Hans Rietz

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Biography

Hans Max Willy Rietz was born on 11 September 1905 in Berlin-Wedding, Germany. His parents are the metalworker Louis Wilhelm Karl Rietz and Margarethe Auguste Wilhelmine Klein. They married on April 22, 1905 just a few months before their son was born. The family lived in Berliner Straße 41 (today: Karl-Marx-Straße) in the Neukölln district of Berlin. Hans was ten years old when World War I broke out, at fourteen he saw the abdication of Emperor Wilhelm II. and the surrender of the German Empire.

Because his mother had an affair with the printer Max Ströhmer, Hans' father Louis sued for divorce in 1920. Hans' mother Margarethe was found guilty of adultery and the marriage was divorced on December 2, 1920. His mother and Hans then moved to Max Ströhmer's place at Münchener Straße 53 (today: Flughafenstraße) in Neukölln. Just a few months later, on June 21, 1921, Margarethe married Max Ströhmer. At age 16, Hans began an apprenticeship as a telecommunication technician.

Hans was an active member of a cycling club, where in 1925 he met his future wife Margarete Erna Smuda. She was the daughter of Gustav Smuda and Elsa Klück. Margarete was two years younger than Hans and lived at her mother's place in the Neukölln Berthelsdorfer Straße. When their first child Ingeburg Gerda was born on February 3, 1928, they still lived seperately. That's why Margarete's mother Elsa raised the little child. In the same year they got a little place to live in the Berlin suburb of Eggersdorf. Their daughter Ingeburg stayed in Berlin. It was there in Eggersdorf, when the second child Sonja Margarete was born on November 25, 1929. About two years later, on February 23, 1932 Hans and Margarete married.

Same as his stepfather Hans was also a Communist. The emerging National Socialists threatened the life of different-minded people such as Hans. Therefore, he moved with his family from the little village of Petershagen into the anonymity of the City of Berlin. They first lived in Lessingstraße 12 (today: Morusstraße), later in Sackführerdamm 48 (today: Aronsstraße) in Berlin-Neukölln. Their third child Willi Max was born on February 18, 1933.

Just a few days later, in the night from February 27 to 28, the Berlin Reichstag was set on fire. Like many other Communists, Hans Rietz was arrested by the Gestapo Secret Police and stayed imprisoned for several weeks.

Until today it is a mystery why the non-religious couple baptised its children. Possibly Hans thought, that the Nazis would not persecute Christian families. However, their fourth child Christel Ruth, who was born on October 8, 1936, was not baptised anymore. On March 18, 1938, the fifth child Wolfgang Werner was born.

One year later, World War II began and so did the the bombing of Berlin. On March 11, 1942, the youngest child Waltraud Doris was born. The air raids destroyed the neighbour house in Sackführerdamm, thus the family tried to leave the city. Hans Rietz was sent to work in Hungary. Nevertheless, his wife Margarete fled to Märzdorf (today: Marcinki in Poland) in the German-occupied territories of Poland together with her children, her sister Ottilie and nephew Manfred. There, the family got a room to rent from a farming family.

In the last days of World War Two Hans was drafted to the Volkssturm. When the Russians arrived at Berlin he cheerfully ran to them still wearing his German soldier's uniform. He became arrested immediately and was sent to War Captivity in Siberia, Russia. He later was transferred to Polish War Captivity, where he had to work in a mine. He was released from War Captivity in 1948.

After his return Hans was employed as electrician at the East German Reichsbahn. Still living in his appartement in the West-Berlin Neukölln district but working in East Berlin caused problems: His salaries were paid off in East German mark, which was worth less than the West German Deutsche Mark. He couldn't afford paying his rent in West German mark so he has asked East Berlin authorities for help getting an appartement in the then Allied occupied city's Eastern sector, but they disagreed and forced him to stay in West Berlin "abusing" him for their propaganda which ought to show the cruelty of West German capitalism. A few years after his stepfather Max Ströhmer died, Hans and Margarete finally were allowed to move to East Germany in 1955 to live together with his mother in her house in Erkner. Even though he was treated that bad by the East German communist regime he stuck to his radical communist attitude and eventually became known as "der Rote Rietz" (the red Rietz) in his neighbourhood.

Hans died on 29 June 1988 in Rüdersdorf.

Quellen / Sources

• Berliner Adressbuch 1896-1943: unter Benutzung amtlicher Quellen. Berlin: Scher 1896-1943.

• Bickel, S.: Erinnerungen. Interview geführt von Daniel Schewe. Erkner, 12.08.2013.

• Landgericht II Berlin: Urteil im Prozess Louis Rietz gegen Margarethe Rietz, geb. Klein. Archivalienkopie. Herausgeber: Landesarchiv Berlin. Signatur: P Rep. 351 Nr. 534. Berlin, 03.05.2013.

• Preußisches Standesamt Petershagen: Familienstammbuch Hans Rietz. Petershagen, 23.02.1932.

• Standesamt Berlin 11: Geburtsurkunde Hans Max Willy Rietz. Nr. 2365/1905. Hrsg.: Standesamt Mitte von Berlin. Berlin, 04.06.2012.

• Standesamt Rüdersdorf: Sterbeurkunde Hans Willi Max Rietz. Nr. 200/1988. Rüdersdorf, 04.06.2013.