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Hans Gottfurcht (7 February 1896 – 18 September 1982) was a German trade unionist and resistance member.

Born to a Jewish family in Berlin, Gottfurcht worked in the textile industry, joining a trade union when he was 17. In 1919, he began working full-time for the Central Association of Employees. In 1933, the Nazis closed the unions, and Gottfurcht became an insurance agent. This enabled him to create an illegal trade union organisation in Saxony, Thuringia and Silesia. He was arrested in 1937 and charged with treason, but was released due to a lack of evidence, and in 1938, he was able to emigrate to the United Kingdom.^[1]^[2]

In the UK, Gottfurcht joined the Labour Party and tried unsuccessfully to influence British government policy on Germany after the war. He also joined the Union of German Socialist Organisations in Great Britain. He was briefly interned in 1941, but on release set up an organisation of German trade unionists, and broadcast on the German language programmes of the BBC. He was able to help plan the future structure of German trade unions.^[1]^[2]^[3]

When the war ended, Gottfurcht returned to Germany, where he acted as a liaison officer for the British Trades Union Congress. In 1949, the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) was established, and he was appointed to its secretariat, with responsibility for education. In 1952, he was elected as assistant general secretary of the ICFTU, serving until 1960, when he retired, due to poor health.^[1]

In retirement, Gottfurcht wrote a history of the international trade union movement. He died in 1982.^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Carew, Anthony (2000). The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions. Oxford: Peter Lang. p. 555. ISBN 9783906764832.
^ ^a ^b "Hans Gottfurcht". DIE GEDENKSTÄTTE DEUTSCHER WIDERSTAND. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
^ Review of Eiber's work (PDF) Utopie kreativ, Issue 109/110 (1999), pp. 189-191 (in German)

Trade union offices
Preceded by New position	Assistant General Secretary of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions 1952–1960	Succeeded by Alfred Braunthal

v t e International Confederation of Free Trade Unions
General secretaries	1949: Jacobus Hendrik Oldenbroek 1960: Omer Becu 1967: Harm Buiter 1972: Otto Kersten 1982: John Vanderveken 1992: Enzo Friso 1995: Bill Jordan 2002: Guy Ryder
Assistant general secretaries	1952: Hans Gottfurcht 1960: Alfred Braunthal, Stefan Nędzyński and Herbert A. Tulatz 1967: Morris Paladino 1972: Heribert Maier 1974: John Vanderveken 1984: Enzo Friso 1993: Eddy Laurijssen 2002: Zé Olívio
Presidents	1949: Paul Finet 1951: Vincent Tewson 1953: Omer Becu 1957: Arne Geijer 1965: Bruno Storti 1972: Donald MacDonald 1975: P. P. Narayanan 1992: Roy Trotman 2000: Fackson Shamenda 2004: Sharan Burrow
Regional organisations	APRO: Asia Pacific AFRO: Africa ERO: Europe ORIT: Americas
Allied organisations	International Trade Secretariats (ITSs) Bureau of Workers Activities of the ILO (ILO-ACTRAV) Socialist International

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Articles with German-language sources (de)

Authority control databases
International	ISNI VIAF FAST WorldCat
National	Germany United States Czech Republic
People	Deutsche Biographie DDB
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