one of the 17 members of the Central Committee. Among his circle of German émigré friends were Heinrich Mann, Lion Feuchtwanger, Rudolf Leonhard, Leonhard Frank and Paul Merker. Extensive work in publicity was undertaken against fascist German aggression politics. However, with the German-Soviet non-aggression pact came the arrest and detention in 1940 of every German Communist émigré in France, including Rädel, who was delivered to Le Vernet concentration camp. In 1942, Rädel was handed over to the Gestapo by the Vichy régime. In a high treason trial, he was sentenced by the Volksgerichtshof to death on 25 February 1943, shortly before his 50th birthday, and executed on 10 May 1943 in the infamous "murder garage" at Brandenburg Prison. The rayon plant in Pirna was named after Rädel when Pirna was part of East Germany. With reunification, his name disappeared, and in the end, the rayon plant was later shut down and then demolished. However, a street in downtown Pirna is still named after him. External links Speech for Siegfried Rädel, given on 13 March 1993 in Pirna on the occasion of his 100th birthday References 1893 births 1943 deaths German Army personnel of World War I Communist Party of Germany politicians People condemned by Nazi courts People from the Kingdom of Saxony Executed communists in the German Resistance Members of the Reichstag of the Weimar Republic People executed for treason against Germany