Narciso Riet

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Narciso "Franzl" Riet (born September 30, 1908 in Mülheim an der Ruhr , † early 1945 in Berlin ) was an Italian Jehovah's Witness and an important representative of the same, who worked for them in the Third Reich and in its occupied territories. He was murdered by the Nazi regime.

life and work

Narciso Riet was born in Germany to Italian parents and was called Franzl. His family comes from Friuli . He retained Italian citizenship throughout his life. In 1931 he was baptized by Jehovah's Witnesses, and in 1934 he married Anna, a Czech woman. Since the Jehovah's Witnesses were defamed and persecuted during the Nazi era , they had to quickly acquire the necessary skills for conspiratorial underground activities. The headquarters of the German-speaking Jehovah's Witnesses was located in the Bible House in Bern and Narciso Riet became an important liaison between the headquarters, the Bethel in Magdeburg and illegal groups of Jehovah's Witnesses in large parts of the Greater German Empire . He traveled from group to group, encouraged them in their activities and provided them with partly filmed editions of the watchtower . These were then copied and distributed on site. Riet was also the author of numerous publications and provided logistical and organizational support to the groups on site.

On one of his trips, Riet also came to Innsbruck at the end of December 1942, where he motivated Matthäus Burgstaller to work on the construction of the watchtower . From March 1943 he lived illegally in Innsbruck, organized groups of Jehovah's Witnesses and wrote several leaflets. In it, National Socialism was interpreted as "the work of Satan". These writings were also the basis of the later indictment of the Oberreichsanwalt . In August 1943 he fled to Cernobbio in the province of Como, where he continued his networking among the scattered Italian groups. In September 1943 Nazi troops marched into northern Italy and the Social Republic of Italy was founded . Riet was eventually tracked down by the Gestapo , arrested and deported to the Dachau concentration camp . There he is said to have been chained and terribly tortured. He was finally transferred to Berlin.

On November 28, 1944, the 3rd Senate of the People's Court sentenced him to death for undermining military strength . The time and exact circumstances of his death have not been properly clarified. Presumably he died in custody in early 1945.

Commemoration

A memorial plaque for Narciso Riet was erected in the park of Cernobbio . His name is noted on the Innsbruck Liberation Monument.

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Advised, Narciso
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Riet, Franzl (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian Jehovah's Witness, sentenced to death by the Nazi regime
DATE OF BIRTH September 30, 1908
PLACE OF BIRTH Mülheim an der Ruhr
DATE OF DEATH 1945
Place of death Berlin