Rudolf Jacobs (resistance fighter)

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Rudolf Heinrich Otto Max Jacobs (born July 26, 1914 in Bremen ; † November 3, 1944 in Sarzana , Italy ) was a German naval officer and civil engineer . During the Second World War he was drafted into the navy and deployed to the Italian port city of La Spezia , where he was involved in the interests of the civilian population. He deserted in 1943 and joined the Italian partisans . Rudolf Jacobs died in a raid on a barracks.

Life

Training, job and studies

Rudolf Jacobs was the son of the Bremen architect Rudolf Jacobs . His father persuaded him to join the merchant navy in 1932 after passing his Abitur at the Bremen Real-Gymnasium in order to protect him from the emergence of National Socialism . Until 1938 Jacobs went to sea - among other things on the training ship Deutschland  - and obtained his officer's license .

In 1936 Jacobs married and moved with his family to Hamburg . From 1938 he studied civil engineering in Bremen and architecture in Hanover and Braunschweig .

Military time

In 1939, Jacobs was recruited for military service. Initially he was stationed in Hamburg-Altona , later he was used in the construction planning of the west wall . However, he obtained his exemption at the end of his engineering studies and successfully passed the engineering examination in 1940 . In 1942 he joined the Navy. In the autumn of 1943 he was transferred to the naval engineering corps in La Spezia in the northern Italian region of Liguria with the rank of lieutenant captain , where he was responsible for the construction of the fortress as a senior officer . In Italy Jacobs campaigned for the rights of civilians. Among other things, he ensured that food confiscated on the black market was sold at fixed prices. He also procured food for the population at the expense of the Wehrmacht .

Desertion and death

Jacobs condemned the increasing war crimes committed against the civilian population by German occupation forces of the SS and the military . When his wife and two sons were mistakenly declared dead after air raids on Hamburg in 1943 , Jacobs and his adjutant Johann Fritz deserted and joined the partisans of the Garibaldi brigade "Ugo Muccini". On October 3, 1944, he distinguished himself in the fight against German and Italian fascist soldiers. Then he was given the cover name "Primo" ("First"). Another action was led by him on November 3rd - Jacobs, Fritz, three Soviet citizens and five Italians attacked a hotel in the small town of Sarzana near La Spezia that was being used as a barracks. The surprise attack failed and Jacobs was killed.

Rudolf Jacobs was later given a grave of honor in Sarzana. His family only found out about his death in February 1957.

Posthumous honors

Memorial plaque for Rudolf Jacobs in Sarzana in Italy
Memorial plaque for Rudolf Jacobs in the Gustav-Heinemann-Bürgerhaus in Bremen-Vegesack
  • On September 8, 1947, the Italian partisan association ANPI awarded Rudolf Jacobs the Garibaldi Medal of Honor posthumously.
  • On November 29, 1953, a memorial plaque for Rudolf Jacobs was erected in Sarzana on Piazza S. Giorgio . In addition, he was made an honorary citizen of the city posthumously.
  • In June 1972 Rudolf Jacobs was posthumously awarded the Silver Medal of Honor by the Italian Ministry of Defense.
  • In 2004 a street in Parma got his name.
  • Rudolf Jacobs was first publicly honored in Germany in 2010, when the Bremen Senate supported an initiative by the Bremen International School of Peace and the advisory board of the Vegesack district of North Bremen then decided to put up a public plaque of honor for Rudolf Jacobs in the district. The Gustav-Heinemann-Bürgerhaus in Vegesack was chosen as the location, where the memorial to the unknown deserter has been located since 1986 . On February 21, 2014 the memorial plaque for Rudolf Jacobs was inaugurated.

literature

Biographical literature

  • Birgit Tilse: Biography: Rudolf Jacobs - German anti-fascist and Italian partisan. In: Contributions to the history of the labor movement (BzG), 46th year 2004, issue 2, ISSN  0942-3060 , pp. 133-148.
  • Gottfried Hamacher u. a .: Against Hitler. Germans in the Resistance, in the armed forces of the anti-Hitler coalition and the "Free Germany" movement. Short biographies (=  manuscripts of the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation , Volume 53). 2nd, corrected edition. Karl Dietz Verlag, Berlin 2005, ISBN 3-320-02941-X , pp. 89-90 ( online , PDF, 872 kB).
  • Peter Ghiringhelli: A British boy in fascist Italy. History Press, Stroud (Great Britain) 2010, ISBN 978-0-7524-5343-9 , pp. 131-132, Figure 38 (English).

Fiction

  • Luigi M. Faccini : L'uomo che nacque morendo (=  I libri dell'Ippogrifo , Volume 4). Ippogrifo Liguria, Lerici (Italy) 2005, ISBN 8-890-17930-9 (Italian; historical novel based on the fate of Rudolf Jacobs).

Movies

  • Tradimento. TV documentary, director: Ansano Giannarelli , production: Rai , Italy 1985, length: 95 minutes (Italian).
  • Rudolf Jacobs, l'uomo che nacque morendo. Historical fiction film (drama), direction and screenplay: Luigi M. Faccini , based on the novel L'uomo che nacque morendo by Faccini, Italy 2011, length: 96 minutes (Italian).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ See entry on Rudolf Jacobs ( Memento of the original from April 8, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . At: online memorial book www.weltkriegsopfer.de; Retrieved April 9, 2014. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.weltkriegsopfer.de
  2. ↑ See information on Rudolf Jacobs and the memorial plaque in Sarzana . At: Chi era Costui online portal ; Italian, accessed April 9, 2014.
personal data
SURNAME Jacobs, Rudolf
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Primo (alias)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German seaman, civil engineer and partisan in Italy
DATE OF BIRTH July 26, 1914
PLACE OF BIRTH Bremen
DATE OF DEATH November 3, 1944
Place of death Sarzana , Italy