Wilhelm Florin

Florin, Wilhelm

 

Born Mar. 16, 1894, in Cologne; died July 5, 1944, in Moscow. Figure in the German and international working-class movements. Metalworker.

Florin joined a socialist youth organization in 1908. In 1918 he became a member of the Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany, and in 1920, a member of the Communist Party of Germany (CPG). He was one of the organizers of the strike movement in the Rhine region and the Ruhr. He became a member of the Central Committee of the CPG in 1924 and a member of the Politburo of the Central Committee in 1929. Florin was elected several times to the Reichstag. After the Fascist dictatorship was established in Germany, he conducted underground work for some time before emigrating in accordance with a decision of the Central Committee. From 1935 to 1943 he served in the Presidium of the Executive Committee of the Comintern. During World War II he was a member of the antifascist organization Free Germany.