Johannes Jahn (29 August 1885 – 10 July 1960) was a German trade unionist, politician and anti-Nazi activist.
Jahn became a smelter, and then in 1909 began working for a trade union. By 1930, he was serving on the national executive of the United Union of German Railway Workers, and was an outspoken opponent of the Nazis. He opposed the dissolution of the unions in 1933, and managed to salvage a list of former union members in the Ruhr. This enabled him to set up a labour resistance group in the area, working closely with the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF).[1][2]
Jahn was arrested three times by the Nazis, the last being in 1935, after they discovered his resistance group. He fled to Prague, then on to Amsterdam, where from 1936 to 1938, he published a journal for German railway workers in opposition to the Nazis. In 1940, he escaped to London, travelling via Spain and Portugal, where he set up a group of German trade unionists which later affiliated to the National Group of German Labor Unionists in Britain, and also served on the council of the ITF.[1][3][2]
At the end of World War II, Jahn returned to Germany, and was a leading figure in reconstructing the trade unions. In 1949, he was elected as the first president of the new German Railwaymen's Federation, serving until 1958. From 1956, he was president of the ITF, while from 1949 he served in the Bundestag, representing Hannover-Land II for the Social Democratic Party of Germany.[3][2]
Trade union offices
New position
President of the German Railwaymen's Federation
1949–1958
Philipp Seibert
President of the International Transport Workers' Federation
1956–1958
President: Erich Köhler until 18 October 1950; Hermann Ehlers from 19 October 1950 (CDU)
CDU/CSU
Speaker: Konrad Adenauer until 21 September 1949; Heinrich von Brentano from 30 September 1949
SPD
Speaker: Kurt Schumacher until 20 August 1952; Erich Ollenhauer from 7 October 1952
FDP
Speaker: Theodor Heuss until 12 September 1949; Hermann Schäfer until 10 January 1951; August-Martin Euler until 6 May 1952; Hermann Schäfer from 6 May 1952
DP
Speaker: Heinrich Hellwege until 2 November 1949; Friedrich Klinge until 21 December 1949; Hans Mühlenfeld until 15 March 1953; Hans-Joachim von Merkatz from 17 March 1953
BP
Speaker: Gebhard Seelos until 25 September 1951; Hugo Decker from 25 September 1951
KPD
Speaker: Max Reimann
WAV
Speaker: Alfred Loritz
ZENTRUM
Speaker: Helene Wessel
DRP
OTHER
President: Eugen Gerstenmaier (CDU)
CDU/CSU
Speaker: Heinrich von Brentano until 7 June 1955; Heinrich Krone from 15 June 1955]]
SPD
Speaker: Erich Ollenhauer
FDP
Speaker: Erich Mende
GB/BHE
Speaker: Horst Haasler until 15 March 1955; Karl Mocker 15 March 1955 till 26 April 1956; Erwin Feller from 26 April 1956]]
DP
Speaker: Hans-Joachim von Merkatz until 11 September 1955; Ernst-Christoph Brühler from 11 September 1955]]
OTHER
President: Eugen Gerstenmaier (CDU)
CDU/CSU
Speaker: Heinrich Krone
SPD
Speaker: Erich Ollenhauer
FDP
Speaker: Erich Mende
OTHER
International
National
People
Other