Max Hölz

Born Oct. 14, 1889, in Moritz, near Riesa; died Sept. 15, 1933, in the city of Gorky. German revolutionary. Joined the Communist Party of Germany in 1919.

In 1918-19, Hölz was chairman of the workers’ council in Falkenstein in central Germany. During the Kapp putsch of 1920, he led armed workers’ detachments in the Vogtland (central Germany), struggling against the reactionaries. Hölz’s activities were characterized by manifestations of anarchist tendencies. He was expelled from the ranks of the Communist Party for refusing to submit to its directives, but he rejoined it in 1922. He led fighting detachments that he had formed against the police and government troops during the March 1921 battles in central Germany. After the uprising in central Germany was suppressed, he was arrested, falsely accused of capital criminal acts, and sentenced to life imprisonment. As a result of the mass movement in defense of political prisoners, he was amnestied in 1928. He emigrated to the USSR in 1929.