Germany at the turn of the XlX-XX centuries was an extremely politically unstable state, and after the defeat in the First World War, the situation only worsened, the contradictions between classes, political groups and parties intensified, and social tension reached its peak. In such a situation, issues of social equality, justice and proletarian solidarity came to the fore. One of the leaders of the labor movement in Germany was Ernst Thalmann, who became the leader of all German communists and faced Hitler himself in a fight.
Early years. Family
The biography of Ernst Thalmann is in many ways typical of a representative of the working class of the pre-war German Empire. Born into a mixed family of a coachman and a religious peasant woman, young Ernst had to work from the age of fourteen to support his family. Thälmann's early occupations include a packer, carrier, port worker.
The parents of the future communist did not have party affiliation, so you canto suggest that Thälmann drew his political views from the daily hard work and experience of his own oppressed position, which he probably thought about constantly. Hard work for meager pay probably contributed to the formation of class consciousness.
One of the most powerful experiences that befell the young Telman was separation from his parents and sister. Ernst's parents were charged with buying and selling stolen goods and sentenced to prison, while Ernst himself and his sister Frida were sent to state guardianship institutions, where his sister eventually died.
Youth. Unfulfilled dreams
After his release from prison, Ernst Thalmann's parents took up small business in the vicinity of the Hamburg port, they sold vegetables and hoped that their son would continue their business. However, Ernst had other plans for the future.
It is known that in the gymnasium he was good at natural science subjects, among which was mathematics. It is also known that from early childhood, Ernst Thalmann did not like religion, which may have been due to the excessive religiosity of his mother, a devout Protestant.
The dreams of young Ernst to go to university and become a school teacher were not destined to come true, as his parents refused to provide him with the necessary amount of money for education. Because of this, ten-year-old Ernst Thalmann was forced to go to work as an auxiliary worker in the port, where he met with the workers and took part in one of the strikes. This was his first contact with the German labor movement.
Life without parents
The independent life of the future revolutionary began in 1902, when the very young Ernst left his father's house and first lived in an orphanage, then in the basement, then he got a job as a stoker on a steamer that sailed along the route to New York, and thanks to this he visited in America.
Even a brief biography of Ernst Thalmann includes a mention that he was a member of the Socialist Party of Germany since 1903, which makes him one of the most consistent and devoted supporters of socialism in the country. And already in 1904, he joined the Trade Union of Trade Workers, where he was actively engaged in agitation for the all-German strike of port workers and supported Rosa Luxembourg in her desire to start a concerted resistance of the workers. In 1913, Ernst got a job as a coachman in a laundry, where he met his future wife and colleague, Rosa Koch.
Conscription
In 1915, Ernst Thalmann was called up for active military service, but before that he and Rosa managed to marry. Unlike many of his contemporaries, who were distinguished by pacifist views, Telman did not shy away from service and ended up on the Western Front, where he stayed until the end of the war. he was wounded twice.
According to the statements of the revolutionary himself, he participated in such significant battles as the battle of the Somme, Aisne, the battle of Cambrai. These words can be confirmed by military awards, including the Iron Cross of the second class, the Hanseatic Cross and the award forinjury.
In 1917, Ernst joined the Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany and, together with several party comrades, decided to desert from the front.
After the war
Since 1919, Thälmann was a member of the Hamburg Parliament, involved in helping the needy, and also found a well-paid job as a city inspector. However, he could not hold out for a long time in a new position, since his political activities caused dissatisfaction with his superiors. Telman was soon fired.
However, professional failures went hand in hand with successes on the political front. In 1920, the Jew Ernst Thalmann joined the Communist Party of Germany, and after a short time became one of the members of its Central Committee. Thälmann's political views were significantly influenced by his meeting with Vladimir Lenin, which took place at the 3rd Congress of the Comintern in Moscow in the summer of 1921.
However, not only government agencies were dissatisfied with the activities of Telman, but also his opponents from the nationalist party that was gaining strength. In 1921, a daring attack was made on his apartment - militants of the extreme right party threw a grenade through the window of the apartment. Fortunately, his wife and daughter were not hurt. Perhaps after this incident, Ernst Thalmann's dreams became restless, and his desire to continue on the chosen path became even more active.
Unsuccessful coup
Unwilling to put up withIn the current situation, Telman and his comrades in the Communist Party attempted a coup d'état, hoping to prevent the strengthening of the Nationalist Party. However, the coup failed, and the party members were forced to go underground. Despite the underground situation, Telman managed to go to Moscow in 1924 for the funeral of Lenin, at whose coffin he stood on guard of honor for some time.
In the same year he became a member of the Executive Committee of the Communist International, and later joined its governing committee. From that moment on, his career reached a new level, which made the inevitable clash between Ernst Thalmann and Hitler, who was gaining strength at that time in Germany.
Arrest and imprisonment
Simultaneously with the growth of Telman's popularity in Germany, the irritation of the leaders of the Nazi Party with his activities also grew. Thunder struck in 1933. On March 3, Thälmann and his secretary Werner Hirsch were detained by the police.
Thalmann's name was deleted from documents and slogans. He spent the next eleven years in solitary confinement, despite his wife's attempts to stand up for her husband.
Ernst Thalmann's sad end came in 1944, when he was transferred from solitary confinement to the Buchenwald camp prison, where he died and was cremated.
Faithful wife and friend
Throughout his life, in all the hardships and hardships, next to Telman was his faithful girlfriend and wife, who was him and his comrade-in-arms. They metwhen he worked as a coachman, and she worked as a simple laundress. However, over the long years of living together and fighting, both have come a long way, which became fatal for Ernst Thalmann, the coachman's son, and full of hardships for Rosa, the shoemaker's daughter.
Like her husband, nee Rosa Koch was not of noble origin. She was born into a shoemaker's family and, like Ernst, had to work from a young age to feed herself and help her family. The couple married in 1915 and had a daughter, Irma, four years later.
Following her husband's arrest, Rosa made a series of persistent efforts to obtain a commutation of his sentence. Once she even tried to send a letter with a request to Hermann Goering in one of the Berlin hotels. For a long time, Rosa Telman lived off the party budget, but after the arrest of the party courier at the border, the money stopped coming.
Rosa Telman and her daughter Irma spent several years in the Ravensbrück concentration camp, from which they were released only at the end of the war. After her release, Rose again returned to political activity and in 1950 became a deputy of the People's Chamber of the GDR.
A film about Ernst Thalmann
In 1955, a film dedicated to the great party member was shot in the GDR, directed by Kurt Metzig. The film was called "Ernst Telman - the leader of his class." The narrative covers the most eventful period in the life of a prominent communist figure, which begins with his anti-fascist speech in the Reichstag andends with death in a concentration camp.
Although Thälmann himself spent most of this time in prison, his comrades, among whom was also his wife, continued to fight the Nazis. Of course, he could not influence the course of events behind the walls of solitary confinement, but it is also obvious that his figure was a symbol of a stubborn and fruitful struggle against the Nazi Party and its prominent representatives.
Party comrades who remained at large fought for their leader not only in the heart of the Third Reich, but also on the fronts of the civil war in Spain and in the countries occupied by Germany.
Ernst Thalmann's biography is of great interest even today, as an example of hard work, courage and honesty, as well as loy alty to friends, family and ideals that were not betrayed even under pain of death.
