Ludwig and Maria Knapp
Encyclopedia
Ludwig Knapp and his wife Maria Knapp are both Austria
n Righteous Among the Nations
.
In 1944 Ludwig Knapp and his wife Maria were the owner of a sawmill and an agricultural farm in Weitra
in Gmünd
in Lower Austria
.
The couple saw how hard the live of Jews under the Nazi regime
was. Their firm suffered of shortage of workers and they decided to employ Jewish forced laborers
in order to save them from deportation.
Knapp got the permission to employ 24 Jews in his sawmill. As he knew that the old people and children were not able to work and were particularly vulnerable, he deliberately chose seven old people and four children. Knapp and his wife Maria cared for their workers. They considered their age and their health status in the working time and offered them warm food and clothing.
In April 1945 Knapp got to know that the authorities had decided to deport his workers to Theresienstadt
. He knew that this would mean their death. Ludwig and Maria Knapp wanted to avoid this at all costs. They provided their workers with food for a month and told them to hide in a nearby forest. Then Ludwig went with his family on a short trip to Vienna
.
When Knapp returned two days later, he reported to the Gestapo
, that all the Jewish workers had fled during his absence. In his interrogation he could not explain why they had succeeded in their escape, but he offered to join the search for his “missing” workers. He led the Gestapo to the wrong direction, so that their sniffer dogs could not find the workers.
When the danger was over Ludwig and Maria Knapp led the Jews out of the woods and hid them in their house until the war was over.
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n 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 1944 Ludwig Knapp and his wife Maria were the owner of a sawmill and an agricultural farm in Weitra
Weitra
Weitra is a small town in the district of Gmünd in the Austrian state of Lower Austria. It is located within the rural Waldviertel region on the upper Lužnice river, near the border with the Czech Republic. The municipality consists of the Katastralgemeinden Brühl, Großwolfgers, Oberwindhag,...
in Gmünd
Gmünd, Lower Austria
Gmünd is a town in northwestern Waldviertel in the Austrian state of Lower Austria, the capital of the Gmünd district. The municipality consists of the Katastralgemeinden Böhmzeil, Breitensee, Eibenstein, Gmünd and Grillenstein...
in Lower Austria
Lower Austria
Lower Austria is the northeasternmost state of the nine states in Austria. The capital of Lower Austria since 1986 is Sankt Pölten, the most recently designated capital town in Austria. The capital of Lower Austria had formerly been Vienna, even though Vienna is not officially part of Lower Austria...
.
The couple saw how hard the live of Jews under the Nazi regime
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
was. Their firm suffered of shortage of workers and they decided to employ Jewish forced laborers
Forced labor in Germany during World War II
The use of forced labour in Nazi Germany and throughout German-occupied Europe during World War II took place on an unprecedented scale. It was a vital part of the German economic exploitation of conquered territories. It also contributed to the mass extermination of populations in German-occupied...
in order to save them from deportation.
Knapp got the permission to employ 24 Jews in his sawmill. As he knew that the old people and children were not able to work and were particularly vulnerable, he deliberately chose seven old people and four children. Knapp and his wife Maria cared for their workers. They considered their age and their health status in the working time and offered them warm food and clothing.
In April 1945 Knapp got to know that the authorities had decided to deport his workers to Theresienstadt
Theresienstadt concentration camp
Theresienstadt concentration camp was a Nazi German ghetto during World War II. It was established by the Gestapo in the fortress and garrison city of Terezín , located in what is now the Czech Republic.-History:The fortress of Terezín was constructed between the years 1780 and 1790 by the orders...
. He knew that this would mean their death. Ludwig and Maria Knapp wanted to avoid this at all costs. They provided their workers with food for a month and told them to hide in a nearby forest. Then Ludwig went with his family on a short trip to Vienna
Vienna
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...
.
When Knapp returned two days later, he reported 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...
, that all the Jewish workers had fled during his absence. In his interrogation he could not explain why they had succeeded in their escape, but he offered to join the search for his “missing” workers. He led the Gestapo to the wrong direction, so that their sniffer dogs could not find the workers.
When the danger was over Ludwig and Maria Knapp led the Jews out of the woods and hid them in their house until the war was over.
External links
- Austrian Righteous Among the Nations (Artikel auf S. 44)
- „Die vergessenen Helfer“ on ORF 1, August 9, 2006