Stumbling block for Wilhelm Knöchel

Wilhelm Knöchel was born in Offenbach on November 8 or 18, 1899. His father died in 1910, leaving behind his wife and eight children. Wilhelm trained as a lathe operator. He was drafted into military service at the age of 17 and sent to the Western Front at the end of 1917. The remaining months of the war had a formative influence on him. He also suffered gas poisoning, which affected him severely throughout his life.

He initially joined the SPD, but shortly afterwards switched to the KPD out of disappointment. As he was unable to find work in Offenbach, he went to the Ruhr area in 1920 and worked as a lathe operator and mine fitter - again with interruptions due to unemployment. He married a war widow who brought two children into the marriage. Their daughter Inge was born in 1921.

Wilhelm Knöchel was active in the local branch of the KPD and was known as a committed member of the Red Front Fighters' League (RFB).

He became unemployed again in 1930 and returned to Offenbach after the early death of his wife. In the Offenbach city address book (from 1933), he is listed as living at Wilhelmstraße 26.

In Offenbach, he becomes the local leader of his party, which sends him to Berlin and Moscow for training in the fall of 1932. After this preparatory period, he returned to Germany for underground work. From Amsterdam, his task was to stabilize existing connections, build up new ones and define corresponding responsibilities. His work focused on the trade union sector, where he also initiated illegal newspapers. Over the years, under the leadership of Wilhelm Knöchel and other well-known anti-fascist resistance fighters who lived and worked underground, a widespread network of illegal party groups emerged, which were mainly based in West Germany.

Towards the end of 1942, the opponents succeeded in penetrating the Knöchel organization. More and more resistance fighters were arrested and tortured into confessing. At the beginning of 1943, Wilhelm Knöchel's closest associates were arrested and on January 30, he himself was arrested. On June 12, 1944, the "People's Court", which tried him alone, sentenced him to death for "preparation for high treason and treason against the country" after only a ten-minute session. Wilhelm Knöchel was executed in Brandenburg prison on July 24, 1944.