Kurt Machler

Kurt Machler (born January 8, 1910 in Rixdorf ; † August 15, 1942 in the Berlin-Plötzensee prison ) was a German resistance fighter against National Socialism .

Life

Machler, who worked as a workshop clerk, took part in demonstrations in the Weimar Republic against anti-social measures by various governments, against the building of the armored cruiser (1928) and against state subsidies for the East Elbe Junkers .

After the “ seizure of power ” by the National Socialists, he was initially absorbed by their ideas. Together with his younger brother Fritz (* 1912) he joined the SA and the NSDAP . Both brothers left the SA in 1935. Kurt Machler was expelled from the NSDAP in 1937 because of “lack of interest”.

After the war began, the two brothers began to consider what they could do about the war. In the course of 1941 they put self-made sticky notes in southeast Berlin, in Lichtenberg and Neukölln , in the center and in the area around the Schlesischer Bahnhof . On them slogans could be read like: “We recruits mutiny! Think of 1918! Hit Hitler! ”. They put the sticky notes in houses, mainly on the house boards of the NSDAP. They then called, among other things, to refuse military service, sabotage and disobedience. The Gestapo found several hundred such sticky notes and suspected a resistance group behind them. Kurt Machler and his brother Fritz, however, were among those who, completely on their own, fought the Nazi regime.

On August 10, 1941, residents of the house surprised them while they were distributing these notes. Kurt Machler escaped, but returned to free his brother from the hands of a soldier. He was also arrested.

In May 1942 the two brothers were sentenced to death. On August 15, 1942, Kurt Machler was hanged in the Berlin-Plötzensee execution site. The judgment against Fritz Machler was not carried out.

Honors

Since 1950, a plaque commemorates the two brothers on their home at Helenenhof 1 in Friedrichshain. It was renewed in 1978. During the renovation of the residential complex after 1989, it was removed but kept. In agreement with the owner, the “Active Museum Association” and the “Association of those persecuted under the Friedrichshain Nazi regime” put up a new plaque with a more detailed text.

literature

• Luise Kraushaar : German resistance fighters 1933-1945. Biographies and letters. Volume 1. Dietz, Berlin 1970, pp. 612-614.
• Hanne Job (epilogue): Fight for the human right. Life pictures and last letters from anti-fascist resistance fighters . 1st edition, unchanged reprint. Neuer Weg publishing house, Düsseldorf 1988, ISBN 3-88021-180-9 , p. 344.
• Stefanie Endlich: ways to remember. Memorial sites and locations for the victims of National Socialism in Berlin and Brandenburg . Metropolitan Berlin 2007, ISBN 978-3-938690-45-1 , p. 141.

Web links

• Entry: Machler, Kurt . In: Berliner Bezirkslexikon, Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg on the website of the Luisenstädtischer Bildungsverein.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Illustration of the memorial plaque .