Heinz Stahlschmidt

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Heinz Stahlschmidt , later Henri Salmide (born November 13, 1919 in Dortmund ; † February 23, 2010 in Bordeaux ) was a German non-commissioned officer and explosives specialist who prevented the demolition of Bordeaux in August 1944 by refusing to give orders .

Stahlschmidt, a descendant of evicted Huguenots , learned the plumbing trade, volunteered for the Navy in 1939 and was trained as a demining and demining expert. He survived three sinkings of ships on which he was used.

On August 19, 1944, he was ordered to prepare for the extensive destruction of the port of Bordeaux. On August 22nd, four days before the intended demolition, Stahlschmidt instead blew up the German ammunition depot with the 4,000 detonators waiting. The massive explosion was heard across the city and killed several German soldiers. Stahlschmidt survived as a deserter thanks to the help of a family close to the Resistance and in 1947 married his French lover Henriette Buisson. In the same year he became a French citizen and changed his name to Henri Salmide. Salmide then worked for the port fire department of Bordeaux for more than 30 years.

His fate and merit for Bordeaux remained largely unknown in the post-war period, also because French Resistance fighters did not grant the former German soldier the glory. In post-war Germany Stahlschmidt was viewed as a traitor. His name was removed from the list of war veterans entitled to retirement as well as from the list of honor of the German Navy, in which he was included because of his three survived sinkings. It was not until the 1990s that a regional newspaper reported on him and the events in Bordeaux for the first time.

In 2000 he was made a Knight of the French Legion of Honor . The French historian Dominique Lormier calls him in his work "Bordeaux brûle-t-il?" the "Guardian Angel of Bordeaux". The port of Bordeaux has been named after him since 2012.

literature

  • Erich Schaake: Bordeaux, mon amour . A love between the Wehrmacht and the Resistance. List Verlag, Berlin 2010 (novel-like representation).
  • Gerd Kröncke: In the safe shadow of the plane trees . French moods. Picus reading trips, 2001, p. 32-39 .
  • Dominique Lormier: Bordeaux brûle-t-il? Les Dossiers d'Aquitaine, Paris 1998.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://www.2mecs.de/wp/?p=2492
  2. ↑ http://www.frankreich-sued.de/bordeaux-server/hafen-1944.htm
  3. ↑ German sailor Heinz Stahlschmidt refused Nazi orders blow Bordeaux dies aged 91 Daily Mail , online, (English)
  4. ↑ http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTexte.do?cidTexte=JORFTEXT000000582065&dateTexte=
personal data
SURNAME Stahlschmidt, Heinz
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Henri Salmide (later name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German NCO of the Wehrmacht
DATE OF BIRTH November 13, 1919
PLACE OF BIRTH Dortmund
DATE OF DEATH February 23, 2010
Place of death Bordeaux