Anneliese Groscurth
Encyclopedia
Dr. Anneliese Groscurth was the wife of Georg Groscurth
and a member of the European Union
, (Europäische Union) an antifascist German resistance
group in Berlin
, during the Nazi era. Her husband and all but one of the other central members of the group were executed, but she survived.
, a chemist, as well as two other of their friends, architect Herbert Richter and his neighbor, dentist Paul Rentsch. The EU produced political leaflets and hid Jews and other people hunted by the Nazis, feeding them, supplying them with new identification papers, and giving them information. The group grew to about 50 people, including Germans and many non-German forced laborers.
happened to observe two parachute landings and the EU member, Paul Hatschek
, who had gone to meet them. After the Gestapo felt they had enough information from their investigations, they arrested Hatschek on September 3, 1943, subjecting him to intensive interrogation on that same day. Two days later, the Gestapo arrested every single person Hatschek had named. By the end, they had over 40 members of the EU; the number of forced laborers arrested, but not brought before a court, is unknown. The Jews hidden by the EU were sent to Auschwitz, where about half of them were killed.
There were more than 12 trials before the People's Court. Of those, 15 were sentenced to death and 13 were executed. Two died while being interrogated. Havemann survived because his execution kept being postponed, due to intervention from the biochemists he had earlier worked with. His execution was postponed often enough that he was eventually freed by the Red Army
. Georg Groscurth, Richter and Rentsch were executed at Brandenburg-Görden Prison
on May 8, 1944. Other group members were indicted before other courts.
In his farewell letter to his wife, written just before his execution, Georg Groscurth wrote, "Dear, good Anneliese, now it is time. In half an hour, the sentence will be carried out. I am composed because I have always known this could happen. They're rattling the keys already. Let me embrace you. Dwell on this: that we're dying for a better future, for a life without man's hatred for man."
. They were even denied or experienced delays receiving pension and death benefits or the return of property after the war.
Groscurth, an outspoken left-leaning woman, though unaffiliated with any political party, she experienced difficulties after the war. As former Nazis returned to their old jobs, they made her life difficult. She worked as a doctor in Charlottenburg
in the city's health department and suffered attempts to interfere with her ability to be paid through national health insurance and calls for a boycott of her practice. She spoke out against the rearmament
of Germany and she was defamed as a Communist, a severe charge in the Cold War
era. In 1951, she was let go, without notice, from her job as a doctor. Until the 1960s, she was denied a passport, for fear of what she might say about Germany while abroad. Until the 1970s, she was even unable to collect her pension.
with Groscurth's two sons and in 2004, wrote a book that incorporated elements of the lives of their parents. Part autobiography, part crime novel and part the story of Groscurth and her husband's experiences, Mein Jahr als Mörder (My Year as a Murderer) tells the fictional account of a college student who hears that a Nazi judge, Hans-Joachim Rehse, has been released from prison. Becoming enraged because Rehse is now freed from the past, while the family, minus the father, whom Rehse had executed, continues to suffer, the student decides to murder the judge. The novel played an important part in ending 50 years of suppression and neglect of the resistance group and leading to recognition of their contribution.
Groscurth, her husband, Havemann, Richter and Rentsch were honored in 2006 by Yad Vashem
by being named Righteous Among the Nations
.
Also in 2006, a square in the Westend
section of Berlin was renamed for the Groscurth couple.
Georg Groscurth
Georg Groscurth , was a German doctor and Nazi resistance fighter in the time of the Third Reich.-Life:Georg Groscurth was born a farmer's son in the village of Unterhaun in the Province of Hesse-Nassau, now part of Hauneck in the Bundesland of Hesse...
and a member of the European Union
European Union (resistance group)
The original European Union was an antifascist resistance group during Germany's Nazi era, which formed around Anneliese and Georg Groscurth and Robert Havemann. Other important members were Herbert Richter and Paul Rentsch....
, (Europäische Union) an antifascist German resistance
German Resistance
The German resistance was the opposition by individuals and groups in Germany to Adolf Hitler or the National Socialist regime between 1933 and 1945. Some of these engaged in active plans to remove Adolf Hitler from power and overthrow his regime...
group in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, during the Nazi era. Her husband and all but one of the other central members of the group were executed, but she survived.
Resistance activity
Groscurth was supportive of the "European Union" (EU) and was involved in its activities. The EU was founded by Groscurth's husband, also a doctor and Robert HavemannRobert Havemann
Robert Havemann was a chemist, and an East German dissident.He studied chemistry in Berlin and Munich from 1929 to 1933, and then later received a doctorate in physical chemistry from the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute....
, a chemist, as well as two other of their friends, architect Herbert Richter and his neighbor, dentist Paul Rentsch. The EU produced political leaflets and hid Jews and other people hunted by the Nazis, feeding them, supplying them with new identification papers, and giving them information. The group grew to about 50 people, including Germans and many non-German forced laborers.
Arrest and punishment
The GestapoGestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
happened to observe two parachute landings and the EU member, Paul Hatschek
Paul Hatschek
Paul Hatschek was a Czech engineer of optical and film technology and a member of the German Resistance against Nazism during the Third Reich. He was involved with Robert Uhrig and then became a leading member of the resistance group, the European Union. According to Robert Havemann, Hatschek was...
, who had gone to meet them. After the Gestapo felt they had enough information from their investigations, they arrested Hatschek on September 3, 1943, subjecting him to intensive interrogation on that same day. Two days later, the Gestapo arrested every single person Hatschek had named. By the end, they had over 40 members of the EU; the number of forced laborers arrested, but not brought before a court, is unknown. The Jews hidden by the EU were sent to Auschwitz, where about half of them were killed.
There were more than 12 trials before the People's Court. Of those, 15 were sentenced to death and 13 were executed. Two died while being interrogated. Havemann survived because his execution kept being postponed, due to intervention from the biochemists he had earlier worked with. His execution was postponed often enough that he was eventually freed by the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
. Georg Groscurth, Richter and Rentsch were executed at Brandenburg-Görden Prison
Brandenburg-Görden Prison
Brandenburg-Görden Prison is located on Anton-Saefkow-Allee in the Görden section of Brandenburg an der Havel. Erected between 1927 and 1935, it was built to be the most secure and modern prison in Europe. It was a Zuchthaus for inmates with lengthy or life sentences at hard labor, as well as...
on May 8, 1944. Other group members were indicted before other courts.
In his farewell letter to his wife, written just before his execution, Georg Groscurth wrote, "Dear, good Anneliese, now it is time. In half an hour, the sentence will be carried out. I am composed because I have always known this could happen. They're rattling the keys already. Let me embrace you. Dwell on this: that we're dying for a better future, for a life without man's hatred for man."
Postwar harassment
EU survivors were denied the reparations payments mandated by the 1949 German Restitution LawsGerman Restitution Laws
The German Restitution Laws were a series of laws passed in the 1950s in West Germany regulating the restitution of lost property and the payment of damages to victims of the Nazi persecutions....
. They were even denied or experienced delays receiving pension and death benefits or the return of property after the war.
Groscurth, an outspoken left-leaning woman, though unaffiliated with any political party, she experienced difficulties after the war. As former Nazis returned to their old jobs, they made her life difficult. She worked as a doctor in Charlottenburg
Charlottenburg
Charlottenburg is a locality of Berlin within the borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf, named after Queen consort Sophia Charlotte...
in the city's health department and suffered attempts to interfere with her ability to be paid through national health insurance and calls for a boycott of her practice. She spoke out against the rearmament
Wiederbewaffnung
Wiederbewaffnung refers to the United States of America plan to help build up West Germany after World War II. They could not function outside an alliance framework . These events lead to the establishment of the Bundeswehr, the West German army, in 1955.Heinz Guderian stated that the fight was...
of Germany and she was defamed as a Communist, a severe charge in the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
era. In 1951, she was let go, without notice, from her job as a doctor. Until the 1960s, she was denied a passport, for fear of what she might say about Germany while abroad. Until the 1970s, she was even unable to collect her pension.
Legacy and Memorials
The German writer Friedrich Christian Delius grew up in WehrdaWehrda
- External links :* *...
with Groscurth's two sons and in 2004, wrote a book that incorporated elements of the lives of their parents. Part autobiography, part crime novel and part the story of Groscurth and her husband's experiences, Mein Jahr als Mörder (My Year as a Murderer) tells the fictional account of a college student who hears that a Nazi judge, Hans-Joachim Rehse, has been released from prison. Becoming enraged because Rehse is now freed from the past, while the family, minus the father, whom Rehse had executed, continues to suffer, the student decides to murder the judge. The novel played an important part in ending 50 years of suppression and neglect of the resistance group and leading to recognition of their contribution.
Groscurth, her husband, Havemann, Richter and Rentsch were honored in 2006 by Yad Vashem
Yad Vashem
Yad Vashem is Israel's official memorial to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust, established in 1953 through the Yad Vashem Law passed by the Knesset, Israel's parliament....
by being named Righteous Among the Nations
Righteous Among the Nations
Righteous among the Nations of the world's nations"), also translated as Righteous Gentiles is an honorific used by the State of Israel to describe non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust to save Jews from extermination by the Nazis....
.
Also in 2006, a square in the Westend
Westend (Berlin)
Westend is a locality of the Berlin borough Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf situated on the Spandauer Berg, the northern peak of the Teltow plateau between the river valleys of Spree and Havel...
section of Berlin was renamed for the Groscurth couple.
External links
- Originaldokumente (click to enlarge). Photo of Georg Groscurth and friends, spring 1943; and original EU political flyers. Retrieved March 18, 2010
- Brief biography of Georg Groscurth. Retrieved March 18, 2010
- Brief biography of Robert Havemann. Retrieved March 18, 2010
- Brief biography of Herbert Richter. Retrieved March 18, 2010
- Plötzensee Memorial Center Official website, German resistance memorial center. Retrieved March 18, 2010
Further reading
- Friedrich Christian Delius. Mein Jahr als Mörder. Roman. (Literary portrayal of the lives of Anneliese and Georg Groscurth) Rowohlt, Reinbek (2006) ISBN 3499239329
- Simone Hannemann, Werner Theuer and Manfred Wilke. Robert Havemann und die Widerstandsgruppe „Europäische Union“. Eine Darstellung der Ereignisse und deren Interpretation nach 1945. Robert-Havemann-Gesellschaft, Berlin. (2001) ISBN 3980492052 Book review
- Manfred Wilke and Werner Theuer. Der Beweis eines Verrats läßt sich nicht erbringen. Robert Havemann und die Widerstandsgruppe Europäische Union. (The Evidence of Betrayal Refuses to Surface. Robert Havemann and the Resistance Group, European Union") German National Archive, Cologne (1999), p. 899–912