Felix Fechenbach

Felix Fechenbach (28 January 1894 – 7 August 1933) was a German journalist, author, and political activist. He served as state secretary in the government of Kurt Eisner, who overthrew the Bavarian Wittelsbach Monarchy. After its overthrow, he worked as a newspaper editor during the Weimar Republic. After the Nazi seizure of power, he was arrested and later shot extrajudicially while being transported to Dachau concentration camp.

Early life He was born in Mergentheim, the son of a lower-middle-class Jewish family. Fechenbach was the son of Noe and Rosalie Fechenbach. He grew up in poverty. He had five brothers: Max, Siegbert, Mortiz, Abraham, and Jackob Fechenbach. Fechenbach's first job was delivering bread with his older brother Abraham in the town of Würzburg. His first best friend was Stoffele, the girl next door; after she died at age 7, he would burst into tears anytime her name was mentioned.

He took vocational education in Würzburg until 1910. Later, he worked in a shoe store. In 1911 he secured work in Frankfurt but was later fired for union activity and because of a strike he led.

Fechenbach married Martha Czernichowski on 12 August 1919; the marriage ended in divorce after only two and a half years. On 29 September 1926 he married Irma Epstein; they had three children: Kurt 1927 (named after Kurt Eisner), Lotti 1928 and Hanni 1931. After he was killed by a Sturmabteilung commando on his way to the Dachau concentration camp. His wife, Irma Fechenbach, was able to escape with their children to Switzerland. In 1946, they immigrated to the USA. The decision was a scandal because the court at that time had no standing under the Weimar Constitution. He was pardoned in 1924.

There are two schools named after Fechenbach: the Felix-Fechenbach Gesamtschule in Leopoldshoehe and the Felix-Fechenbach Berufskolleg in Detmold. A street in Detmold and in Oerlinghausen was also named after him.

Works Fechenbach, Felix, Frank Meier, ed. (2009). Felix Fechenbach Lesebuch. Köln: Nyland-Stiftung Fechenbach, Felix (1925). Im Haus der Freudlosen, J. H. W. Nachfolger, Berlin. Revised edition edited by Roland Flade, Koenigshausen & Neumann, Wuerzburg Fechenbach, Felix (1929). Der Revolutionär Kurt Eisner. Aus persönlichen Erlebnissen, J.H.W. Diez, Berlin Fechenbach, Felix (1936). Mein Herz schlaegt weiter: Briefe aus der Schutzhaft, Kulturverlag, St.Gallen. Revised edition with a foreword by Heinrich Mann, a contribution by Robert M.W. Kempner and a postscript by Peter Steinbach, Andreas-Haller-Verlag, Passau 1987. Fechenbach, Felix (1937). Der Puppenspieler, Verlag E. & K. Scheuch, Zuerich. Revised edition edited by Roland Flade and Barbara Rott, Koenigshausen & Neuman, Wuerzburg 1988.