Ernst Schwarz

Who was Ernst Schwarz?

Ernst Schwarz, was a Communist politician.

After attending high school, first in his hometown and then in Berlin, Schawrz attended the University of Grenoble, University of Bonn and Berlin, graduating with a doctorate. During the First World War, he briefly served as a soldier. He became involved with the labour movement in Chemnitz, following the November Revolution. He joined the SPD and was there during the suppression of the Kapp Putsch in 1920. Radicalised by the experience he moved to the USPD, accepting the post of district secretary in Kiel. By the end of the year he was with the KPD.

In early 1921, he was District Secretary for Hesse-Cassel, but went underground following the March Action. He was arrested in Berlin at the end of 1921 and was held prisoner in Kassel for several months. By October 1922, Schwarz was employed as a teacher in Berlin and served as a left-wing member of the party leadership for the district of Berlin-Brandenburg. When Ruth Fischer and Arkadi Maslow formed a left-wing party leadership, he became a full-time party functionary running the party organisation in Thuringia. In May, and again in December 1924, Schwarz was elected Reichstag deputy for the KPD.