Robert Abshagen
Encyclopedia
Robert Abshagen was a German Resistance fighter against National Socialism and a Communist.
in 1931.
Beginning in 1933, he took part in the illegal German Resistance in Hamburg against Nazism. In 1934, he was sentenced in Hamburg state supreme court of "Vorbereitung zum Hochverrat" (intent to commit treason) to two and a half years at hard labor in a Zuchthaus, which he spent in Bremen-Oslebshausen Prison in Gröpelingen.
After serving his sentence, he was sent to Sachsenhausen concentration camp
. While at Sachenhausen, Absagen and other prisoners, including Bernhard Bästlein
, held cultural and literary gatherings. As the Nazis began to deport more Jews after Kristallnacht
, they plundered their books and brought them to the concentration camps. In 1936-1937, the Sachsenhausen library had 500 books and two years later, 800 books. Beginning in 1936, Bästlein and Volker Paddry recited poetry and prose they had learned by heart and Abshagen held programs on proletarian and progressive writings. These programs strengthened the spirit of those who attended, who then lifted the spirit of those who hadn't and thus, the prisoners remained unbroken by their circumstances.
Abshagen was released in April 1939 and returned to Hamburg, where he again got involved in the Communist Party
Resistance movement in Hamburg, in the waterfront district. In 1940, he got in touch with Bernhard Bästlein and Franz Jacob
, who were also recently released from prison. Their group later became known as the Bästlein-Jacob-Abshagen Group
.
Abshagen took charge of various workplace cells and maintained contact with the Resistance in other parts of Germany. In this capacity, Abshagen traveled to Berlin, Saxony
and Thuringia
and made contact with anti-fascists in the Ruhr area
.
The special Rote Kapelle commission led to a wave of arrests by the Gestapo
in autumn of 1942. The commission's findings related to the activities of Erna Eifler and Wilhelm Fellendorf swept up Abshagen on October 19, 1942. He was sentenced to death by the Volksgerichthof (People's Court) on May 2, 1944 and was beheaded in Hamburg on July 10, 1944. His urn was buried in 1946 at the Ohlsdorf Cemetery in Hamburg, at the memorial for the executed Resistance fighters from Hamburg. There is a stolperstein
for Abshagen at Wachtelstraße 4 in the Barmbek-Nord suburb of Hamburg.
Biography
Abshagen first worked in insurance, then as a sailor and finally, as a construction worker. He joined the Communist Party of GermanyCommunist 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...
in 1931.
Beginning in 1933, he took part in the illegal German Resistance in Hamburg against Nazism. In 1934, he was sentenced in Hamburg state supreme court of "Vorbereitung zum Hochverrat" (intent to commit treason) to two and a half years at hard labor in a Zuchthaus, which he spent in Bremen-Oslebshausen Prison in Gröpelingen.
After serving his sentence, he was sent to Sachsenhausen concentration camp
Sachsenhausen concentration camp
Sachsenhausen or Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg was a Nazi concentration camp in Oranienburg, Germany, used primarily for political prisoners from 1936 to the end of the Third Reich in May, 1945. After World War II, when Oranienburg was in the Soviet Occupation Zone, the structure was used as an NKVD...
. While at Sachenhausen, Absagen and other prisoners, including Bernhard Bästlein
Bernhard Bästlein
Bernhard Bästlein was a German Communist and resistance fighter against the Nazi régime. He was imprisoned very shortly after the Nazis seized power in 1933 and was imprisoned almost without interruption until his execution in 1944, by the Nazis...
, held cultural and literary gatherings. As the Nazis began to deport more Jews after Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht, also referred to as the Night of Broken Glass, and also Reichskristallnacht, Pogromnacht, and Novemberpogrome, was a pogrom or series of attacks against Jews throughout Nazi Germany and parts of Austria on 9–10 November 1938.Jewish homes were ransacked, as were shops, towns and...
, they plundered their books and brought them to the concentration camps. In 1936-1937, the Sachsenhausen library had 500 books and two years later, 800 books. Beginning in 1936, Bästlein and Volker Paddry recited poetry and prose they had learned by heart and Abshagen held programs on proletarian and progressive writings. These programs strengthened the spirit of those who attended, who then lifted the spirit of those who hadn't and thus, the prisoners remained unbroken by their circumstances.
Abshagen was released in April 1939 and returned to Hamburg, where he again got involved in the Communist Party
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...
Resistance movement in Hamburg, in the waterfront district. In 1940, he got in touch with Bernhard Bästlein and Franz Jacob
Franz Jacob (Resistance fighter)
Franz Jacob was a German Resistance fighter against the National Socialists and a Communist politician.- Early years :...
, who were also recently released from prison. Their group later became known as the Bästlein-Jacob-Abshagen Group
Bästlein-Jacob-Abshagen Group
The Bästlein-Jacob-Abshagen Group was a German resistance group that developed around the core members Bernhard Bästlein, Franz Jacob and Robert Abshagen. It fought the National Socialist regime from 1940 till the end of the war in 1945...
.
Abshagen took charge of various workplace cells and maintained contact with the Resistance in other parts of Germany. In this capacity, Abshagen traveled to Berlin, Saxony
Saxony
The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....
and Thuringia
Thuringia
The Free State of Thuringia is a state of Germany, located in the central part of the country.It has an area of and 2.29 million inhabitants, making it the sixth smallest by area and the fifth smallest by population of Germany's sixteen states....
and made contact with anti-fascists in the Ruhr area
Ruhr Area
The Ruhr, by German-speaking geographers and historians more accurately called Ruhr district or Ruhr region , is an urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With 4435 km² and a population of some 5.2 million , it is the largest urban agglomeration in Germany...
.
The special Rote Kapelle commission led to a wave of arrests 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...
in autumn of 1942. The commission's findings related to the activities of Erna Eifler and Wilhelm Fellendorf swept up Abshagen on October 19, 1942. He was sentenced to death by the Volksgerichthof (People's Court) on May 2, 1944 and was beheaded in Hamburg on July 10, 1944. His urn was buried in 1946 at the Ohlsdorf Cemetery in Hamburg, at the memorial for the executed Resistance fighters from Hamburg. There is a stolperstein
Stolpersteine
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 Abshagen at Wachtelstraße 4 in the Barmbek-Nord suburb of Hamburg.
Sources
- Ursula Puls: Die Bästlein-Jacob-Abshagen-Gruppe. Bericht über die antifaschistischen Widerstandskampf in Hamburg und an der Wasserkante während des 2. Weltkrieges. Dietz, Berlin (1959) }
- Luise Kraushaar (Hg.): Deutsche Widerstandskämpfer 1933–1945. Biographien und Briefe. Band 1. Dietz, Berlin 1970, pp. 35–39
- Erkämpft das Menschenrecht. Lebensbilder und letzte Briefe antifaschistischer Widerstandskämpfer. Neuer-Weg-Verlag, Essen (1992) pp. 16–19