Wilhelm Hünerhoff

Stumbling block for Wilhelm Hünerhoff

Wilhelm Hünerhoff (born June 6, 1889 in Bielefeld , † August 27, 1944 in Hamburg ) was a German employee and Protestant Christian who was a victim of the Nazi regime .

biography

Wilhelm Hünerhoff came from a rural family that was strongly influenced by the revival movement around Johann Heinrich Volkening . The father lived this practical Christian tradition as a presbyter, volunteer poor carer and active member of the volunteer fire brigade. A Protestant loyalty to the authorities was also characteristic. After completing school, Hünerhoff initially trained as a teacher and also worked in this profession until he took up a job at the AOK in Bielefeld in 1914 , where he stayed until his arrest in 1944 and made it to the position of chief administrative inspector. Shortly afterwards he was drafted as a soldier for World War I and in 1916 was so badly injured that he was no longer operational. In 1919 he married his wife Auguste; the couple had four children.

After the " seizure of power " by the National Socialists in 1933, Hünerhoff criticized the consequences of the law for the restoration of the civil service , after which politically unpleasant and Jewish employees were dismissed. In the following years he was charged several times for violating the treachery law . He also got involved with pastor Johannes Mebus , who was close to the Confessing Church , in his conflict with pastors of the German Christians , which resulted in a house search by the Gestapo .

In March 1944, Wilhelm Hünerhoff was summoned to take part in an air protection course. He explained to the responsible SA man that he “could not and does not need this service” because he was already the air raid protection officer in his residential area, had further obligations for the community and had to help his mother with the field work. In addition, according to his own statement, he is considered "politically unreliable". When he did not show up for the second evening of the course, the SA man reported him to the Gestapo. On March 8, 1944, he was called by telephone to appear at the Gestapo, where he was arrested and taken into " protective custody ". Friends and relatives tried in vain to obtain his release through numerous petitions and discussions, for example by pointing out Hünerhoff's social commitment. In May 1944 he was dismissed by the then head of the AOK, Pieper, because "the fund is now informed in detail about the reasons that led to the state police measures taken against you", "the procedure with the aim of your dismissal." to be continued ". In the meantime, Hünerhoff had been transported to a labor education camp in Lahde as a “work-shy element” , and in July 1944 he was taken to the Neuengamme concentration camp . From there he was deployed in a bomb clearance and search unit in Hamburg and was killed when a bomb detonated.

After the end of the war, the AOK manager Pieper wrote about Hünerhoff, whose dismissal he had operated the year before, that "his incorruptible honest character [...] always ensured the unreserved appreciation of his superiors and employees ...". The Hünerhoff family had repeatedly asked in vain for such a certificate of good conduct as part of their efforts to get the prisoner released. Now, the widow Auguste Hünerhoff not only received this certificate unsolicited, but also "paid the rest of the reduced salary at that time on request". Wilhelm Hünerhoff, according to Pieper, was a "victim of the aerial warfare" and he was "always kept an honorable memory" because "he was one of our best". His death went unpunished.

On October 30, 2006, a stumbling block for Wilhelm Hünerhoff was laid in front of the Hünerhoff family's former home in Finkenstrasse .

Web links

• Uwe Horst: Wilhelm Hünerhoff. stolpersteine-bielefeld.de, accessed on September 23, 2014 .