Theodor Leipart
Theodor Leipart | |
---|---|
Born | |
Died | 23 March 1947 |
Occupation | Trades union leader |
Political party | SPD SED |
Spouse | Maria Neher |
Children | 1 son |
Parent(s) | Ernst Alexander Leipart, Wilhelmine Charlotte Friederike Schmidt |
Theodor Leipart (17 May 1867 – 23 March 1947) was a leading
Life
Provenance and early years
Theodor Leipart was born into a Protestant family,[3] the seventh of his parents' twelve recorded children,[2] in Neubrandenburg, then in the eastern part of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, a grand duchy in the North German Confederation. Ernst Alexander Leipart (1831–1885), his father, was trained and had worked initially as a self-employed tailor specialising in women's dresses.[3] By the time Theodor was born, however, his father had a more itinerant job, travelling for the "Bettfeder-Reinigungs-Anstalt" (literally, "Bed-springs cleaning institution"). His mother, born Wilhelmine Charlotte Friederike Schmidt, was the daughter of a machinist. She travelled with her husband, possibly working with him on the bed-springs cleaning, while Leipart was brought up by his maternal grandparents in Neubrandenburg. It was here that he attended middle school and here, in 1881, that he was confirmed into the church. His schooling was made possible through funding from a local "syndikus" and brought him into contact, as he later recalled, with some excellent teachers. Looking back, he would speculate that it was this early experience of "solidarity between [middle and working] classes" that made him a "less radical" socialist than he might otherwise have become. Pride in his working-class background and loyalty to those class roots would nevertheless remain defining themes throughout his life.[2]
Between 1881 and 1885 he lived in Hamburg, training for work as a "Drechsler" (a skilled lathe operator working, at that time, almost exclusively with wood). He had wanted to train as a gardener, but two of his uncles were lathe operators, and had offered to take him on as a trainee without charge.[2] Having completed his training, in 1886 he joined the Social Democratic trades union movement. That year he was elected to the executive of the Hamburg section of the German Lathe-operators' Union ("Deutsche Drechslerverband").[3]
The Woodworkers' Union ("Holzarbeiterverband")
Over the next few years he held a succession of trades union appointments. In July 1893 the Lathe-operators' Union was merged into the newly formed Woodworkers' Union ("Holzarbeiterverband"), which had its national head office, till 1919, in
Württemberg Landtag
As
Allgemeiner Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund ("General German Trades Union Federation" / ADGB)
His brief parliamentary career had never been more than a sideline. The real focus for Leipart's talents and interests remained the trades union movement. Alongside his friend and comrade
That same year he was appointed vice-president of the International Federation of Trade Unions (IFTU). Between 1921 and 1925 he belonged to the executive council ("Verewaltungsrat") of the International Labour Organization (ILO). In addition, he continued to serve as chair of the National Economic Council and in a succession of other trades union related institutions. He also founded "Die Arbeit" (literally, "Work"), a trades union monthly news magazine which appeared between 1924 and 1933.[3]
Between 1922 and 1933, as leader of Germany's trades union movement, Leipart earned plaudits for the skill and patience with which he was able to integrate hitherto opposed groupings and works councils. He advanced in practical ways the concept of economic democracy and he was an eloquent advocate for trades union autonomy and responsibility. He was never a man for confrontation, preferring to apply compromise and flexibility in response to changing political currents and shifting power balances. The strategy worked very well during the early years of the
Responding to political crises
1932 was a year of
The failure of the mainstream parties to gain a parliamentary majority among themselves, combined with their refusal to enter into coalition with Nazis or Communists, meant that during 1932
Twelve years later, after the Nazi nightmare had run its course, it was put to Leipart that he should have reacted to the
Theodor Leipart was a few months short of his sixty sixth birthday when the Nazis took power, and during the next twelve years he lived, for the most part, quietly in Berlin, and was seen to be politically inactive.
Nazi years
The independent trades unions were outlawed on 2 May 1933 and quickly crushed. Theodor Leipart was among those arrested and taken into "protective custody". He was subjected to physical abuse. An eye-witness later recalled, "Leipart's personal courage was beyond question. I was present at one of the Nazi torture chambers in 1933.
Final years
During the twelve Nazi years Leipart was able to remain discreetly in touch with comrades from the old days, notably Wilhelm Leuschner, Jakob Kaiser und Hermann Schlimme. The old comrades were "of one mind, that after the Hitler catastrophe and the devastation of a second 'world war', there should no longer be any place for political or ideological divisions between trades unions, but that only unity could be the order of the day in order to cope with the immensity of the tasks ahead.[2]
The merger that created the SED was enacted in April 1946 through a ballot of party members from both the parties affected. Campaigning was not always friendly. Because he lived in the US sector Leipart was spared from the full impact of the "Soviet grip" ("Zugriff der Sowjets« ") which he might have expected from canvassers if he had lived in Berlin's Soviet sector, "although the comrades attempted to collect the completed ballot paper from me in my apartment" ("obwohl die Genossen versuchten, bei mir in der Wohnung den ausgefüllten Stimmzettel abzuholen"). In order to unify the political left, he was prepared to join the merged party, but he had not been able to bring himself to vote for the party merger that created it, thereby replacing - if only in what later became East Germany - the old Social Democratic Party.[2]
By March 1947 there were still plenty of former comrades who remembered
Reflection
Irrespective of how some of his individual judgements may be viewed, it must be concluded that as a "democrat out of principle" and a social democratic trades unionist, Theodor Leipart made a lasting contribution to the democratic and social security of wage earners in the capitalist context of his time. That provided a solid foundation for further trades union advances after the Second World War. However, if he is to be evaluated in terms of his socialist objectives, striving for equality and freedom for individuals, and the "people's solidarity" ("Volksganze"), then since he was basing his aspirations on a supposedly neutral state, he failed because of the underlying political realities of the time. That the creation of the SED failed to create a unified labour movement would have been a final disappointment, but he was spared from that by the timing of his death.[2]
References
- ^ a b Joachim Hoffmann (8 December 2000). "Theodor Leipart- Porträt eines Gewerkschaftsführers". Neues Deutschland. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Ulla Plener (April 1997). "Theodor Leipart (1867-1947) Persönlichkeit – Handlungsmotive – Lebensbilanz" (PDF). Utopie kreativ, H. 78. Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung: Gesellschaftsanalyse und politische Bildung e. V., Berlin. pp. 67–78. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Heinrich Potthoff (1985). "Leipart, Theodor: Gewerkschaftsführer, * 17.5.1867 Neubrandenburg (Mecklenburg), † 23.3.1947 Berlin-Zehlendorf. (evangelisch)". Neue Deutsche Biographie. pp. 150–151. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
- ^ "Theodor Leipart: May 17, 1867 - May 23, 1947". Gedenkstätte Deutscher Widerstand, Berlin. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
- ^ Sassenbach, Johannes (1926). Twenty-five years of international trade unionism. Amsterdam: International Federation of Trade Unions. p. 115–116.
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- ^ "Die Gräber der Sozialdemokraten .... Theodor Leipart 7.5.1867 Neubrandenburg-23.3.1947 Berlin". Zentralfriedhof Friedrichsfelde. Förderkreis Erinnerungsstätte der deutschen Arbeiterbewegung Berlin-Friedrichsfelde e.V. Retrieved 26 April 2018.