Frieda Rosenthal

Frieda Schrinner, a qualified seamstress, married Richard Rosenthal in 1916 and worked in a clothing factory during the First World War. Then she became a welfare worker for the local authorities in Lichtenberg, which was still an independent town at the time. In 1919, she joined the USPD and was elected to Lichtenberg council in 1920. She went over to the KPD in the same year. In 1924, she was elected to the Berlin-Brandenburg KPD district leadership. Later she was put in charge of women's education and training. In 1927, she was charged with insulting President Hindenburg following a denunciation. She was accused of saying to the Lichtenberg assembly that pictures were still hanging in many schools from the time when Hindenburg was still a mass murderer. She denied the allegations, saying: I did not intend to attack the person of the current president. In my capacity as a district councillor I exercise the right to criticize the pre-revolutionary era. I merely wanted to make an observation about the times. In February 1930, she signed a declaration opposing the Stalinist course of the KPD leadership under Ernst Thälmann. She was dismissed from the party and joined a group of independent communists. Later, she joined the SPD and then the SAP. In June 1933, she was dismissed as a welfare worker by Mitte district council. After 1933, she worked with former members of the KPD in the local resistance but their cooperation was strained by mutual mistrust stemming from their previous political differences. On 19.8.1936, Rosenthal was arrested, questioned and physically abused. Proceedings were initiated against her and other members of her resistance group for planning high treason. Despite the extreme pressure she was under during her repeated questioning, the minutes record her frequently saying I refuse to incriminate my co-workers. After being questioned on 15.10.1936 she wrote in her cell: To the Director of the Regional Court, I am certain I incriminated somebody wrongly today because of my poor memory for people. She hanged herself the same night.

Frieda Rosenthal was a city councillor; 1924 nominated for election (KPD); 1925 nominated for election (KPD)/Constituency 14 Lichtenberg (KPD); 1926 – 1928 Constituency 14 Lichtenberg (KPD); 1929 Constituency 14 Lichtenberg (KPD)/Constituency 6 Kreuzberg (KPD); 1930 Constituency 6 Kreuzberg (KPD/independent); 1931 Constituency 6 Kreuzberg (independent/SPD); 1932 – 1933 Constituency 6 Kreuzberg (SPD)