Franz Jacob (Resistance fighter)
Encyclopedia
Franz Jacob was a German Resistance
fighter against the National Socialists and a Communist
politician.
in a working class family. His mother, Marie Pgetz, was a maid and his father, August Moser, was a house servant, who died young. His family lived with his grandfather, an active member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany
(SPD) until his mother remarried in 1917. Her new husband, Gustav Jacob, adopted Franz.
Jacob only attended one year of Oberrealschule
. He then learned the trade of machine fitting on Hamburg wharfs and joined the metalworkers' union, where he was elected representative of the apprentices. The First World War and the economic situation in Germany prompted Jacob to join the youth branch of the Social Democratic Party of Germany
in 1920, at the age of 15. A year later, he joined the SPD. In 1925, he left the SPD for the youth group of the Communist Party of Germany
(KPD), over the objections of family.
He also joined the Rote Hilfe
and the Rote Frontkämpferbund (RFB). His activity in the Communist Youth group, led to him being elected the organization leader of the waterfront district. In 1928, he joined the KPD itself and was allowed to be a delegate to the 5th International Congress of Communist Youth and the 6th World Congress of the Communist International, both in Moscow
. As a result, Jacob lost his job at the Hamburg Telegraph Office. His next job was at Reiherstieg-Werft
, but he was fired without notice after calling for a short strike
.
In 1929, Jacob began working as a correspondent for the KPD publications for Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein
, the Hamburger Volkszeitung (Hamburg Peoples' Press) and the Norddeutsche Echo (North German Echo). For a short time, he went to Kiel
to help build a new anti-fascist organization to replace the RFB, which had been made illegal. In 1931, he became Secretary for agitation and propaganda for the KPD's Hamburg waterfront district, working then primarily for the KPD. His flyers made his name well known and in April 1932, he became a member of the Hamburg Parliament
, at the age of 26.
, an event that was blamed on the Communists. With Nazis in key positions in government, Adolf Hitler
was able to push through the Reichstag Fire Decree
, which was then signed into law by President Paul von Hindenburg
. The decree withdrew civil liberties and enabled the Nazis to arrest anyone they deemed to be an enemy. This became first and foremost a confrontation with the KPD, but in effect, outlawed all political parties in Germany, other than the Nazi Party. The Enabling Act of March 27, 1933 consolidated their power and authority. By the end of April 1933, the Nazis had arrested 18,000 Communists, 12,000 SPD members and others, filling concentration camps. By June 1933, more than half of the KPD's district leaders were in detention and hundreds of Nazi opponents had been killed. Many people went underground
, including Jacob.
A year later, in mid-August 1933, he was arrested in Berlin
by the Nazis and sent to prison, where Jacob subjected to torture
in the Gestapo prisons Columbia Haus in Berlin and KolaFu
in Hamburg. In 1934, he was sentenced to three years at hard labor in a Zuchthaus for "preparation to commit high treason
. After he had served his sentence, he was sent to Sachsenhausen concentration camp
for three years of preventive detention
, where he stayed till 1940.
Upon his release, he immediately went to Hamburg, where he found work at a shipyard and got back in touch with friends Bernhard Bästlein
and Robert Abshagen
, with whom he formed the Bästlein-Jacob-Abshagen Group
, a Communist resistance
group. He again was responsible for agitation and propaganda, producing flyers and other publications. He also began creating an archive for the group, which he conspired with a friend, Otto Gröllmann, who was a set designer at the Thalia Theater (Hamburg)
to conceal there. The archive has since been lost.
. Bästlein was able to escape prison during a bombing raid in 1944 and ran into Jacob by chance, after which he joined them in forming the Saefkow-Jacob-Bästlein Organization
, also called the "Operative Leadership of the Communist Party in Germany". It was one of the largest resistance groups in Germany. They focused on disseminating information that they were able to glean from foreign newspapers and from radio broadcasts from Moscow.
They also organized the Bewegung Freies Deutschland (Free Germany Movement) to work with people in factories, military units, opposition parties and others, growing to several hundred people. In his publication, Am Beginn der letzten Phase des Krieges ("At the beginning of the last phase of the war"), Jacob wrote that to end the war and overthrow the fascist dictator, Communists should concentrate all their strength "on developing a broad, national front composed of all groups that stand opposed to fascism.
Jacob lived underground in Berlin almost two years, moving frequently, some 30 times in 18 months, and having to remain very quiet during the daytime, so as not to be overheard. Being illegal, meant he also had to sit out bomb raids and dared not seek cover in a bomb shelter.
In April 1944, Social Democrats Adolf Reichwein
and Julius Leber
, who were members of the Kreisau Circle
, got in touch with Saefkow and Jacob to talk about bringing their Communist organization into the conspiracy of the 20 July plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler
. This was done with the knowledge and agreement of Claus von Stauffenberg. There was a meeting with Reichwein and Leber on June 22, 1944 in the apartment of Dr. Rudolf Schmid. Then Jacob and Leber, who had been together at Sachsenhausen and had formed a good trust with one another, met again, separately. According to historian Peter Steinbach, they knew this military resistance was an effort without a broad foundation of support and that the leaders of the SPD and KPD, as well as trade unions, had the contacts to turn it into an act of resistance with support.
An additional meeting was planned for July 4, 1944 to discuss concrete measures. They were denounced by an informer, however, and when Jacob, Saefkow and Reichwein arrived at the appointed place, the Gestapo snared them all. Leber was arrested a few days later. Jacob was sentenced to death by the Volksgerichthof on September 5, 1944 and was executed on September 18, 1944, at Brandenburg-Görden Prison
, along with Saefkow and Bästlein.
(née Emmermann), whom he had known from the Young Communist League. He moved in with her and her daughter, Ursel. Katharina was also politically active and had already been in concentration camps more than once and had served a year in prison. She helped Jacob gather information for his flyers, which were smuggled to Berlin by courier Charlotte Groß.
After Jacob was forced to flee to Berlin in October 1942, it was Charlotte Groß who brought him news of the birth of his daughter, Ilse, who was born on November 9, 1942. Jacob saw his daughter just once, when Katharina and her children were on a trip and on the way home, secretly spent one night in Berlin.
Jacob's wife survived the war and became involved in the Union of Persecutees of the Nazi Regime
. Years later, she was asked if her fight against Adolf Hitler
had been worth it.
Historian and author Ursel Hochmuth (b. 1931), daughter of Katharina and Franz Jacob's stepdaughter, has researched the German Resistance for decades and written several books on the subject.
suburb of Berlin named a street named after Franz Jacob in 1975. There is also a street in Rostock
named for Jacob. There is a stolperstein
for Franz Jacob at Jarrestraße 21, in Hamburg, where he lived with his wife and family.
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...
fighter against the National Socialists and a Communist
Communist Party of Germany
The Communist Party of Germany was a major political party in Germany between 1918 and 1933, and a minor party in West Germany in the postwar period until it was banned in 1956...
politician.
Early years
Jacob was born in HamburgHamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
in a working class family. His mother, Marie Pgetz, was a maid and his father, August Moser, was a house servant, who died young. His family lived with his grandfather, an active member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany
Social Democratic Party of Germany
The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...
(SPD) until his mother remarried in 1917. Her new husband, Gustav Jacob, adopted Franz.
Jacob only attended one year of Oberrealschule
Realschule
The Realschule is a type of secondary school in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein. It has also existed in Croatia , Denmark , Sweden , Hungary and in the Russian Empire .-History:The Realschule was an outgrowth of the rationalism and empiricism of the seventeenth and...
. He then learned the trade of machine fitting on Hamburg wharfs and joined the metalworkers' union, where he was elected representative of the apprentices. The First World War and the economic situation in Germany prompted Jacob to join the youth branch of the Social Democratic Party of Germany
Social Democratic Party of Germany
The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...
in 1920, at the age of 15. A year later, he joined the SPD. In 1925, he left the SPD for the youth group of the Communist Party of Germany
Communist Party of Germany
The Communist Party of Germany was a major political party in Germany between 1918 and 1933, and a minor party in West Germany in the postwar period until it was banned in 1956...
(KPD), over the objections of family.
He also joined the Rote Hilfe
Rote Hilfe
The Rote Hilfe was the German affiliate of the International Red Aid. The Rote Hilfe was affiliated with the Communist Party of Germany and existed between 1924 and 1936.- Origin :...
and the Rote Frontkämpferbund (RFB). His activity in the Communist Youth group, led to him being elected the organization leader of the waterfront district. In 1928, he joined the KPD itself and was allowed to be a delegate to the 5th International Congress of Communist Youth and the 6th World Congress of the Communist International, both in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
. As a result, Jacob lost his job at the Hamburg Telegraph Office. His next job was at Reiherstieg-Werft
Reiherstieg Schiffswerfte & Maschinenfabrik
Reiherstieg Schiffswerfte & Maschinenfabrik, also known as Reiherstiegwerft, was a German shipbuilding company, located on the Reiherstieg River in Hamburg. It was founded in 1706 by Lucas Kramer....
, but he was fired without notice after calling for a short strike
Strike action
Strike action, also called labour strike, on strike, greve , or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became important during the industrial revolution, when mass labour became...
.
In 1929, Jacob began working as a correspondent for the KPD publications for Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein
Schleswig-Holstein
Schleswig-Holstein is the northernmost of the sixteen states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Schleswig...
, the Hamburger Volkszeitung (Hamburg Peoples' Press) and the Norddeutsche Echo (North German Echo). For a short time, he went to Kiel
Kiel
Kiel is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 238,049 .Kiel is approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the north of Germany, the southeast of the Jutland peninsula, and the southwestern shore of the...
to help build a new anti-fascist organization to replace the RFB, which had been made illegal. In 1931, he became Secretary for agitation and propaganda for the KPD's Hamburg waterfront district, working then primarily for the KPD. His flyers made his name well known and in April 1932, he became a member of the Hamburg Parliament
Hamburg Parliament
The Hamburg Parliament is the unicameral legislature of the German state of Hamburg according to the constitution of Hamburg. As of 2011 there were 121 members in the parliament, representing a relatively equal amount of constituencies...
, at the age of 26.
The Hamburg years
The March 1933 elections saw great gains by the National Socialists to seats of power, both on the state and national level. On February 27, 1933, six days before the election, the Reichstag was burnedReichstag fire
The Reichstag fire was an arson attack on the Reichstag building in Berlin on 27 February 1933. The event is seen as pivotal in the establishment of Nazi Germany....
, an event that was blamed on the Communists. With Nazis in key positions in government, Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
was able to push through the Reichstag Fire Decree
Reichstag Fire Decree
The Reichstag Fire Decree is the common name of the Decree of the Reich President for the Protection of People and State issued by German President Paul von Hindenburg in direct response to the Reichstag fire of 27 February 1933. The decree nullified many of the key civil liberties of German...
, which was then signed into law by President Paul von Hindenburg
Paul von Hindenburg
Paul Ludwig Hans Anton von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg , known universally as Paul von Hindenburg was a Prussian-German field marshal, statesman, and politician, and served as the second President of Germany from 1925 to 1934....
. The decree withdrew civil liberties and enabled the Nazis to arrest anyone they deemed to be an enemy. This became first and foremost a confrontation with the KPD, but in effect, outlawed all political parties in Germany, other than the Nazi Party. The Enabling Act of March 27, 1933 consolidated their power and authority. By the end of April 1933, the Nazis had arrested 18,000 Communists, 12,000 SPD members and others, filling concentration camps. By June 1933, more than half of the KPD's district leaders were in detention and hundreds of Nazi opponents had been killed. Many people went underground
Resistance during World War II
Resistance movements during World War II occurred in every occupied country by a variety of means, ranging from non-cooperation, disinformation and propaganda to hiding crashed pilots and even to outright warfare and the recapturing of towns...
, including Jacob.
A year later, in mid-August 1933, he was arrested 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...
by the Nazis and sent to prison, where Jacob subjected to torture
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
in the Gestapo prisons Columbia Haus in Berlin and KolaFu
Fuhlsbüttel
Fuhlsbüttel is an urban quarter in the north of Hamburg, Germany in the district Hamburg-Nord. It is known as the site of Hamburg's international airport, and as the location of a prison which served as a concentration camp in the Nazi system of repression....
in Hamburg. In 1934, he was sentenced to three years at hard labor in a Zuchthaus for "preparation to commit high treason
High treason
High treason is criminal disloyalty to one's government. Participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplomats, or its secret services for a hostile and foreign power, or attempting to kill its head of state are perhaps...
. After he had served his sentence, he was sent to Sachsenhausen concentration camp
Sachsenhausen concentration camp
Sachsenhausen or Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg was a Nazi concentration camp in Oranienburg, Germany, used primarily for political prisoners from 1936 to the end of the Third Reich in May, 1945. After World War II, when Oranienburg was in the Soviet Occupation Zone, the structure was used as an NKVD...
for three years of preventive detention
Preventive detention
Preventive detention is an imprisonment that is not imposed as the punishment for a crime, but in order to prevent a person from committing a crime, if that person is deemed likely to commit a crime....
, where he stayed till 1940.
Upon his release, he immediately went to Hamburg, where he found work at a shipyard and got back in touch with friends Bernhard Bästlein
Bernhard Bästlein
Bernhard Bästlein was a German Communist and resistance fighter against the Nazi régime. He was imprisoned very shortly after the Nazis seized power in 1933 and was imprisoned almost without interruption until his execution in 1944, by the Nazis...
and Robert Abshagen
Robert Abshagen
Robert Abshagen was a German Resistance fighter against National Socialism and a Communist.- Biography :Abshagen first worked in insurance, then as a sailor and finally, as a construction worker. He joined the Communist Party of Germany in 1931.Beginning in 1933, he took part in the illegal German...
, with whom he formed the Bästlein-Jacob-Abshagen Group
Bästlein-Jacob-Abshagen Group
The Bästlein-Jacob-Abshagen Group was a German resistance group that developed around the core members Bernhard Bästlein, Franz Jacob and Robert Abshagen. It fought the National Socialist regime from 1940 till the end of the war in 1945...
, a Communist 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. He again was responsible for agitation and propaganda, producing flyers and other publications. He also began creating an archive for the group, which he conspired with a friend, Otto Gröllmann, who was a set designer at the Thalia Theater (Hamburg)
Thalia Theater (Hamburg)
The Thalia Theater is one of the three state-owned theatres in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded in 1843 by Charles Maurice Schwartzenberger and named after the muse Thalia...
to conceal there. The archive has since been lost.
The Berlin years
After a wave of arrests began in Hamburg in October 1942, which included Bästlein and Abshagen, Jacob fled and went to Berlin, where he was again underground. In 1943, he formed another resistance group, this time with Anton SaefkowAnton Saefkow
Anton Emil Hermann Saefkow was a German Communist and a resistance fighter against the Nazi régime.-Early life:...
. Bästlein was able to escape prison during a bombing raid in 1944 and ran into Jacob by chance, after which he joined them in forming the Saefkow-Jacob-Bästlein Organization
Saefkow-Jacob-Bästlein Organization
The Saefkow-Jacob-Bästlein Organization was an underground German resistance movement acting during the Second World War, that published the illegal magazine, Die Innere Front ....
, also called the "Operative Leadership of the Communist Party in Germany". It was one of the largest resistance groups in Germany. They focused on disseminating information that they were able to glean from foreign newspapers and from radio broadcasts from Moscow.
They also organized the Bewegung Freies Deutschland (Free Germany Movement) to work with people in factories, military units, opposition parties and others, growing to several hundred people. In his publication, Am Beginn der letzten Phase des Krieges ("At the beginning of the last phase of the war"), Jacob wrote that to end the war and overthrow the fascist dictator, Communists should concentrate all their strength "on developing a broad, national front composed of all groups that stand opposed to fascism.
Jacob lived underground in Berlin almost two years, moving frequently, some 30 times in 18 months, and having to remain very quiet during the daytime, so as not to be overheard. Being illegal, meant he also had to sit out bomb raids and dared not seek cover in a bomb shelter.
In April 1944, Social Democrats Adolf Reichwein
Adolf Reichwein
Adolf Reichwein was a German educator, economist, and cultural policymaker for the SPD. He was also a resistance fighter in Nazi Germany.-Biography:...
and Julius Leber
Julius Leber
Julius Leber was a German politician of the SPD and a member of the German Resistance against the Nazi régime.-Early life:...
, who were members of the Kreisau Circle
Kreisau Circle
The Kreisau Circle was the name the Nazi Gestapo gave to a group of German dissidents centered on the Kreisau estate of Helmuth James Graf von Moltke. The Kreisauer Kreis is celebrated as one of the instances of German opposition to the Nazi regime...
, got in touch with Saefkow and Jacob to talk about bringing their Communist organization into the conspiracy of the 20 July plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
. This was done with the knowledge and agreement of Claus von Stauffenberg. There was a meeting with Reichwein and Leber on June 22, 1944 in the apartment of Dr. Rudolf Schmid. Then Jacob and Leber, who had been together at Sachsenhausen and had formed a good trust with one another, met again, separately. According to historian Peter Steinbach, they knew this military resistance was an effort without a broad foundation of support and that the leaders of the SPD and KPD, as well as trade unions, had the contacts to turn it into an act of resistance with support.
An additional meeting was planned for July 4, 1944 to discuss concrete measures. They were denounced by an informer, however, and when Jacob, Saefkow and Reichwein arrived at the appointed place, the Gestapo snared them all. Leber was arrested a few days later. Jacob was sentenced to death by the Volksgerichthof on September 5, 1944 and was executed on September 18, 1944, 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...
, along with Saefkow and Bästlein.
Family
Jacob married Katharina HochmuthKatharina Jacob
Katharina Jacob was a teacher and member of the German Resistance movement against National Socialism. She was married to Franz Jacob, a German Resistance fighter who was executed by the Nazis.- Biographical details :...
(née Emmermann), whom he had known from the Young Communist League. He moved in with her and her daughter, Ursel. Katharina was also politically active and had already been in concentration camps more than once and had served a year in prison. She helped Jacob gather information for his flyers, which were smuggled to Berlin by courier Charlotte Groß.
After Jacob was forced to flee to Berlin in October 1942, it was Charlotte Groß who brought him news of the birth of his daughter, Ilse, who was born on November 9, 1942. Jacob saw his daughter just once, when Katharina and her children were on a trip and on the way home, secretly spent one night in Berlin.
Jacob's wife survived the war and became involved in the Union of Persecutees of the Nazi Regime
Union of Persecutees of the Nazi Regime
The Society of People Persecuted by the Nazi Regime – Federation of Anti-Fascists is a political organization founded in 1947....
. Years later, she was asked if her fight against Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
had been worth it.
Historian and author Ursel Hochmuth (b. 1931), daughter of Katharina and Franz Jacob's stepdaughter, has researched the German Resistance for decades and written several books on the subject.
Memorials
The LichtenbergLichtenberg
Lichtenberg is the eleventh borough of Berlin, Germany. In Berlin's 2001 administrative reform it absorbed the former borough of Hohenschönhausen.-Overview:...
suburb of Berlin named a street named after Franz Jacob in 1975. There is also a street in Rostock
Rostock
Rostock -Early history:In the 11th century Polabian Slavs founded a settlement at the Warnow river called Roztoc ; the name Rostock is derived from that designation. The Danish king Valdemar I set the town aflame in 1161.Afterwards the place was settled by German traders...
named for Jacob. There is a stolperstein
Stolpersteine
Stolperstein is the German word for "stumbling block", "obstacle", or "something in the way". The artist Gunter Demnig has given this word a new meaning, that of a small, cobblestone-sized memorial for a single victim of Nazism...
for Franz Jacob at Jarrestraße 21, in Hamburg, where he lived with his wife and family.
Further reading
- Ursula Puls: Die Bästlein-Jacob-Abshagen-Gruppe, Berlin 1959
- Ursel Hochmuth: Widerstandsorganisation Bästlein-Jacob-Abshagen in Streiflichter aus dem Hamburger Widerstand 1933 - 1945, Frankfurt a. M. 1969
- Frank Müller: Mitglieder der Bürgerschaft. Opfer totalitärer Verfolgung, 2. überarbeitete und ergänzte Auflage, Hamburg 1995, pp. 47–50
- German Resistance Memorial Center (German version) Short biography of Franz Jacob with bibliography. Retrieved March 22, 2010
External links
- Kathleen Marowsky. Die Bästlein-Jacobs-Abshagen Gruppe - Ein Beispiel des kommunistischen Widerstands in Hamburg im „Dritten Reich" (Written by a historian from Hamburg.) Retrieved March 23, 2010