Richard Felix Kaszemeik

Richard Felix Kaszemeik (born September 19, 1914 in Erfurt ; † November 27, 1944 ) was a member of the German Peace Society and was sentenced to death for refusing to do military service .

Richard Felix Kaszemeik did a commercial apprenticeship. In 1929 he joined the German Peace Society and in 1932 did voluntary labor service with the city of Erfurt. From 1933 to 1935 he was employed by the city of Erfurt. In 1935, at the age of 21, he refused military service and was dismissed from the city service on political grounds. Then he was employed by the company Opel - Erfurt. In 1936 he was sentenced to arrest for refusing to obey. After serving several prison terms, he was released from the Wehrmacht , but drafted again in 1942. Due to his renewed refusal, he was sentenced to death on September 28, 1942 by the Reich Court Martial for “undermining military strength”. The verdict was later toned down. In 1944 he was sent to the front again. On October 27, 1944, he was sentenced to death for " deserting ". In his farewell letter you can read: "I don't want to write anything more, I don't want to judge my judges either. God will judge everything and do well. I only want to write one thing: I am happy, no one in this war and in my life to have killed or caused harm. "

On November 27, 1944, Richard Felix Kaszemeik was shot as a deserter . The Evangelical Church in Germany honors him as a martyr .

literature

• Norbert Haase : The Reichsgericht and the resistance against the National Socialist rule . Berlin 1993, pp. 88-94.
• Norbert Haase: Kaszemeik, Richard Felix . In: Harald Schultze , Andreas Kurschat (eds.): “YOUR ENDE IS LOOKING AT…” Evangelical Martyrs of the 20th Century , 2nd edition, Leipzig 2008, pp. 340f.
• Internet exhibition Evangelical Resistance

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Norbert Haase: Kaszemeik, Richard Felix, in: “IHR ENDE SCHAUT AN…” Evangelical Martyrs of the 20th Century , Leipzig 2008, p. 341