Martin Kochmann (resistance fighter)

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Memorial plaque for Martin and Sala Kochmann on Gipsstrasse 3 in Berlin.

Martin Kochmann (born October 30, 1912 in Wongrowitz , Posen province , † September 18, 1943 in Berlin ) was a German worker and resistance fighter against National Socialism. As a member of the Herbert Baum group, he was a victim of the Nazi war justice system.

Live and act

Kochmann was the son of a butcher and a master tailor. From 1919 to 1928 he attended secondary schools (from 1921 in Berlin). He then completed a commercial apprenticeship, which he completed in 1931.

From 1931 to 1935 Kochmann worked as a commercial clerk, then as a cutter (in his mother's business), as a lathe operator, as a construction, transport and warehouse worker. Politically, Kochmann had been Communist-oriented since his youth: in 1929 he joined the German-Jewish Youth Community and in 1931 he joined the Communist Youth Association, in which he was active as a political trainer.

After the National Socialists came to power, Kochmann became involved in the communist underground movement. On August 8, 1934, he was arrested for illegal communist activity. Since August 11, 1934, he had been in custody in the Moabit remand prison . On September 11, 1934, he was indicted in the Higher Regional Court in Berlin, but had to be acquitted on November 17 for lack of evidence.

In 1938 Kochmann married Sala Rosenbaum .

During the Second World War, Kochmann and his wife joined the resistance group against Nazi rule organized by his school friend Herbert Baum . This so-called tree group - which was ideologically essentially communist - tried to defeat the efforts of the Allied powers - and among them in particular the Soviet Union - to militarily overthrow the National Socialist state through underground activities carried out within the German borders (especially anti-Nazi propaganda and sabotage) to support, so to speak, to supplement the external pressure of the Allies with internal disintegration work.

On October 7, 1942, Kochmann was arrested in the course of the break-up of the Baum group. He was charged before the People's Court of preparation for high treason, found guilty and sentenced to death. In 1943 he was executed in the Plötzensee prison. His wife had already been executed the previous year.

Today a memorial plaque on Gipsstrasse 3 reminds of Kochmann and his wife. A plaque at the Jewish cemetery in Berlin-Weißensee commemorates the 27 members of the group who were executed (or killed) for their resistance in 1942/43.

Memorial stones

The Berlin memorial stone in the Lustgarten

Today two memorial stones in Berlin dedicated to the Baum group also commemorate Martin Kochmann and his wife.

  1. Memorial plaque in Berlin at the Weißensee Jewish Cemetery (entrance: Markus-Reich-Platz).
  2. "This memorial stone designed by the sculptor Jürgen Raue was erected in 1981 on behalf of the magistrate of Berlin (East) without any further information about the resistance action in the Lustgarten."

literature

  • Hans-Joachim Fieber, Lothar Berthold, Michele Barricelli: Resistance in Berlin against the Nazi regime 1933 to 1945: A biographical lexicon. Vol. 4, 2002, p. 112.
  • Regina Scheer : In the shadow of the stars. a Jewish resistance group. 2004.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Page 140 at Margot Pikarski: Youth in Berlin's resistance. Herbert Baum and comrade in arms. Military Publishing House of the German Democratic Republic, Berlin 1978,
  2. ↑ Sala and Martin Kochmann Gedenktafeln-in-Berlin.de. Retrieved June 10, 2015
  3. ^ Resistance group around Herbert Baum. Memorial plaque in Berlin at the Weissensee Jewish Cemetery
  4. ^ Resistance group around Herbert Baum. Memorial stone in the pleasure garden
personal data
SURNAME Kochmann, Martin
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German workers and resistance fighters against National Socialism
DATE OF BIRTH October 30, 1912
PLACE OF BIRTH Wongrowitz , Poznan Province
DATE OF DEATH September 18, 1943
Place of death Berlin