Fritz Thiel (resistance fighter)
Fritz Thiel (born August 17, 1916 in Polkwitz ( Silesia ); † May 13, 1943 in Berlin-Plötzensee ) was a German resistance fighter against National Socialism .
Life
After attending school in Bonn , he began an apprenticeship as a baker, but later switched to watchmaker. In 1932 he joined the Communist Youth Association of Germany (KJVD). Later activities for the KPD are not known.
He volunteered for the Air Force in 1935 and came to Berlin-Kladow to train as a radio operator in 1936 . As early as 1936/37 he was in custody for five months on suspicion of high treason and acquittal for lack of evidence. In 1939 he was drafted again and used as a radio operator in Poland . In 1940 he was released from the Wehrmacht at the request of the employer Zeiss-Ikon -Werke .
From 1937 he attended the Heilsche Abendgymnasium in Berlin-Schöneberg , where he successfully prepared for the Abitur . Then he was a guest lecturer in economics lectures at Berlin University. At the evening high school he made friends with his classmates Friedrich Rehmer , Otto Gollnow , Ursula Goetze and Eva Rittmeister . Under the guidance of her husband, John Rittmeister , the circle of friends turned into a circle of opponents of Hitler.
He married his pregnant girlfriend Hannelore in January 1942, and their son Alexander was born on May 24, 1942. Hannelore Thiel was seventeen years old at the time. She actively participated in the resistance activities.
At the beginning of 1942 he got in touch with the circles around Harro Schulze-Boysen and the Red Orchestra . He participated in the production and dissemination of the programmatic writing The concern for Germany's future goes through the people , supported Hans Coppi in his attempts to repair defective radio equipment and to learn to radio, received and passed on leaflets and documents.
Fritz Thiel and Harro Schulze-Boysen organized a protest against the propaganda exhibition The Soviet Paradise in Berlin's Lustgarten. "Permanent exhibition - The Nazi paradise - hunger, lies, Gestapo - how much longer?" Was written on the small pieces of paper that were stuck up all over the city, he himself stuck these pieces of paper with Maria Terwiel . His heavily pregnant wife was involved in the preparation, she didn't stick it herself, which saved her the death penalty .
As a result of the wave of arrests that began after Schulze-Boysen's imprisonment, the couple were also arrested on September 16, 1942. Hannelore Thiel celebrated her 18th birthday in prison. While in custody, Fritz Thiel was severely tortured mentally and physically (including being exposed to ultraviolet radiation for days). His statements weighed heavily on his friends, especially Ursula Goetze , Werner Krauss and John Rittmeister . He then tried to take his own life because of it.
On January 18, 1943, Fritz Thiel was sentenced to death for preparing for high treason and for favoring the enemy and was executed on May 13, 1943 in Plötzensee .
His wife was sentenced to six years in prison at the same trial.
literature
- Regina Griebel , Marlies Coburger, Heinrich Scheel : Recorded? The Gestapo album for the Red Orchestra. A photo documentation. Hall 1992.
- Gert Rosiejka: The Red Chapel. "Treason" as an anti-fascist resistance. With an introduction by Heinrich Scheel. results-Verlag, Hamburg 1986, ISBN 3-925622-16-0 .
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Thiel, Fritz |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German resistance fighters against National Socialism |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 17, 1916 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Polkwitz , Silesia |
| DATE OF DEATH | May 13, 1943 |
| Place of death | Berlin-Plötzensee |