Hans Vogel

Hans Vogel (February 16, 1881 - October 6, 1945) was a German politician and chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) along with Arthur Crispien and Otto Wels from 1931 to 1933. After the NSDAP came to power in 1933, he became one of the leaders of the social democratic exile organization Sopade.

After attending the "Volkshochschule" in Fürth, Vogel, the son of a merchant and shoemaker, complete an apprenticeship as wood sculptor assistant in 1897. He joined the trade union for wood sculptors as soon as 1897. He worked in various parts of Germany. He was board member of a social democratic electoral association in Fürth from 1907 to 1911. From 1908, Vogel worked as secretary of the precinct organization of the party. From 1912 to 1918 he was a member of the Bavarian "Landtag". He supported the "Burgfrieden" politics of his party, i.e. the support of German war efforts and giving up the anti-militarist stance at the begin of World War I, because he viewed this as his patriotic duty. Thus he also served in World War I served as radio operator in the 105th Division.

After the war and the German revolution, Vogel was a member of the German National Assembly, which wrote the Weimar Constitution, he would remain a member of the "Reichstag" until June of 1933. After becoming a member of the caucus of the SPD in 1920, he was elected secretary of the party in 1927. In 1931, he became chairman along with Arthur Crispien and Otto Wels.

After the "Machtergreifung" in January of 1933 Vogel went to Saarbrücken at first because it was at the time administrated by the League of Nations. But on June 2, he moved on to Prague, which he left for Paris in 1938. There he helped build up the Sopade, of which he was the sole chairman after Wels's death in 1939.

After World War II, he was not able to help with re-building the SPD. In Fürth the street "Hans-Vogel-Straße" is named after him.

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