Otto Wels (September 15, 1873 – September 16, 1939) was the chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) from 1919 and a member of parliament from 1920 to 1933. On March 23, 1933 the Berlin-born Wels was the only member of the Reichstag to speak against Adolf Hitler's Enabling Act (the "Law for Removing the Distress of People and Reich"). The vote took place during the last session of a multi-party Reichstag, on March 23, 1933.

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  • Otto Wels (September 15, 1873 – September 16, 1939) was the chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) from 1919 and a member of parliament from 1920 to 1933. On March 23, 1933 the Berlin-born Wels was the only member of the Reichstag to speak against Adolf Hitler's Enabling Act (the "Law for Removing the Distress of People and Reich"). The vote took place during the last session of a multi-party Reichstag, on March 23, 1933. Because the Reichstag building itself had suffered heavy burning damage in February, the March session was held in Berlin's Kroll Opera House. Wels braved a gauntlet of jeering brownshirts and Nazi delegates as he mounted the podium to make his speech opposing the Enabling Act, which formally took the power of legislation away from the Reichstag and handed it over to the Reich cabinet for a period of four years. He declared: "At this historic hour, we German Social Democrats pledge ourselves to the principles of humanity and justice, of freedom and Socialism. No Enabling Law can give you the power to destroy ideas which are eternal and indestructible ... From this new persecution too German Social Democracy can draw new strength. We send greetings to the persecuted and oppressed. We greet our friends in the Reich. Their steadfastness and loyalty deserve admiration. The courage with which they maintain their convictions and their unbroken confidence guarantee a brighter future. " [Noakes and Pridham, 1974]. Looking directly at Hitler, Wels proclaimed, "You can take our lives and our freedom, but you cannot take our honour. We are defenseless but not honourless. " All 96 SPD members of parliament voted against the act; the rest of the Reichstag (besides the Communists, whom were disabled of voting) voted in favour. The passage of the Enabling Act marked the end of parliamentary democracy in Germany and formed the legal authority for Hitler's dictatorship. Within weeks of the passage of the Enabling Act, the Hitler government banned the SPD while the other German political parties chose to dissolve themselves to avoid prosecution, making the Nazi party the only legal political party in Germany. Some weeks before the banning of the SPD by the Nazis, Wels went into exile. He built up the expatriate SPD, first in the Saarland, which at the time was under League of Nations control, then in Prague, and finally in Paris, where he died in 1939.
  • Otto Wels war ein sozialdemokratischer Politiker. Wels war seit 1919 bis in die Zeit der Exil-SPD während der Herrschaft der Nationalsozialisten SPD-Vorsitzender und von 1920 bis 1933 Abgeordneter des Reichstags. Er ging als derjenige Reichstagsabgeordnete in die Geschichte ein, der am 23. März 1933 in der letzten freien Reichstagsrede auf der Reichstagssitzung in der Berliner Krolloper gegen das Ermächtigungsgesetz der Nationalsozialisten argumentierte und die Ablehnung durch die SPD begründete.
  • È stato uno dei principali leader dei socialdemocratici tedeschi a cavallo tra le due guerre mondiali. È celebre il suo discorso del 22 marzo 1933 quando, davanti ad una assemblea in mano ai nazisti, prese la parola per denunciare all'opinione pubblica il suicidio del Parlamento che, nella nuova legge di autorizzazione, rinunciava ai suoi poteri di controllo sull'esecutivo. Nel discorso divenne memorabile la frase rivolta ad Hitler: "Puoi prendere le nostre vite e la nostra libertà, ma non prendi il nostro onore". Dopo la presa del potere definitiva da parte dei nazisti, visse nel distretto della Saar, ancora amministrato dalla Società delle Nazioni, poi a Praga e infine a Parigi, dove morì esule.
  • ファイル:Otto Wels. jpg オットー・ヴェルス ファイル:Briefmarke Otto Wels 1973. jpg ヴェルスの生誕100年を記念して発行された切手 オットー・ヴェルス（独：Otto Wels、1873年9月15日 - 1939年9月16日）は、ドイツの政治家。1919年から1939年までドイツ社会民主党（SPD）の党首を務めた。ナチ党が国会に提出した全権委任法に対する反対演説で名を残した。
  • Otto Wels var en tysk sosialdemokratisk politiker. Han var formann for SPD fra 1919 og medlem av den tyske Riksdagen fra 1912 til 1933. Han huskes bl.a. for i sin siste riksdagstale den 23. mars 1933 å ha argumentert mot fullmaktsloven og begrunnet SPDs avvisning av loven. Et berømt sitat fra talen var Freiheit und Leben kann man uns nehmen, die Ehre nicht. I august 1933 ble han fratatt det tyske statsborgerskap. Etter forbudet mot SPD som fulgte umiddelbart etter reiste han til det franskforvaltede Saarland, senere til Tsjekkoslovakia og endelig til Paris for å bygge opp en emigrantorganisasjon. Han døde i Paris 16. september 1939.
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  • Otto Wels (September 15, 1873 – September 16, 1939) was the chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) from 1919 and a member of parliament from 1920 to 1933. On March 23, 1933 the Berlin-born Wels was the only member of the Reichstag to speak against Adolf Hitler's Enabling Act (the "Law for Removing the Distress of People and Reich"). The vote took place during the last session of a multi-party Reichstag, on March 23, 1933.
  • Otto Wels war ein sozialdemokratischer Politiker. Wels war seit 1919 bis in die Zeit der Exil-SPD während der Herrschaft der Nationalsozialisten SPD-Vorsitzender und von 1920 bis 1933 Abgeordneter des Reichstags. Er ging als derjenige Reichstagsabgeordnete in die Geschichte ein, der am 23.
  • È stato uno dei principali leader dei socialdemocratici tedeschi a cavallo tra le due guerre mondiali. È celebre il suo discorso del 22 marzo 1933 quando, davanti ad una assemblea in mano ai nazisti, prese la parola per denunciare all'opinione pubblica il suicidio del Parlamento che, nella nuova legge di autorizzazione, rinunciava ai suoi poteri di controllo sull'esecutivo.
  • ファイル:Otto Wels. jpg オットー・ヴェルス ファイル:Briefmarke Otto Wels 1973. jpg ヴェルスの生誕100年を記念して発行された切手 オットー・ヴェルス（独：Otto Wels、1873年9月15日 - 1939年9月16日）は、ドイツの政治家。1919年から1939年までドイツ社会民主党（SPD）の党首を務めた。ナチ党が国会に提出した全権委任法に対する反対演説で名を残した。
  • Otto Wels var en tysk sosialdemokratisk politiker. Han var formann for SPD fra 1919 og medlem av den tyske Riksdagen fra 1912 til 1933. Han huskes bl.a. for i sin siste riksdagstale den 23. mars 1933 å ha argumentert mot fullmaktsloven og begrunnet SPDs avvisning av loven. Et berømt sitat fra talen var Freiheit und Leben kann man uns nehmen, die Ehre nicht. I august 1933 ble han fratatt det tyske statsborgerskap.
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  • Otto Wels
  • Otto Wels
  • Otto Wels
  • オットー・ヴェルス
  • Otto Wels
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