Maria von Maltzan
Encyclopedia
Maria Helene Françoise Izabel Gräfin von Maltzan, Freiin zu Wartenberg und Penzlin (March 25, 1909 - November 12, 1997) was an aristocratic
member of the German Resistance
against Adolf Hitler
who also saved many Jews.
ess Maria von Maltzan was born to enormous wealth at Militsch
Palace, Silesia
, Germany
(today Milicz, Poland
) and was raised on the family's 18000 acres (7,284.3 ha) estate, the youngest of eight children. After completing grade school in Berlin
in 1927 she decided to undertake studies in zoology
at the University of Breslau, quite unusual for a girl during this time. Her family was strictly against the idea, but her teachers supported her and she got permission. In 1928 she enrolled at the University of Munich where she received her doctorate
in natural science
s five years later.
When the Nazis seized power
in 1933, Maria's sense of justice made her join different resistance movements against the Nazis almost immediately. For years she worked as an underground-fighter. As the brutality of the Nazi Régime accelerated with murder, violence and terror, the seeds of their plan for the total extermination of the Jews dawned on Maria von Maltzan in all its horror - and she immediately decided to act. Back in Berlin since 1935, she always responded to calls for help and took the Jews into her own home, fed and protected them, right under the noses of the Gestapo
. Due to her well-known political attitude she had to get by with numerous jobs before in 1940 she began studying veterinary medicine
, graduating in 1943. Throughout the war the Countess von Maltzan in cooperation with the Swedish Church
provided a safe haven for more than 60 Jews, deserters and forced labourers, arranging for them to escape to safety. She falsified official visas and other documents and helped many Jews escape from Berlin in trucks that she often drove herself.
Before World War II she got to know the Jewish author Hans Hirschel, the former editor of Das Dreieck, an avant-garde German literary journal founded in 1925. From 1942 to the end of the war she sheltered Hirschel in a special hiding place inside a couch in the living room of her appartement in Wilmersdorf
, thus saving his life at the peril of her own. Maria became pregnant with Hans's child. She later recalled how the new-born baby was placed in an incubator and the hospital was bombed. The electricity running the incubator stopped and the baby died. Shortly afterwards she adopted two little girls of a children's camp.
After the war Maria married Hans Hirschel but the marriage failed. They separated after two years, then remarried in 1972. During the post-war-years Maria had many difficulties, but grateful Jews, who never forgot her heroism, helped her survive bitter years. Because of the horrors of the war she became addicted to drugs and at times lost her approbation as a veterinarian
. She later recalled how she was even brought to a psychiatric hospital
and had to scrub floors day after day to afford a living.
After Hans Hirschel died in 1975, Countess Maria von Maltzan, aged 66, decided once again to build up a new existence with her own veterinary practice in Berlin, from 1981 on located in the Kreuzberg
district, where she became famous for the cost-free treatment of dogs owned by local punks
and her struggle for improvement of the living conditions of immigrants. In 1986 she published her memoir
s which made her biography known to a wider public and she received the award of a Righteous among the Nations
one year later.
German nobility
The German nobility was the elite hereditary ruling class or aristocratic class from ca. 500 B.C. to the Holy Roman Empire and what is now Germany.-Principles of German nobility:...
member of the German Resistance
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...
against Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
who also saved many Jews.
Biography
CountCount
A count or countess is an aristocratic nobleman in European countries. The word count came into English from the French comte, itself from Latin comes—in its accusative comitem—meaning "companion", and later "companion of the emperor, delegate of the emperor". The adjective form of the word is...
ess Maria von Maltzan was born to enormous wealth at Militsch
Milicz
Milicz is a town in Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. It is the seat of Milicz County, and of the smaller administrative district called Gmina Milicz...
Palace, Silesia
Silesia
Silesia is a historical region of Central Europe located mostly in Poland, with smaller parts also in the Czech Republic, and Germany.Silesia is rich in mineral and natural resources, and includes several important industrial areas. Silesia's largest city and historical capital is Wrocław...
, 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...
(today Milicz, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
) and was raised on the family's 18000 acres (7,284.3 ha) estate, the youngest of eight children. After completing grade school in Berlin
Berlin
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 1927 she decided to undertake studies in zoology
Zoology
Zoology |zoölogy]]), is the branch of biology that relates to the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct...
at the University of Breslau, quite unusual for a girl during this time. Her family was strictly against the idea, but her teachers supported her and she got permission. In 1928 she enrolled at the University of Munich where she received her doctorate
Doctorate
A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to teach in a specific field, A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder...
in natural science
Natural science
The natural sciences are branches of science that seek to elucidate the rules that govern the natural world by using empirical and scientific methods...
s five years later.
When the Nazis seized power
Machtergreifung
Machtergreifung is a German word meaning "seizure of power". It is normally used specifically to refer to the Nazi takeover of power in the democratic Weimar Republic on 30 January 1933, the day Hitler was sworn in as Chancellor of Germany, turning it into the Nazi German dictatorship.-Term:The...
in 1933, Maria's sense of justice made her join different resistance movements against the Nazis almost immediately. For years she worked as an underground-fighter. As the brutality of the Nazi Régime accelerated with murder, violence and terror, the seeds of their plan for the total extermination of the Jews dawned on Maria von Maltzan in all its horror - and she immediately decided to act. Back in Berlin since 1935, she always responded to calls for help and took the Jews into her own home, fed and protected them, right under the noses of 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...
. Due to her well-known political attitude she had to get by with numerous jobs before in 1940 she began studying veterinary medicine
Veterinary medicine
Veterinary Medicine is the branch of science that deals with the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disease, disorder and injury in non-human animals...
, graduating in 1943. Throughout the war the Countess von Maltzan in cooperation with the Swedish Church
Church of Sweden Abroad
The Church of Sweden Abroad - in Swedish: Svenska kyrkan i utlandet - is accountable to a special committee under the General Synod of the Church of Sweden and is under the episcopal oversight of the Bishop of Visby. SKUT has approximately 45 congregations throughout the world, concentrated in...
provided a safe haven for more than 60 Jews, deserters and forced labourers, arranging for them to escape to safety. She falsified official visas and other documents and helped many Jews escape from Berlin in trucks that she often drove herself.
Before World War II she got to know the Jewish author Hans Hirschel, the former editor of Das Dreieck, an avant-garde German literary journal founded in 1925. From 1942 to the end of the war she sheltered Hirschel in a special hiding place inside a couch in the living room of her appartement in Wilmersdorf
Wilmersdorf
Wilmersdorf is an inner city locality of Berlin, formerly a borough by itself but since Berlin's 2001 administrative reform a part of the new borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf.-History:...
, thus saving his life at the peril of her own. Maria became pregnant with Hans's child. She later recalled how the new-born baby was placed in an incubator and the hospital was bombed. The electricity running the incubator stopped and the baby died. Shortly afterwards she adopted two little girls of a children's camp.
After the war Maria married Hans Hirschel but the marriage failed. They separated after two years, then remarried in 1972. During the post-war-years Maria had many difficulties, but grateful Jews, who never forgot her heroism, helped her survive bitter years. Because of the horrors of the war she became addicted to drugs and at times lost her approbation as a veterinarian
Veterinarian
A veterinary physician, colloquially called a vet, shortened from veterinarian or veterinary surgeon , is a professional who treats disease, disorder and injury in animals....
. She later recalled how she was even brought to a psychiatric hospital
Psychiatric hospital
Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental hospitals, are hospitals specializing in the treatment of serious mental disorders. Psychiatric hospitals vary widely in their size and grading. Some hospitals may specialise only in short-term or outpatient therapy for low-risk patients...
and had to scrub floors day after day to afford a living.
After Hans Hirschel died in 1975, Countess Maria von Maltzan, aged 66, decided once again to build up a new existence with her own veterinary practice in Berlin, from 1981 on located in the Kreuzberg
Kreuzberg
Kreuzberg, a part of the combined Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg borough located south of Mitte since 2001, is one of the best-known areas of Berlin...
district, where she became famous for the cost-free treatment of dogs owned by local punks
Punk subculture
The punk subculture includes a diverse array of ideologies, and forms of expression, including fashion, visual art, dance, literature, and film, which grew out of punk rock.-History:...
and her struggle for improvement of the living conditions of immigrants. In 1986 she published her memoir
Memoir
A memoir , is a literary genre, forming a subclass of autobiography – although the terms 'memoir' and 'autobiography' are almost interchangeable. Memoir is autobiographical writing, but not all autobiographical writing follows the criteria for memoir set out below...
s which made her biography known to a wider public and she received the award of a 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....
one year later.
See also
- German Resistance
- ForbiddenForbidden (1984 film)Forbidden is a 1984 drama film directed by Anthony Page and starring Jacqueline Bisset, Jürgen Prochnow and Irene Worth. The plot is loosely based on a true story originally told in the non-fiction book The Last Jews In Berlin by Leonard Gross about a countess who hides her Jewish boyfriend in her...
, a 1984 film by Anthony PageAnthony PageAnthony Page is a British stage- and film director.-Filmography:*Male of the Species 3-episode TV special that featured Sir Laurence Olivier, Paul Scofield, Sean Connery and Michael Caine. The Scofield episode, Emlyn, won an Emmy Award...
modeled on the life of Maria von Maltzan.