Rudolf Schlosser

Rudolf Schlosser (born April 4, 1880 in Gießen ; † December 11, 1944 there ) was a German theologian, social worker and Quaker .

Pastor and social worker

Rudolf Schlosser and his two siblings Hans and Grete came from a Protestant pastor's household in Giessen. From 1895 he studied theology in Halle (Saale) and then in Gießen and Marburg . After his studies he did a voluntary service as a helper in the Bodelschwinghsche Anstalten in Bethel .

Rudolf Schlosser was married to Amalie Lehmann (1886–1973). The couple had a biological daughter (Gertrud, born 1908, married Birke) and adopted three other children.

In 1905, Schlosser took up his first parish vicar position in Upper Hesse and in 1910, already as a clergyman with the Inner Mission , traveled to England for the first time to a meeting of the Christian Association of Young People .

After further stations as a pastor in the country, he was drafted into the military as a medic in 1914, then switched to military service and was finally released from military service as an officer after being wounded.

In 1916 Rudolf Schlosser took over a pastorate in Chemnitz . He joined the SPD , founded a daycare center, organized a working group on “Socialist Lifestyle” and was close to the Religious Socialists around Emil Fuchs . Schlosser broke with the Protestant church because of its attitude in the First World War and became director of the municipal children's home in Chemnitz-Bernsdorf , which was an institution for young people who were difficult to educate. In 1926, he moved to the Wackenitzhof near Lübeck in a comparable position and with comparable social welfare tasks . In September 1927 he took part - like Siegfried Bernfeld or Curt Bondy , among others - at the conference of the “General Welfare Education Day” in Hamburg. In a report on this conference, following the summary of the introductory presentation, the following is noted: “In the discussion of the presentation, Comrade Schlosser (Wackernitzhof) said that the most important needs of the growing youth in denominational education, e. B. in the sexual field, cannot be resolved. He demands the use of the right educators and the involvement of the broad stream of healthy youth. "

From 1928 on, Rudolf Schlosser headed the Bräunsdorf welfare and educational institution in Saxony ( Lage ), where he once again took care of the rehabilitation of neglected young people. Bräunsdorf was "the largest Saxon welfare institution for young people [and] at that time had its own school as well as a training school, workshops and a hospital" ( Claus Bernet ). After the National Socialist seizure of power , he was released and briefly taken into protective custody.

Quaker

Neither Bernet nor Bonavita provide any clear statements about when Schlosser came into contact with the thoughts of the Quakers. Bonavita points out that many acquaintances from the circle of religious socialists had also found their way to the Quakers, but suspects that foreign Quakers who had found their way to Chemnitz had the greatest influence on him. Still, it was a long process before he finally became a member of the Quakers:

“After years of retreat and believing solitary existence, he joined the“ Religious Society of Friends ”at the 1931 annual meeting in Dresden-Hellerau . His wife Amalie was accepted as a member in 1933. "

The Quakers were soon not only a religious home for Schlosser, but also the center of his further work. After his release from protective custody. In 1933, he started to work for the Quakers. He was involved in the social aid work of the German annual meeting and was soon afterwards significantly involved in setting up the Quaker school in the Netherlands.

→ Main article : Quaker school Eerde

It is also due to Schlosser that Katharina Petersen became headmistress in Eerde in 1934 .

Appointment to Frankfurt am Main

In the early 1920s, a small group of Quakers had formed in Frankfurt am Main who had already participated in the Quaker feedings . This group received great support from a group of British women who were married to German men. Contact between the British and the Quakers was arranged through the British consulate. For the group, which initially met privately, their own Quaker meeting point became more and more important, but it took until April 1933 for their wish to come true and a Quaker home at Liebigstrasse 16 ( Lage ), in Frankfurt's Westend could be set up.

However, at this point in time, the Frankfurt Quakers were no longer happy about their own home, because the political changes since the National Socialist seizure of power could not be overlooked and effects on their own work could not be ruled out. The Frankfurt group had to act.

"The German Friends immediately called for a meeting to discuss the situation and the decision was made that a German Friend should be placed in charge of our Center. The choice fell upon Rudolf Schlosser. [...] As a matter of fact we met with no serious difficulties. Beyond a cursory general investigation and inquiry we were left to continue our work peacefully. The Party (NSDAP, PB) seemed to have little interests in our undertaking. "

“The German Friends immediately requested a meeting to discuss the situation, and the decision was made that a German friend should be in charge of our center. The choice fell on Rudolf Schlosser. […] In fact, we haven't had any serious difficulties. After a cursory general investigation and investigation, we were able to continue our work peacefully. The party (NSDAP, PB) seemed to have little interest in our enterprise. "

On July 1, 1933, the Frankfurt Gestapo registered the arrival of the Schlosser couple from Bräunsdorf to Frankfurter Launitzstrasse. 6 ( location ). From then on, Rudolf Schlosser was one of the 24 Quaker shop stewards who were available throughout Germany as a contact for those who were persecuted.

The Frankfurt Quaker Office

By the time Schlosser moved to Frankfurt, the course for the first larger project of the small Frankfurt Quaker group - ten (maximum fifteen) members in 1933 - had already been set:

→ Main article : Rest Home Project

In addition, the office quickly developed into a contact point for persecuted people from Frankfurt and the surrounding area and was shaped by Schlosser's work ethic: unconditional and uncompromising truthfulness, relentlessness even against the smallest negligence, but also kindness and quiet understanding towards those who were looking for help. And increasingly these were Jewish people. Schlosser also took care of the intellectual development of his own group. He organized meetings and lectures, where as the later as Righteous Among the Nations Sir William Mensching spoke, or Gustav Radbruch . Schlosser also maintained close contacts with Martin Buber , whom he had known since 1925 and with whom he developed even closer relationships from 1933. Schglosser also brought British Quaker women into contact with Buber and arranged a visit from Bertha Bracey to Buber in Heppenheim .

In 1936, Schlosser was sent to the annual meeting of the Dutch Quakers as a delegate of the German annual meeting , and in 1937 he himself was given the opportunity to take a break: he was able to go to England for a semester at Quaker College Woodbrooke and, above all, study private studies there (art history , Urban planning, architecture). After his return from England he organized and led the German annual meeting in Bad Pyrmont .

The Frankfurt Quaker office gradually developed "into a second international center next to Berlin" and was responsible for looking after those persecuted from all over southwest Germany. Most of the money for the work came from foreign Quakers, but there were also occasional domestic donations and income from property transfers from people who were able to leave the country but were only allowed to take part in their belongings. From 1937, however, the working conditions in the Frankfurt office became increasingly difficult. The surveillance by the Gestapo increased without any drastic measures taken against the Quakers, but more and more security precautions had to be taken in order not to be more targeted by the Gestapo.

According to Bonavita, it is not possible to make statements about how many people the Frankfurt Quakers were able to help. There are many examples of individual fates whose lives were saved by the Quaker Support, and there is also the example of participating in one of the largest organized rescue operations, the Kindertransporte in the aftermath of the Reichspogromnacht of 1938. The plan for this goes, as does the Rest Home Project , mainly due to Bertha Bracey and the Germany Emergency Committee she founded , and from January 1939 on Frankfurt was also a departure point for many Jewish children.

“The departure of the first large group of Jewish children from Frankfurt was organized by the responsible department“ Kindermerschickung ”of Dr. Martha Wertheimer to Switzerland. On January 5, 1939, a train from Frankfurt with many children left for Zurich. They came u. a. there in a children's home run by the Israelite Women's Association. On that day, eleven children from Frankfurt had left in the opposite direction. The Frankfurt Quakers had arranged for boarding places in their Quaker school "Eerde" in the Netherlands as a quick refuge. One of the first large children's transports to England began in Frankfurt on January 18, 1939. The children came from all age groups and from various cities in southern Germany. From May 1939, trains ran from Frankfurt to England almost every week. "

It was like one last rebellion, because with the outbreak of the Second World War the foreign support ceased, and at the end of October 1939 the Frankfurt office was effectively unable to work: “ The activities of the Frankfurt center are greatly reduced and it is open only part time. Rudolf Schlosser does not feel justified in giving full time to this reduced program. He hopes to resume his Red Cross work. "(German:" The activities of the Frankfurt Center are greatly reduced and it is only open temporarily. Rudolf Schlosser does not feel entitled to work full-time with this reduced program. He hopes to resume his work at the Red Cross. ")

Schlosser's tragic death

Schlosser also worked for the Red Cross from 1940 and helped with its station guard. From May 1941 to March 1944 he worked as a volunteer nurse in the Orthopedic University Clinic Friedrichsheim . This work was also a conscious rejection of the Nazi regime, which obviously wanted to oblige him to serve as an officer despite his advanced age.

The Friedrichsheim was bombed in late March 1944, and evacuated Schlosser but another public task was given: He should take care of the planning for the reconstruction of the devastated cities. It was probably in connection with this order that Schlosser traveled to Giessen. He died in an air raid on December 11, 1944 - whether on the journey from Gießen to Frankfurt or when trying to visit a friend in Gießen (Bernet) remains to be seen.

Works

• The state educational institute Bräunsdorf near Freiberg-Sachsen. State educational institute Bräunsdorf, 1932.

literature

• Claus Bernet: Quakers from politics, science and art. 20th century. A biographical lexicon. Verlag Traugott Bautz, Nordhausen, 2007, ISBN 978-3-88309-398-7 .
• Petra Bonavita: Quakers as saviors in Frankfurt am Main during the Nazi era. Butterfly Verlag, Stuttgart, 2014, ISBN 3-89657-149-4 .

Web links

• Claus Bernet: News on the “Rest Home”: Help for victims of the Nazi dictatorship 1933–1939 in Germany
• Claus Bernet: Corder Catchpool (1883–1952)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Schlosser's life is poorly documented and can mostly only be reconstructed from scattered sources. A rare exception is the book by Claus Bernet ( Quakers from Politics, Science and Art ), which offers a comprehensive overview on pages 146 to 148. Unless other sources are named below, all biographical information comes from this text.
2. ↑ Petra Bonavita: Quakers as saviors in Frankfurt am Main during the Nazi era. P. 54 and p. 57.
3. ↑ The spelling is not clear. The facility operates today as Vorwerker Diakonie Wakenitzhof, Lübeck .
4. ^ Walter Andreas Friedländer : General Welfare Education Day. In: Arbeiterwohlfahrt. 2 (1927), no. 20, pp. 624-626 ( library.fes.de ). About Walter Andreas Friedländer: Walter Friedländer (1891–1984). ( socwork.net ).
5. ↑ Petra Bonavita, p. 57. Bernet claims that a lecture by Theodor Bäuerle during the annual meeting was decisive.
6. ↑ Petra Bonavita, pp. 18-21.
7. ^ Dorothy Henkel, quoted from Petra Bonavita, pp. 22-23.
8. ^ Petra Bonavita, p. 58
9. ^ Petra Bonavita, p. 23
10. ^ Petra Bonavita, p. 59.
11. ↑ Petra Bonavita, pp. 60-61.
12. ↑ Petra Bonavita, p. 68.
13. ↑ Petra Bonavita, p. 67.
14. ↑ Petra Bonavita, p. 67.
15. ^ Petra Bonavita, p. 81.
16. ^ Petra Bonavita, p. 121.
17. ↑ Internal Quaker report, quoted from: Petra Bonavita, p. 84.
18. ↑ Petra Bonavita, pp. 85-86.
19. ↑ Petra Bonavita, p. 121. Bernet also reports this, but neither say from whom Schlosser received this order or for whom he worked.
20. ^ Petra Bonavita, p. 85.