Albert Wingert

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Albert Joseph Wingert (born June 25, 1897 in Holtz ; † March 29, 1962 in Esch an der Alzette ) was a Luxembourgish teacher, politician and resister against National Socialism .

biography

Before 1940

Albert Wingert was a teacher by profession. From 1922 to 1933 he was married to the teacher and author Mie Wingert-Rodenbour, whom he had met while working in Perl . In 1923 he became head of the French schools in the Saar area, which were under the patronage of the League of Nations , and lived with his wife in Völklingen . He was socially and politically involved: He was a member of the Human Rights League , the Teachers 'Association, the Workers' Party, the Libre Pensée , the People's Education Association and the League for the Defense of Democracy and warned early on about the National Socialists.

After the “seizure of power” by the National Socialists , the pressure exerted by the National Socialist press on the politically committed Albert Wingert became so strong that he finally returned to Luxembourg. From 1934 he lived in Schifflingen .

Occupation and imprisonment

After the occupation of Luxembourg by the German Wehrmacht , Wingert was arrested in October 1940 and sentenced to three months in solitary confinement because the Gestapo had found weapons on him. Three months after his release from prison he was released as a teacher by the German authorities because he refused to deliver the " Hitler salute" when the Gestapo had found weapons on him. In June 1941 he was a founding member of the Alweraje resistance group , to which the Communist Combat Group Schifflingen with groups around the sculptor Wenzel Profant and his own person had come together. According to later information from Wingert, the group had up to 400 members and helpers.

From June to December 1941 Albert Wingert had to do a job in the construction of the motorway from Wittlich to Trier , but returned to Schifflingen on foot as often as possible in order to organize the resistance. He was later transferred to Düsseldorf, where he was arrested by the Gestapo on the night of August 5th. At the same time, around 100 resistance members were arrested in Luxembourg, including almost all members of the Alweraje inner circle .

On August 17th, Wingert arrived at the SS special camp in Hinzert . On the same day there was an incident involving SS man Georg Schaaf, known as "Ivan the Terrible". Schaaf hit Wingert with a punch on his arrival, whereupon the latter hit back. As a result, several guards beat Wingert with shovels and picks until a superior intervened and thus prevented his death: Wingert was still needed because he had not yet been interrogated. From Hinzert Wingert was deported to the Gusen concentration camp , from where he tried unsuccessfully to escape and was therefore beaten half dead again.

After 1945

In 1945 Albert Wingert took part in the local and chamber elections as a candidate for the social democratic Lëtzebuerger Sozialistesch Aarbechterpartei , but without success. He harshly criticized “nepotism” and “clientele politics” in post-war Luxembourg as well as the lack of appreciation of the resistance during the war. On August 2, 1946 he was arrested by the Sûreté because he should have tried to overthrow the government together with four officers. He was released after nine days in solitary confinement, but although the allegations were unfounded, Wingert's reputation was shattered.

In 1985, accusations were made against Wingert in a publication that he had denounced fighters from the resistance to the Gestapo. The authors Marc Kayser and Marc Limpach countered these allegations. The traitor was another member of Alweraje who named names after being beaten and tortured. Other members of the group, including Wingert, never gave his name. Wingert even felt guilty towards the much younger man for having involved him in the activities of Alweraje .

Commemoration

In Schifflingen, a primary school opened in 2009 is named after Albert Wingert. It is on a street that also bears his name.

References and comments

  1. ^ A b Roger Muller / Josiane Weber: Wingert-Rodenbour, Mie. In: Luxembourg Authors' Lexicon. Retrieved June 28, 2015 .
  2. ^ A b c Marc Kayser / Marc Limpach: Luxembourg resistance and democratic anti-fascism. forum online, March 2005, accessed June 27, 2015 . (PDF file)
  3. ↑ a b Schifflingen at war. P. 10 , accessed June 26, 2014 .
  4. ↑ Schifflingen at war. P. 11 , accessed June 26, 2014 .
  5. ↑ Susanne Urban-Fah: The SS special camp Hinzert 1939-1945. Friends of the Documentation and Meeting Center for the former Hinzert Concentration Camp eV, p. 16 , accessed on June 29, 2015 . Georg Schaaf was sentenced to ten years in prison in 1950 and then committed suicide.
  6. ↑ a b A resistance person from the very beginning tells his experiences. Groupe de Recherches et d'Études sur la Guerre 1940-1945, February 1997, pp. 21f. , accessed June 28, 2015 .
  7. ↑ Marc Kayser / Marc Limpach: Considerations on the “coup affair” and the Luxembourg “post-war malaise”. forum online, November 2005, p. 36f. , accessed June 28, 2015 .
  8. ↑ Schoul A. Wingert. In: Schoul Schëffleng. Retrieved June 28, 2015 .
personal data
SURNAME Wingert, Albert
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Wingert, Albert Joseph (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Luxembourg teacher, politician and resister against National Socialism
DATE OF BIRTH June 25, 1897
PLACE OF BIRTH Holtz
DATE OF DEATH March 29, 1962
Place of death Esch on the Alzette