Josef Zott
Josef Zott (born May 16, 1901 in Munich , † January 15, 1945 in Brandenburg-Görden prison ) was a German patriot , Bavarian monarchist and resistance fighter against National Socialism .
Life
Josef Zott was a trained carpenter and worked as a building supervisor for the Munich city administration. He lived at Geroltstrasse 24 in the Schwanthalerhöhe district of Munich . From 1925 he became involved in the Free Trade Union of Community and State Workers , but was excluded from this in 1927 because of oppositional views. In 1932 he joined the Bavarian People's Party (BVP) and their defense organization Bayernwacht . As a devout Catholic, he joined the resistance group later known as the Harnier Circle in 1935 .
In contrast to Adolf von Harnier , who headed the Harnier Circle from the beginning of 1937, socio-political ideas played an outstanding role at Zott. When the monarchy was reintroduced, not only should the old conditions be restored, but at the same time reforms should be carried out to improve the situation of the working class . That is why he was ready to actively fight the National Socialist regime . For this purpose he designed several leaflets and made contact with like-minded people all over Bavaria. Among these were representatives of both the social democratic and communist underground. Three of them had been smuggled into the Harnier group by the Gestapo as informants . From August 4, 1939, 125 people from the Harnier district were arrested. Many of them sat several years in detention . It was not until October 1944 that the trial by the People's Court in Berlin took place. While the other leaders of the Harnier district were sentenced to long prison terms and the loss of civil rights , the proceedings against Josef Zott were separated from the proceedings against the other leading members. Zott was accused of his contacts with the KPD . A statement by Zott to Heinrich Weiß that he would have had the opportunity to shoot Adolf Hitler while staying in Austria during the Anschluss was taken as evidence of the planning of a violent coup. Zott was sentenced to death for preparing high treason and executed in the Brandenburg-Görden prison . The sentence was carried out on January 15, 1945. The urn with his ashes was buried at the Westfriedhof in Munich .
Commemoration
- Josef Zott was accepted as a martyr in the German martyrology of the 20th century by the Catholic Church .
- The Munich NS Documentation Center pays tribute to him and the Harnier Circle with archival materials and photos that depict the Catholic-motivated resistance to the Nazi regime.
- In the Munich district of Fasanerie-Nord , a street was named after Josef Zott in 1947, but it was later closed.
- In January 2019, as part of the Memorial Signs for Victims of the Nazi Regime project in Munich, a reminder sign was attached to Josef Zott's former home at Geroltstrasse 24 .
literature
- City of Munich , cultural department: KulturGeschichtsPfad 8: Schwanthalerhöhe , p. 90f.
- Georg Schweiger and Peter Pfister , Art .: Josef Zott , in: Helmut Moll (Ed. On behalf of the German Bishops' Conference), Witnesses for Christ. Das deutsche Martyrologium des 20. Jahrhundert , Paderborn et al. 1999, 7th revised and updated edition 2019, ISBN 978-3-506-78012-6 , Volume I, pp. 516-517.
Web links
- Merlin Ergert-Gillern: Loyalty to the King against Hitler
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Zott, Josef |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German resistance fighter during the Nazi era, Bavarian monarchist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 16, 1901 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Munich |
| DATE OF DEATH | January 15, 1945 |
| Place of death | Brandenburg-Görden prison |