Helmut Hirsch
Encyclopedia
Helmut Hirsch was a German Jew who was executed for his part in a bombing plot intended to destabilize the German Reich
. Although a full and accurate account of the plot is unknown, his targets were understood to be the Nazi party headquarters in Nuremberg
, Germany
, and/or the plant where the anti-Semitic weekly propaganda newspaper Der Stürmer
was printed.
Hirsch was born on January 27, 1916, in Stuttgart
, the elder of the two children of Marta Neuburger Hirsch and Siegfried Hirsch. In 1935, after passage of the Nuremberg Laws
excluded Jews
from German universities, he moved to Prague
, the capital of what was then Czechoslovakia
. He was nineteen when he enrolled as a student of architecture at the Deutsche Technische Hochschule (German Institute of Technology) there.
, a group of anti-Hitler German expatriates. He was encouraged to introduce himself to its head, Otto Strasser
, by his mentor, Tusk (Eberhard Köbel). Tusk had been a leader of Deutsche Jungenschaft
, a branch of the German youth movement (Bündische Jugend)
to which Hirsch belonged. The Jungenschaft itself was outlawed in 1935 and Tusk escaped arrest by fleeing to London.
Hirsch’s family joined him in Prague in 1936, after his sister, Kaete, graduated from gymnasium (high school) and, like him, was forbidden to attend a German university. By then, he was deeply enmeshed in clandestine Black Front activities, which he kept secret from his family.
On December 20, 1936, after telling his family he was going skiing with friends, he returned to Germany with a travel permit obtained on the false premise that he was visiting his mother, who he claimed was ill. In his naiveté, he did not realize German authorities knew his family had moved to Prague. It is likely that German agents in Prague had been watching him for some months, but were unable to arrest him while he remained on Czech soil.
Hirsch’s handler was Strasser’s right-hand man, Heinrich Grunov, who used the nom de guerre Dr. Beer. According to the plan, Hirsch was to place two suitcases containing explosives at one or two sites in Nuremberg
. The suggested targets were the Nazi party headquarters and the office or printing plant of Der Stürmer.
Grunov instructed Hirsch to buy a round-trip ticket from Prague to his hometown, Stuttgart, but to travel only as far as Nuremberg. There he was to meet a contact, who would give him baggage claim tickets for the two suitcases, which had been smuggled into Germany. Instead, he went on to Stuttgart, where he had arranged to meet an old friend. According to letters he wrote to his family from prison, he was wavering in his commitment to the plot and hoped his friend would talk him out of it.
arrested him in his hotel room.
Hirsch was interrogated, first in Stuttgart, then after his transfer to Berlin’s Plötzensee Prison.
He was charged with conspiracy to commit high treason, and was indicted for possession of explosives with criminal intent, despite the fact that he had no explosives at the time of his arrest.
He was held in solitary confinement for 9 weeks while awaiting trial. He was permitted to communicate with his family or relatives who still lived in Germany. A letter he wrote to his uncle, in Stuttgart, was held back by censors.
Although Hitler was never a target of the plot, Hirsch’s response gave rise to rumors printed in the international press that Hitler’s assassination had been Hirsch’s goal.
Hirsch was found guilty and condemned to death. His friend was acquitted. Although the proceedings of the trial remained secret, the verdict was made public. It was only upon hearing on the radio on March 20 that "the stateless Jew, Helmut Hirsch," had been condemned to death that his family learned what had become of him after he left home three months earlier.
Among the most promising avenues was the intervention of the United States. Hirsch’s father, Siegfried, had lived in the United States for about ten years before his marriage in 1914. He became a naturalized American citizen before returning to Germany. During World War I, Siegfried lived with his wife and two children in the German state of Alsace. At the end of the war, when Alsace became part of France, the family moved to Stuttgart. Through a bureaucratic mix-up, the exact nature of which is unclear, Siegfried Hirsch’s American citizenship was rescinded, rendering the entire family "stateless persons". Even though Hirsch was born in Germany and lived in Stuttgart for most of his life, he never held German citizenship.
Hirsch’s cousin, George Neuburger, who had moved to New York, enlisted the aid of an American lawyer to petition to have Siegfried’s citizenship reinstated. Their appeal was initially rejected, but a month later the decision was reversed. On April 22, 1937, by virtue of his father’s newly restored citizenship, Helmut Hirsch was also declared an American citizen, although he had never set foot on American soil.
, the American ambassador in Berlin, was instructed by Secretary of State Cordell Hull
to intervene on Hirsch’s behalf. Dodd chronicled his efforts in his diary. These included meetings with Konstantin von Neurath
, the German Foreign Minister, and Otto Meissner
, a key aide of Hitler.
Even with the force of American diplomacy, Hitler refused Duccis eleventh-hour request that Hirsch’s life be spared. His execution by decapitation was carried out at 6:00 a.m., June 4, 1937. His sister, Katie Sugarman (Kaete Hirsch), survives him.
Deutsches Reich
Deutsches Reich was the official name for Germany from 1871 to 1945 in the German language.As the literal English translation "German Empire" denotes a monarchy, the term is used only in reference to Germany prior to the fall of the monarchies at the end of World War I in 1918...
. Although a full and accurate account of the plot is unknown, his targets were understood to be the Nazi party headquarters in Nuremberg
Nuremberg
Nuremberg[p] is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Situated on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal, it is located about north of Munich and is Franconia's largest city. The population is 505,664...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, and/or the plant where the anti-Semitic weekly propaganda newspaper Der Stürmer
Der Stürmer
Der Stürmer was a weekly tabloid-format Nazi newspaper published by Julius Streicher from 1923 to the end of World War II in 1945, with brief suspensions in publication due to legal difficulties. It was a significant part of the Nazi propaganda machinery and was vehemently anti-Semitic...
was printed.
Hirsch was born on January 27, 1916, in Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
, the elder of the two children of Marta Neuburger Hirsch and Siegfried Hirsch. In 1935, after passage of the Nuremberg Laws
Nuremberg Laws
The Nuremberg Laws of 1935 were antisemitic laws in Nazi Germany introduced at the annual Nuremberg Rally of the Nazi Party. After the takeover of power in 1933 by Hitler, Nazism became an official ideology incorporating scientific racism and antisemitism...
excluded Jews
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
from German universities, he moved to Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
, the capital of what was then Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
. He was nineteen when he enrolled as a student of architecture at the Deutsche Technische Hochschule (German Institute of Technology) there.
The Black Front
Shortly after arriving in Prague, Hirsch became involved in the Black FrontBlack Front
The Black Front was a group formed by Otto Strasser after his expulsion from the Nazi Party in 1930. Strasser believed the original anti-capitalist nature of the NSDAP had been betrayed by Adolf Hitler...
, a group of anti-Hitler German expatriates. He was encouraged to introduce himself to its head, Otto Strasser
Otto Strasser
Otto Johann Maximilian Strasser was a German politician and 'left-wing' member of the National Socialist German Workers Party. Strasser was part of the ‘left-wing’ faction of the party, along with his brother Gregor Strasser, and broke from the party due to disputes with the ‘Hitlerite’ faction...
, by his mentor, Tusk (Eberhard Köbel). Tusk had been a leader of Deutsche Jungenschaft
German Youth Movement
The German Youth Movement is a collective term for a cultural and educational movement that started in 1896. It consists of numerous associations of young people that focus on outdoor activities. The movement included German Scouting and the Wandervogel...
, a branch of the German youth movement (Bündische Jugend)
German Youth Movement
The German Youth Movement is a collective term for a cultural and educational movement that started in 1896. It consists of numerous associations of young people that focus on outdoor activities. The movement included German Scouting and the Wandervogel...
to which Hirsch belonged. The Jungenschaft itself was outlawed in 1935 and Tusk escaped arrest by fleeing to London.
Hirsch’s family joined him in Prague in 1936, after his sister, Kaete, graduated from gymnasium (high school) and, like him, was forbidden to attend a German university. By then, he was deeply enmeshed in clandestine Black Front activities, which he kept secret from his family.
On December 20, 1936, after telling his family he was going skiing with friends, he returned to Germany with a travel permit obtained on the false premise that he was visiting his mother, who he claimed was ill. In his naiveté, he did not realize German authorities knew his family had moved to Prague. It is likely that German agents in Prague had been watching him for some months, but were unable to arrest him while he remained on Czech soil.
Hirsch’s handler was Strasser’s right-hand man, Heinrich Grunov, who used the nom de guerre Dr. Beer. According to the plan, Hirsch was to place two suitcases containing explosives at one or two sites in Nuremberg
Nuremberg
Nuremberg[p] is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Situated on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal, it is located about north of Munich and is Franconia's largest city. The population is 505,664...
. The suggested targets were the Nazi party headquarters and the office or printing plant of Der Stürmer.
Grunov instructed Hirsch to buy a round-trip ticket from Prague to his hometown, Stuttgart, but to travel only as far as Nuremberg. There he was to meet a contact, who would give him baggage claim tickets for the two suitcases, which had been smuggled into Germany. Instead, he went on to Stuttgart, where he had arranged to meet an old friend. According to letters he wrote to his family from prison, he was wavering in his commitment to the plot and hoped his friend would talk him out of it.
Arrest and imprisonment
Hirsch arrived in Stuttgart late in the evening of December 20. When his friend failed to meet him as arranged, he checked into the Hotel Pelikan, across the street from the railway station. In the early hours of the morning of December 21, agents of the GestapoGestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
arrested him in his hotel room.
Hirsch was interrogated, first in Stuttgart, then after his transfer to Berlin’s Plötzensee Prison.
Plötzensee
Plötzensee is a small glacial lake in Berlin. It is situated near the Rehberge public park in the former borough of Wedding, now a part of Mitte. The name stems from Plötze, one name for the roach in German, as the lake formerly teemed with it....
He was charged with conspiracy to commit high treason, and was indicted for possession of explosives with criminal intent, despite the fact that he had no explosives at the time of his arrest.
He was held in solitary confinement for 9 weeks while awaiting trial. He was permitted to communicate with his family or relatives who still lived in Germany. A letter he wrote to his uncle, in Stuttgart, was held back by censors.
Trial
Testimony at the trial made it clear that there was at least one double agent in the Black Front, who had informed on Hirsch. A witness for the prosecution described the plot in detail that no one but a trusted member of the Black Front could have known. Under questioning, Hirsch did not deny involvement in the plot, though the public defender assigned to his case argued that he should be acquitted since he had never carried it out. When asked whether he would, if given the chance, have attempted to assassinate Adolf Hitler, Hirsch acknowledged he would.Although Hitler was never a target of the plot, Hirsch’s response gave rise to rumors printed in the international press that Hitler’s assassination had been Hirsch’s goal.
Hirsch was found guilty and condemned to death. His friend was acquitted. Although the proceedings of the trial remained secret, the verdict was made public. It was only upon hearing on the radio on March 20 that "the stateless Jew, Helmut Hirsch," had been condemned to death that his family learned what had become of him after he left home three months earlier.
International appeals for clemency
Hirsch’s family and friends launched a campaign to free him, or at least have his sentence commuted to life in prison. The International Red Cross, the Society of Friends, and an international association of lawyers made appeals on his behalf. A human rights organization convinced the government of Norway to offer him asylum if the Germans would release him. An appeal was made to the League of Nations, and the case was brought up in the House of Commons in London.Among the most promising avenues was the intervention of the United States. Hirsch’s father, Siegfried, had lived in the United States for about ten years before his marriage in 1914. He became a naturalized American citizen before returning to Germany. During World War I, Siegfried lived with his wife and two children in the German state of Alsace. At the end of the war, when Alsace became part of France, the family moved to Stuttgart. Through a bureaucratic mix-up, the exact nature of which is unclear, Siegfried Hirsch’s American citizenship was rescinded, rendering the entire family "stateless persons". Even though Hirsch was born in Germany and lived in Stuttgart for most of his life, he never held German citizenship.
Hirsch’s cousin, George Neuburger, who had moved to New York, enlisted the aid of an American lawyer to petition to have Siegfried’s citizenship reinstated. Their appeal was initially rejected, but a month later the decision was reversed. On April 22, 1937, by virtue of his father’s newly restored citizenship, Helmut Hirsch was also declared an American citizen, although he had never set foot on American soil.
American diplomacy
Hirsch’s American citizenship immediately changed the situation. William E. DoddWilliam Dodd (ambassador)
William Edward Dodd was an American historian who served as the United States Ambassador to Germany from 1933 to 1937, during the Nazi era.-Early years and academic career:...
, the American ambassador in Berlin, was instructed by Secretary of State Cordell Hull
Cordell Hull
Cordell Hull was an American politician from the U.S. state of Tennessee. He is best known as the longest-serving Secretary of State, holding the position for 11 years in the administration of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt during much of World War II...
to intervene on Hirsch’s behalf. Dodd chronicled his efforts in his diary. These included meetings with Konstantin von Neurath
Konstantin von Neurath
Konstantin Freiherr von Neurath was a German diplomat remembered mostly for having served as Foreign minister of Germany between 1932 and 1938...
, the German Foreign Minister, and Otto Meissner
Otto Meißner
Otto Meißner was head of the Office of the President of Germany during the entire period of the Weimar Republic under Friedrich Ebert and Paul von Hindenburg and, finally, at the beginning of the Nazi era under Adolf Hitler.-Life:The son of a postal official, Meißner studied law in Strasbourg from...
, a key aide of Hitler.
Even with the force of American diplomacy, Hitler refused Duccis eleventh-hour request that Hirsch’s life be spared. His execution by decapitation was carried out at 6:00 a.m., June 4, 1937. His sister, Katie Sugarman (Kaete Hirsch), survives him.