Heinz Drossel
Encyclopedia
Heinz Drossel was a German lieutenant in World War II
that refused to join the Nazi Party. After the war, he served as a judge and was named Righteous Among the Nations
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in 1916, and during the 1930s was able to pursue his studies. His attempt to emigrate in 1938 failed, and so he remained in Berlin to complete his law degree. In November 1939, the day after he took the state examination to practice law, he was drafted.
For example, in the summer of 1941 Drossel’s unit captured a Russian Political commissar. Drossel’s commander told him to take the prisoner back to the battalion where Drossel knew the prisoner would be shot, under the Commissar Order (contrary to the international rules of war). Instead he took the prisoner in the opposite direction. Drossel, who spoke Russian, urged the commissar into the woods and told him, “I am no killer. I am a human being.” He sent the prisoner off in the direction of Russian troops.
While on leave in 1942, Drossel was walking through Berlin when he noticed a woman by the railing of a bridge who, seeing his uniform, grew increasingly agitated at his approach. She tried to leap from the bridge but Drossel caught her. He discovered that she was Jewish. He calmed the woman, took her to his apartment, and gave her money so that she could find a safe place to stay.
She was not the only Jew with the good fortune to encounter this unusual German army officer. Ernst Fontheim, a senior research scientist emeritus in the department of Atmospheric, Oceanic and Space Sciences at the University of Michigan, was spared with the help of Drossel and his parents. In 1945 Fontheim, his future wife, Margot, and her parents, Jack and Lucie Hass had been living quietly with forged identification papers in the town of Senzig near Berlin. Then Fontheim and the others learned that a neighbor and Nazi sympathizer was about to report them to the authorities. They asked the Drossel family, who lived on their street, for help. Heinz Drossel was home on leave at the time. He personally took Fontheim and Jack Hass to a room in his apartment in Berlin. Margot and her mother found shelter in another Berlin apartment. Shortly after the war ended, Fontheim learned that the Gestapo had come looking for the four of them on the day after they had left Senzig.
“The immediate help offered to us generously and unselfishly by all three members of the Drossel family enabled the four of us to survive those last five weeks of the war,” Ernest Fontheim says. “Obviously they risked severe punishment and, in the case of the son, Heinz, a court-martial, which almost certainly would have resulted in the death penalty. They offered their help freely because of their friendship to us and because they were fiercely opposed to the Nazis and especially to the brutal persecution and murder of the Jews.”
In the spring of 1945 Drossel was sent back to the Russian front. Ordered by an SS fighting unit to attack Russian troops on 4 May — just four days before the war's end — Drossel refused. When the SS threatened to execute him, Drossel ordered his own men to open fire on the SS. Though he was immediately court-martialed and slated for execution, the rapidly advancing Russian army took the village. Liberated from the death sentence of the SS, he was taken prisoner by the Russians who released him from their prison camp later that year.
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World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
that refused to join the Nazi Party. After the war, he served as a judge and was named Righteous Among the Nations
Righteous Among the Nations
Righteous among the Nations of the world's nations"), also translated as Righteous Gentiles is an honorific used by the State of Israel to describe non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust to save Jews from extermination by the Nazis....
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Biography
Drossel was born in BerlinBerlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
in 1916, and during the 1930s was able to pursue his studies. His attempt to emigrate in 1938 failed, and so he remained in Berlin to complete his law degree. In November 1939, the day after he took the state examination to practice law, he was drafted.
World War II
Drossel was the son of ardent anti-Nazis and although he was forced to serve in the German army he continued to refuse to join the Nazi Party. Drossel fought first in the campaign against France in 1940, then from 1941 to 1945 against Russia. He was appointed as an officer and promoted in 1942. Drossel was not, on the surface, a man likely to put himself at risk to assist Jews and enemy soldiers. Yet he did so time and again.For example, in the summer of 1941 Drossel’s unit captured a Russian Political commissar. Drossel’s commander told him to take the prisoner back to the battalion where Drossel knew the prisoner would be shot, under the Commissar Order (contrary to the international rules of war). Instead he took the prisoner in the opposite direction. Drossel, who spoke Russian, urged the commissar into the woods and told him, “I am no killer. I am a human being.” He sent the prisoner off in the direction of Russian troops.
While on leave in 1942, Drossel was walking through Berlin when he noticed a woman by the railing of a bridge who, seeing his uniform, grew increasingly agitated at his approach. She tried to leap from the bridge but Drossel caught her. He discovered that she was Jewish. He calmed the woman, took her to his apartment, and gave her money so that she could find a safe place to stay.
She was not the only Jew with the good fortune to encounter this unusual German army officer. Ernst Fontheim, a senior research scientist emeritus in the department of Atmospheric, Oceanic and Space Sciences at the University of Michigan, was spared with the help of Drossel and his parents. In 1945 Fontheim, his future wife, Margot, and her parents, Jack and Lucie Hass had been living quietly with forged identification papers in the town of Senzig near Berlin. Then Fontheim and the others learned that a neighbor and Nazi sympathizer was about to report them to the authorities. They asked the Drossel family, who lived on their street, for help. Heinz Drossel was home on leave at the time. He personally took Fontheim and Jack Hass to a room in his apartment in Berlin. Margot and her mother found shelter in another Berlin apartment. Shortly after the war ended, Fontheim learned that the Gestapo had come looking for the four of them on the day after they had left Senzig.
“The immediate help offered to us generously and unselfishly by all three members of the Drossel family enabled the four of us to survive those last five weeks of the war,” Ernest Fontheim says. “Obviously they risked severe punishment and, in the case of the son, Heinz, a court-martial, which almost certainly would have resulted in the death penalty. They offered their help freely because of their friendship to us and because they were fiercely opposed to the Nazis and especially to the brutal persecution and murder of the Jews.”
In the spring of 1945 Drossel was sent back to the Russian front. Ordered by an SS fighting unit to attack Russian troops on 4 May — just four days before the war's end — Drossel refused. When the SS threatened to execute him, Drossel ordered his own men to open fire on the SS. Though he was immediately court-martialed and slated for execution, the rapidly advancing Russian army took the village. Liberated from the death sentence of the SS, he was taken prisoner by the Russians who released him from their prison camp later that year.
Post-war career
A few months after this Drossel was reunited with Marianne — the woman on the bridge — and they returned to Berlin, marrying in 1946. Drossel then became a judge, a profession he practiced until his retirement in 1981. Until his death, he lived in SimonswaldSimonswald
Simonswald is a town in the district of Emmendingen in Baden-Württemberg in Germany.-Twin towns:...
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Awards
- 2000: Righteous Among the NationsRighteous Among the NationsRighteous among the Nations of the world's nations"), also translated as Righteous Gentiles is an honorific used by the State of Israel to describe non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust to save Jews from extermination by the Nazis....
- 2001: BundesverdienstkreuzBundesverdienstkreuzThe Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany is the only general state decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has existed since 7 September 1951, and between 3,000 and 5,200 awards are given every year across all classes...
- 2004: In October 2004, Drossel was awarded the Wallenberg Medal from the University of MichiganUniversity of MichiganThe University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
in recognition of his principled and courageous humanitarian actions during World War II.
External links
- http://www.wallenberg.umich.edu/drossel.html