Wilhelm Grimsmann

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Wilhelm Krystian Grimsmann (born November 8, 1883 in Eddelak , Schleswig-Holstein, † March 22, 1940 in Stutthof concentration camp ) was a Polish printer , journalist and activist . He was murdered as a representative of the Polonia in Gdansk .

Grave of Wilhelm Grimsmann, Zaspa Cemetery of Honor

Life

Grimsmann was the son of the shoemaker Peter Grimsmann and Józefa nee Kozłowska. His widowed mother moved to Gniezno in 1887 , where he graduated from high school and began an apprenticeship as a printer. When he was called up for military service in 1903 he went to Danzig, where he then settled. Grimsmann was active there in various organizations of the Polonia (Polish diaspora), among others in the "Lutnia", the "Jedność" and in the Society of Trade Youth, which Grimsmann co-founded in 1908. In 1919 he was instrumental in the founding of the Moniuszko - choir and four years later in the "Gdańska Macierz Szkolna".

In 1904 Grimsmann began a traineeship at Gazeta Gdańska , and in July 1912 he was employed full-time as a journalist. During the time of the Danzig Free State (1921-1939) gave it the local edition of Gazeta out and the German journal "German Morning Edition" of "Gazeta Gdańska" and "Dziennik Gdański". Grimsmann worked closely with publishers of other Polish magazines published in Danzig. He had to appear before the court six times for allegedly insulting the Senate authorities in Polish publications. In the People's Day of the Free City on May 28, 1933, the Danzig NSDAP had taken power with an absolute majority .

With Anna Mrozewska, Grimsmann had two sons and a daughter.

death

Wilhelm Krystian Grimsmann was shot in the Stutthof concentration camp on March 22, 1940 . His wife was deported on April 20, 1940 and died on March 28, 1943 in the Ravensbrück concentration camp . Grimsmann has a grave of honor in the Zaspa cemetery in Gdansk.

Among the 76 people executed on Good Friday 1940 were Grimsmann's son Zygmunt, Anton Lendzion, MP, and priests Bronisław Komorowski and Marian Górecki . Before the shooting, the executioners scornfully drew attention to the day of Jesus' crucifixion.

Grimsmann's son Zygmunt (* 1910) worked as an assistant at the Polish Post Office in Danzig. At the beginning of the war he was arrested on September 1, 1939 and interned in the Viktoriaschule until he had to do forced labor on the Westerplatte and in Stutthof .

Fonts

  • As editor: Żeglarz Polski. Czasopismo miesięczne poświęcone sprawom żeglugi morskiej i rzecznej ze szczególnym uwzüdnieniem potrzeb i zadań żeglugi polskiej . Drukarnia Towarzystwa Wydawniczego Pomorskiego, Gdańsk 1922–1931.

literature

  • Gabriela Danielewicz, Maria Koprowska, Mirosława Walicka: Polki w Wolnym Mieście Gdańsku . Gdańsk 1985.
  • Danuta Drywa: Polki z Pomorza w KL Ravensbrück . In: Zeszyty Muzeum Stutthof . No. 3, Volume 13 (2015).

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Grimsmann, Wilhelm
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Grimsmann, Wilhelm Krystian (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Polish journalist, activist and Nazi victim
DATE OF BIRTH November 8, 1883
PLACE OF BIRTH Eddelak , German Empire
DATE OF DEATH March 22, 1940
Place of death Stutthof concentration camp , German Empire