Franz Xaver (Xyde) Stützinger

Franz Xaver Stützinger, known as Xyde to his friends, was born into a working-class family. He was unable to complete his apprenticeship as locksmith and toolmaker because his training center was forced to close during the revolution of 1919. Amongst other jobs, he worked on the building sites of his grandfather as a laborer and scaffolder. Franz Xaver Stützinger became a member of the Communist “Young Spartacist Union” at the beginning of 1920. Later he joined the German Communist Party (KPD). At the end of 1931 Franz Xaver Stützinger was caught writing, in red, a provocative appeal on the wall of the Max II garrison barracks: “storm the streets on August 1 and join the KPD.” The investigation against him was dropped however due to a lack of evidence. Just a few months later, on December 18 1931, Franz Xaver Stützinger was arrested again, this time for possessing illegal writings of the banned Red Front Fighters' Association. Because he was carrying a book with incriminating notes on him, the Supreme Court in Leipzig sentenced him to twenty-one months prison on December 5 1932 for “preparing a treasonous undertaking.” As part of Christmas amnesty Franz Xaver Stützinger was released on December 23 1932 and able to return to his wife Margarete and his then seven-year-old son Franz Xaver, known as Ferry, in Volkartstraße 71.
Because of his standing as a prominent Communist, Franz Xaver Stützinger was arrested on March 9 1933 directly after the “seizure of power” in Bavaria and two weeks later, on March 25, transferred to the recently concentration camp opened in Dachau. As a political prisoner he experienced the full brutality of the SS guards there. As soon as it was discovered that illegal pamphlets were being smuggled into the camp, suspicion fell on Franz Xaver Stützinger. He was tortured so severely that he died of his injuries on May 11 1935. The SS had “suicide” entered on the death certificate. Attended by many of his commiserating friends, he was laid to rest at Munich’s Westfriedhof. (text Friedbert Mühldorfer, editor C. Fritsche, translation P. Bowman)