Volkstag

The Volkstag was the parliament of the Free City of Danzig between 1919 and 1939.

After World War I Danzig (Gdańsk) became a Free City under the protection of the League of Nations.

The first elections to a constitutional convention took place on 16 May 1920, the first parliamentary session on 14 June 1920 at the former West Prussian Provincial administration building (Provinzialverwaltung – Landeshaus), Neugarten (today Nowe Ogrody). The building was pulled down after World War II.

The Volkstag was elected by the male and female citizens of Danzig above 20 years of age; members of the Volkstag were required to be above 25 years of age. Further elections were held in 1923, 1927, 1930, 1933 and 1935.

After the Polish state increased its Westerplatte garrison by 120 soldiers, the local populace's fear of a Polish invasion was used by the Nazi party to boost their election chances. Provocative marches, speeches and a broadcast of Hitler's speech resulted in an absolute majority (50.03%) of the vote in the 28 May 1933 election.

After the successful Saar plebiscite, where more than 90 percent of the Saar populace voted in favour of Germany, the Nazis expected to achieve a similar success in Danzig and dissolved the Volkstag on 21 February 1935. New elections were scheduled for 7 April 1935. In the following weeks the Nazi Party organized more than 1,300 rallies, the local radio station was exclusively used for their propaganda and the usage of public poster pillars was also limited to Nazi propaganda. At the same time, the opposition parties were subject to a massive terror campaign; the Social Democrats were only able to organize seven rallies, only one of which was in a major hall, and all of which were disturbed by the SA, a Nazi paramilitary force. Most other parties were unable to organize any public meetings. The Social Democrat newspaper Danziger Volksstimme and the Catholic Danziger Volkszeitung were banned twice, and the Volksstimme was furthermore confiscated in the last three days prior to the election.

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