Wilhelm Kratz (resistance fighter, 1902)
Wilhelm Kratz (born January 6, 1902 in Cologne , † November 10, 1944 in Cologne-Ehrenfeld ) was a German resistance fighter against National Socialism and victims of National Socialism .
Life
Kratz was one of the older members of the Ehrenfeld group of resistance against the Nazi terror and military apparatus. Similar to Joseph Moll , he already had a previous conviction for criminal offenses . Both had to answer before German courts for forgery of documents , serious theft , stolen goods and embezzlement . When the group began to prepare for specific acts of sabotage such as blowing up militarily secured facilities, they set up weapons caches and food supplies. They also benefited from Kratz's relevant experience. Because these preparations were betrayed, seizures , arrests, and finally a shooting that killed five people began on September 29, 1944 . When on November 10, 1944 13 of the 63 imprisoned group members in the Hüttenstrasse in Ehrenfeld were hanged in public without any trial , Wilhelm Kratz was one of the murdered. This process found understanding and approval not only from the hundreds of onlookers , but also from parts of the population, because it seemed to agree with the Nazi propaganda that this group was a criminal organization. This assessment only began to falter in the early 1970s, when people interested in history devoted themselves to a detailed explanation of the resistance of this group.
Since then, resistance fighter Wilhelm Kratz has been one of the Nazi victims who are honored on memorial plaques as well as in words and pictures.
Individual evidence
Web links
- Student work on the Ehrenfeld group. Retrieved August 7, 2011
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Kratz, Wilhelm |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German resistance fighters against National Socialism |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 6, 1902 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Cologne |
| DATE OF DEATH | November 10, 1944 |
| Place of death | Cologne-Ehrenfeld |