Meta Preuß
Meta Preuß (born Meta Kroll; 18 January 1903 – 25 December 1981) was a German politician (KPD, SED). In November 1930 she was elected one of seven Communist Party members in the Parliament ("Volkstag") in the quasi-independent Free City of Danzig.[1]
It is not clear from sources when her first marriage, which took place in 1924 and was to Hermann Totzki, ended, but on account of that marriage, sources relating to her career during the 1920s and 1930s sometimes identify her as Meta Totzki.
Life
Meta Kroll was born into a working-class family in
On 16 November 1930 she was elected to the Danzig parliament (Volkstag). The communists received 10.2% of the votes cast in the election, which placed them in fifth place and entitled them to 7 places in the 72 seat assembly. (The composition of the chamber was dominated by the Social Democrats with 25.2% of the vote and the Nazis with 16.4%.) Although the party had 7 seats, the Communist group in the Volkstag was dominated by three of them: Anton Plenikowski, Helene Kreft and Meta Totzki herself.[3]
During June 1931 she attended a training at the
Slightly more than three weeks later, on 26 May 1934, the Chief of Police Hellmut Froböß issued a decree which had the effect of dissolving the
Meta Totzki was released in November 1935 because of an amnesty. She next sold advertising space for a still semi-legal communist newspaper in Danzig. In June 1936 she fled to Warsaw where, for some of the time, she was able to support herself by working at the Soviet embassy. In September 1938 she emigrated to Sweden where she joined the growing group of exiled German communists.[1]
She returned at the start of June 1946. Much had changed during and following the
Meta Preuß died on Christmas Day, 1981.[1]
Awards and honours
- 1968 Patriotic Order of Merit in bronze
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h Hermann Weber; Andreas Herbst. "Preuß (Totzki), Meta * 18.1.1903, † 25.12.1981". Handbuch der Deutschen Kommunisten. Karl Dietz Verlag, Berlin & Bundesstiftung zur Aufarbeitung der SED-Diktatur, Berlin. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
- ISBN 978-0-203-84847-0.
- ISBN 978-3-89861-388-0, p. 175.
- ^ ISBN 3-8012-4054-1, p. 73.
- ^ "Verfolgung und Widerstand in Sangerhausen 1933-1945". Flugschrift Nr. 5. September 2010.
{{cite journal}}
: Cite journal requires|journal=
(help)