Siegfried Aufhäuser / Siegfried Aufhäuser: Trade Unionist, Politician, and Jewish Socialist. 1884–1969

An impressive biography marked by political struggle and persecution from the German Empire to the Federal Republic of Germany. Siegfried Aufhäuser is considered the most prominent representative of the free-trade union movement for white-collar workers. He was directly involved, often in a prominent position, in pivotal political events of 20th-century German history. For example, during the 1918/19 revolution, a central body of white-collar workers' councils was established under his leadership, and during the call for a general strike against the Kapp Putsch. As a member of the Reichstag and a leading trade union representative, he also participated passionately in the debates on possible countermeasures during the so-called Prussian coup and the appointment of Adolf Hitler as Chancellor. In May 1933, Siegfried Aufhäuser was forced to flee the German Reich. After periods of exile in Paris, Prague, London, and New York, he returned to West Berlin in 1951. His perspective as a left-wing social democrat, a political exile, and a Jewish remigrant testifies to the diverse lines of development of German democracy and the Jewish history of the workers' movement. Christian Zech traces Siegfried Aufhäuser's political life in its various facets, thereby opening up new perspectives on the trade union organization of white-collar workers, the history of social democracy, and approaches to the democratization of the economy.