Helene Gotthold

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Helene Gotthold (born December 31, 1896 in Dortmund as Helene Nieswand ; † December 8, 1944 in Berlin-Plötzensee ) resisted National Socialism and was therefore executed in 1944. She was one of the Jehovah's Witnesses , a former Bible student, and was consistently pacifist .

Live and act

The nurse Helene Gotthold lived mostly in Herne , was married to the miner Friedrich Gotthold and had two children, Gisela and Gerd.

The Gotthold couple were initially Protestants , but - disappointed by the predominantly militaristic attitude of their church during World War I - they joined the Bible Students in 1926, who refused military service, but at least demanded that their followers not kill as a soldier. They participated in the public missionary work of their local group.

Shortly after power was handed over to the National Socialists , Jehovah's Witnesses , as they called themselves since 1931, were banned. However, some continued to meet in private. They resolutely rejected the Hitler salute , oath of allegiance to the Fiihrer, and military service, as they only recognized Jehovah as the highest authority. Despite the ban, the Gottholds continued their missionary work for their religious community: For example, they threw information leaflets against military service in mailboxes, took part in religious meetings in private homes and illegally distributed the watchtower . For this reason they were arrested several times, for example the husband in 1936. A few months later the Gestapo searched the Gotthold's apartment in Herne and arrested the pregnant Helene Gotthold. Severely mistreated during interrogation, she suffered a miscarriage. She was then sentenced to 18 months in prison and then kept in so-called ' protective custody '.

After their release in the early 1940s, the Gottholds resumed their prohibited activities for Jehovah's Witnesses. In February 1944 they were again imprisoned in Essen prison. After an Allied bombing raid that hit the Essen prison, the Gotthold couple were taken to Potsdam . According to her daughter Gisela Tillmanns, Helene Gotthold was able to smuggle messages to her children from prison, including these:

“We are outlawed like sheep for slaughter. If it is the Lord's will, he can avert it. But if he allows it, we will patiently endure it with his help. There is no turning back. "

On August 4, 1944, the People's Court in Berlin sentenced Helene Gotthold to death together with other Jehovah's Witnesses who refused to renounce their convictions . The verdict stated:

“In the name of the German people it was announced: All of the defendants worked for the“ International Biblical Research Association ”until December 1943. They are therefore condemned for undermining military strength in connection with treasonous favoring of the enemy, namely the defendants Luise Pakull , Else Woicziech , Wilhelm and Mathilde Hengeveld , Helene Gotthold and Ernst and Henriette Meyer each to death and lifelong loss of honor. "

Helene Gotthold was beheaded on December 8, 1944 in the execution site of the Berlin-Plötzensee prison .

In her suicide note, she wrote:

“Berlin-Plötzensee, December 8th, 1944. Believe me, I slept well last night. In my heart there is peace and quiet. ... My daily prayer was that Heavenly Father would protect you in all your ways. Now are all hearty. greeted and kissed by your ever-loving mother. Again I give you both my hands and express yourselves warmly. "

See also

literature

  • Monika Minninger: A professing church. On the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in East Westphalia and Lippe 1933–1945 , Bielefeld City Archives and State History Library, Bielefeld, 2001
  • Kirsten John-Stucke; Michael Krenzer; Johannes Wrobel: 12 years, 12 fates. Case studies on the NS victim group Jehovah's Witnesses in North Rhine-Westphalia. Ed. Working group of NS memorials in NRW, Münster 2006. Without ISBN.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Helene Gotthold ( Memento from May 6, 2009 in the Internet Archive ). United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, DC Holocaust Encyclopedia, Retrieved June 27, 2016
  2. ↑ Barnimstrasse Women's Prison ( Memento of the original from June 24, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.ml-architekten.de
  3. ^ Article about Helene Gotthold. From: in Herne. City magazine No. 4, 2006, p.29 (PDF; 7.0 MB)
  4. ↑ Main State Archives Düsseldorf, RW 58-66320, Bl. 82 f.
  5. ^ Larry Blades: Studying the Holocaust: Resistance, Rescue and Survival , The Seattle Times Newspapers in Education, Washington State Holocaust Education Resource Center, May 3, 2005, Chapter 5, p. 9; and: Kirsten John-Stucke, Michael Krenzer, Johannes Wrobel: 12 years - 12 fates, case studies of the NS victim group Jehovah's Witnesses in North Rhine-Westphalia , Working Group of NS Memorials in NRW eV, Münster, 2006, p. 29.
  6. ↑ Johannes Wrobel: “Goodbye!” Farewell letters from Jehovah's Witnesses sentenced to death under the Nazi regime. In Marcus Herrberger: Because it is written: “You shouldn't kill!” The persecution of religious conscientious objectors under the Nazi regime with special consideration of Jehovah's Witnesses (1939–1945) , Verlag Österreich, Vienna 2005, Colloquium series, Vol. 12, Pp. 237-326. ISBN 3-7046-4671-7
personal data
SURNAME Gotthold, Helene
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Nieswand, Helene (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German nurse, Jehovah's Witness and Nazi victim
DATE OF BIRTH December 31, 1896
PLACE OF BIRTH Dortmund
DATE OF DEATH December 8, 1944
Place of death Berlin-Plötzensee