Fritz Grosse

Fritz Willibald Große (5 February 1904 – 12 December 1957) was a German communist politician and diplomat.

Life Große was born on 5 February 1904 in Altenberg. After completing his schooling, he worked as a carpenter between 1918 and 1920. In 1920, Große joined the Communist Party of Germany (KPD). In May 1920 he traveled to the Soviet Russia and enlisted in the 3rd Cavalry Corps of the Red Army and joined the Russian Communist Party. In 1921, Große returned to Germany, settling with his father in Chemnitz. In 1928, he would begin a relationship with Lea Große (née Lichter), and the two would marry in 1946. Große became a member of the Central Committee of the KPD in 1929.

From 1930 to 1932 Große was a member of the executive committee of Young Communist International. In November 1932, Große was elected to the Reichstag, a post he would hold until March 1933. With the Nazi seizure of power in Germany that year, he would go into exile. First he would travel to Prague, then to Moscow, Paris, and finally, Amsterdam. In February 1934 he returned to Berlin to work underground for the now-illegal KPD. In August 1934, he was arrested in Düsseldorf and in March 1936 he was sentenced to life in prison.

Große's health had suffered greatly because of spending over eleven years in either a prison or a concentration camp. He died in Berlin on 12 December 1957.