Werner Etter

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Werner Etter (born November 1, 1913 in Hamburg ; † February 19, 1945 in the Brandenburg-Görden prison , Berlin) was a German orthopedic mechanic , resistance fighter against National Socialism and a victim of Nazi war justice. He was one of the central protagonists of the Etter-Rose-Hampel group, which was also named after him .

Live and act

Stumbling block for Werner Etter
Stumbling block for Erika Etter
Pillow stone for Erika and Werner Etter in the Ehreihain

Etter grew up in Hamburg. His father died in the First World War in 1915 . In the 1920s he learned the profession of orthopedic mechanic.

During the Weimar Republic , Etter was politically oriented towards the communist movement: he joined the Communist Youth Association of Germany (KJVD) and was active in workers' sports clubs.

In the wake of the National Socialists' rise to power , Etter was active in communist underground organizations: Together with Werner Stender, he headed the Uhlenhorst-Winterhude subdistrict of the KJVD, which continued to exist illegally after it was banned by the Nazi government. Because of this activity, he was arrested on June 16, 1934 and sentenced in January 1935 to a two-year prison term, which he served in the youth prison on Hahnöfersand .

After the beginning of the Second World War , Etter joined a communist-oriented circle of friends formed on the initiative of the former KPD functionary Max Kristeller , which set itself the goal of accelerating the war defeat of the Nazi state, which they considered certain or necessary by working against it from within, in addition to the external efforts of the Allied Powers to overthrow the National Socialist dictatorship. In particular, they tried to convince colleagues and members of the military in confidential talks to position themselves against the Nazi system. The Gestapo later referred to this group as the Etter-Rose-Hampel group, referring to some of its most important actors.

Etter got to know Erika Schulz , whom he married in September 1941, through friends of opinion as part of his work within the circle of friends around Kristeller . The marriage resulted in a son born in 1944.

In February 1943 Etter was briefly drafted into the Wehrmacht as a medic , but was finally released again because he was indispensable in his job as a prosthesis maker due to the high demand for prostheses caused by the war .

After a denunciation - at a New Year's Eve party at the end of 1942, Kristeller and some friends had openly spoken out against the Nazi regime in the presence of an informant and described an early defeat in the war as desirable - the group was gradually broken up in the spring of 1943. After the authorities gradually became aware of more and more activists around Kristeller following the police interrogations of the group members who were first arrested, Etter's role also came to their attention: he was arrested on March 21, 1944 and taken to the Fuhlsbüttel police prison . From there he was taken to Neuengamme concentration camp on May 31, 1944 and finally transferred to Potsdam regional court prison in December 1944.

In January 1945 Etter was charged with Ernst Hampel and Elisabeth Rose for preparation for high treason , favoring the enemy and degrading military strength before the People's Court . On January 9th, they were found guilty and sentenced to death. In Etter's case, the sentence was carried out on February 19, 1945 in the Brandenburg-Görden prison with the guillotine. His wife, who had also been arrested, was killed by SS guards two weeks before the end of the war in Neuengamme concentration camp .

In the honor grove of Hamburg Resistance Fighters (grid square K 5) on the Ohlsdorf cemetery , a pillow stone commemorates the Etter couple (left row, third from last pillow stone).

At Alsterdorfer Strasse 40 in Hamburg-Winterhude , a stumbling stone each reminds of Werner and Erika Etter.

literature

  • Ursel Hochmuth : Nobody and nothing is forgotten: Biograms and letters from Hamburg resistance fighters 1933–1945. An Ehrenhain documentation in text and images , 2005.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ see also the illustration of the Etter and pillow stone couple at Förderkreis Ohlsdorfer Friedhof

Remarks

  1. ↑ Erika Etter's biography at hamburg.de
personal data
SURNAME Etter, Werner
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German orthopedic mechanic and resistance fighter against National Socialism as well as a victim of Nazi war justice
DATE OF BIRTH November 1, 1913
PLACE OF BIRTH Hamburg
DATE OF DEATH February 19, 1945
Place of death Brandenburg-Görden prison , Berlin