# Wilhelm Decker

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{{short description|German politician}}
{{for|the fictional Star Trek character|Willard Decker}}
{{More citations needed|date=February 2024}}

thumb|Wilhelm Decker.  
'''Wilhelm "Will" Decker''' (13 December 1899 in [Rostock](/source/Rostock) – 1 May 1945 near [Berlin](/source/Berlin)) was a German publicist, and in the time of the [Third Reich](/source/Third_Reich) the General Labour Leader.

After his ''[Abitur](/source/Abitur)'', he served at the front in 1917–1918 in the [First World War](/source/First_World_War) and afterwards studied [history](/source/history) and [German studies](/source/German_studies) between 1919 and 1922 at the [University of Rostock](/source/University_of_Rostock) from which he earned a [doctorate](/source/doctorate). By 1919, he was working as a [journalist](/source/journalist) and, between 1923 and 1925, he was also the editor of newspapers in Pyritz (today [Pyrzyce](/source/Pyrzyce)) and [Rostock](/source/Rostock). As of 1926, he was a freelance writer.<ref>[https://www.reichstag-abgeordnetendatenbank.de/select.html?pnd=130320188 Wilhelm Decker biography] in the [https://www.reichstag-abgeordnetendatenbank.de/ ''Reichstag'' Members Database]</ref>

Quite early on, Decker joined the [Nazi Party](/source/Nazi_Party) and as of 1929 functioned as a [Gau](/source/Administrative_divisions_of_Nazi_Germany) speaker. At the [1930 parliamentary election](/source/1930_German_federal_election), he was elected as a ''[Reichstag](/source/Reichstag_(Weimar_Republic))'' deputy from electoral constituency 4 ([Potsdam I](/source/Potsdam_I_(electoral_district))). He would continue to hold this seat until his death.<ref>[https://www.reichstag-abgeordnetendatenbank.de/selectmaske.html?name=Wilhelm+Decker&geschlecht=&ort=&beruforg=&BERUF=&BERUFSFELDER%5B%5D=&KONFESSION%5B%5D=&WP%5B%5D=&PARTEI%5B%5D=&schlu=reichstag24&recherche=ja Wilhelm Decker entry] in the [https://www.reichstag-abgeordnetendatenbank.de/ ''Reichstag'' Members Database]</ref>

From 1931, at the Voluntary Labour Service, Nazi leaders appointed him as "Inspector for Education and Training" in the Reich leadership.

As of 1934, Decker published the Nazi magazine "''Volk an der Arbeit''", whose content was so well liked by the Nazi leadership that it earned him an appointment as General Labour Leader in the ''Reichsarbeitsdienst'' ([Reich Labour Service](/source/Reich_Labour_Service)).

Alongside this, Decker had a teaching job at the [University of Berlin](/source/Humboldt_University_of_Berlin), and was appointed an honorary professor in June 1937.

Decker kept publishing many writings having to do with the Labour Service, among them:

* 1933: "Der deutsche Weg" ("The German Way")
* 1935: "Die politische Aufgabe des Arbeitsdienstes" ("The Labour Service's Political Function")
* 1939: "Mit dem Spaten durch Polen" ("With the Spade through Poland")

Will Decker died on 1 May 1945 – the day after [Adolf Hitler](/source/Adolf_Hitler)'s death – as he tried to get himself out of Berlin, which by now lay under the [Red Army](/source/Red_Army)'s siege. Whether he killed himself or was wounded is to this day unknown.

In 1961, The West Berlin denazification court confiscated property worth $400 from Decker, which were used towards compensation of Nazi victims.<ref>{{cite news |title=Berlin court gives funds to victims |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-leader-post-berlin-court/142071451/ |work=The Leader-Post |agency=Reuters |date=19 October 1961 |page=10}}</ref>

==References==
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Decker, Will}}
Category:1899 births
Category:1945 deaths
Category:20th-century German journalists
Category:20th-century German male journalists
Category:Academic staff of the Humboldt University of Berlin
Category:German Army personnel of World War I
Category:German civilians killed in World War II
Category:German newspaper editors
Category:Members of the Reichstag 1930–1932
Category:Members of the Reichstag 1932
Category:Members of the Reichstag 1932–1933
Category:Members of the Reichstag 1933
Category:Members of the Reichstag 1933–1936
Category:Members of the Reichstag 1936–1938
Category:Members of the Reichstag 1938–1945
Category:Nazi Party officials
Category:Nazi Party politicians
Category:People from Rostock
Category:People from the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
Category:Reich Labour Service members
Category:University of Rostock alumni

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Wilhelm Decker](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelm_Decker) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelm_Decker?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.