Levi, Paul |
| POLITICIAN, LAWYER (GERMANY) |
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BORN 11 Mar 1883, Hechingen, Baden-Württemberg - DIED 9 Feb 1930, Berlin: Lützowufer CAUSE OF DEATH fall from window GRAVE LOCATION Stahnsdorf, Brandenburg: Wilmersdorfer Waldfriedhof, Bahnhofstraße 2 (Feld A I-Familienstelle 25 (left of the entrance)) |
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Paul Levi was the son of a wealthy Jewish merchant. In 1906 he started working as a lawyer in Frankfurt am Main and in the same year he joined the Social Democratic Party. He was a member of the left wing, like Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg. He defended Rosa Luxemburg twice after she was prosecuted because of anti militarism. He was forced to enter the army and sent to the Vosges. After starving himself he was discharged in 1916. He went to Switzerland where he knew Lenin. In 1918 he returned to Berlin and he was one of the founders of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) in December 1918. After Rosa Luxemburg, Karl Liebknecht and Leo Jogiches were all killed in 1919 he became the chairman of the KPD. During the time of the right-wing Kapp Putsch in 1920 he was imprisoned. Later in 1920 he presided over the German delegation to the 2nd World Congress of the Communist International in Moscow. In 1921 he resigned as chairman of the KPD. After he criticized KPD policies in his pamphlet "Unser Weg" he was expelled. Lenin initially tried to bring him back on board but changed his mind after Levi continued to criticize the KPD. After he rejoined the SPD he was elected to the Reichstag in 1924. He died in 1930 in Berlin. Related persons • was a friend of Luxemburg, Rosa |
| Images |
 The grave of Paul Levi at the Wilmersdorfer Waldfriedhof, Berlin. Picture by Androom (13 Nov 2004) |
Sources • Paul Levi - Wikipedia (EN) |
