Alfred Lemmnitz

Who was Alfred Lemmnitz?

Alfred Lemmnitz was East Germany's National Education Minister.

Lemmnitz was born in Taucha, Saxony and completed training as a typesetter and studies in economics at the University of Leipzig. From 1927 to 1931, he was a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany and youth leader of the Socialist Worker Youth in Moers. In 1931, he switched to the Communist Party of Germany and joined the Communist Youth League of Germany, becoming leader of the KJVD subdistrict of Duisburg-Hamborn.

In 1933, after the Nazis had seized power, he was working illegally for the KPD and ended up in "protective custody" many times. From October 1933 until 1936, he was at Börgermoor and Esterwegen concentration camps, and until 1937 in pre-trial custody in Duisburg. He was sentenced by the Volksgerichtshof to one year and nine months in prison, released from custody, and banished from the Ruhr area.

In April, Lemmnitz emigrated to the Netherlands, where he became a member of the KPD leadership in Amsterdam. After the Wehrmacht marched into the Netherlands, he was once again arrested and then sentenced by the Volksgerichtshof to ten years in labour prison.