Herbert Michaelis
Encyclopedia
Dr. Herbert Michaelis was a German lawyer and Communist and a member of the German Resistance
during the Third Reich.
, the son of a Jewish businessman. He served from 1916 to 1918 during the First World War. He started his law practice in Hamburg in 1928 and that same year, married Marie-Luise Rom, with whom he had three children. He joined the Communist Party of Germany
(KPD) in 1924. In 1933, the year the National Socialists seized power, someone anonymously denounced him to the Gestapo
. The Nazis began to restrict what Jews could do and Michaelis was prohibited from practicing his profession, as a result. Shortly after that, he was fraudulently accused of an offense and was sentenced to two years in a Zuchthaus.
At Lübeck Zuchthaus, he got to know the lathe operator, Bruno Rieboldt and metalworker, Dagobert Biermann
(father of former East German dissident, Wolf Biermann
). After their release, Rieboldt and Biermann went to work at the Hamburg warfs for Blohm + Voss
. Rieboldt informed Michaelis about armaments work at Blohm + Voss, particularly regarding the construction of airplane motors and warships.
The goal of the Resistance group around Michaelis was to expose to the world the Nazi's secret involvement in the Spanish Civil War
. Biermann and his brother-in-law, Karl Dietrich, a ship captain, reported to Michaelis on the weapons shipments from January to March 1937 to Francisco Franco
. Michaelis relayed this information in January and February 1937 through a middle man, Richard Bähre, who in turn, forwarded it to the exiled KPD leadership in Basel
.
On March 26, 1937, Rieboldt was arrested. Two days later, Michaelis and Biermann were arrested. Michaelis was convicted by the second Senate of the Volksgerichtshof in Hamburg and sentenced to death. He was executed on June 14, 1938 at Plötzensee Prison
in Berlin. Reiboldt received a 12-year sentence, Biermann was sentenced to six years at hard labor in a Zuchthaus. Only Dietrich was allowed to go free.
for him at Isestraße 23, in Hamburg.
German Resistance
The German resistance was the opposition by individuals and groups in Germany to Adolf Hitler or the National Socialist regime between 1933 and 1945. Some of these engaged in active plans to remove Adolf Hitler from power and overthrow his regime...
during the Third Reich.
Biography
Michaelis was born in HamburgHamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
, the son of a Jewish businessman. He served from 1916 to 1918 during the First World War. He started his law practice in Hamburg in 1928 and that same year, married Marie-Luise Rom, with whom he had three children. He joined the Communist Party of Germany
Communist Party of Germany
The Communist Party of Germany was a major political party in Germany between 1918 and 1933, and a minor party in West Germany in the postwar period until it was banned in 1956...
(KPD) in 1924. In 1933, the year the National Socialists seized power, someone anonymously denounced him to the Gestapo
Gestapo
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...
. The Nazis began to restrict what Jews could do and Michaelis was prohibited from practicing his profession, as a result. Shortly after that, he was fraudulently accused of an offense and was sentenced to two years in a Zuchthaus.
At Lübeck Zuchthaus, he got to know the lathe operator, Bruno Rieboldt and metalworker, Dagobert Biermann
Dagobert Biermann
Dagobert Biermann was a Communist and German resistance fighter against National Socialism. His son is German singer and former East German dissident Wolf Biermann.- Background :...
(father of former East German dissident, Wolf Biermann
Wolf Biermann
Karl Wolf Biermann is a German singer-songwriter and former East German dissident.-Early life:Biermann's father, who worked on the Hamburg docks, was a German Jew and a member of the German Resistance....
). After their release, Rieboldt and Biermann went to work at the Hamburg warfs for Blohm + Voss
Blohm + Voss
Blohm + Voss , is a German shipbuilding and engineering works. It is a subsidiary of ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems; there were plans to sell 80% of Blohm + Voss to Abu Dhabi Mar Group, but talks collapsed in July 2011.-History:It was founded on April 5, 1877, by Hermann Blohm and Ernst Voss as a...
. Rieboldt informed Michaelis about armaments work at Blohm + Voss, particularly regarding the construction of airplane motors and warships.
The goal of the Resistance group around Michaelis was to expose to the world the Nazi's secret involvement in the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
. Biermann and his brother-in-law, Karl Dietrich, a ship captain, reported to Michaelis on the weapons shipments from January to March 1937 to Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco y Bahamonde was a Spanish general, dictator and head of state of Spain from October 1936 , and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in November, 1975...
. Michaelis relayed this information in January and February 1937 through a middle man, Richard Bähre, who in turn, forwarded it to the exiled KPD leadership in Basel
Basel
Basel or Basle In the national languages of Switzerland the city is also known as Bâle , Basilea and Basilea is Switzerland's third most populous city with about 166,000 inhabitants. Located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany...
.
On March 26, 1937, Rieboldt was arrested. Two days later, Michaelis and Biermann were arrested. Michaelis was convicted by the second Senate of the Volksgerichtshof in Hamburg and sentenced to death. He was executed on June 14, 1938 at Plötzensee Prison
Plötzensee Prison
Plötzensee Prison was a Prussian institution built in Berlin between 1869 and 1879 near the lake Plötzensee, but in the neighbouring borough of Charlottenburg, on Hüttigpfad off Saatwinkler Damm. During Adolf Hitler's time in power from 1933 to 1945, more than 2,500 people were executed at...
in Berlin. Reiboldt received a 12-year sentence, Biermann was sentenced to six years at hard labor in a Zuchthaus. Only Dietrich was allowed to go free.
Memorials
Michaelis is included in the names on the monument unveiled in 2007, honoring the lawyers who perished at the hands of the National Socialist. The monument stands in front of the House of German Lawyers' Association in Berlin. There is a stolpersteinStolpersteine
Stolperstein is the German word for "stumbling block", "obstacle", or "something in the way". The artist Gunter Demnig has given this word a new meaning, that of a small, cobblestone-sized memorial for a single victim of Nazism...
for him at Isestraße 23, in Hamburg.
Further reading
- Wilfried Weinke. The Leo Baeck Institute Yearbook 1997, Vol. 42, No. 1, The Persecution of Jewish Lawyer in Hamburg. A Case Study: Max Eichholz and Herbert Michaelis, pp. 221–237
- Ursel Hochmuth and Gertrud Meyer. Streiflichter aus dem Hamburger Widerstand 1933–1945. Berichte und Dokumente. Röderberg, Frankfurt am Main (1980) p. 190
- Angelika Ebbinghaus and Karten Linne (Editors). Kein abgeschlossenes Kapitel. Hamburg im "Dritten Reich". Article called "Die Verfolgung jüdischer Rechtsanwälte Hamburgs am Beispiel von Dr. Max Eichholz und Herbert Michaelis" by Wilfried Weinke. Europäische Verlagsanstalt, Hamburg (1997) pp. 248–265
- Peter Steinbach and Johannes Tuchel. Lexikon des Widerstandes 1933–1945, C. H. Beck, München (1998) 2nd edition, p. 138
- Ludwig Eiber. Arbeiter und Arbeiterbewegung in der Hansestadt Hamburg in den Jahren 1929 bis 1939. Werftarbeiter, Hafenarbeiter und Seeleute: Konformität, Opposition, Widerstand, "Die Gruppe um Herbert Michaelis", p. 352 P. Lang, Frankfurt am Main (2000)
- Franklin Kopitzsch and Dirk Brietzke (Editors). Hamburgische Biographie. Personenlexikon, Vol. 1. Christians Verlag, Hamburg 2001, p. 205
- Kirsten Heinsohn. Das jüdische Hamburg. Ein historisches Nachschlagewerk. Institut für die Geschichte der Deutschen Juden. (Institute for the History of German Jews). Wallstein, Göttingen 2006, p. 190
External links
- "About the project" Stolpersteine in Hamburg. Retrieved March 29, 2010
- German National Archive