Karl Gröger
Encyclopedia
Karl Gröger was a heroic member of the Dutch
resistance group
executed in 1943. In 1943 the SS and police court sentenced him to death in Den Haag. In collaboration with a Dutch
resistance group
he destroyed the registration of address office of Amsterdam
, thereby destroying file cards of Dutch people which would have faced forced labour
and deportation
to concentration camps. He was given the title "Righteous Among the Nations
" in 1986 by Yad Vashem
.
. He operated in the association of social democratic high school
student
s. After that he studied medicine
at the University of Vienna
.
Following his graduation in March 1938, Gröger fled to Amsterdam
, where he continued his medicine study. Two years later, in May 1940, the German
Wehrmacht
marched into Holland. He had to join the German army
. After some months the army kicked him out, because he was declared as partly Jewish. Unbknownst to the Germans, Karl (Bubie as he was known to friends and family), was the product of a full Jewish mother - Frieda (who converted into the Catholic faith in 1911) and of a half-Jewish father - Karl Sr. Karl Jr. himself was baptized into the Catholic faith at birth.
Gröger joined the resistance movement
of Gerrit van den Veen, a sculptor. Karl also worked for the underground newspaper
"Rattenkruit" (rat poison
) and took part in the assault against Amsterdam’s registration of address office on March 28. This assault killed no one but probably saved thousands of lives of Dutch Jews and other citizens.
Grögers resistance group broke into the building dressed up as policemen. They bemused the guards and blasted the building. Through this act thousands of file cards of Dutch people who would have been deported
to concentration camps were destroyed.
Afterward Karl had to flee again. He hid himself at a farm
but was discovered by the SS when he sent a message to his girlfriend.
Gröger was arrested by the Gestapo
and was brought to the Amsterdam
police jail
. He was sentenced to death by the SS and police court in Den Haag in 1943. A mercy petition was refused by SS Reichsführer Heinrich Himmler
. Thereon Gröger was shot by the police in the dunes near Overveen
.
Gröger told his lawyer that he hoped his actions would serve to establish a better relationship between Holland and Germany
.
Before his execution Gröger wrote in his farewell letter to his parents: "Lovely mother, lovely father. I will be killed tomorrow. I really had to act like this. I had no other choice. God gave me the power to put up with the situation. I prepared myself for death. Above all I refused to feel hate or revenge. I will be tough with the help of god and will die as a man if he wants. He also wrote In his last letter before his execution: "Ich glaube dass diese einzige Tat mehr Nutzen fur die Menscheit gebracht hat, als ein ganzes Leben als Arzt getan hätte".
Translation: "I believe that with this one action I brought more boon to humanity than an entire life as a physician would have done."
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
resistance group
Resistance movement
A resistance movement is a group or collection of individual groups, dedicated to opposing an invader in an occupied country or the government of a sovereign state. It may seek to achieve its objects through either the use of nonviolent resistance or the use of armed force...
executed in 1943. In 1943 the SS and police court sentenced him to death in Den Haag. In collaboration with a Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
resistance group
Resistance movement
A resistance movement is a group or collection of individual groups, dedicated to opposing an invader in an occupied country or the government of a sovereign state. It may seek to achieve its objects through either the use of nonviolent resistance or the use of armed force...
he destroyed the registration of address office of Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
, thereby destroying file cards of Dutch people which would have faced forced labour
Unfree labour
Unfree labour includes all forms of slavery as well as all other related institutions .-Payment for unfree labour:If payment occurs, it may be in one or more of the following forms:...
and deportation
Deportation
Deportation means the expulsion of a person or group of people from a place or country. Today it often refers to the expulsion of foreign nationals whereas the expulsion of nationals is called banishment, exile, or penal transportation...
to concentration camps. He was given the title "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....
" in 1986 by Yad Vashem
Yad Vashem
Yad Vashem is Israel's official memorial to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust, established in 1953 through the Yad Vashem Law passed by the Knesset, Israel's parliament....
.
Life
Gröger was born in ViennaVienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
. He operated in the association of social democratic high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
student
Student
A student is a learner, or someone who attends an educational institution. In some nations, the English term is reserved for those who attend university, while a schoolchild under the age of eighteen is called a pupil in English...
s. After that he studied medicine
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
at the University of Vienna
University of Vienna
The University of Vienna is a public university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world...
.
Following his graduation in March 1938, Gröger fled to Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
, where he continued his medicine study. Two years later, in May 1940, the German
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
marched into Holland. He had to join the German army
German Army
The German Army is the land component of the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. Following the disbanding of the Wehrmacht after World War II, it was re-established in 1955 as the Bundesheer, part of the newly formed West German Bundeswehr along with the Navy and the Air Force...
. After some months the army kicked him out, because he was declared as partly Jewish. Unbknownst to the Germans, Karl (Bubie as he was known to friends and family), was the product of a full Jewish mother - Frieda (who converted into the Catholic faith in 1911) and of a half-Jewish father - Karl Sr. Karl Jr. himself was baptized into the Catholic faith at birth.
Gröger joined the resistance movement
Resistance movement
A resistance movement is a group or collection of individual groups, dedicated to opposing an invader in an occupied country or the government of a sovereign state. It may seek to achieve its objects through either the use of nonviolent resistance or the use of armed force...
of Gerrit van den Veen, a sculptor. Karl also worked for the underground newspaper
Underground press
The underground press were the independently published and distributed underground papers associated with the counterculture of the late 1960s and early 1970s in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, and other western nations....
"Rattenkruit" (rat poison
Rat poison
Rodenticides are a category of pest control chemicals intended to kill rodents.Single feed baits are chemicals sufficiently dangerous that the first dose is sufficient to kill....
) and took part in the assault against Amsterdam’s registration of address office on March 28. This assault killed no one but probably saved thousands of lives of Dutch Jews and other citizens.
Grögers resistance group broke into the building dressed up as policemen. They bemused the guards and blasted the building. Through this act thousands of file cards of Dutch people who would have been deported
Deportation
Deportation means the expulsion of a person or group of people from a place or country. Today it often refers to the expulsion of foreign nationals whereas the expulsion of nationals is called banishment, exile, or penal transportation...
to concentration camps were destroyed.
Afterward Karl had to flee again. He hid himself at a farm
Farm
A farm is an area of land, or, for aquaculture, lake, river or sea, including various structures, devoted primarily to the practice of producing and managing food , fibres and, increasingly, fuel. It is the basic production facility in food production. Farms may be owned and operated by a single...
but was discovered by the SS when he sent a message to his girlfriend.
Gröger was arrested by 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...
and was brought to the Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
police jail
Jail
A jail is a short-term detention facility in the United States and Canada.Jail may also refer to:In entertainment:*Jail , a 1966 Malayalam movie*Jail , a 2009 Bollywood movie...
. He was sentenced to death by the SS and police court in Den Haag in 1943. A mercy petition was refused by SS Reichsführer Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Luitpold Himmler was Reichsführer of the SS, a military commander, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. As Chief of the German Police and the Minister of the Interior from 1943, Himmler oversaw all internal and external police and security forces, including the Gestapo...
. Thereon Gröger was shot by the police in the dunes near Overveen
Overveen
Overveen is an affluent town in North Holland in the Netherlands, in the municipality of Bloemendaal.Overveen lies on the eastern fringe of the North Sea dunes...
.
Gröger told his lawyer that he hoped his actions would serve to establish a better relationship between Holland and 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...
.
Before his execution Gröger wrote in his farewell letter to his parents: "Lovely mother, lovely father. I will be killed tomorrow. I really had to act like this. I had no other choice. God gave me the power to put up with the situation. I prepared myself for death. Above all I refused to feel hate or revenge. I will be tough with the help of god and will die as a man if he wants. He also wrote In his last letter before his execution: "Ich glaube dass diese einzige Tat mehr Nutzen fur die Menscheit gebracht hat, als ein ganzes Leben als Arzt getan hätte".
Translation: "I believe that with this one action I brought more boon to humanity than an entire life as a physician would have done."
Links
- http://www1.yadvashem.org/righteous_new/index.html
- http://www.gedenkdienst.org/deutsch/gerechte/inhalt.php (German)