Rudi Arndt

Rudi Arndt (1 March 1927 – 14 May 2004) was a German politician of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). He served in several positions in the Hesse state government, and as the Mayor of Frankfurt between 1972 and 1977. At different points in his political career he was a member of the Landtag of Hesse and the European Parliament as well as the Frankfurt City Council. Family Arndt came from a family with a tradition of SPD membership. His father, Konrad Arndt, was a trade union secretary, and was imprisoned by the Nazis for a short while. In 1938 the senior Arndt was released from prison, after which he conscripted in the army to avoid persecution from the Gestapo. Konrad Arndt died in November 1940 under mysterious circumstances. Although he official died in a car crash, there is some evidence suggesting he was murdered by the Gestapo. Rudi Arndt's mother, Anna Babette, was also a social democrat and local politician in Frankfurt. Her sister was murdered by the National Socialists in 1940. Arndt had an elder brother named Günther. He was expelled from college for making comments critical of the Nazi regime, conscripted into the army and ordered to the Eastern Front. He did not return from soviet captivity until 1949.