Otto Grot

Otto Grot (born July 17, 1905 in Kastorf ; † September 10, 1987 in Hamburg ) was a German police director , commander of the protective police in Hamburg and resistance fighter against National Socialism .

Live and act

Otto Grot, who was born in the Duchy of Lauenburg , attended an elementary and secondary school in Hamburg. He then completed vocational training as a carpenter. At a young age he took part in Hamburg's political and social life. He took over the chairmanship of the youth woodworkers and the Jusos in Barmbek . He belonged to the sports team of the Vereinigung Republik and later took over the management of the protection formation 11 of the Reichsbanner Schwarz-Rot-Gold . In addition, Grot led hundreds of protection formations 10, 11, 17 and 18 and was their deputy department head. In 1931 he took over the military district leadership of the Hamburg Reichsbanner.

As a staunch democrat, Grot joined the Hamburg local police on July 21, 1925. He started work as an assistant sergeant in the main department, which performed training tasks. Grot went through a year of training and then worked in the second and third guards. In addition to his job, he continued his education over a period of three years and thus obtained the upper secondary qualification . In 1929 he took part in a demonstration during which he suffered serious injuries. Grot successfully completed a one-year training as a senior civil servant in Groß Borstel and received the title of police lieutenant on January 1, 1932. He initially led a platoon of the 12th duty of the watch. He then moved to the main department, where he worked as a training officer.

After the seizure of power , the National Socialists gave Grot, who was also a union member, a leave of absence on March 7, 1933. On June 30 of the same year, he was discharged from the police force. Since then, Grot has not received any pension payments and subsequently had major problems finding a regular job. The Gestapo forbade him to work in a company that was "protected by the military" and searched his apartment several times. Grot was actively involved in the resistance, which worked on the basis of the forbidden protective formations, especially in the Barmbek area. He worked closely with other Social Democrats, including Theodor Haubach . Together with other former members of the Reichsbanner Schwarz-Rot-Gold he was imprisoned in 1937. The Hamburg Court imposed a year later sentenced to two and a half years ' imprisonment . The reason for detention was "preparation for high treason ". Grot spent his imprisonment in the Emsland camp Aschendorfermoor . After being called up to the Penal Division 999 , he had to do military service from 1943. After combat missions in Greece, Yugoslav troops arrested him and imprisoned him in a prison camp in Smederevo . Grot took over the chairmanship of the anti-fascist camp committee.

After Police Chief Bruno Georges and the British occupying authorities asked for his release, Grot was released from captivity on June 22, 1946. He went to Hamburg, where he got a new job as head of a police station. He headed the "Police Deployment Department" and, from 1949, the Police Group East as group leader. On the recommendation of the then police senator Lothar Danner , Grot became chief police director and commander of the police in 1952. He thus headed the office of the protective police. After Bruno Georges took over the office of police chief , Grot was the highest-ranking officer in the Hamburg police force.

From 1947 to 1952 he took over the chairmanship of the general committee of civil servants, which later developed into the staff council. Grote was particularly convincing in service with his human and stringent leadership. His basic understanding as a police officer was based on the experience he had gained during the Weimar Republic . His commitment during the storm surge in 1962 deserves a special mention . Grot managed to get Bundeswehr troops to be alerted early in the morning of February 17th and to provide assistance.

On September 30, 1965, Grot retired. Afterwards he was still politically active and was in close contact with former members of the Reichsbanner. He died in September 1987 and was considered an important contemporary witness for the history of the SPD in Hamburg as well as the history of the Reich Banner and the Hamburg police.

Otto Grot had married Gertrud Wünsche on April 29, 1933. The couple had two sons.

Honors

In 1995 the Hamburg Senate decided to name Otto-Grot-Straße in Allermöhe after the former police director. It was intended to honor the struggle in resistance and the life's work. Since 2000, the name of the representation room in the Hamburg State Police School has been reminiscent of Otto Grot.

literature

• Karl Ditt : Social Democrats in the Resistance. Hamburg in the initial phase of the Third Reich, Hamburg 1984 (with photo).
• Wolfgang Kopitzsch: Grot, Otto . In: Franklin Kopitzsch, Dirk Brietzke (Hrsg.): Hamburgische Biographie . tape 2 . Christians, Hamburg 2003, ISBN 3-7672-1366-4 , pp. 159-161 .