# Erich Kops > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Erich_Kops > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Erich_Kops.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erich_Kops > Source revision: 1353382492 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Infobox officeholder |name = Erich Kops |image = |alt = |caption = |birth_date = {{Birth date|1905|01|20}} |birth_place = [Jena](/source/Jena), [German Empire](/source/German_Empire) |death_date = {{Death date and age|1961|05|28|1905|01|20}} |death_place = [Dresden](/source/Dresden), [German Democratic Republic](/source/German_Democratic_Republic) |other_names = |known_for = |office1 = Ambassador of the [German Democratic Republic](/source/German_Democratic_Republic) to [Hungary](/source/Hungarian_People's_Republic) |term_start1 = 1949 |term_end1 = 1951 |predecessor1 = ''position established'' |successor1 = [Stefan Heymann](/source/Stefan_Heymann) |awards = [Patriotic Order of Merit](/source/Patriotic_Order_of_Merit), in bronze (1959) |alma_mater = [International Lenin School](/source/International_Lenin_School) |party = [Socialist Unity Party of Germany](/source/Socialist_Unity_Party_of_Germany) (1946–)
[Communist Party of Germany](/source/Communist_Party_of_Germany) (1923–1946)
[Social Democratic Party of Germany](/source/Social_Democratic_Party_of_Germany) (1922–1923) |module = {{Infobox military person | embed = yes | embed_title = Military Service | allegiance = {{flagicon|Spain|1931}} [Second Spanish Republic](/source/Second_Spanish_Republic) | branch = [Spanish Republican Army](/source/Spanish_Republican_Army) | service_years = 1937–1939 | unit = {{Tree list}} * [35th Division](/source/35th_Division_(Spain)) ** [XII International Brigade](/source/XII_International_Brigade) *** [Thälmann Battalion](/source/Th%C3%A4lmann_Battalion) {{Tree list/end}} | rank = | awards = | battles = [Spanish Civil War](/source/Spanish_Civil_War) }} }} '''Erich Ernst Kops''' (January 20, 1905 – May 28, 1961) was a German politician, diplomat, and [Holocaust survivor](/source/Holocaust_survivors). == Life == Erich Kops was born on January 20, 1905, to a working-class family in [Jena](/source/Jena); his father was a metalworker.{{Cite web |year=2008 |title=Kops, Erich |url=https://www.bundesstiftung-aufarbeitung.de/de/recherche/kataloge-datenbanken/biographische-datenbanken/erich-kops |access-date=2024-10-16 |website=bundesstiftung-aufarbeitung.de |publisher=[Federal Foundation for the Reappraisal of the SED Dictatorship](/source/Federal_Foundation_for_the_Reappraisal_of_the_SED_Dictatorship) |language=de}} In 1922, he joined the [Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD)](/source/Social_Democratic_Party_of_Germany). In Jena, he became chairman of the ''{{ill|Sozialistische Arbeiter-Jugend|de}}'' (trans. Socialist Workers' Youth) for [Thuringia](/source/Thuringia). In August 1923, he left both the SAJ and SPD; joining the [Communist Party of Germany (KPD)](/source/Communist_Party_of_Germany). Kops then became chairman of the [Young Communist League of Germany (KJVD)](/source/Young_Communist_League_of_Germany) in Thuringia.{{Cite book |last=Kachel |first=Steffen |title=Ein rot-roter Sonderweg? Sozialdemokraten und Kommunisten in Thüringen 1919 bis 1949. |publisher=Böhlau Verlag |year=2011 |isbn=978-3412205447 |location=[Cologne](/source/Cologne) |language=de |trans-title=A red-red special path? Social Democrats and Communists in Thuringia 1919 to 1949}} Party leadership considered him to be associated with the [left communist](/source/Left_communism) faction of the party. In October 1924, Kops was arrested; he was sentenced to two years in prison in [Leipzig](/source/Leipzig) at the end of 1925 for "preparing for high [treason](/source/treason)" but was released shortly afterwards due to an amnesty. From 1925 to 1928, he worked in the youth section of the ''[Roter Frontkämpferbund](/source/Roter_Frontk%C3%A4mpferbund)''. Between 1928 and 1929 he attended the [International Lenin School](/source/International_Lenin_School) in [Moscow](/source/Moscow), after which he became local editor of the "Neue Zeitung" newspaper in Jena.{{Cite book |last=Weber |first=Hermann |title=Deutsche Kommunisten. Biographisches Handbuch 1918 bis 1945 |last2=Herbst |first2=Andreas |publisher=Karl Dietz Verlag |year=2008 |isbn=978-3-320-02130-6 |edition=2nd |location=[Berlin](/source/Berlin) |language=de |trans-title=German Communists: Biographical Handbook 1918 to 1945}} After the [Nazi Party](/source/Nazi_Party) seized power in 1933, Kops joined the [underground resistance against Nazism](/source/German_resistance_to_Nazism). Government crackdowns forced him to emigrate to [Czechoslovakia](/source/Czechoslovakia) in 1934. In Czechoslovakia, Kops assisted with the smuggling of [anti-fascist](/source/Anti-fascism) literature into the [German Reich](/source/Nazi_Germany). In 1935, he went to the [Soviet Union](/source/Soviet_Union) and worked there as a machine fitter. In 1937, he enlisted in the [International Brigades](/source/International_Brigades), and fought in the [Spanish Civil War](/source/Spanish_Civil_War) as an officer in the [Thälmann Battalion](/source/Th%C3%A4lmann_Battalion). Following the conclusion of the Spanish Civil War, he was interned in France, along with many other members of the Thälmann Battalion. In 1943, [Vichy French](/source/Vichy_France) authorities handed Kops over to the Nazi authorities. He was transferred to [Sachsenhausen concentration camp](/source/Sachsenhausen_concentration_camp), where he would remain until the conclusion of the [Second World War](/source/World_War_II).{{Cite book |last=Koch |first=Heinz |title=Das deutsche Buchenwaldkomitee. Die Periode von 1945 bis 1958 |last2=Wohlfeld |first2=Udo |publisher=Prager-Haus Apolda |year=2010 |isbn=978-3-935275-14-9 |location=[Weimar](/source/Weimar) |language=de |trans-title=The German Buchenwald Committee: The period from 1945 to 1958}} In 1945, he was appointed as the [Landrat](/source/Landrat) of [Ludwigslust](/source/Ludwigslust_(district)) by the [Soviet occupation authorities](/source/Soviet_occupation_zone_in_Germany). When the KPD merged into the [Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED)](/source/Socialist_Unity_Party_of_Germany) in 1946, Kops joined the SED. He then held a series of regional leadership roles in Thuringia for the SED. In 1949, Kops was appointed as the first ambassador of the German Democratic Republic to [Hungary](/source/Hungarian_People's_Republic).{{Cite book |title=Wer war wer in der DDR? |publisher=Ch. Links Verlag |year=2010 |isbn=978-3861535614 |editor-last=Müller-Enbergs |editor-first=Helmut |edition=5th |location=[Berlin](/source/Berlin) |language=de |trans-title=Who was who in the GDR?}} He held this role until 1951, when he was replaced by [Stefan Heymann](/source/Stefan_Heymann).{{Cite book |last=Kurz |first=David |title=Jüdische Schüler des Vereinigten Großherzoglichen Lyceums – Karl-Friedrich-Gymnasiums Mannheim – Porträts aus zwei Jahrzehnten. |publisher=Wellhöfer Verlag |year=2014 |isbn=978-3-95428-153-4 |editor-last=Kreuz |editor-first=Wilhelm |location=[Mannheim](/source/Mannheim) |pages=209–218 |language=de |chapter=Stefan Heymann (1896–1967) – Überzeugter Kommunist und Funktionär der SED.}} In 1959, he was awarded the [Patriotic Order of Merit](/source/Patriotic_Order_of_Merit) in bronze. Kops died on May 28, 1961, in [Dresden](/source/Dresden).{{Cite news |date=1961-06-01 |title=Genosse Erich Kops |trans-title=Comrade Erich Kops |url=https://www.nd-archiv.de/artikel/630838.genosse-erich-kops.html?sstr=Kops |access-date=2024-10-16 |work=[Neues Deutschland](/source/Neues_Deutschland) |pages=2 |language=de}} == References == {{Reflist}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Kops, Eich}} Category:1905 births Category:1961 deaths Category:Members of the Volkskammer Category:People from Jena Category:Rotfrontkämpferbund members Category:International Brigades personnel Category:Emigrants from Nazi Germany Category:German resistance members Category:International Lenin School alumni Category:Sachsenhausen concentration camp prisoners Category:Social Democratic Party of Germany politicians Category:Communist Party of Germany members --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Erich Kops](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erich_Kops) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erich_Kops?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.