Karl Plättner
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Karl Plättner (3 January 1893 – 4 June 1945) 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 ...
, militant social revolutionary and author.


Biography


Youth and education

Karl Robert Plättner was born into poverty in , a village part of
Ballenstedt Ballenstedt is a town in the Harz district, in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. Geography It is situated at the northern rim of the Harz mountain range, about 10 km (6 mi) southeast of Quedlinburg. The municipal area comprises the vi ...
, on the northern edge of the
Harz The Harz (), also called the Harz Mountains, is a highland area in northern Germany. It has the highest elevations for that region, and its rugged terrain extends across parts of Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia. The name ''Harz'' der ...
mountains. He was the first of seven children to labourers David Friedrich Gustav Plättner and Friederike Helmholz. In 1905, the family moved to
Thale Thale () is a town in the Harz (district), Harz district in Saxony-Anhalt in central Germany. Located at the steep northeastern rim of the Harz mountain range, it is known for the scenic Bode Gorge stretching above the town centre. Geography The ...
, where Plättner's father had found work at the local
ironworks An ironworks or iron works is an industrial plant where iron is smelted and where heavy iron and steel products are made. The term is both singular and plural, i.e. the singular of ''ironworks'' is ''ironworks''. Ironworks succeeded bloome ...
. After completing elementary school and an apprenticeship in an iron foundry he worked as a metal caster. He was immediately politically active and at the age of 15 was already in trouble with the authorities, arrested for "offensive behaviour" and sentenced to a fine of 45 Mark and 15 days in jail. After a three-year apprenticeship Plättner, as was usual at the time, went on a journeyman's travels (Wanderschaft), eventually settling in Hamburg-
Wandsbek Wandsbek () is the second-largest of seven Boroughs and quarters of Hamburg#Boroughs, boroughs that make up the city and state of Hamburg, Germany. The name of the district is derived from the river Wandse which passes through here. Hamburg-Wandsb ...
towards the end of 1912, where he found work in a small factory serving the shipbuilding industry. He joined the SPD and soon became a leader of the Hamburg- Altona SPD Youth Federation and a member of the Hamburg party executive. At the outbreak of 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 ...
he distanced himself from the nationalist politics of the SPD leadership.


Political development

Plättner was conscripted into the 66th Infantry Regiment in Magdeburg and transported to the Western Front in October 1914. In autumn of the following year he suffered a bullet wound and was discharged as unfit for service at the end of that year. With three injured fingers he had to give up his career as a metal caster and worked until 1917 as a clerk with the Allgemeine Ortskrankenkasse (AOK) health insurance company. He continued to agitate against the war and was active in the underground proletarian youth movement. In February 1917 he took over as editor of the newspaper “Proletarier Jugend” and, together with other radicals such as Johann Knief of Bremen, organized meetings of socialist youth in northern Germany, engaging energetically to set up the Linksradikalen (left radicals) party . In September 1917 he was arrested for treasonable activities and held in remand. After being postponed many times his trial was set for 20 November 1918 but Plättner was released from jail after the outbreak of the November Revolution. Immediately upon release Plättner and his comrades worked closely with
Otto Rühle Karl Heinrich Otto Rühle (; 23 October 1874 – 24 June 1943) was a German Marxist active in opposition to both the First World War, First and Second World Wars as well as a Council communism, council communist theorist. Early years Otto was ...
to establish the
International Communists of Germany International Communists of Germany (Internationalen Kommunisten Deutschlands; IKD) was a Communist political grouping founded in November 1918 during the German Revolution. The small party was, together with the better known Spartacist League, on ...
(IKD), which tried but failed to move the Dresden Workers’ and Soldiers’ Council in a revolutionary direction against the Majority SPD. At the end of December 1918 Plättner took part in the founding conference 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 Spartakusbund) as a delegate of the IKD's
Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...
branch. In January 1919 Plättner became chairman of the KPD's north-western region. After the proclamation of the Bremen Council Republic on 10 January 1919 he had no position in the leadership, but was a member of the Workers’ and Soldiers’ Council. He demanded that for each Spartakist killed, a leader of the SPD should be killed in revenge. After the Bremen Council Republic was defeated on 4 February 1919 he had to flee to Berlin.


Militant revolutionary commander

In March 1919 Plättner took part in the armed uprising by the working class in Berlin and, in consequence, was detained in jail from September to November 1919. He then spoke as a KPD agitator in
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 March and April 1920 he also took part in the armed uprising following the
Kapp Putsch The Kapp Putsch (), also known as the Kapp–Lüttwitz Putsch (), was an abortive coup d'état against the German national government in Berlin on 13 March 1920. Named after its leaders Wolfgang Kapp and Walther von Lüttwitz, its goal was to ...
. Following the opportunist turn of the KPD at the party's second (Heidelberg) conference, Plättner became a founding member of the anti-parliamentary Communist Workers' Party of Germany (KAPD) in April 1920. From mid-1920 he led and organized a group carrying out robberies of banks, post offices and collieries following the Marxist slogan of "expropriation of the expropriators". During the
March Action The March Action ( or , i.e. "The March battles in Central Germany") was a failed communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communi ...
of 1921 in Central Germany Plättner, together with Max Hoelz was one of the leading militant leaders of insurrectionary workers. After the failure of the uprising, he tried to redirect the struggle towards clandestine actions and robberies. The KPD distanced itself from this mode of struggle, which it characterized as Bakuninism". According to the assessment of the Reichskommissar for Public Order, Plättner was the actual leader and organizer of the "Supreme Action Committee of the KAPD" which was "in practice, a criminal gang". He was arrested on 3 February 1922 and held under high security at Halle district court jail, where he was strictly isolated from fellow prisoners.


Imprisonment and "Eros in Prison"

After a long legal process Plättner was sentenced to ten years‘ imprisonment and transferred to Brandenburg jail on 12 December 1923. While in prison he made a declaration to the KPD renouncing his earlier practice of guerrilla warfare and individual expropriations as "criminality disguised as romanticism" and "politically pointless, morally dangerous". Following his release in 1928, Plättner returned to the KPD. The publication of his book ''Eros im Zuchthaus. Eine Beleuchtung der Geschlechtsnot der Gefangenen'' (Eros in Prison. An Analysis of the Sexual Distress of Convicts) caused a sensation. Plättner discussed, with great frankness for the times, topics such as masturbation, homosexuality and the situation of pregnant women in prison. The inspiration for this work was "Eros im Stacheldraht" (Eros behind Barbed Wire) by Hans Otto Henel (1926), a collection of stories illustrating the sexual frustrations of front-line soldiers during the First World War.
Magnus Hirschfeld Magnus Hirschfeld (14 May 1868 – 14 May 1935) was a German physician, Sexology, sexologist and LGBTQ advocate, whose German citizenship was later revoked by the Nazi government.David A. Gerstner, ''Routledge International Encyclopedia of Queer ...
and Felix Abraham of the Institut für Sexualwissenschaft in Berlin wrote the foreword to Eros im Zuchthaus, advocating matrimonial visits to lessen sexual tension in prisons.
Friedrich Lichtneker Friedrich may refer to: Names *Friedrich (given name), people with the given name ''Friedrich'' *Friedrich (surname), people with the surname ''Friedrich'' Other *Friedrich (board game), a board game about Frederick the Great and the Seven Years' ...
, author and dramatist at the Vienna Volkstheater, wrote a play of the same name, which was first performed at an unknown venue on 23 November 1929. It was later produced at the Lobe and Thaliatheater, Breslau by Max Oppenheimer. The book was also mentioned in the opening credits of the 1928 film "Geschlecht in Fesseln" (Sex in Chains) directed by
William Dieterle William Dieterle (July 15, 1893 – December 9, 1972) was a German-born actor and film director who emigrated to the United States in 1930 to leave a worsening political situation. He worked in Cinema of the United States, Hollywood primarily a ...
. In March 1922 Plättner's partner, Gertrud Gaiewski, gave birth to their son shortly after her own release from prison.Ullrich, p. 147. Plättner's book was translated and published in English as "Eros in Prison" in 2019 by Ed Walker.


Buchenwald and death

Plättner developed into an opponent of
Stalinism Stalinism (, ) is the Totalitarianism, totalitarian means of governing and Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union (USSR) from History of the Soviet Union (1927–1953), 1927 to 1953 by dictator Jose ...
but gradually withdrew from political activity. Despite this he was arrested early on during the
Third Reich 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 was interned at the
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 ...
. In January 1944 he was transferred to
Majdanek concentration camp Majdanek (or Lublin) was a Nazi concentration and extermination camp built and operated by the SS on the outskirts of the city of Lublin during the German occupation of Poland in World War II. It had three gas chambers, two wooden gallows, ...
. Towards the end of the war, he was sent to labour camps in Austria. Weakened and sick, Karl Plättner died in
Freising Freising () is a university town in Bavaria, Germany, and the capital of the Freising (district), with a population of about 50,000. Location Freising is the oldest town between Regensburg and Bolzano, and is located on the Isar river in ...
shortly after liberation, while trying to return home. His body was interred in the Nagelberg War Cemetery in the Franconian town of
Treuchtlingen Treuchtlingen () is a town in the Weißenburg-Gunzenhausen district, in Bavaria, Germany. It has a population of around 12,000. History The spot where the town is situated was first settled by Celts, Roman Empire, Romans and Franks. The town prope ...
, Bavaria.


Works

* ''Das Fundament und die Organisierung der sozialen Revolution'', Magdeburg 1919 / Republished by Karin-Kramer-Verlag in 1973 as ''Die soziale Revolution''. * ''Gefangen. 30 politische Juli-Amnestierte berichten über ihre Erlebnisse in deutschen Zuchthäusern'' / Edited and introduced by Karl Plättner, Berlin: Mopr-Verlag, 1928. * ''Der mitteldeutsche Bandenführer'', Berlin: Asy-Verlag, 1930. * ''Eros im Zuchthaus. Sehnsuchtsschreie gequälter Menschen nach Liebe. Eine Beleuchtung der Geschlechtsnot der Gefangenen, bearbeitet auf der Grundlage von Eigenerlebnissen, Beobachtungen und Mitteilungen in achtjähriger Haft''. Foreword by
Magnus Hirschfeld Magnus Hirschfeld (14 May 1868 – 14 May 1935) was a German physician, Sexology, sexologist and LGBTQ advocate, whose German citizenship was later revoked by the Nazi government.David A. Gerstner, ''Routledge International Encyclopedia of Queer ...
and Felix Abraham,
1. Edition: Mopr-Verlag, Berlin 1929;
2. Edition: Witte, Hannover 1930.


Film

Karl Plättner was credited as a researcher for the film: * ''Geschlecht in Fesseln. Die Sexualnot der Strafgefangenen'' (Sex in Chains) by
Wilhelm Dieterle William Dieterle (July 15, 1893 – December 9, 1972) was a German-born actor and film director who emigrated to the United States in 1930 to leave a worsening political situation. He worked in Hollywood primarily as a director for much of his ...
, 1928.


Literature

*
Volker Ullrich __NOTOC__ Volker Ullrich (born 21 June 1943) is a German historian and journalist. Career Volker Ullrich was born in Celle, Lower Saxony, Germany.
: ''Der ruhelose Rebell – Karl Plättner 1893–1945''; München 2000; . * ''Plättner, Karl''. In: Hermann Weber, Andreas Herbst: ''Deutsche Kommunisten. Biographisches Handbuch 1918 bis 1945.'' Karl Dietz Verlag, Berlin 2008, . * Karl Plättner: ''Eros in Prison'' – Translated and introduced by Ed Walker 2019 .


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Plättner, Karl 1893 births 1945 deaths German communists Communist Workers' Party of Germany politicians German male writers German people who died in Buchenwald concentration camp German Army personnel of World War I People from Ballenstedt