Michael Jovy

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Ernst Michael Jovy , pseudonym meik , (born March 9, 1920 in Gladbeck , † January 19, 1984 in Rome ) was a German resistance fighter, diplomat and Righteous Among the Nations . He was the leader of allied youth groups and was instrumental in building up the German Youth Union after the Second World War .

Life

Michael Jovy, the son of the eponymous mayor of Gladbeck , was a member of an opposition youth group in the Rhineland at the time of National Socialism . Like many other Bündische groups, the boys tried to find a way out of the constraints of the Nazi dictatorship and the Hitler Youth . Based on the example of the forbidden dj.1.11 , a separate group culture developed.

On trips to France , the group around Jovy came into contact with the youthful emigrant Karl Otto Paetel . This encounter sparked discussions among the group members, which led to the politicization of the circle. One entered into intellectual opposition and ultimately also into political resistance.

At the end of 1939 the Gestapo arrested the members of the Jovy group. In 1940 and 1941 the members were charged with "allied activities" and "preparation for high treason". Michael Jovy was sentenced to six years in prison as the main defendant . He later summed up this conviction:

“We're being taken to the dock. Heavily armed police stand behind us. Is the "Führer" so afraid of the freedom of some youngsters. [...] "

Although he made contact with the so-called Edelweiss Pirates , another opposition youth group in Cologne, from prison , nothing came of this contact. From 1944 he was assigned to the front with the parole battalion 999 . From here he managed to escape on November 1, 1944.

After the war he studied history, philosophy and public law at the University of Cologne . Together with Walter Scherf, Jovy was particularly active in building up a post-war youth group and published newspapers that were particularly popular with young people. After his dissertation in 1952 on the subject of “Youth Movement and National Socialism”, which was published as a book shortly after Jovy's death, he took up his work in the diplomatic service. This made further activity in the youth movement difficult. Jovy was, among other things, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany in Guyana (from 1966), in Sudan (until 1977), in Algiers (1977–1979) and in Bucharest (1980), later also envoy in Rome.

On November 18, 1982, the Yad Vashem Jewish Memorial honored Michael Jovy as Righteous Among the Nations . The Israeli ambassador spoke the following words in honor of Michael Jovy in Rome:

“A brave German, one of those who dared to challenge the forces of evil. [...] "

Fonts

  • Youth Movement and National Socialism. Analysis of their connections and opposites. Attempt to clarify. Lit-Verlag, Münster 1984. ISBN 3-88660-017-3 (printed dissertation from 1952).

Awards

  • 1964: Officier de l'Ordre de la Valeur du Cameroun
  • 1968: Cross of Merit on the ribbon of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
  • 1972: Officier de l'Ordre national du Mali (Officer's Cross)
  • 1976: Cross of Merit 1st Class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
  • 1977: Order of the Two Nile 1st Class of Sudan

literature

  • Arno Klönne : A life out of contradiction - Michael Jovy (1920–1984) . In: Yearbook of the Archives of the Youth Movement , Vol. 15, 1984/85, pp. 373–378.
  • Horst-Pierre Bothien: The Jovy Group. A historical-sociological local study of non-conforming young people in the "Third Reich" . Lit, Münster 1995, ISBN 3-8258-2292-3 .
  • Roland Kaufhold : A late rehabilitation. A memory by Peter Finkelgruen of a former resistance fighter (Georg Ferdinand Duckwitz and Michael Jovy) . In: Jewish Newspaper March 2014, No. 97, p. 15.
  • Horst-Pierre Bothien, Matthias von Hellfeld, Stefan Peil, Jürgen Reulecke: A life against the current: Michael Mike Jovy - resistance fighter, young man, diplomat . Lit, Berlin / Münster 2017, ISBN 978-3-643-13930-6 ,
  • Roland Kaufhold: Young and brave. The story of Michael "Mike" Jovy . In: Neues Deutschland June 1, 2018.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Arno Klönne: A life out of contradiction - Michael Jovy (1920–1984) . In: Yearbook of the Archives of the Youth Movement , vol. 15, Burg Ludwigstein 1984/1985, p. 374, original source according to footnote: fire - a font of the young , issue 7/1950, page 10
  2. ↑ Lexicon of the Righteous Among the Nations : Germans and Austrians, Volume 1, pp. 160–161, Act 2264a
  3. ↑ Against Hitler: We weren't heroes . In: Die Zeit , No. 49/1983
  4. ↑ (abridged version) Honor for youth resistance in Cologne on December 11, 2013.
personal data
SURNAME Jovy, Michael
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Jovy, Ernst Michael (full name); meik (pseudonym)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German resistance fighter, diplomat and Righteous Among the Nations
DATE OF BIRTH March 9, 1920
PLACE OF BIRTH Gladbeck
DATE OF DEATH January 19, 1984
Place of death Rome