Gerhard Kratzat
Johannes Gerhard Kratzat (born January 8, 1909 in Burg (Dithmarschen) , † July 12, 1944 in Lyon ) was a resistance fighter against National Socialism .
Life
Gerhard Kratzat attended elementary school and its higher-level department, then learned at the Burger Sparkasse and took up the seaman's profession . In Burg he was called "the learned sailor". In autumn 1931 he was involved in the seamen's strike in the Baltic ports .
From March to July 1933 he was imprisoned in the Sonnenburg concentration camp and was tortured. For weeks he could only eat liquid food because his lower jaw had been unhooked by brutal blows. Only when he was completely exhausted was the matter fixed by a doctor. After his release he stayed with his parents in Burg for a long time. From 1934 to 1936 Kratzat worked for the International of Seafarers and Dock Workers (ISH) in Rotterdam and Antwerp. In the local inter-clubs, German seafarers were supplied with illegal documents and asked about what was going on in the German Reich and on the ships.
From 1937 to 1939 he held leading positions in the intelligence work of the KPD's Maritime Group during the Spanish Civil War . Among other things, he was significantly involved in the repatriation of the members of the English-speaking Abraham Lincoln Brigade .
During World War II he joined the Resistance in France. On March 10, 1944, he was arrested by the Germans in Paris , sentenced to death by a German field court for "favoring the enemy" and executed on July 12, 1944 in Lyon.
Commemoration
On July 30, 2009, Gunter Demnig laid a stumbling block in Gartenstrasse 15 in Burg in memory of Gerhard Kratzat. Gerhard Kratzat lived at Gartenstrasse 17.
Web links
- Farewell letter from Gerhard Kratzat, Lyon July 12, 1944. In: Thomas Pusch: “… I'm sorry about Germany!” - The compensation files as a source for exile research
- Detailed curriculum vitae ( memento from March 6, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
Individual evidence
- ↑ Statement by Ilse Giesselmann, compensation proceedings, LAS Dept. 761 No. 12584, sheet 42
- ↑ akens.org
- ↑ Federal Archives Aachen, Court of Field Command 590 No. 6
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Kratzat, Gerhard |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Kratzat, Johannes Gerhard; Kratzat, Jan |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German resistance fighters against National Socialism |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 8, 1909 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Castle (Dithmarschen) |
| DATE OF DEATH | July 12, 1944 |
| Place of death | Lyon |