Ursula Goetze ( German Ursula Goetze ) - ( March 29, 1916 , Berlin , Germany - August 5, 1943 , Berlin, Germany ) - a student, an anti-fascist , a member of the Resistance movement during World War II, a member of the Red Cappella organization.
| Ursula Goetze | |
|---|---|
| Ursula goetze | |
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| Date of Birth | March 29, 1916 |
| Place of Birth | Berlin, Germany |
| Date of death | August 5, 1943 (27 years) |
| Place of death | Berlin, Germany |
| Citizenship | Germany |
| Occupation | member of the resistance movement during World War II |
| miscellanea | student, anti-fascist, member of the "Red Chapel" |
Content
Biography
Ursula Goetze was born on March 29, 1916 in Berlin, in the German Empire, in a family of workers. Together with her older brother, Eberhard Goetz, and fellow students in 1930, she joined the German Communist Youth Union ( KJVD ) in Berlin-Neukölln . Until 1933, she was twice arrested by the police for distributing leaflets. After 1933, she interrupted contacts with comrades and did not participate in their underground work, for example, in the illegal smuggling of prohibited literature on the border with Czechoslovakia .
From her early youth she had a keen sense of justice and social responsibility. She was deeply outraged by the tyranny of the Nazi regime, especially discrimination against her Jewish friends. Throughout her life, she raised money for victims of political persecution, racial discrimination, and then for foreign workers who were forcibly taken to work in Germany.
After graduating from the courses of shorthand, for several years she worked in this specialty. In 1937, she visited the World Exhibition in Paris . In 1939, a few weeks before the start of the war, she met with a Jewish friend who emigrated to England, where she established contact with members of the Labor Party. She refused emigration and returned to Germany to work against Nazism . In 1938 she entered the evening medical school in Schöneberg . Ursula Goetze wanted to become a teacher, because she thought it was the best way to fight Nazism. At school, she became friends with Eva Knipper-Rittmeister , who organized the group that included Fritz Thiel , Friedrich Rechmer , Otto Golln , Liana Berkowitz and their other classmates. Under the leadership of Eve's husband, Dr. John Ritmeister , the group soon joined the resistance movement. Together they discussed the forbidden literature, listened to foreign radio stations and analyzed what was happening in the country.
After passing the final exam in April 1940, she received a Ph.D. in philology (in English and French) from the international faculty of Berlin University . Here she met with other resistance fighters, including Harro Schulze-Boysen , one of the leaders of the Red Orchestra organization. With him and a close friend, the writer Werner Krauss tried to organize subversive groups among the French workers who were forcibly taken to work in Germany.
On May 17, 1942, together with Werner Krauss and Fritz Thiel, under the leadership of Harro Schulze-Boysen, she participated in the action on putting up posters against the Nazi propaganda exhibition “Soviet Paradise” in Berlin. [one]
Because of participation in this action, the Gestapo was arrested and on January 18, 1943, was sentenced to death by the Imperial Military Tribunal. In prison, experiencing a strong feeling of guilt because she had named Werner Krauss and Fritz Thiel during the brutal interrogation, she refused the former testimony, saying that she had slandered them because of fear under torture. On August 5, 1943, Ursula Goetze was beheaded at the Pleutzensee prison in Berlin. Her body was cremated by the Nazis, and the dust dispersed in an unknown place.
Memory
In the courtyard of the Humboldt University of Berlin in Berlin-Mitte (Unter den Linden 6), a memorial stone was erected in honor of Ursula Goetz. [2] A sculptural monument was erected at her last place of residence in Berlin. In Berlin-Karlshort, Ursula-Goetze-Strasse is named after her.
Literature
- In Memoriam. Ursula Goetze (1916-1943). "Leider habe ich dieses Buch nicht beenden können ..." . In: Lendemains . Nr. 48, 12. Jg., 1987, ISSN 0170-3803 , S. 153-116.
- Regina Griebel, Marlies Coburger und Heinrich Scheel: Erfasst? Das Gestapo-Album zur Roten Kapelle. Eine Fotodokumentation . Audioscop, Halle 1992, ISBN 3-88384-044-0 .
- Werner Krauss: Vor gefallenem Vorhang. Aufzeichnungen eines Kronzeugen des Jahrhunderts . Fischer-TB.-Vlg., Frankfurt am Main 1995, ISBN 3-596-12771-8 .
- Karl Heinz Jahnke: Ermordet und ausgelöscht - Zwölf deutsche Antifaschisten. Ahriman-Verlag (Reihe: Unerwünschte Bücher zum Faschismus Nr. 8): 1995 ISBN 978-3-89484-553-7 auf Google Books
- Luise Kraushaar et al .: Deutsche Widerstandskämpfer 1933-1945. Biografien und Briefe. Band 1, Dietz-Verlag: Berlin 1970, Seite 320ff
Notes
- ↑ Gert Rosiejka: Die Rote Kapelle. "Landesverrat" als antifaschistischer Widerstand. - Mit einer Einführung von Heinrich Scheel. ergebnisse, Hamburg 1986, ISBN 3-925622-16-0 ; S. 68
- ↑ Denkmale an der Humboldt-Universität