Did any Germans join the International brigades during the Spanish Civil War? How were they treated on their return to Germany both during the Third Reich, and after?

I did a paper on the role of the International Brigades in East German society a while back. I hope this fits in with the quality of this sub.

The struggle of the German volunteers of the International Brigades held a special place in the society of the German Democratic Republic (Deutsche Demokratische Republik or DDR). With the founding of the country in 1949 the leadership of the SED (Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands or SED) sought to create a narrative which connected the state to the German past. Several historic events and developments were considered, but were ultimately found to be unsuitable for its links to the bourgeoisie (writers and intellectuals), the German Empire (the German Revolution of 1848) or the social democrats (the leftist movements in the Weimar Republic). In this the German volunteers of the International Brigades (IB) provided the SED with a perfect foundation. The struggle against fascism fit in well with the Soviet rhetoric, which had portrayed the Second World War as a struggle against fascism. Through its alliance with the Soviet Union the SED could present itself as being on the 'right side of history'. It alleged that while the Soviets had beaten the fascists, the West had made a deal with the fascists and that as such fascism was very much alive in the West. In addition to this, many of the major German figures of the International Brigades were members of the SED and held high positions in its government.

In the final stages of the Second World War local communist committees were set up in Germany. These sought to prevent the retreating German soldiers from destroying infrastructure and carried out communist reforms such as the collectivization of agriculture. German IB veterans took an active approach in the organization of these committees. This aided them in the early days of the DDR. In September 1945 German IB veterans organized a meeting in Berlin during which the above described foundation myth was established. In the 1950's the SED sought to 'refine' this myth. One way of doing so was by limiting the title of 'resistance fighter' to just the communists who also subscribed to the state ideology. The Association of Those Persecuted by the Nazi Regime (Vereinigung der Vervolgten des Nazi-regimes or VVN) was originally founded with the goal of obtaining reparations for those who suffered under the regime. In the early 1950s non-communist anti-fascists and Holocaust survivors were forced out of the organization. In 1953 the VVN was replaced with the Committee of Anti-Fascist Resistance Fighters (Komitee der Antifaschistischen Widerstandkämpfer or KdAW), which focused much more on those who had fought in Spain.

The foundation myth of the DDR was present in all layers of society. It glorified figures associated with the Spanish Civil War such as Thälmann, Beimler and André, who all had a variety of matters like schools and ships named after them. Starting in July 1956 the SED organized an annual memorial week for those who fought in Spain. This continued to the very end of the DDR. The fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the Brigades in 1986 was widely celebrated throughout the country. It needs to be noted that by then there were not too many IB veterans left. This obviously impacted the role of the Brigades in East German society.

Sources:

Grieder, P., The East German Leadership 1946-1973: Conflict and Crisis (Manchester 1999).
Krammer, A., 'The Cult of the Spanish Civil War in East Germany', Journal of Contemporary History 39, 4 (2004) 531-560.
Krammer, A., 'Germans Against Hitler: The Thälmann Brigade', Journal of Contemporary History 4, 2 (1969) 65-83.
McLellan, J., Antifascism and Memory in East Germany: Remembering the International Brigades 1945-1989 (Oxford 2004).
McLellan, J., 'I Wanted to Be a Little Lenin: Ideology and the German International Brigade Volunteers', Journal of Contemporary History 41, 2 (2006) 287-304.
Weitz, E.D., Creating German Communism, 1890-1990 (Princeton 1997).