Background
Wilhelm Leuschner was born in Bayreuth on 15 June 1888.
Wilhelm Leuschner was born in Bayreuth on 15 June 1888.
An engraver by profession, Leuschner joined the SPD in his youth and became an active member of the trade union movement. From 1929 to 1933 he was SPD Minister of the Interior in Hesse.
In 1932 he was also appointed Deputy Chairman of the German Trade Union Association, a post he held until the Nazi seizure of power.
Arrested for the first time on 2 May 1933, Leuschner was sent to a concentration camp where he suffered torture at the hands of his SA guards. Following his release he began to organize clandestine trade union resistance to the Nazi regime. During World War II he worked closely with the circle around General Beck and Carl Goerdeler as the representative of the outlawed trade unions. Politically close to Claus von Stauffenberg, he would have been included in a future cabinet had the conspiracy against Hitler succeeded.
Arrested for his Resistance activities on 20 July 1944, Leuschner was sentenced to death by the People’s Court. He was hanged on 29 September 1944.