Stumbling Stones in Chemnitz
Willy Lesser
Willy Lesser
Born: 11.09.1901
Died: 31/07/1972
Installation location:
Rößlerstraße 33Stumbling stone laying on:
29 May 2024
Photos of the laying of the Stumbling Stones
Life path
The businessman Willy Lesser was one of the leading representatives of the co-operative movement in Saxony.
He attended primary school in his native town of Kassel from 1908 to 1916. After leaving school, he completed a commercial apprenticeship at the local business school. During this time, the young socialist became a member of the SPD.
On 31 December 1921, Willy Lesser joined Konsum- und Sparverein Kassel und Umgebung eGmbH as a commercial employee. To broaden his education, he later attended the German University of Politics in Berlin. He successfully passed his final examination on 27 April 1927, with which he applied for a job at the Allgemeine Konsumverein Chemnitz und Umgebung and became its secretary three weeks later.
Lesser had already been pointing out the dangers of National Socialism in lectures since 1929. He repeatedly appeared as a speaker at meetings of the Reichsbanner Schwarz-Rot-Gold in Groß-Chemnitz and in the Ore Mountains.
During this time, he also found the woman he married in Chemnitz on 13 April 1933. She was Hildegard Meinig, his secretary and assistant. The couple had three children: Adolf Peter (1933-2019), Friedricke Uta (1938-2018) and Gottfried Heiner (1939-1991).
Lesser was targeted early on by the National Socialists in Chemnitz because of his political involvement, who demanded that he be dismissed without notice. His employment with the Konsumverein in Chemnitz ended on 9 December 1933 and he worked as managing director of the Konsum- und Sparverein "Zwönitzthal" in Meinersdorf (Erzgebirge) until 30 June 1934.
On suspicion of high treason, Lesser was taken into custody in Chemnitz on 31 January 1935 together with other comrades-in-arms. On 14 February 1935, the district court issued arrest warrants. They were accused of "endeavouring to maintain and restore the Social Democratic Party of Germany". However, the senior public prosecutor then discontinued the proceedings due to a lack of evidence. The accused were then immediately sent to Sachsenburg concentration camp on 13 July 1935, where they were forced to carry out penal labour in the wagon train, the quarry, the laundry and the kitchen.
Lesser was released from the camp on 12 February 1936. His professional experience helped him to become head of purchasing at Gemeinschaftswerk-Versorgungsring Chemnitz GmbH a few years later. This involved moving to Rößlerstraße 33 in November 1940.
Willy Lesser died on 31 July 1972 in Kassel, where he wanted to spend his retirement with his wife.
His granddaughter Susan Lesser looks after her grandfather's legacy. The lawyer and former judge at the Social Court also supports the efforts in Chemnitz to lay a stumbling block in memory of Willy Lesser.
Author: Dr Jürgen Nitsche
Stumbling stones in Chemnitz
It is a project against forgetting: stumbling stones have been laid in Chemnitz every year since 2007.
Embedded in the pavement, the memorial stones commemorate the tragic fates of fellow citizens who were persecuted, deported, murdered or driven to their deaths during the National Socialist regime.
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