Moritz Wilhelm Paul Schwartz

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Moritz Wilhelm Paul Schwartz (* 4th November July / 16 November  1864 greg. In Tartu , Livonia Governorate , Russian Empire ; † January 14, 1919 in Tartu, now Estonia ), to distinguish it from his father Wilhelm Schwartz Jr. called, also written Wilhelm Schwarz , was a German-Baltic pastor . (In the album of the theological association Dorpat there is another variant of the name Wilhelm Paul Moritz Schwartz .) He is considered an evangelical martyr and is recorded on the Riga's martyr stone.

Life

Wilhelm Schwartz was born as the son of the Tartu senior consistorial councilor and senior pastor August Wilhelm Theodor Schwartz and Sophie Maria Charlotte Schwartz.

Moritz Wilhelm Paul Schwartz went to the Blumberg preparatory school from 1873 to 1874 and to the grammar school in Tartu from 1875 to 1882, from which he graduated from high school. He studied theology at the University of Tartu from 1883 to 1887 . From October 10th Jul. / October 22, 1884 greg. until March 13th jul. / March 25, 1885 greg. he was a member of the Dorpat Theological Association. In 1888 he received his diploma as a graduate student and passed his examination before the consistory in Riga. From 1888 to 1889 he spent his probationary year with his father and Pastor Behse in Helmet in Livonia. On March 12th, Jul. / March 24, 1889 greg. he was born in the Tartu St. Johannis Church by his father, Prof. Dr. W. Volck and lecturer Mag. R. Seeberg ordained. From 1889 he served as a pastor's adjunct in Käina on Hiiumaa . In January 1890 he became pastor-deacon of the Tartu St. Johannis congregation. The inauguration was also directed by his father; Pastor Nikolai Spindler and Pastor Emeritus Th. Pfeil, one of Moritz Wilhelm Paul Schwartz's predecessors in this newly acquired position, assisted.

In addition, Schwartz was a housefather in the orphanage for boys, as well as a religion teacher at the Johanniskirchenschule. He preferred to stay in the background, to take on a leadership role was not his thing. He was particularly fond of the children in the children's services and schools, as well as the needy, educationally disadvantaged parishioners.

April 3rd July / April 15, 1890 greg. He married Laura Kristina, née Laurin (1867–1909). On January 22nd, Jul. / February 3, 1891 greg. a son Moritz Wilhelm Paul Schwartz was born in Tartu, who was given the name Wilhelm Reinhold Schwartz († December 9, 1962 in Bielefeld ).

During the Estonian War of Freedom , the Bolsheviks took control of Tartu on December 21, 1918. Moritz Wilhelm Paul Schwartz was arrested by them on January 13, 1919 at the same time as an 18-year-old son and imprisoned in the Tartu credit bank, which was located at Compagniestraße 5, which served as a provisional prison for around 300 prisoners. The prisoners included the Protestant university pastor and theology professor Traugott Hahn , the Russian Orthodox Bishop of Riga , Platon Kulbusch , his secretary, Protodiacon Konstantin Dorin, and the priests Nikolai Stefanowitsch Beschanizki , Michael Bleive and Alexander Brjanzew. The conditions of detention in the crowded room were harsh. There were also 60 to 80 women among the prisoners.

On January 14, the Estonian and Finnish troops approached Tartu, whereupon the Bolsheviks began at 10:30 a.m. to shoot prisoners or to kill them with ax blows on the skull. The executions took place in the so-called murder cellar . The procedure was reconstructed in a later investigation:

The prisoners had to line up in a row. A commissioner came into the cell and the names of the victims were called. The detective led out the death row inmates. First Platon Kulbusch died. This was followed by the baker Lutsk. Nikolai Stefanowitsch Beschanizki, Michael Bleive and Traugott Hahn were brought out together for execution. Then Wilhelm Schwartz was called out. At this point he was still of the opinion that he should now be released. Instead, he was killed by having both arms and head cut off with an ax. An officer's shoulder strap was later found nailed to his shoulders. It is considered certain that he was the victim of mistake; another pastor named Schwartz was to be killed.

Among the victims were also simple craftsmen such as the butcher Eugen Massal and the master potter Ado Luik. In addition to those detained in the credit bank, people detained in the police station were also executed in the basement. A total of 19 people died in the so-called murder cellar on January 14, 1919 . (A list of the names of all the victims can be found in the chapter “Afterlife”.) There were further killings with an anti-religious background at Peplerstrasse 32. A total of 300 people were killed by them in the 24 days of the occupation of Tartus by the Bolsheviks.

Afterlife

Detection situation

After the shootings in the murder cellar , the Bolsheviks fled before another group of prisoners could be executed there. The Estonian and Finnish soldiers broke open the prison doors.

This made it possible for the doctor Dr. Wolfgang von Reyher to inspect the place of execution with the victims in the morning when the bodies were still warm. Based on his report and photographic recordings, some of which are printed in the book by Köhrer given below, some details about the shootings are known:

The place of the executions was reached through a dark, vaulted cellar that was about ten paces long. The actual place of execution was entered through a low arch on the left side, under which one had to bend down. The adjoining room, also dark and damp, was about eight paces long and five paces wide. The sight that met him there, Dr. by Reyher with Dante Alighieri's Inferno. The bodies, clad only in underwear, took up the entire room and lay one on top of the other, in the middle in three layers, so that entering the room was impossible without stepping on human bodies. Their positions appeared unnatural. The shots were apparently carried out at close range, so the injuries were correspondingly severe. The gunshot wounds mostly affected the head, in some cases to the point of complete destruction; in one case the head was almost completely severed from the body. Some of the victims had been killed by ax blows on the skull. The walls and floor of the room were heavily soiled with blood, brain matter and skull fragments, as was the bed that was in the room. Several victims had been shot several times. Dr. Von Reyher initially counted 23 bodies; a mistake could quickly arise, however, as it was difficult to identify individual bodies in the pile. No one in this room had survived. According to these observations, the executions are likely to have proceeded in such a way that after the victims had taken off their outer clothing in the execution room, they encountered the bodies of those who had already been killed and were shot immediately or with an ax blow from the passage. This assumption is supported by the fact that there were no signs of execution in the anteroom. The bodies were transferred to the anatomy and photographed there.

The following could be identified:

  • Plato Kulbusch
  • Michael Bleive
  • Nikolai Stefanowitsch Beschanizki
  • Traugott rooster
  • Hermann von Samson-Himmelstjerna from Kawershof
  • Heinrich von Krause, the owner of Rewold
  • the banker Arnold von Tideboehl
  • Herbert von Schrenck
  • Baron Konstantin von Knorring
  • Moritz Wilhelm Paul Schwartz
  • City Councilor Gustav Tensmann
  • City Councilor Gustav Seeland
  • Merchant Susman Kaplan
  • Ado Luik
  • Merchant Harry Vogel
  • Merchant Eugene Massal
  • Friedrich Kärner, Postimees employee

funeral

Not only did Protestant Lutheran pastors pay their last respects to Moritz Wilhelm Paul Schwartz, but also all the Orthodox clergy present in Tartu at the time, as he died because he was in an ecclesiastical office.

Riga Martyr's Stone

Schwartz 'and Hahn's names are recorded on the Riga Martyrs Stone, inaugurated on May 22, 1920, which became a central memorial for the Baltic martyrs in the interwar period.

Tenth anniversary

The day of the conquest of Tartus by the Estonian and Finnish troops, which also marked the death of Schwartz and his companions, has been declared an annual general remembrance day by the Estonian democratic government. The 10th anniversary on January 14, 1929, on which the memorial in the basement of the credit bank was inaugurated, may serve as an example:

Start of the day and pageant

At 8 o'clock in the morning all the church bells in Tartu rang. Numerous flags were attached to the houses. The streets were filled with people. Thanksgiving services were held in the churches. In the schools the directors gave speeches and lectures.

A procession of clergymen of all denominations moved towards the basement of the credit bank and reached the meat market in front of the building at noon. Part of the procession, led by Bishop Kukk and Metropolitan Alexander, descended into the cellar, the rest, accompanied by a thousand people, stayed in front of the entrance, where there was a catheter. The cellar was neat and well lit. In the second basement room there was a black cross on the wall.

Plaque with the names of the victims

To the right and left of the cross were two plaques with the names of the victims. So it said on the right panel:

Bishop Platon,
Hermann von Samson-Himmelstjerna,
Herbert von Schrenck,
Pastor Wilhelm Schwartz,
Gustav Seeland,
Gustav Tensmann,
Arnold v. Tideboehl,
a stranger,
Harry Vogel.
Died as martyrs 1./14. 1919.

And on the other board:

High Priest Nikolai Beshanitzky, High
Priest Michail Bleive,
Karl Bentsen,
Pastor Prof. D. Traugott Hahn,
Susman Kaplan,
Konstantin von Knorring,
Heinrich von Krause,
Friedrich Kärner,
Ado Luik,
Eugen Massal.

In the room where these people died, a cross was set in the floor. The many bullet marks in the walls were still clearly visible. The tablets no longer exist today.

Interreligious, multilingual worship service

The metropolitan celebrated a soul mass in the cellar, the priest Kokla in front of the building. Those present took off their headgear and remained in silence. Then the service, for which trilingual song sheets had been distributed, began with a song. Then Bishop Kukk spoke, then Metropolitan Alexander. High Priest Ostroumov described in Russian the events that had happened here ten years earlier. Words of remembrance for the deceased followed: from Provost K. von Zur-Mühlen in German, from Rabbi Mostovsky in Yiddish and Hebrew, and from Prof. O. Seesemann in Latvian. The service ended with a word of thanks from the memorial committee, represented by Pastor Treumann, and the national anthem. A telegram from State Elder August Rei had also been received for the inauguration of the memorial .

parade

After the service, those present went to the parade on Rathausplatz. For this purpose, all units of the Tartu garrison had taken up, as well as the protective corps and other organizations such as student associations. The latter stood in a semicircle in front of the town hall, the military on the left side of the square, the protection corps and the other organizations on the right.

Today's commemoration

The German community of Tartu gathers every year to lay a wreath at the place of execution.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ University of Dorpat. in the Rigaschen Zeitung , No. 207, September 12th July / September 24, 1888 greg. , online
  2. Domestic. in the Libauschen Zeitung , No. 62, March 17th July / March 29, 1889 greg. , online
  3. Russia. in the Düna newspaper , no. 14, January 18th jul. / January 30, 1890 greg. , online
  4. a b c d Oskar Schabert: Baltic Martyrs Book . Furche-Verlag, Berlin 1926, p. 86 ( digitized version , the report is based on notes by Elsa Schwartz, Moritz Wilhelm Paul Schwartz's sister)
  5. a b c d e f g Bolshevism in the Evening Post , Volume XCVII, Issue 147, June 24, 1919, p. 2
  6. a b c d e f g h i Canada. Dept. of Public Information: Bolshevism in Russia , Dept. of Public Information, Ottawa 1919, pp. 33f
  7. ^ Günther Schulz (Ed.): Church in the East . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1996, ISBN 3-525-56385-X , p. 23 ( limited preview in the Google book search).
  8. a b c Vladimir Moss: The holy new martyrs of northern and western Russia, Belorussia and the Baltic
  9. a b c d Erich Köhrer: The true face of Bolshevism! Berlin 1919, pp. 18-20 ( digitized version ).
  10. ^ Burchard Lieberg: From the life of the Ev.-Luth. Church of Estonia in: Günther Schulz (editor): Church in the East , volumes 42-43, 1999-2000, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2000, ISBN 3-525-56396-5 , p. 138
  11. Twenty years ago. in Evangelium und Osten: Russian Evangelical Press Service , No. 5, May 1, 1939, online at Beshanitzky | issueType: P
  12. 10-year celebration in Dorpat in the Rigaschen Rundschau , No. 14, January 7, 1929, online
  13. Baltic weekly newspaper: Homepage of the Evangelical Lutheran German Redeemer Congregation Estonia ( Memento from December 22, 2014 in the Internet Archive )