Kurt Schumacher (HM6)

Kurt (officially Curt) Ernst Carl Schumacher (* October 13th, 1895 in Culm, West Prussia) is a former German Politician of the SPD.
In the First World War he had volunteered; in December 1914 he was severely wounded, so his right Arm had to be amputated. He received the Iron Cross for his service.
After the war, he made his Ph.D. in Laws and started working for the Reichsarbeitsministerium (Ministry of Labor). He lived in Stuttgart after finishing his studies.
In 1930, he was elected for the first time into the German Reichstag. As an opponent of the Nazis, he went farther than many other Democrats dared to, e.g. by stating on February 23rd, 1932: "Die ganze nationalsozialistische Agitation ist ein dauernder Appell an den inneren Schweinehund im Menschen." (The whole national-socialist Agitation is a continuous appeal to the inner swine in human beings.) and stated the had been uniquely successful in "ceaselessly mobilizing human stupidity". His party's comrades never let him make a great career. In fact, this speech was the only one they ever allowed him to make in the Reichstag.
On July 6th in 1933, about two Weeks after the SPD had been forbidden, Schumacher was arrested in . Since he refused to sign that he wouldn't be politically active anymore, he was sent to a concentration camp. The Nazis there tormented him with purposeless tasks - he had to carry heavy rocks up a hill and down again (being one-armed!). He still stayed away from the Communists, which he called "rotlackierte Doppelausgabe der Nationalsozialisten" (carbon copy of the Nazis painted red).
Category:Government and Politics (HM6)
Category:Kurt Schumacher
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