Paul Hatschek
Encyclopedia
Paul Hatschek was a Czech engineer of optical
and film technology and a member of the German Resistance
against Nazism
during the Third Reich. He was involved with Robert Uhrig
and then became a leading member of the resistance group, the European Union
. According to Robert Havemann
, Hatschek was under Gestapo
surveillance for years. He was arrested in 1943 and subjected to intensive interrogation, resulting in him giving the Nazis numerous names of fellow resistance members. His daughter and his wife were among those arrested. All three were brought before the Volksgerichtshof and sentenced to death. He was executed at Brandenburg-Görden Prison
in May 1944; his wife and daughter were executed at Plötzensee Prison
, his daughter in May 1944, his wife in December 1944.
technology in German technical journals.
Hatschek was first listed in the Berlin directory in 1934. In 1935, he lived in a small apartment in Berlin-Wilmersdorf. Though he followed the 1936 Summer Olympics
, apparently without criticism of the Third Reich, by 1939, he had decided to to join the resistance group, the European Union. The group was formed by Robert Havemann, a scientist and Georg Groscurth
, a medical doctor. He was recruited by the GRU
and tried to pass information along to the Soviet Union
.
The German historian Bernd Florath writes, "The Czech citizen Hatschek was an engineer in optics and film technology. His research and inventions were primarily concerned with sound film technology. Among others, he worked with Manfred von Ardenne
and Hugh John Gramatzki, who corresponded with Albert Einstein
. [Hatschek] published a series of books, that were reprinted and translated, even after his death. In Prague in 1937, he offered the Soviet Union some inventions and was afterward recruited as a contact for the GRU. Hatschek worked in Berlin for the Tobis Filmgesellschaft as a patent engineer. He was in contact with the Robert Uhrig Group and as a result, in spring 1942, was briefly arrested, though quickly released." The Gestapo considered the European Union to be especially dangerous because the organization was multi-national and the members were intellectuals.
According to Robert Havemann, one of the founders of the German Resistance group, the European Union, Hatschek was a leading member of the group. Havemann said Hatschek was under surveillance for years and that this fact was what led to the group's discovery by the Gestapo. In 1943, the Gestapo observed Hatschek meeting two parachute landings. After an investigation, they arrested Hatschek and his wife, Elli
, on September 3, 1943. The Gestapo began an intensive interrogation of him that same day. Under interrogation, Hatschek revealed names of other group members and two days later, the Gestapo arrested every person Hatschek had named. By the end, they had arrested over 40 European Union members.
Hatschek was tried with his daughter, Krista Lavíčková
, a secretary, on March 27, 1944 and was sentenced to death at the Nazi "People's Court" (Volksgerichtshof). He was executed on May 15, 1944 at Brandenburg-Görden Prison
. On November 4, 1944, the People's Court brought his wife to trial for her connections to the European Union and Wehrkraftzersetzung
and sentenced to death. She was executed on December 8, 1944 at Plötzensee Prison. His daughter was executed at Plötzensee Prison on August 11, 1944.
Optics
Optics is the branch of physics which involves the behavior and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of instruments that use or detect it. Optics usually describes the behavior of visible, ultraviolet, and infrared light...
and film technology and a 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 Nazism
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
during the Third Reich. He was involved with Robert Uhrig
Robert Uhrig
Robert Uhrig was a German communist and resistance fighter against National Socialism.- Background :Born in Leipzig, the son of a metalworker, Uhrig grew up to become a journeyman toolmaker. He joined the Communist Party of Germany in 1920 and took several courses at the Marxist Workers' School...
and then became a leading member of the resistance group, the European Union
European Union (resistance group)
The original European Union was an antifascist resistance group during Germany's Nazi era, which formed around Anneliese and Georg Groscurth and Robert Havemann. Other important members were Herbert Richter and Paul Rentsch....
. According to Robert Havemann
Robert Havemann
Robert Havemann was a chemist, and an East German dissident.He studied chemistry in Berlin and Munich from 1929 to 1933, and then later received a doctorate in physical chemistry from the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute....
, Hatschek was under 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...
surveillance for years. He was arrested in 1943 and subjected to intensive interrogation, resulting in him giving the Nazis numerous names of fellow resistance members. His daughter and his wife were among those arrested. All three were brought before the Volksgerichtshof and sentenced to death. He was executed at Brandenburg-Görden Prison
Brandenburg-Görden Prison
Brandenburg-Görden Prison is located on Anton-Saefkow-Allee in the Görden section of Brandenburg an der Havel. Erected between 1927 and 1935, it was built to be the most secure and modern prison in Europe. It was a Zuchthaus for inmates with lengthy or life sentences at hard labor, as well as...
in May 1944; his wife and daughter were executed 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...
, his daughter in May 1944, his wife in December 1944.
Work and biographical details
Hatschek was granted a Canadian patent for a "projection apparatus" on July 27, 1926. On January 3, 1928 he received an American patent for an "optical projection apparatus" for which he filed on October 2, 1923. In 1931, he began publishing articles on sound filmSound film
A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades would pass before sound motion pictures were made commercially...
technology in German technical journals.
Hatschek was first listed in the Berlin directory in 1934. In 1935, he lived in a small apartment in Berlin-Wilmersdorf. Though he followed the 1936 Summer Olympics
1936 Summer Olympics
The 1936 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event which was held in 1936 in Berlin, Germany. Berlin won the bid to host the Games over Barcelona, Spain on April 26, 1931, at the 29th IOC Session in Barcelona...
, apparently without criticism of the Third Reich, by 1939, he had decided to to join the resistance group, the European Union. The group was formed by Robert Havemann, a scientist and Georg Groscurth
Georg Groscurth
Georg Groscurth , was a German doctor and Nazi resistance fighter in the time of the Third Reich.-Life:Georg Groscurth was born a farmer's son in the village of Unterhaun in the Province of Hesse-Nassau, now part of Hauneck in the Bundesland of Hesse...
, a medical doctor. He was recruited by the GRU
GRU
GRU or Glavnoye Razvedyvatel'noye Upravleniye is the foreign military intelligence directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation...
and tried to pass information along to the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
.
The German historian Bernd Florath writes, "The Czech citizen Hatschek was an engineer in optics and film technology. His research and inventions were primarily concerned with sound film technology. Among others, he worked with Manfred von Ardenne
Manfred von Ardenne
Manfred von Ardenne was a German research and applied physicist and inventor. He took out approximately 600 patents in fields including electron microscopy, medical technology, nuclear technology, plasma physics, and radio and television technology...
and Hugh John Gramatzki, who corresponded with Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...
. [Hatschek] published a series of books, that were reprinted and translated, even after his death. In Prague in 1937, he offered the Soviet Union some inventions and was afterward recruited as a contact for the GRU. Hatschek worked in Berlin for the Tobis Filmgesellschaft as a patent engineer. He was in contact with the Robert Uhrig Group and as a result, in spring 1942, was briefly arrested, though quickly released." The Gestapo considered the European Union to be especially dangerous because the organization was multi-national and the members were intellectuals.
According to Robert Havemann, one of the founders of the German Resistance group, the European Union, Hatschek was a leading member of the group. Havemann said Hatschek was under surveillance for years and that this fact was what led to the group's discovery by the Gestapo. In 1943, the Gestapo observed Hatschek meeting two parachute landings. After an investigation, they arrested Hatschek and his wife, Elli
Elli Hatschek
Elli Hatschek was a member of the German Resistance against Nazism. She was married to Paul Hatschek, a leading member of the resistance group, the European Union and who was arrested by the Gestapo in 1943. Under heavy interrogation, he gave up the names of others in his group, who were then...
, on September 3, 1943. The Gestapo began an intensive interrogation of him that same day. Under interrogation, Hatschek revealed names of other group members and two days later, the Gestapo arrested every person Hatschek had named. By the end, they had arrested over 40 European Union members.
Hatschek was tried with his daughter, Krista Lavíčková
Krista Lavíčková
Krista Lavíčková was a Czech secretary who fought against Nazism with the German Resistance group, the European Union. She was arrested on September 3, 1943 and was tried along with her father, Paul Hatschek, at the Volksgerichtshof . Her father's second wife, Elli Hatschek, was arrested with her...
, a secretary, on March 27, 1944 and was sentenced to death at the Nazi "People's Court" (Volksgerichtshof). He was executed on May 15, 1944 at Brandenburg-Görden Prison
Brandenburg-Görden Prison
Brandenburg-Görden Prison is located on Anton-Saefkow-Allee in the Görden section of Brandenburg an der Havel. Erected between 1927 and 1935, it was built to be the most secure and modern prison in Europe. It was a Zuchthaus for inmates with lengthy or life sentences at hard labor, as well as...
. On November 4, 1944, the People's Court brought his wife to trial for her connections to the European Union and Wehrkraftzersetzung
Wehrkraftzersetzung
Wehrkraftzersetzung is a term from German military law during the Third Reich. In 1938, with Adolf Hitler moving Germany closer to war, the Nazi government issued a decree for the purpose of suppressing any expression or activity opposed to the Nazi regime or the Wehrmacht...
and sentenced to death. She was executed on December 8, 1944 at Plötzensee Prison. His daughter was executed at Plötzensee Prison on August 11, 1944.
Published work
- "Grundlagen des Tonfilms", Halle (1931); 5th edition, Halle (1942); 9th -11th editions, Halle (1950)
- "Die Rhytmographie" in: Filmtechnik/Filmkunst, 7/7 (February 7, 1931), 6-8
- "Was muß jeder vom Tonfilm wissen?" Leipzig (1933)
- with Rolf Wigand, "Niederfrequenzverstärker: Planung, Berechnung und Bau von Niederfrequenzverstärkern und Verstärkeranlagen", Berlin (1933)
- "Die Photozelle im Dienst der Tonfilmwiedergabe", Halle (1933), 2nd -4th editions (1948)
- "Darf der Radiohändler Lautsprecher für Tonfilmzwecke verkaufen?" in: Elektroton und Schallplatte. Beilage für Kraftverstärker, Nadel- und Lichttonwiedergabe, (=Beilage von Der Radio-Händler), Nr. 1, (1935) p. 77f
- "Die Wunder der Zeitdehnung und Zeitraffung" in: Die Filmwelt (August 30, 1936)
- "Fortschritte der Funktechnik und ihrer Grenzgebiete". (Handbuch der Funktechnik und ihrer Grenzgebiete / Revised and edited by M. v. Ardenne ; W. Fehr (and others). Vol. [4 = Erg. Vol. 1]. Stuttgart (1936)
- Optik des Unsichtbaren, Eine Einführung in die Welt der Elektronen-Optik, Stuttgart (1937)
- with Rolf Wigand, Niederfrequenz-Verstärker und Uebertragungsanlagen. 2nd edition Berlin (1938)
- "Neue physikalische Erkenntnisse im Dienst der Magie" in: Das neue Universum. Vol. 60, (1939)
- Radiotechnique. Les principes acoustiques et électriques et leurs applications. Written in collaboration by M.V. Ardenne, W. Fehr, Hanns Gunther, Paul Hatschek, Paul Jaray, E. Nesper, Th. Schultes, W. Steindorff, R. Thun, Rolf Wigand, H. Wigge. Translated from the German by R. Springer. Orléans : Impr. nouvelle ; Paris : Dunod (1939)
- Optik für Praktiker. Halle (1941), 2nd edition. (1948) revised by Hugo John Ivan Gramatzki
- Electron-optics, translated by Arthur Palme. Boston (1944), 2nd edition, Boston (1948)
Further reading
- Manfred Hempel, "German Television pioneers and the conflict between Public Programming and Wonder Weapons" in: Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, Volume 10, Issue 2 (1990), pp. 123 – 162
External links
- Nazi photo of Hatschek's wife, Elli, after her arrest Gedenkstätte-Plötzensee. Retrieved August 15, 2011