
Max Hoelz (14 October 1889 – 15 September 1933) was a German
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, a ...
, most known for his role as a 'Communist Bandit' in the
Vogtland
Vogtland (; cz, Fojtsko) is a region spanning the German states of Bavaria, Saxony and Thuringia and north-western Bohemia in the Czech Republic. It overlaps with and is largely contained within Euregio Egrensis. The name alludes to the forme ...
region.
Early life
Hoelz was born the son of a day labourer
[Kuhn, G. (eds) ''All Power to the Councils! A Documentary History of the German Revolution of 1918-1919'', Oakland: PM Press pg.279] and emigrated to Britain in 1905 to become a mechanic.
[Broue, P. (2006) ''The German Revolution 1917-1923'', Chicago: Haymarket pg.970]
Hoelz served in the German Army during the
World War I
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, ...
but was wounded and worked on the railways.
Towards the end of the war he was working in a reinforced concrete construction company near
Mulhouse
Mulhouse (; Alsatian: or , ; ; meaning ''mill house'') is a city of the Haut-Rhin department, in the Grand Est region, eastern France, close to the Swiss and German borders. It is the largest city in Haut-Rhin and second largest in Alsace af ...
in
Alsace
Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it ha ...
where he received news that his wife in Vogtland was ill, leading him to travel back to Falkenstein with soldiers returning from the front, amongst whom he helped form the Falkenstein
Workers' and Soldiers' Council
A workers' council or labor council is a form of political and economic organization in which a workplace or municipality is governed by a council made up of workers or their elected delegates. The workers within each council decide on what thei ...
on 9 November 1918.
[Hoelz pp. 280-1] However, he was shortly forced out of the council by his co-chair Sturl, a
USPD
The Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Unabhängige Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, USPD) was a short-lived political party in Germany during the German Empire and the Weimar Republic. The organization was establis ...
member, but despite this he joined the USPD and got a job selling subscription to their new journal for the Vogtland, ''Vogtlandische Volkszeitung''.
[Hoelz p. 281] Hoelz went on to found the local branch of the
Communist Party of Germany
The Communist Party of Germany (german: Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands, , KPD ) was a major political party in the Weimar Republic between 1918 and 1933, an underground resistance movement in Nazi Germany, and a minor party in West German ...
(KPD) in Falkenstein in Spring 1919 and became a leader of the unemployed in the town.
[Hoelz p. 282]
During the
Kapp Putsch
The Kapp Putsch (), also known as the Kapp–Lüttwitz Putsch (), was an attempted coup 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 undo th ...
Hoelz helped form a Red Army in Vogtland.
[Hoelz pp. 285-6] However the activities of his mobile detachment consisting of sometimes as many as 200 armed men caused dismay to the KPD leaders, and soon
Heinrich Brandler
Heinrich Brandler (3 July 1881 – 26 September 1967) was a German communist, trade unionist, politician, revolutionary activist, and political writer. Brandler is best remembered as the head of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) during the party ...
of the Chemnitz KPD ensure he was expelled from the party. As the
Communist Workers Party of Germany
The Communist Workers' Party of Germany (german: Kommunistische Arbeiter-Partei Deutschlands; KAPD) was an anti-parliamentarian and left communist party that was active in Germany during the time of the Weimar Republic. It was founded in April 1 ...
(KAPD) was at that time bringing together former KPD activists who were disillusioned with the moderate politics of the KPD leadership, he soon joined them, finding himself more at home amongst their ranks.
In the aftermath of the crushing of the
Ruhr Red Army, the Vogtland was surrounded by 50,000 government troops and Hoelz led his army to the border with
Czechoslovakia
, rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי,
, common_name = Czechoslovakia
, life_span = 1918–19391945–1992
, p1 = Austria-Hungary
, image_p1 ...
where they were surrounded by the Reichswehr.
[Hoelz p. 291] The Red Army split up into detachments to avoid the ''Reichswehr'' and Hoelz was eventually arrested in Czechoslovakia and then deported to Austria.
[Hoelz p. 295]
After returning to Vogtland in late 1920, Hoelz organised a band of around 50 men equipped with arms and bicycles to try and free those detained after the Kapp Putsch.
[Hoelz p. 296] The first bombing he organised was of the Falkenstein Rathaus on 6 March 1921 and others targeted courthouses throughout Germany.
[Hoelz pp. 296-7]
Later in his 1929 autobiography ''From the White Cross to the Red Flag'' he regretted taking part in these attacks,
"It was a serious political error to approve, and sometimes even take part, in raids on bank buildings, post offices, etc. by expropriation squads. These funds flowed into the hands of the then leaders of the KAPD
The Communist Workers' Party of Germany (german: Kommunistische Arbeiter-Partei Deutschlands; KAPD) was an anti-parliamentarian and left communist party that was active in Germany during the time of the Weimar Republic. It was founded in April 1 ...
, thus fulfilling a political purpose by financing the printing of newspapers and leaflets. Only a small part was used over the years to help comrades who were living illegally in various parts of Germany. Unfortunately, the proletarian relief organization Rote Hilfe Deutschland (Red Aid Germany) did not exist at that time."[Walker p. 118]
March Action
Hoelz was one of the leaders of armed groups during the
March Action
The March Action ( German "März Aktion" or "Märzkämpfe in Mitteldeutschland," i.e. "The March battles in Central Germany") was a 1921 failed Communist uprising, led by the Communist Party of Germany (KPD), the Communist Workers' Party of Germ ...
in the
Mansfelder district and ended up on trial in Berlin in May 1921 where he was sentenced to life imprisonment.
[Hoelz pp. 299-302]
File:Bundesarchiv Bild 119-2303B, Märzkämpfe, Eisenbahnattentat.jpg, Wrecked train, Ammendorf
Ammendorf/Beesen is a suburb to the south of the city of Halle, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It consists of the formerly independent villages of Ammendorf and Beesen.
History
The first evidence of a settlement of the area date from the Neolithic perio ...
, Central Germany
Later life

He was released by an amnesty in 1928 and moved to the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
where he remained critical of Communist Parties of Germany and the Soviet Union as well as of the Comintern as a whole. His request to return to Germany was turned down.
He drowned in the
Oka River
The Oka (russian: Ока́, ) is a river in central Russia, the largest right tributary of the Volga. It flows through the regions of Oryol, Tula, Kaluga, Moscow, Ryazan, Vladimir and Nizhny Novgorod and is navigable over a large part of ...
near
Nizhny Novgorod
Nizhny Novgorod ( ; rus, links=no, Нижний Новгород, a=Ru-Nizhny Novgorod.ogg, p=ˈnʲiʐnʲɪj ˈnovɡərət ), colloquially shortened to Nizhny, from the 13th to the 17th century Novgorod of the Lower Land, formerly known as Gork ...
on 15 September, 1933.
Honors and awards
References
Sources
*Hoelz M. ''From the "White Cross" to the Red Flag'' in Kuhn, G. (eds) "All Power to the Councils! A Documentary History of the German Revolution of 1918-1919", Oakland: PM Press
*Walker E. (ed) ''The German Robin Hood. Soldier, revolutionary and political prisoner: The extraordinary life of Max Hoelz'' 2019
External links
Short biography on Libcom.org*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoelz, Max
1889 births
1933 deaths
Communist Party of Germany politicians
Communist Workers' Party of Germany politicians