Otto Schumann
* 1888

Otto Schumann was born on 5 Nov. 1888 in Magdeburg-Buckau. Initially, he attended the eight-grade elementary school (Volksschule) in his hometown and subsequently learned the trade of molder.

Otto Schumann took up residence in Hamburg even before the First World War. The active labor unionist joined the German Social Democratic Party (SPD) as early as 1907, at the age of 19. In 1908, he found employment with the Blohm & Voss shipyard.

Following the First World War, which Schumann spent as a soldier on the western front, he held a position as a functionary in the “Union of Molders and Foundry Workers” (“Gewerkschaft der Former und Giessereiarbeiter”) in Hamburg and after 1925 also in the Social Democratic “Banner of the Reich” (“Reichsbanner”), where he served as an auditor. In addition, he headed the “Neustadt” district of the German Social Democratic Party (SPD).

Schumann practiced the molder’s trade until 1926. Afterward, he changed jobs to become a salaried employee at the employment office, working as a placement officer, in the very end at the “Nordmark” regional employment office.

Otto Schumann won a seat in the Hamburg City Parliament during the “disaster elections” (“Katastrophenwahlen”) in 1931. The increase of the Communist parliamentary party from 27 to 35 members and that of the Nazi party (NSDAP) from 3 to 43 members rendered the City Parliament unable to govern in light of the blocking minority of the radical parties that existed henceforth. This constellation forced the coalition senate comprised of the SPD, German State Party (Deutsche Staatspartei – DStP), and German People’s Party (Deutsche Volkspartei – DVP) to fall back on the emergency decree legislation. Thus, in Hamburg, too, the economic crisis and mass unemployment had resulted in the radical parties being able to unhinge parliamentarianism. Under these circumstances, it was barely possible for Schumann to set any trends as a new deputy and to become active in shaping politics. Due to the numerous motions by the National Socialists and the Communists, solely aiming at propaganda effects, issue-related work was no longer feasible anyway. The new elections taking place in Apr. 1932, in which Schumann once again gained a seat, did not bring any change in the ongoing constitutional state of emergency.

Otto Schumann barely distinguished himself as a speaker for his party. He dedicated himself to work in the committees, devoting his attention to, among other things, questions of transport policy. The Social Democratic member of parliament lost his seat in connection with the “forcible coordination” (“Gleichschaltung”) of the Hamburg City Parliament at the end of Mar. 1933.

From the very beginning, Schumann ranked among the critics of the strict course of legality followed by the SPD party leadership. Under the circumstances of dictatorship, he did not deem it sufficient to do opposition work from the “basis of legality.” When the party assets were seized on 10 May 1933, the day the “forcibly coordinated” Hamburg city parliament convened, Schumann ultimately realized that the time had come to organize illegal party work. Since he deemed a party ban inevitable, he joined members of the parliamentary group and district leaders in advocating abandonment of the previous tactic of keeping a low profile. He rejected the “willingness to engage in practical cooperation,” announced by Hans Podeyn [a Hamburg SPD politician] as late as the day on which the city parliament went into session.

Following his departure from the Hamburg city parliament, Schumann was hit by the Nazis’ “purge” of the civil service in 1933: Immediately after the ban of the SPD, the Social Democrat was dismissed from the civil service based on the so-called “Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service” (“Gesetz zur Wiederherstellung des Berufsbeamtentums”). Shortly afterward, he started a business of his own operating a laundry.

Schumann maintained contact with former fellow party members and was involved in the attempts at building up an illegal party organization, carried in particular by functionaries of the mid-level organizational tier. Under the direction of Schumann’s fellow party member and former colleague in the parliamentary party, Walter Schmedemann, it was possible to cover the individual SPD districts and coordinate them in terms of personnel. For his part, Schumann headed the “Hamburg-Neustadt” district for some time.

In keeping with the guidelines of the Social Democratic leadership in exile (“Sopade”), attempts were made to do political informational and educational work. For instance, this involved distributing newspapers smuggled in from abroad and brochures with political content produced under innocuous titles. The “Schmedemann Group” regarded another focus of their illegal work to be the so-called “prisoner welfare.” By collecting dues and monetary donations smuggled into Germany from abroad, it became possible to provide financial support for needy relatives of political prisoners. In this context, Otto Schumann’s assignment was coordinating the collection and distribution of the funds. It was Schumann who organized a room at a female acquaintance’s place for the illegal meetings that he himself attended on a regular basis. In Oct. 1934, the Gestapo smashed the “Schmedemann Group” and Otto Schumann, too, was arrested. In Nov. 1934, the Hamburg Higher Regional Court (Oberlandesgericht) sentenced him to a 21-month prison term.

Little is known about Schumann’s political activities following his release from prison. Some evidence suggests that he continued to participate in illegal political work. Immediately after the assassination attempt [against Hitler] on 20 July [1944], Otto Schumann was arrested in the course of the so-called “Operation Thunderstorm” (“Aktion Gewitter”) and taken to the Neuengamme concentration camp.

At the end of Apr. 1945, when the “evacuation” of Neuengamme began in the face of imminent capitulation, Otto Schumann was among the approx. 10,000 prisoners sent on the death march to the ships CAP ARCONA and THIELBEK lying in the roads in the Bay of Lübeck. During a raid of British fighter planes on numerous ships in the Bay of Lübeck on 3 May 1945, aimed at preventing the escape abroad of German war criminals, the CAP ARCONA and the THIELBEK were attacked as well, killing 7,000 prisoners, including Otto Schumann.

To commemorate Otto Schumann, streets in Lohbrügge and Ahrensburg were named after him.

Translator: Erwin Fink
Kindly supported by the Hermann Reemtsma Stiftung, Hamburg.