

, then part of

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

. A

, Schack's public career began in 1895 when she co-founded the Women's Workers' Education Association in Cheb and

Kraslice Kraslice (; ) is a town in Sokolov District in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 6,400 inhabitants. It was a large and important town until World War II. It is known for the manufacture of musical instruments. Administrat ...

. She later became a prominent member German Social Democratic Workers' Party (DSAP) in the far-western portion of

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 ...

. From 1918 until 1938, she chaired the party's

, and at some point was a member of the Cheb town council. In the

1929 Czechoslovak parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Czechoslovakia on 27 October 1929.Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p471 The Republican Party of Farmers and Peasants, emerged as the largest party, winning 46 s ...

, Schack was elected to the as the substitute for

Anton Jarolim Anton may refer to: People *Anton (given name), a list of people with the given name *Anton (surname), a list of people with the surname Places *Anton Municipality, Bulgaria **Anton, Sofia Province, a village *Antón District, Panama **Antón, ...

. She was one of two female DSAP senators elected in the

, alongside

Anna Perthen Anna Perthen (22 December 1866 – 11 December 1957) was a Czechoslovak politician. In 1920 she was one of the first group of women elected to the Senate, remaining in parliament until 1925. Biography Perthen was born Anna Nickel in Jílové in B ...

. Jarolim died in office and Schack was sworn-in to replace him on 26 May 1933. During her tenure, she gave two recorded speeches; occurring in 1933 and 1934, both speeches were about the Budget and Finance Acts for the following years. Schack left office at the end of her term in 1935. Following the German annexation of the

Sudetenland The Sudetenland ( , ; Czech and ) is a German name for the northern, southern, and western areas of former Czechoslovakia which were inhabited primarily by Sudeten Germans. These German speakers had predominated in the border districts of Bohe ...

in 1938, Schack was arrested by the

Nazi regime Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...

and imprisoned for five months. In 1946following the end of World War II – she was deported to Germany, settling in the town of Moosburg an der Isar in

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

. Schack died in Moosburg on 27 October 1958. Her husband was Josef Engelbert Schack, a shoe upper manufacturer who died in the 1950s. Their son Emil Schack was a musician who joined the ''

Sturmabteilung The (; SA; or 'Storm Troopers') was the original paramilitary organisation under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party of Germany. It played a significant role in Adolf Hitler's rise to power, Hitler's rise to power in the 1920s and early 1930s. I ...

'' in 1942, becoming the leader of a musician platoon.

References

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Schack, Barbara 1874 births 1958 deaths People from Cheb People from Austria-Hungary Sudeten German people German Social Democratic Workers' Party in the Czechoslovak Republic politicians Members of the Senate of Czechoslovakia (1929–1935) Czechoslovak women in politics Czechoslovak emigrants to West Germany Victims of post–World War II forced migrations