„Es darf nie wieder zu einem 1933 kommen!“ Das gewerkschaftspolitische Selbstverständnis Otto Brenners in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland

Abstract

The contribution reflects the trade union political self-conception of the IG-Metal president Otto Brenner. He belonged to the few working class leaders who fundamentally looked into fascism, capitalism and democracy in the Federal Republic of Germany. Cold War and the restorative socio-political climate of the fifties and sixties encouraged Brenner to claim that German society should work up the faults made in the past and fight against authoritarian tendencies in state and society. Under certain circumstances, Brenner considered conceivable not a recurrence of the Nazi regime, but a deformation or even destruction of democracy. To avoid this, Brenner regarded as one of the most important missions of the labour movement.