Franz Jacob

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Franz Jacob (9 August 1906 – 18 September 1944) was an activist and a Communist politician who participated in the German Resistance against the Nazis. Jacob grew up in a Social Democratic Party family but aged 19 he joined the Communist Party. He worked as a longshoreman during numerous periods of his life, often organising his fellow workers. In 1932 at the age of 26, Jacob became a member of the Hamburg Parliament. In 1933, the Nazis came to power and the Reichstag was burned down, an event that was blamed on the Communists. Hitler pushed through the Reichstag Fire Decree, which withdrew civil liberties and enabled the Nazis to arrest anyone they deemed to be an enemy, and in effect, outlawed all other political parties in Germany. By the end of April 1933, the Nazis had arrested 18,000 Communists and Jacob was forced underground. He was arrested in August 1933 in Berlin and sent to prison, where he was tortured and, in 1934, was sentenced to three years hard labor. In 1940, Jacob was released and joined the resistance. In he, Jacob was involved in the 20 July plot to assassinate Hitler. The group were denounced by an informer and when Jacob and others arrived at the appointed place, they were caught by the Gestapo. Jacob was sentenced to death and executed on 18 September 1944.