Ernst Torgler

Berlin 1933 -B33- Communist Party of Germany

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History: Torgler was born the son of an urbanite in Berlin, where he attended school from 1904 to 1907. In 1907, he joined the Association of Apprentices and Juvenile Workers of Berlin. From 1909 to 1925, Torgler held a variety of different jobs, working most notably as a salesman and accountant. Torgler got his start in politics in 1910 when he joined the Social Democratic Party of Germany. While serving in the military during World War I, Torgler became a member of the Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany in 1917. In 1920, Torgler joined the Communist Party of Germany when the USPD merged with the KPD. A year later, Torgler became a town councillor in Berlin-Lichtenberg (a position he held until 1930) and got elected to the Reichstag in December 1924 as a member of the KPD.

Torgler subsequently became deputy chairman of the KPD Reichstag faction in 1927 and chairman in 1929, a position which made him one of the most powerful members of the party. From 1932 to 1933, Torgler published the KPD Reichstag news-sheet “The Red Voter” with Wilhelm Pieck.

Recent Events: Herr Torgler was recently taken into custody by the Gestapo when that group took control of the building at Prinz-Albrecht-Straße 8.

Events Soon to Occur: Torgler’s political career will end in February 1933, however, when the Reichstag is set on fire. Against the wishes of the KPD leadership, Torgler voluntarily hands himself over to the police on February 28 (the day after the fire) when Hermann Göring issues a warrant for his arrest. Torgler is kept in custody without being charged until July 1933, at which time he is charged with arson and treason. Torgler and his fellow defendants are tried from 21 September to 23 December, after which time Torgler will be acquitted due to a lack of evidence against him.

Should the Time-line Remain Stable: Following the Reichstag fire trial, Torgler will be placed into “protective custody” by the police until 1935. The KPD leadership (now in Brussels as a result of being persecuted by the Nazis) subsequently strippes Torgler of his party membership and leadership positions as a result of his surrender to the police. After he is release, he lives just outside Berlin, under a pseudonym and works for the Gestapo. In 1938, Torgler works for the company Electrolux, during which time he is carefully watched by the SD.

In June 1940, Torgler begins working for the Nazi Propaganda Ministry. In 1941, after Nazi Germany invades the Soviet Union, Torgler ironically works on anti-Bolshevik propaganda at the behest of Joseph Goebbels. Later that year, Torgler works in Czechoslovakia on the staff of Reinhard Heydrich. In 1944, after the 20 July Plot against on Adolf Hitler, an arrest warrant will be issued for Torgler, who is still working for the propaganda ministry. Torgler, by his own account, is only spared from being arrested due to his boss vouching for his loyalty. Following this incident, Torgler will work in Poland until being transferred by the Nazis to the town of Bückeburg where he will work in the town’s administration.

After World War II, he is de-nazified and lands a job with the administration of Bückeburg, with the help of the US Army. During those hard times, Torgler manages to keep himself in a well-paid position. Torgler angrily dismisses charges that he had willingly cooperated with the Nazis. He tries to join the communist party but will be rejected. In 1949, he will become a member of the SPD and in 1950 he will move to Bückeburg, where he will drift into obscurity. He dies in Hanover in 1963.

His Son: Torgler's son, Kurt Torgler will act as a witness on behalf of his father at the 1933 counter-trial in London that will be organized by the German Communist Party concerning the Reichstag fire. In 1935 he will go to the Soviet Union. There he will be arrested by the NKVD in 1937 and sent to a labor camp. After the Hitler-Stalin-Pact of 1940, he will be handed back to the German government. He becomes a translator in the army and dies on the Eastern Front in 1943 at the age of thirty.