Exclusion as a Stance? How Gamescom Threatens Democratic Debate Culture
A spectre is haunting the corridors of German industry associations and trade fair companies: the fear of genuine, unpredictable discourse.…
Cologne
The PolitischeVerfolgung.de project began by documenting political persecution in Cologne dating back to the Middle Ages. This initiative has since been expanded to cover the entire German-speaking world.
The Edelweiss Pirates: Youth Resistance Against the Nazi Regime Between Freedom and the Gallows
While the Nazi total state attempted to forcefully align the entirety of youth through the Hitler Youth (HJ) and the…
Lev Kopelev – Writer, Dissident, and Victim of Political Persecution in the Soviet Union
Lev Zinovyevich Kopelev (9 April 1912 – 18 June 1997) was a Soviet writer, literary scholar, and human rights activist.…
Katharina Henot: A Victim of Intrigue and the Witch-Hunt Frenzy in Cologne
Katharina Henot (c. 1570–1627) is one of the most famous victims of the witch hunts in Germany. Her fate serves…
Adolf Clarenbach: The Cologne Reformer Who Chose the Pyre Over Recantation
In the tumultuous years of the early Protestant Reformation, while Martin Luther was challenging papal authority in Wittenberg, a courageous…
Konrad Adenauer: From Lord Mayor to “Enemy of the State” of the Nazi Regime
The political persecution of Konrad Adenauer (1876–1967) began immediately upon the National Socialists’ seizure of power. As the long-standing Lord…
Karl Marx: The “Red Ghost” in the Crosshairs of the German Confederation
The life of Karl Marx (1818–1883) was a decades-long struggle not only against capitalist structures but also against the administrative…
The Political Persecution of August Bebel: Resistance and Resilience in the Kaiserreich
August Bebel (1840-1913) emerged as one of the most significant and persistent critics of the authoritarian structure of the German Empire,…