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Hans Otto Roth
Hans Otto Roth (29 April 1890 – 1 April 1953) was a Transylvanian Saxon politician and lawyer. Roth was best known for his unsuccessful attempts to counter the rise of the radical Nazism favored within the German Party and within the German ethnic group in Transylvania.
Born in Sighișoara, Roth studied law at various universities around Europe before graduating with a doctorate from the ELTE Faculty of Law in 1913. In 1918, Roth joined the Saxon Central Committee to support the unification of Transylvania with Romania. In 1919, he won a seat in the Chamber of Deputies representing the German Party, and by 1922, he replaced Rudolf Brandsch as Parliamentary Chairman of the party. His time in parliament saw him focus on the issues of denominational schools and cooperation between the Germans and Hungarians before he retired in 1938. During his time in parliament, he was also briefly Chairman of the Association of German Minorities from 1931 to 1934, where he at first advocated for pan-Germanism. He met Adolf Hitler in June 1933, which altered some of Roth's views, although many Jews in Transylvania still felt betrayed by Roth.
In the following years, Roth became increasingly anti-Nazi with the advent of the "renewal movement". Roth's views were generally considered Christian liberal, which put him in opposition to many of the Nazi Party's views. He was approached many times to be a minister in various Romanian cabinets, but declined because the Iron Guard all had places in these cabinets. In 1943, this led to a climax between Andreas Schmidt and Roth, and Roth was expelled from the party. He kept working at the time as regional church curator of the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Romania, a position he had held since 1932. His various attempts to stop the self-Nazification of the church led to failures. After the 1944 Romanian coup d'état, Roth asked Saxons to remain loyal to the Romanian state and wrote numerous memorandums to the Romanian government asking them not to judge his people too harshly. Roth was first arrested in August 1948, which triggered a wave of alarm, although he was eventually released. He was re-arrested in 1952 and held in the Ghencea concentration camp, where he died.
Hans Otto Roth was born on 29 April 1890 in Sighișoara on the street Kleingasse 1 (now Strada Tache Ionescu), which was then part of Austria-Hungary. He was the sixth and youngest child of lawyer and city judge of Sighișoara Karl Roth (1846–1901) and Louise Roth (née Hausenblaß, 1855–1915) and was the grandson through his maternal side of a factory owner. He attended elementary school in Sighișoara where he graduated in 1900, and then attended the local Protestant high school in Sighișoara until 1908 where he was a part of the student self-government called Coetus Chlamydatorum. From 1908 to 1912, he studied law at the universities of Budapest, Vienna, Berlin, and Zurich. In April 1913, he received his doctorate in law from the ELTE Faculty of Law of the University of Budapest, where he was also the president of the League of Transylvanian Saxon Students. Afterwards, from 1913 to 1915, he worked in the Budapest law firms of A. Teteleni and Karl Schmidt.
At the start of World War One, Roth was initially deemed unfit for service, so he became deputy editor of the Transylvanian Saxon daily newspaper Siebenbürgisch-Deutsches Tageblatt, replacing Hermann Plattner, who had been drafted. He worked under the leadership of Emil Neugeboren. In January 1916, he was conscripted for military service in the Austro-Hungarian Army, and he served as an auxiliary for Infantry Regiment No. 31 in Brno, performing exclusively clerical duties. He was briefly sent to Semmering during his time in the military to recover from apical catarrh of the lungs. In February 1917, he was released from military service due to illness. Afterwards, from February 1917 to 1918, he was an editor for Siebenbürgisch-Deutsches Tageblatt. In 1918, the union of Transylvania with Romania occurred, which inspired Roth to become secretary of the Saxon Central Committee, where he supported the union and the accession of Saxons to Romania. He was specifically chosen as secretary for aligning with the "Little Saxon" tradition, which advocated for legalism and integration into Romania, which had started to be prominent around 1900. The tradition acknowledged the cultural value of pan-Germanism but advocated keeping it separate from state politics, opposing efforts to implement it through political means such as territorial annexation, due to concerns about its legality. He was elected over more politically experienced politicians like Rudolf Brandsch, who advocated for a more radical pan-Germanic ideology, which the Little Saxons disagreed with as they thought merging into a greater German identity would dissolve the Saxon identity and erode their cultural heritage.
In 1919, Roth was part of the Saxon delegation that handed the decision of the Saxon representatives to the government in Mediaş, and afterward, the Saxon Central Committee announced the Transylvanian Saxons' decision to join the Kingdom of Romania. Roth also wrote the Saxon People's Program during this time, which was adopted on 6 November 1919, and he was thus considered a key player in the integration of Saxons into Romania. He wrote the program after many Saxons complained about the reforms following the accession, and he also led a delegation of Saxon peasants to Cluj to present their complaints to the Directory Council.
In the 1919 Romanian general election, Roth won a seat in the Chamber of Deputies representing the German Party. In a speech in October, the month before the elections, he stated his campaign consisted of renewing confidence in the national vitality of Saxons, recognizing that the rejection of Hungary was not a betrayal and was justified citing the "abandonment" of the minority, and affirming that the pledges of King Ferdinand I to follow the results of the Great National Assembly of Alba Iulia were honest.
In 1922, Roth replaced Rudolf Brandsch as leader of the Parliamentary Group of the German Party. Roth was generally believed to have been chosen to replace Brandsch because Brandsch favored the strengthening of German self-consciousness and did not want to seek compromises with the ruling Romanian National Party, while Roth saw the possibility of the German-Romanians rights being enforced by a compromise. At the time in 1922, Roth admitted that he did not see ripe cooperation at the moment, but thought it only "conceivable", as he acknowledged Iuliu Maniu's position and said that the Romanian government was favorable to Saxons. He also stated that the Germans had a desire to contribute to Romania's development through what he called "constructive work" rather than political confontration. Roth's advocacy was ultimately successful as it led to a gain in seats for the party in the parliament and the government meeting some demands.
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Hans Otto Roth
Hans Otto Roth (29 April 1890 – 1 April 1953) was a Transylvanian Saxon politician and lawyer. Roth was best known for his unsuccessful attempts to counter the rise of the radical Nazism favored within the German Party and within the German ethnic group in Transylvania.
Born in Sighișoara, Roth studied law at various universities around Europe before graduating with a doctorate from the ELTE Faculty of Law in 1913. In 1918, Roth joined the Saxon Central Committee to support the unification of Transylvania with Romania. In 1919, he won a seat in the Chamber of Deputies representing the German Party, and by 1922, he replaced Rudolf Brandsch as Parliamentary Chairman of the party. His time in parliament saw him focus on the issues of denominational schools and cooperation between the Germans and Hungarians before he retired in 1938. During his time in parliament, he was also briefly Chairman of the Association of German Minorities from 1931 to 1934, where he at first advocated for pan-Germanism. He met Adolf Hitler in June 1933, which altered some of Roth's views, although many Jews in Transylvania still felt betrayed by Roth.
In the following years, Roth became increasingly anti-Nazi with the advent of the "renewal movement". Roth's views were generally considered Christian liberal, which put him in opposition to many of the Nazi Party's views. He was approached many times to be a minister in various Romanian cabinets, but declined because the Iron Guard all had places in these cabinets. In 1943, this led to a climax between Andreas Schmidt and Roth, and Roth was expelled from the party. He kept working at the time as regional church curator of the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Romania, a position he had held since 1932. His various attempts to stop the self-Nazification of the church led to failures. After the 1944 Romanian coup d'état, Roth asked Saxons to remain loyal to the Romanian state and wrote numerous memorandums to the Romanian government asking them not to judge his people too harshly. Roth was first arrested in August 1948, which triggered a wave of alarm, although he was eventually released. He was re-arrested in 1952 and held in the Ghencea concentration camp, where he died.
Hans Otto Roth was born on 29 April 1890 in Sighișoara on the street Kleingasse 1 (now Strada Tache Ionescu), which was then part of Austria-Hungary. He was the sixth and youngest child of lawyer and city judge of Sighișoara Karl Roth (1846–1901) and Louise Roth (née Hausenblaß, 1855–1915) and was the grandson through his maternal side of a factory owner. He attended elementary school in Sighișoara where he graduated in 1900, and then attended the local Protestant high school in Sighișoara until 1908 where he was a part of the student self-government called Coetus Chlamydatorum. From 1908 to 1912, he studied law at the universities of Budapest, Vienna, Berlin, and Zurich. In April 1913, he received his doctorate in law from the ELTE Faculty of Law of the University of Budapest, where he was also the president of the League of Transylvanian Saxon Students. Afterwards, from 1913 to 1915, he worked in the Budapest law firms of A. Teteleni and Karl Schmidt.
At the start of World War One, Roth was initially deemed unfit for service, so he became deputy editor of the Transylvanian Saxon daily newspaper Siebenbürgisch-Deutsches Tageblatt, replacing Hermann Plattner, who had been drafted. He worked under the leadership of Emil Neugeboren. In January 1916, he was conscripted for military service in the Austro-Hungarian Army, and he served as an auxiliary for Infantry Regiment No. 31 in Brno, performing exclusively clerical duties. He was briefly sent to Semmering during his time in the military to recover from apical catarrh of the lungs. In February 1917, he was released from military service due to illness. Afterwards, from February 1917 to 1918, he was an editor for Siebenbürgisch-Deutsches Tageblatt. In 1918, the union of Transylvania with Romania occurred, which inspired Roth to become secretary of the Saxon Central Committee, where he supported the union and the accession of Saxons to Romania. He was specifically chosen as secretary for aligning with the "Little Saxon" tradition, which advocated for legalism and integration into Romania, which had started to be prominent around 1900. The tradition acknowledged the cultural value of pan-Germanism but advocated keeping it separate from state politics, opposing efforts to implement it through political means such as territorial annexation, due to concerns about its legality. He was elected over more politically experienced politicians like Rudolf Brandsch, who advocated for a more radical pan-Germanic ideology, which the Little Saxons disagreed with as they thought merging into a greater German identity would dissolve the Saxon identity and erode their cultural heritage.
In 1919, Roth was part of the Saxon delegation that handed the decision of the Saxon representatives to the government in Mediaş, and afterward, the Saxon Central Committee announced the Transylvanian Saxons' decision to join the Kingdom of Romania. Roth also wrote the Saxon People's Program during this time, which was adopted on 6 November 1919, and he was thus considered a key player in the integration of Saxons into Romania. He wrote the program after many Saxons complained about the reforms following the accession, and he also led a delegation of Saxon peasants to Cluj to present their complaints to the Directory Council.
In the 1919 Romanian general election, Roth won a seat in the Chamber of Deputies representing the German Party. In a speech in October, the month before the elections, he stated his campaign consisted of renewing confidence in the national vitality of Saxons, recognizing that the rejection of Hungary was not a betrayal and was justified citing the "abandonment" of the minority, and affirming that the pledges of King Ferdinand I to follow the results of the Great National Assembly of Alba Iulia were honest.
In 1922, Roth replaced Rudolf Brandsch as leader of the Parliamentary Group of the German Party. Roth was generally believed to have been chosen to replace Brandsch because Brandsch favored the strengthening of German self-consciousness and did not want to seek compromises with the ruling Romanian National Party, while Roth saw the possibility of the German-Romanians rights being enforced by a compromise. At the time in 1922, Roth admitted that he did not see ripe cooperation at the moment, but thought it only "conceivable", as he acknowledged Iuliu Maniu's position and said that the Romanian government was favorable to Saxons. He also stated that the Germans had a desire to contribute to Romania's development through what he called "constructive work" rather than political confontration. Roth's advocacy was ultimately successful as it led to a gain in seats for the party in the parliament and the government meeting some demands.
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