This article discusses ambiguous tactics of German Communist resisters in the Third
Reich. The official historiography of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) portrayed
Communist resisters as unfaltering heroes. By contrast, revisionist studies published after
1990 presented Communists as traitors and renegades. This study transcends these
approaches that revolve around legitimation or de-legitimation of the dictatorship, and
examines the dubious manoeuvring of three German Communists who strategically
collaborated with the Nazis, namely Theodor Bottländer, Friedrich Schlotterbeck and
Wilhelm Knöchel. While Knöchel’s attempts to outwit the Gestapo failed and could not
prevent his execution, Schlotterbeck and Bottl€ander found ways to survive - largely
without betraying their comrades. Even so, the Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands
(KPD), as well as its successor in the GDR, the Sozialistische Einheitspartei
Deutschlands (SED), reprimanded venturesome, inventive and obstinate Communists,
excluded them from the party and brought them to court. The harsh reactions are
indicative of the inability of Communist historiography to acknowledge ‘Eigen-Sinn’,
and highlight a central shortcoming of the antifascist doctrine. Likewise, more recent
revisionist approaches have failed to recognise various attempts of Communists to minimise
harm and survive in the grey zone between betrayal and loyalty.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:DRESDEN/oai:qucosa:de:qucosa:86355 |
| Date | 03 July 2023 |
| Creators | Grashoff, Udo |
| Publisher | Sage Publ. |
| Source Sets | Hochschulschriftenserver (HSSS) der SLUB Dresden |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion, doc-type:article, info:eu-repo/semantics/article, doc-type:Text |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
| Relation | 0022-0094 |
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