This is Friedrich Puchta, a German social democratic politician, who stood up to the Nazis, and who deserves to be remembered more. I’ll post more info in the comments

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1. This my great-great-grandfather, Friedrich Puchta. He was a German social democratic politician. He was born in Hof (Saale) in 1883. Puchta joined the SPD, the Social Democratic Party of Germany, in the 1900s. He was drafted into the German military in 1915 and subsequently had to fight in WW1. He really didn’t enjoy that, which prompted him to leave the SPD and join USPD, which had formed from left-wing splinter groups of the SPD and was staunchly anti-war.

   After WW1, he became more active in politics. He was elected to the Reichstag in 1920. In 1922, he left USPD and rejoined SPD.

   He was a passionate social democrat and a staunch defender of worker’s rights. He also opposed the Nazis ardently.

   A few days before the parliamentary vote on the Enabling Act of 1933, which gave the Nazis complete control over German politics, Puchta, along with many of his colleagues, was taken into “protective custody”. They were held in the concentration camp Dachau for four months for no reason whatsoever. They were among the first to be brought to Dachau. After their release, most of Puchta’s colleagues fled the country, but he didn’t. Instead, he returned to Bayreuth, where he lived, and worked for an underground network that distributed anti-Nazi leaflets out of today’s Czech Republic.

   Their operation was uncovered in 1935. He was convicted of “conspiring to commit high treason against the Reich” and sentenced to two and a half years in prison. He served his sentence in Nuremberg and Munich. During that time, he was dehumanised and demeaned. His youngest son Erich was sent to a special school for mentally challenged children, even though he was just a normal child. It was all a way to put pressure on Puchta. Puchta’s grandson, Alfred, was also bullied and demeaned both by his peers and his teachers.

   After regaining his freedom, he still remained in Bayreuth. In 1944, after Stauffenberg’s attempt on Hitler’s life failed, the Nazis rounded up every remaining political opponent they knew of in the operation “Aktion Gewitter”. Puchta was arrested and sent to the concentration camp Dachau once more.

   At Dachau, he was once again demeaned, dehumanised and humiliated. For example, the Nazis treated him like cattle and had him pull carriages.

   Puchta, who was 61 years old by now, survived until the Nazis evacuated Dachau. He had to participate in death marches, and miraculously survived and lived to be liberated by American troops. He was in very bad shape though, and he died a few days later in a hospital in Munich on 17th May 1945.

   My brother and I are currently attempting to learn more about Friedrich Puchta. We’re in contact with the SPD, the city of Bayreuth, the memorial society of the concentration camp Dachau and a historian, who has been collecting on Puchta for decades. These are exciting times for us 🙂 so far we have collected a few images, lots of info and two letters to his wife, one written from prison in Nuremberg in 1935, and one written from Dachau in 1944.

   People should remember Puchta, which is why I’m posting this here. I keep expecting to find something bad about him, but so far I haven’t. He was an absolutely remarkable man!

   I’m pretty sure this post could be taken down by mods. I asked them if I could post it, but I received no response whatsoever, so I just went ahead with it. They might remove it tho. We’ll see.

   I feel like he needs to be remembered more, especially in Germany, so I’m posting this here.

2. Interesting topic, never heard of him. You should be proud of him, what a man! So sad he survived the horrors but died in freedom within days.

   Btw is Puchta Czech last name?

3. His last name sounds kinda Czech. Have never heard it before. Ty!