- Karl Gröger
Karl Gröger (
February 7 1918 –July 1 1943 ) was a heroic member of the Dutch resistance group executed in 1943. In 1943 the SS and police court sentenced him to death inDen Haag . In collaboration with a Dutch resistance group he destroyed the registration of address office ofAmsterdam , thereby destroying file cards of Dutch people which would have faced forced labour anddeportation toconcentration camp s. He was given the title "Righteous Among the Nations " in 1986 byYad Vashem .Life
Gröger was born in
Vienna . He operated in the association ofsocial democratic high school student s. After that he studiedmedicine at theUniversity of Vienna .Following his graduation in March 1938, Gröger fled to
Amsterdam , where he continued his medicine study. Two years later, in May 1940, the GermanWehrmacht marched intoHolland . He had to join theGerman army . After some months the army kicked him out, because he was declared as partlyJew ish.Gröger joined the
resistance movement ofGerrit van den Veen , asculptor . Karl also worked for the underground newspaper "Rattenkruit" (rat poison ) and took part in the assault against Amsterdam’s registration of address office onMarch 28 . This assault killed no one but probably saved thousands of lives ofDutch Jews and other citizens.Grögers resistance group broke into the building dressed up as
policemen . They bemused the guards and blasted the building. Through this act thousands of file cards of Dutch people who would have been deported toconcentration camp s were destroyed.Afterward Karl had to flee again. He hid himself at a
farm but was discovered by theSS when he sent a message to his girlfriend.Gröger was arrested by the
Gestapo and was brought to theAmsterdam policejail . He was sentenced to death by the SS and police court inDen Haag in 1943. A mercy petition was refused bySS Reichsführer Heinrich Himmler . Thereon Gröger was shot by the police in the dunes nearOverveen . Gröger told his lawyer that he hoped his actions would serve to establish a better relationship betweenHolland andGermany .Before his
execution Gröger wrote in his farewell letter to his parents: "Lovely mother, lovely father. I will be killed tomorrow. I really had to act like this. I had no other choice. God gave me the power to put up with the situation. I prepared myself for death. Above all I refused to feel hate or revenge. I will be tough with the help of god and will die as a man if he wants. Lots of kisses, Karl."See also
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Righteous among the nations
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