DDR241 : 1956 - 1 value DDR 'Ernst Thälmann, leader of the Communist Party KDP'

Ernst Thälmann 1886-1944

He was the leader of the Communist Party of Germany (KDP) and he doubled his electorate in four years, reaching 6 millions of voters in 1932. He was opposed to Staline when the Nazism increased and he was arrested in March 1933. An extensive campaign for his liberation was relieved internationally by the antifascist movement. Thälmann's figure became a symbol of German resistance in general, in particular of the Communist resistance.

After a long stay in the State prison of Bautzen, he was unexpectedly transferred to the concentration camp of Buchenwald on 17 August 1944 and he was executed the following day as a result of the death-warrant of Adolf Hitler.

After the end of the Second World War, his memory was honored. Various monuments were built by the authorities of the GDR, they gave his name to lots of streets still relevant today and lots of postage stamps were issued with his head of.