John Graudenz

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John Graudenz with daughters

John Graudenz (born November 12, 1884 in Danzig as Johannes Graudenz ; † December 22, 1942 in Berlin-Plötzensee ) was a German press photographer and resistance fighter.

Life

At the age of 17 he went to England after an argument with his father. He then returned to Germany to learn other languages. In 1915/16 he worked as a journalist for the first time and took over the management of the Berlin office of United Press . In 1921 he was one of the founders of the Communist Labor Party . In 1922 he moved to the Moscow office of United Press , where he was their correspondent until 1924. Among other things, Graudenz was the first to report the death of Lenin to America. In 1924 he organized a steamship trip on the Volga , on which he and other journalists traveled through the areas of the Soviet Union where hunger and misery prevailed. As the Soviet Union disliked this testimony to the desolate state of the country, he was expelled.

In 1925 he married Antonie "Toni" Wasmuth († 1985), the daughter of the art publisher Ernst Wasmuth . In 1928, together with Franz Jung, he founded the Berlin photo agency Dephot . From 1928 to 1932 he had a permanent position with the New York Times . From 1932 John Graudenz represented German engineering companies in Ireland . Further work in Ireland was complicated because of political differences - for Irish Catholics he was too modern in his approach to life. So John Graudenz returned to Berlin with his family in 1934/35. Since Graudenz had no work, the family felt compelled to move to one of his aunts in Giessen . In the same year, Graudenz worked as a sales representative in the aircraft industry for the company "Grau-Bremsen". This enabled him to return to Berlin with his family and to buy his own house on the outskirts of Berlin in Stahnsdorf .

After 1933 he had contacts with various resistance groups. His contacts with Jung and the Red Fighters remained. He also helped the daughter of Jung's old friend Otto Gross emigrate. Through Jung's contacts, he met Harro and Libertas Schulze-Boysen in the spring of 1939 . Graudenz participates in the resistance activities of the Berlin Red Orchestra , he procured a duplicating machine that was kept by Ernst Happach and on which various pamphlets of the group were printed. He was significantly involved in the production of the "AGIS" leaflet and supported Harro Schulze-Boysen in obtaining information, particularly with regard to the latest flight technology.

Field judgment of the Reich Court Martial on December 19, 1942

In an interview published by filmmaker Stefan Roloff , his daughter Karin Reetz reported how her father and Hans Coppi had tried to install a radio in the attic of their house. However, contact was not made because of the tall trees.

John Graudenz was arrested on September 12, 1942, and sentenced to death by the Reich Court Martial on December 19, 1942 . Without the judgment becoming legally binding under the Nazi laws, he was hanged on December 22, 1942 in Berlin-Plötzensee prison on the orders of Adolf Hitler . Even before the start of the oral negotiations at the Reich Court Martial, "the Wehrmacht High Command, contrary to all traditions and provisions of the Prussian-German military and civil jurisdiction, ordered strangulation as a 'method of execution' [...]".

family

Graudenz was married three times and also had an illegitimate daughter. His third wife Toni and his two daughters Silva and Karin were arrested on the same day as him. The daughters were released after about two weeks, the wife a little later. The John Graudenz family met for the last time on November 12, 1942. On the occasion of his 58th birthday, the daughters and his wife were allowed to celebrate their birthday in the Gestapo headquarters on Prinz-Albrecht-Strasse. Apparently, the officials hoped that they could learn more from wiretapping. A conversation between the family was almost impossible due to the fear of eavesdropping.

The 2nd Senate of the Reich Court Martial sentenced Toni Graudenz to three years in prison on February 12, 1943 "for listening to hostile stations and failing to report".

Honors

literature

  • Diethart Kerbs : Lifelines. German biographies from the 20th century. Klartext-Verlag, Essen 2007, ISBN 978-3-89861-799-4 .
  • Photo story. Contributions to the history and aesthetics of photography. Edition: 107/2008 - Special issue: Press photography in the interwar period
  • Stefan Roloff with Mario Vigl: The Red Orchestra - The Resistance Group in the Third Reich and the History of Helmut Roloff. Ullstein-Verlag, Berlin 2004, ISBN 3-548-36669-4 .
    • Stefan Roloff: Film - Die Rote Kapelle / The Red Orchestra (with interview sequences with Graudenz's daughter Karin Reetz)
  • Gert Rosiejka: The Red Chapel. "Treason" as an anti-fascist resistance. - with an introduction by Heinrich Scheel . results, Hamburg 1986, ISBN 3-925622-16-0 .
  • Luise Kraushaar et al .: German resistance fighters 1933–1945. Biographies and letters. Volume 2, Dietz-Verlag, Berlin 1970, page 486f.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Sandra Löhr: In Search - Again daughter, WOZ, October 16, 2003
  2. ↑ Review of the Roloff book ( Memento of the original from July 12, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.kaiserkern.de
  3. ↑ Brigitte Oleschinski : Plötzensee Memorial ( Memento of the original from October 21, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.gdw-berlin.de archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , P. 50 (PDF, 3.8 MB)
  4. ↑ Gert Rosiejka: The Red Chapel. "Treason" as an anti-fascist resistance. - with an introduction by Heinrich Scheel . results, Hamburg 1986, ISBN 3-925622-16-0 , p. 77.
  5. ↑ map
  6. ^ New Germany of December 23, 1969
  7. ↑ Herbert Moldering on the "Dephot"

Web links

Commons : Photographs by John Graudenz  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Graudenz, John
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Graudenz, Johannes (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German press photographer and resistance fighter
DATE OF BIRTH November 12, 1884
PLACE OF BIRTH Danzig
DATE OF DEATH December 22, 1942
Place of death Berlin-Plötzensee