Robert Uhrig

Robert Uhrig (; March 8, 1903 – August 21, 1944) was a German communist and resistance fighter against National Socialism.

Background Born in Leipzig, the son of a metalworker, Uhrig grew up to become a journeyman toolmaker. He joined the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) in 1920 and took several courses at the Marxist Workers' School. From 1929 on, he worked at Osram in Berlin-Moabit and joined the KPD workplace cell. By the end of 1932, The KPD was the third largest party in Germany, with 3,600,000 members and had received some six million votes in the previous election. He took leadership of the cell in 1933.

Legality rescinded The Reichstag Fire Decree pushed by Adolf Hitler in response to the Reichstag fire on February 27, 1933, and signed into law by President Paul von Hindenburg withdrew civil liberties and enabled the Nazis, then in key positions in government, to arrest anyone they deemed to be an enemy. This became first and foremost a confrontation with the KPD, but in effect, outlawed all political parties in Germany other than the Nazi Party. The Enabling Act of March 27, 1933, consolidated their power and authority. In the first weeks of March 1933, there were 11,000 Communists arrested and by June 1933, more than half of the KPD district leaders were in detention.

Uhrig and Römer published an underground paper, called Informationdienst ("Information Service"), one of the most important Resistance newspapers. Issued regularly, it endeavored to report on the economic and military situation. It also called for acts of sabotage. The goal of the group was to establish a socialist state after the fall of Hitler's dictatorship.

Family Uhrig was married to Charlotte Kirst Uhrig (February 26, 1907 – October 17, 1992). She was also active in the anti-Nazi resistance and was arrested on September 3, 1943. She was "released" by the Voksgerichthof on April 17, 1944, but was nonetheless sent to Ravensbrück concentration camp, which she survived. After liberation, she and Ellen Kuntz founded the Women's Committee at the Schöneberg district office in Berlin, which mobilized women for the recovery effort in the aftermath of the war. She lived in East Germany.

Memorials

The town cemetery in Berlin-Niederschönhausen, Pankow IV, has a symbolic grave site for Uhrig. Robert-Uhrig-Straße, a street in Berlin-Lichtenberg, is named after Uhrig, Until the reunification of Germany, the 19th Polytechnische Oberschule, a university in Berlin-Lichtenberg, was named after Uhrig. There is a memorial plaque at Wartburgstraße 4, in Berlin-Schöneberg, where Uhrig once lived.