Otto and Eliza Hampel were a married couple of workers who invented a simple method of protest , living in Berlin during the outbreak of World War II . They compiled postcards condemning the government of Adolf Hitler and left them in public places throughout the city. In the end, they were captured, tortured and beheaded in Berlin's Plötzensee prison in April 1943. Shortly after the end of the war, their affairs from the Gestapo were transferred to the writer Hans Fallade and their history served as a prototype for the 1947 novel, translated into English and published in 2009 under the title “ Everyone dies alone ” (in the UK - “Some in Berlin”).
Life and Resistance
- Otto Hampel (June 21, 1897 - April 8, 1943) was born in the city of Mühlbock, a suburb of Wehrau , today in Poland, then in Germany. He served in World War I, and then was a worker in a factory. [one]
- Eliza Lemme (October 27, 1903 - April 8, 1943) was born in Bismarck in the district of Stendal . Her education was limited only to elementary school. She worked as a servant, and was also a member of the National Socialist Women's Organization . [2]
The couple got married in 1935. [2] After they learned that Eliza's brother was killed in battle, Hampel made attempts to maintain resistance against the Third Reich . [2] From September 1940 until their arrest in the autumn of 1942, they wrote more than 200 postcards, dropping them into mailboxes and leaving them on the stairwells of Berlin’s houses, often in the Wedding district where they lived.
The cards urged people to stop cooperating with the Nazis, to refrain from donating money, refusing military service and overthrowing Hitler. [2] Despite the fact that almost all postcards were immediately delivered to the Gestapo, it took two years to find their authors. [3] Hampel was convicted and arrested in the fall of 1942. Otto told the police that he was happy that he could protest against Hitler and the Third Reich. At the trial in the Volksgerichtshof , the Nazi "people's court", Hampel was convicted of actions aimed at undermining the defense power and "preparing for high treason". [4] They were beheaded on April 8, 1943, in the Plötzensee prison in Berlin. [five]
Heritage
Their life was described in the novel by Hans Fallada, where they are called Otto and Anna Quangel; in the plot dies their son, not his wife's brother. [6] The English version of the book, published by Melville House Publishing, includes an appendix containing several pages from the actual Gestapo case, including pictures of the circle, signed confessions, police reports and several actual postcards used in the protest. [7]
There were five screen versions of the novel:
- “Jeder stirbt für sich allein” - dir. Falk Harnak in the Federal Republic of Germany in 1962; [eight]
- television mini-series dir. [9] and produced by DEFA in the GDR in 1970;
- film dir. in 1975, released in English under the name " Everyone Dies Alone " ( eng. ) In 1976; [ten]
- Czech television mini-series in three parts in 2004, dir. Dušan Klein. [11] Hildegard Knef played the role of Anna Quangel. [12]
- the 2016 film “ Alone in Berlin ”, starring Emma Thompson and Brendan Gleason - was nominated for Golden Bear at the 66th International Berlin Film Festival .
Notes
- ↑ Otto Hermann Hampel . German Resistance Memorial Center . The date of appeal is January 18, 2017.
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 Elise Hampel . German Resistance Memorial Center . The date of appeal is January 18, 2017.
- ↑ Johannes Groschupf, “Das Ehepaar Hampel allein in Berlin” (pg. 2) Die Zeit , 16 April 2011; retrieved 8 March 2012. (it.)
- ↑ German version , gdw-berlin.de; retrieved 5 March 2012. (it.)
- ↑ Template: Cite newspaper
- ↑ Liesel schillinger, Postcards from the Edge The New York Times , February 27, 2009; retrieved 5 March 2012.
- Ville See the appendix in Melville House Publishing .
- Program "Programm vom Donnerstag, dem 19. Juli 1962" , TVProgramme.net; retrieved 4 March 2012.
- ↑ "Mein Vater Erwin Geschonneck" Geschonneck.com; retrieved 4 March 2012. (it.)
- ↑ Everyone Dies Alone , imdb.com; retrieved 4 March 2012.
- Do “Dobro a zlo u Dušana Kleina” Hospodářské Noviny , 16 February 2004; retrieved 4 March 2012.
- ↑ Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, 1976 , imdb.com; retrieved 5 March 2012.