German Resistance 1933-45
A tour tracing some of the courageous resisters and helpers in Nazi Germany
During the 12 years of Nazi terror, more than 6 million Jews were murdered, half a million Sinti and Roma, around 20. 000 homosexuals, and many more. It is a well known fact that not enough Germans dared to speak up against the Nazi terror, sometimes for sheer fear of risking their own lives, sometimes because they felt that as long as it didn’t concern them there was no reason to do or say anything, and sometimes because they simply didn’t care or even quietly (and sometimes not so quietly) approved and willingly complied with the regime.
And yet, there was resistance, there were people who did care, there were people who put their own lives and those of their loved ones at risk, simply because they wanted to do the right thing: saving lives, toppling the regime. Many of these courageous resisters have since been included in Yad Vashem’s avenue of „The Righteous among the Nations“, but way too few people across the world have heard about them, let alone know their names, where they lived and operated from, and how exactly they resisted and helped. This tour is meant to remember them, honour them, and bring them back into our collective memory.
Book online now!The Tour
We start out tour at Bundesplatz, from which we’ll head towards the location of the house in which the eminent and brave Countess Maria von Maltzan used to live, where she hid Jews, and from where she helped them emigrate. Next, we’ll take the U9 to take us to the house of Mod Helmy, an Egyptian-born surgeon who came to Berlin in the 1920s to study Medicine and stayed. He famously hid several Jews in his apartment and is the only Arab-born to date to be included among the Righteous of the Nations. Then we’ll head into the district of Wedding where we check out the location of the house of Elise and Otto Hampel whose courageous acts have since become world-famous with the re-publication of Hans Fallada’s book, „Alone in Berlin“. Following the that we’ll take the U9 and the U8 to explore the Workshop for the Blind run by Otto Weidt where he deliberately hired Jews to save Jews from deportation. Lastly, I intend to familiarize you with the Bendlerblock where Count Stauffenberg worked – and where he was shot for his failed attempt to assassinate Hitler – and which today is a memorial for the German Resistance and Silent Heroes. Please note that this tour is not just a walking tour, but involves a great deal of getting around as we are criss-crossing Berlin. This means that unless you request the use of a chauffeured car, having an all-day valid subway pass is recommended.
Meeting point - Duration - Cost
Meeting point: Outside Restaurant Alcatraz (Bundesplatz 6, 10715 Berlin)
Duration: 4 hours
Cost: 215€
