Ludwig Pfältzer

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Ludwig Pfältzer (born July 7, 1911 in Pforzheim ; † September 1, 1942 in the Brandenburg-Görden prison ) was a German Reform Adventist . For religious reasons he refused military service in the Wehrmacht in World War II and was sentenced to death and executed for it .

Life

Ludwig Pfältzer was born in Pforzheim in 1911. His parents were the saddler and upholsterer Christian Karl Pfältzer and his wife Karoline. His mother raised him in the biblical faith and probably joined the Reform Church of the Seventh-day Adventists in Pforzheim with him around 1923 . Ludwig Pfältzer lived with her until her death in 1934. In 1935 he moved to Pomerania and worked there as a farm worker in Bernsdorf . Presumably in 1936 he moved to Mecklenburg, where he worked for a farmer named Grein in Moorbrink until 1940 . There he received his draft notice in November 1940 . He had to report to Substitute Division 48 of the Heavy Artillery in Güstrow by December 4th . Since his employer Grein was unwilling to continue employing him, Pfältzer fled to his old job in Bernsdorf. In doing so, however, he forgot his work book and his pension card . Also because of these missing documents, his old employer Genz in Bernsdorf no longer hired him. However, Pfältzer stayed near the Genz farm for the next ten months. He slept in his barn and ate cabbage, turnips, potatoes and fodder that he found in the field and in the farmer's feed kitchen.

In September 1941 he returned to Mecklenburg. There he was arrested on September 28 in Pasewalk . In August 1941, the military tribunal of the Schwerin branch of Division 192 had issued an arrest warrant for him accusing him of desertion . On October 9th, the judge hears Pfältzer. In this he stated that because of his religious beliefs as an Adventist he could not do military service. On October 30th a hearing took place before the military court in Schwerin. This declared that it was not responsible and referred the matter to the Reich Court Martial in Berlin. Pfältzer was transferred there. Over the next ten months, he was given the opportunity to change his mind and still go to war. However, Pfältzer stuck to his conviction. According to his own statement, he wants to obey the authorities, but only as long as the orders do not contradict the will of God. On July 29, 1942, the hearing took place before the 3rd Senate of the Reich Court Martial. Werner Lueben chaired it . The indictment accused Pfältzer of “ crimes of disintegrating the Wehrmacht ”. The court also hired two medical experts to examine Pfältzer. They considered the Palatinate to be fully responsible for his actions and noted that he had acted out of religious conviction. The court sentenced Palatinate to death. In the grounds of the judgment, it was stated that because of a personal attitude, Pfältzer consciously refused to " remain loyal to the German people in their struggle for existence" . The verdict against Pfältzer was as in anomysierter shape landmark ruling in the collection of decisions of the Reich War Court added.

On September 1, 1942, Ludwig Pfältzer was executed by beheading in the Brandenburg-Görden prison.

Honors

Ludwig Pfältzer is honored together with other people executed in the Brandenburg-Görden prison on a plaque at the memorial on the Marienberg . In 2013, his name was also entered on a memorial plaque for victims of National Socialism in the main cemetery in Pforzheim .

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l See Federal Association of Victims of Nazi Military Justice
  2. ↑ a b See The Sabbath Guardian
personal data
SURNAME Palatinate, Ludwig
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German conscientious objectors and victims of National Socialism
DATE OF BIRTH July 7, 1911
PLACE OF BIRTH Pforzheim
DATE OF DEATH September 1, 1942
Place of death Brandenburg-Görden prison