User:Zirklsteyn/Marie Pleißner

Luise Marie Pleissner (* May 17 1891 in Chemnitz; † December 21 1983 in Chemnitz) was a women's rights campaigner and teacher.

Early life and education

Marie Pleissner was born to Julius Pleissner and Augusta Pleissner, both teachers. She finished Grammar school for girls in 1907 before entering the Royal Saxon teachers training college in Callnberg, close to Lichtenstein/Saxony. After Marie Pleissner finished her studies in 1911 she worked as a private teacher for a family in Dresden. However, due to her liberal education, humanitarian beliefs and religious conscience Marie Pleissner resigned after less than a year. She disagreed with the authoritarian, military-like education of her pupil’s father who was an officer in the army. Thereafter she started as an assistant schoolmistress in Limbach, close to Chemnitz, in 1912 and became member of the Teachers' Association. In 1915 Marie Pleissner obtained a permanent teachers position at the Schlossschule Chemnitz where she taught German and religion, and from 1924 she also taught sports. She became part of the women's movement and entered in 1924 the female Teachers' Association “Allgemeiner Deutschen Lehrerinnenverein” (ADLV) which was founded in 1890 and which aimed at a better opportunities for girls through access to an academic education.

During WWI

Marie Pleissner’s sister Ilse Pleissner served as a nurse during World War I. Her brother Rudolf Pleissner, an artist who had studied painting in Munich, was an officer in WWI and was seriously injured in the conflict. After coming back he became member of the German Social Democratic Party (SPD). It is likely that he influenced Marie Pleissner in her strong conviction for pacificism. In 1917/1918 she became active with repeated appeals for peace as a member of the female Teachers' Association.

After WWI Marie Pleissner became chairwoman of the females Teachers' Association (ADLV). In 1918 she became member of the newly founded German Democratic Party, in which she was part of the steering committee. In 1919 she entered the German Peace Society, the German League for Human Rights and the International Fellowship of Reconciliation.

1930s and WWII

As representative of the German Democratic Party Marie Pleissner ran for the German Parliament (Reichstag) in 1933, but was unsuccessful. With Adolf Hitler's rise to power the German Democratic Party was suspended. Her brother flew to Bohemia because of his activities as a pacifist and involvement with an anti-Hitler artist group in Chemnitz. Marie Pleissner was summoned to appear at several disciplinary hearings at the local education authority due to her criticisms of the new regime. Initially Marie Pleissner was able to continue working as a teacher because her students stood by her when they were questioned. However, in 1934 the school forced her to take early retirement at an age of 43. From then on she worked as housekeeper, cared for elderly and gave clandestine private lessons for Jewish children.

Marie Pleissner helped Jewish families to prepare for immigration. She also gave them English lessons. Her apartment in Chemnitz was a meeting point for opponents of the regime. After the Kristallnacht in 1938 she went to Berlin and tried to organize some form of public protest with the Quakers, but she did not succeed. In spring 1939 she traveled to England, to inquire about the possibilities for Jewish people to emigrate to England. She visited the Jewish community in London and the Home Office and finally the Friends Meetinghouse of the Quaker. Before she returned to Germany she became a member of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers).

In summer 1939 Marie Pleissner was denunciated by a private student for antiwar statements and was arrested September 7th 1939 by the Gestapo. After being held in custody in several prisons she was sent to the Ravensbrück concentration camp as a political prisoner number 2228. On 20th April 1940 she was released due to the amnesty of Hitler’s 50th birthday. She had to appear every week at the Gestapo. Despite extreme intimidation by the regime, she stayed in contact with the Quakers in London and supported Jews to leave the country.

After WWII

In September 1945 Marie Pleissner started to work again as a teacher in the Grammar school Hohe Strasse in Chemnitz (now Karl-Schmidt-Rottluff-Gymnasium). 1946 she changed to the Neulehrerschule Chemnitz. She became member of the newly founded Liberal Democratic Party of Germany in which she became part of the steering committee. She served as representative in the state parliament of Saxony. She became member of the “Friedensrat der DDR” and the Christian Peace Conference. In March 1947 she took part in the first Peace Conference for women in Berlin and was a cofounder of the Democratic Women's League of Germany.

In 1947 she advocated for the reestablishment of the Jewish cemetery and a memorial. She vehemently opposed the introduction of any military education in schools of the GDR and gave presentations on Peace Conferences in Austria, West-Germany, Sweden, Denmark and the UK. Due to her opposition to the new regime she was often unable to obtain a permit to leave the GDR. In October 1950 her status of a victim of Nazism was revoked. However, with the help of the Jewish Community and 13 references she regained that status in 1951.

1976 she received the Patriotic Order of Merit and 1981 the Star of People's Friendship .

Literature

• StadtA Chemnitz, PA, Nr. 266, Bl. 30, Protokoll der Bestellung vom 7. April 1933.
• Liselotte Thomas-Heinrich: Erfüllte Ideale in einem erfüllten Leben. In: Sigrid Jacobeit / Liselotte Thomas-Heinrich (Hrsg.): Kreuzweg Ravensbrück. Lebensbilder antifaschistischer Widerstandskämpferinnen, Leipzig 1987
• Helmut Müller-Enbergs: Pleissner, Marie. In: Wer war wer in der DDR? 5. Ausgabe. Band 2, Ch. Links, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-86153-561-4.