The sixth and last elections to the Volkstag, the parliament of the Free City of Danzig, were held on April 7, 1935.Siegler, Hans Georg. Danzig: Chronik eines Jahrtausends. Droste Verlag, 1991. p. 345 Whilst a Volkstag election was not due until 1937, the ruling National Socialist German Workers Party (NSDAP) brought a snap election hoping to acquire a two-thirds majority in the assembly required to modify the constitution of the Free City of Danzig. The NSDAP massively dominated the election campaign, with the state machinery being mobilized to canvass for votes. Opposition parties were harassed and routinely violently attacked, especially in rural areas. In the end the NSDAP failed to achieve the two-thirds majority, and in spite of winning an absolute majority of votes and seats the election was widely seen as a set-back for the party. The opposition parties demanded that the election be declared invalid and petitioned the Danzig courts and the League of Nations demanding fresh elections.

Background

The National Socialist German Workers Party (NSDAP) had won a majority of votes and seats in the 1933 Volkstag election. Hermann Rauschning, a former German National People's Party (DNVP) politician who had joined the NSDAP, became the Senate President of the Free City of Danzig. But the relationship between Rauschning and the NSDAP party organization soon turned sour, as Rauschning favoured a line of international détente and adherence to the international treaties governing the Free City whilst the NSDAP party organization called for hard-line approach towards the opposition (demanding measures such as banning the Social Democratic Party, arresting Catholic priests, etc.). A key issue increasing the tensions between Rauschning and the NSDAP gauleiter (party organization leader) Albert Forster was the financing the Great National Socialist Job Creation Program, a program modeled on the anti-unemployment scheme of the German Reich. But whilst in the German Reich the government could fund its unemployment scheme through public debt, the Bank of Danzig could not do the same due to restrictions imposed by the League of Nations mandate. And though the Great National Socialist Job Creation Program had limited impact on unemployment in the Free City of Danzig, it prompted the Free City of Danzig government to introduce budget cuts for other state activities as well as reductions in public sector salaries and pensions.

Rauschning was personally instructed by Adolf Hitler to respect the decisions of the party. On November 22, 1934 the NSDAP Volkstag fraction issued a no-cofidence letter to Rauschning, who resigned as Senate President the following day. The Senate Vice President and NSDAP politician Arthur Greiser became the new Senate President. With the ousting of the unpopular and moderate Rauschning, Forster was able to strengthen his hold over the party and the Free City of Danzig.Gippert, Wolfgang. Kindheit und Jugend in Danzig 1920 bis 1945: Identitätsbildung im sozialistischen und im konservativen Milieu. Klartext, 2005. pp. 166-168, 268-269

In the wake of the January 13, 1935 Saar plebiscite (in which 91% of the voters had supported reunification with Germany), the NSDAP moved to dissolve to Volkstag and call for fresh elections two years ahead of schedule. Forster and NSDAP were hoping to take advantage of the Saar vote momentum and seeking to gain a two-thirds majority. A two-thirds Volkstag majority was needed under the League of Nations mandate in order to be able change the constitution of the Free City of Danzig.Lewin, Erwin, and Coburger, Marlies. Protokoll der "Brüsseler Konferenz" der KPD 1935: Reden, Diskussion und Beschlüsse, Moskau vom 3.-15. Oktober 1935. K.G. Saur, 1997. p. 659Loew, Peter O.. Danzig und seine Vergangenheit 1793–1997: Die Geschichtskultur einer Stadt zwischen Deutschland und Polen. Fibre, 2003. p. 49 In the November 18, 1934 District Assembly (kreistag) elections in the and districts the NSDAP had won 77.18% of the vote - making the goal of a two-thirds Volkstag majority seem probable to Forster.

On February 12, 1935 Senate President Greiser sent a letter to the NSDAP Volkstag fraction, requesting the dissolution of the parliament and the holding of fresh elections. On February 21, 1935 the Volkstag voted to dissolve itself - with 41 votes in favour, 12 against and 3 abstentions. On February 26, 1935 the Official Gazette announced that elections would be held on April 7, 1935.

As of early 1935 time the Catholic clergy in the Free City of Danzig was effectively split into three factions - Poles, Germans and Bishop Edward O'Rourke. In his Lenten letter, which was issued in the lead-up to the elections, Bishop O'Rourke avoided to directly attack the ruling National Socialists. Rather he warned of the dangers of Bolshevism and Social Democracy, a move that aggravated the divisions in the Danzig clergy and isolated Bishop O'Rourke.Das Bistum Danzig in Lebensbildern: Ordinarien, Weihbischöfe, Generalvikare, apostolische Visitatoren 1922/25 bis 2000. Lit, 2003. p. 16

Campaigning List 1 - National Socialist German Workers Party (Hitler Movement) The National Socialist list was headed by Arthur Greiser (Senate President, Danzig-Oliva), (farmer, Zugdam), (Senator, Danzig) and Johann Gobert (fisherman, Palschau). The NSDAP electoral campaign began on March 16, 1935. Its campaign slogan was 'Fight the Separatists! - Danzig remains National Socialist', borrowing from the discourse used in the Saar plebiscite campaign. Per Gippert (2005) the NSDAP election campaign was carried out "with a tried-and-tested formula: intimidation and terrorizing members of the opposition parties on the one hand, and elaborate and massively orchestrated election propaganda on the other". Most of the election rallies of the opposition were attacked. The Sturmabteilung (SA) could operate with near total impunity from the police and judiciary.

Virtually the whole state machinery was mobilized for the NSDAP election campaign, including police, labour service, air defenses, etc. Swastika flags and banners were hung across the city. Some 1,300 electoral meetings were carried out across the Free City of Danzig during the three weeks of campaigning, often held in large meeting halls. The National Socialist press claimed that some 80,000 people had taken part in the main electoral rally at the Albert Forster Stadium. The Danzig radio broadcast massively relayed NSDAP campaign messages during five weeks, whilst not giving any space to opposition voices during the same time period.

The NSDAP election campaign was joined by the four most prominent ministers from the German Reich - Hermann Göring, Joseph Goebbels Rudolf Hess and Bernhard Rust. Half a dozen gauleiters (such as the Saar gauleiter Josef Bürckel) and about a dozen of the top propagandists from Germany arrived in Danzig to assist in the campaigning.

During the election campaign Senate President Greiser repeatedly attacked the League of Nations High Commissioner Seán Lester, arguing that Lester protected 'the morbid and unshaven opposition parties' and that he was 'interfering in the internal affairs of the Free City'.

The former Senate President Rauschning, who had retired to his estate in Warnau after his resignation, was targeted in the NSDAP election campaign. During a rally in Danzig City, Julius Streicher denounced Rauschning as a "traitor to the people and the country" and accused him of having "sold Danzig to the Jews". The attacks prompted Rauschning to briefly return to the public sphere, by issuing an open letter to Gauleiter Forster and appealing to the voters of the Free City of Danzig not to hand over power to an "unrestricted dictator" and a "policy of adventures".

List 2 - Social Democratic The Social Democratic list was headed by Arthur Brill (construction worker, Danzig), (employee, Danzig), (businesswoman, Danzig) and (typesetter, Danzig). The Social Democrats held seven campaign meetings during the electoral campaign, one of them in a large hall. The Social Democrats suffered frequent violent attacks from the SA and police. Tear gas was used to interrupt Social Democratic campaign meetings. In March 1935 Social Democratic party founder in Ladekopp Paul Haag died from wound inflicted during the 1934 District Assembly elections.

The Social Democratic newspaper was banned twice during the election campaign period. Only seven issues of the newspaper could be published during the election campaign period, which severely hampered the Social Democratic campaign. Social Democratic newspaper vendors were assaulted. The National Socialists organized an intimidation campaign against the residences of prominent Social Democrats, in particular in rural areas, writing the message 'here lives a traitor to the Fatherland' on their houses. The Social Democratic Party reported a some 500 violent attacks in the rural areas during the election campaign.Schenk, Dieter. Danzig 1930-1945: das Ende einer Freien Stadt. Ch. Links Verlag, 2013. pp. 54, 56 Per historian Christopher Pallaske (1999), the pre-electoral violence against the Social Democrats took 'pogrom-like proportions'.Pallaske, Christoph. Die Hitlerjugend der Freien Stadt Danzig: 1926-1939. Waxmann, 1999. p. 154

List 3 - Plenikowski List The Communist Party had been banned in the Free City of Danzig on May 28, 1934. However, ahead of the 1935 elections a 'Committee of Danzig State Citizens of communist World View' was constituted without objections from state authorities. The communists contested the election under the banner 'Plenikowski List'. The list was headed by Anton Plenikowski (teacher, Danzig-Schidlitz), (farm worker, Brunau), (dock worker, Danzig-Lauental) and Meta Totzki (housewife, Zoppot). The communists were unable to hold any public election campaign meetings.

List 4 - Centre Party The Centre Party list was headed by Dr. (teacher, Danzig), (publisher, Zoppot), Paul Weiß (teacher, Zoppot) and Albert Posack (police sergeant, Danzig-Oliva). The Centre Party held a handful of public campaign meetings. Similarly to the Social Democrats, the Centre Party public campaign meetings were attacked. Danziger Volks-Zeitung, a newspaper close to the Centre Party, suffered confiscations multiple times during the election campaign period. On March 25, 1935 Danziger Volks-Zeitung was reprimanded for publishing reports about disruptions of the Centre Party electoral campaign meetings.

List 5 - Weise List The German National People's Party (DNVP) contested the election under the banner 'Weise List'. The list was headed by Gerhard Weise (lawyer, Zoppot), (merchant, Danzig-Langfuhr), (farmer, Ridelswalde) and (Senator, Danzig). By 1935 the DNVP had lost most of its electoral appeal but still had its core party organization largely intact.

List 6 - Pietsch Group (Freie Frontkämpfer) Freie Frontkämpfer ('Free Front Fighters') was a small party set up to advocate for interests of ex-servicemen, who had refused to join the National Socialist fold.Matull, Wilhelm. Ostdeutschlands Arbeiterbewegung: Abriss ihrer Geschichte, Leistung und Opfer. Holzner Verlag, 1973. pp. 442-443Official Journal. League of Nations, June 1935. p. 822 Its leader Gustav Pietsch was a sea captain, who had moved to Danzig in 1918. Pietsch had been active in the Frontkämpferbund veterans' union, which was linked to the DNVP. However, Pietsch was expelled from Frontkämpferbund in 1933 for his opposition to fascism. The list of the Pietsch group had 15 candidates was headed by Pietsch himself, Reinhard Weigl (merchant employee, Zoppot), Bruno Mischke (customs operations assistant, Danizg-Glettkau) and Friedrich Gehring (mechanic, Danzig). Its press organ Feldgrauer Alarm was banned on March 12, 1935 for a period of five months.

List 7 - Polish List In the 1933 elections, the Polish vote had been split between two lists. Ahead of the 1935 election a meeting was held at the offices of the