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Anne Nelson's The Red Orchestra investigates a relatively unknown chapter of German history; the some three million people from all around Germany who watched in dismay as Nazis subverted the church, military, media, legal system, and all other institutions that Hitler thought contaminated the “supreme” German infrastructure. In Anne Nelson's monograph Red Orchestra, readers discover the determination of a select group of people who sought to "do the right thing" in the face of great adversity and extreme risk to their own safety. The main motivation behind this selflessness came from a rejection of violence and political intolerance under Hitler's regime. The urge to fulfill this "indispensable obligation" could only be stopped by death. Nelson uncovers, dissects and exposes the leading members’ clandestine operations fighting Hitler's Reich. These key writers, actors, bureaucrats and laborers are brought to light through primary sources including letters, diaries, official records and oral histories that expose a painful period in our recent history. Nelson provides an in-depth analysis of the individual Berliners who were part of a loosely knit group of Nazi resisters called the Red Orchestra. In order to give fuller meaning to the stories she fastidiously traces the history of the anti-Nazi movement from its inception through the war and even into the postwar period. Nelson inadvertently provides a larger picture of the perils of fascism. Although this is never directly expressed, the author provides an important message about the dangers one faces when trying to expose the truth in a totalitarian society.
Germany's fate in the 1930s was being driven by Adolf Hitler, “a man of little education but stunning intuition, who was right just enough to throw everyone off balance” (Nelson, 181). Nelson writes, “Some Germans disapproved of Hitler's provocations, but there was no longer any possibility of public opposition. Tens of thousands of Germans languished in concentration camps at any given time. Political parties, trade unions, the media, and academia had all been suppressed and purged” (Nelson, 122). Of the nearly 3 million people opposing Hitler's Germany a few strong members centered in Berlin, fought to resist Nazism and hold true to their convictions.
According to Nelson the Red Orchestra members were a loose group of German intellectuals, aristocrats, and army officers, who all initially resisted the Nazi front with non-violent resistance. Most of the members knew little of other affiliates to minimize exposing the resistance as a whole. These small circles only knew of five or six other contacts and it wasn't until interrogation by the Gestapo in late 1942 did they learn that they had been given a name, Rote Kapelle (Red Orchestra). The members extended to all professions including medical, military, academia, and the arts. Politically they were just as vast, ranging from conservatives, Communists, Social Democrats and reformed Nazis. Their religious affiliations included Catholics, Lutherans, Jews, and gypsies. Their ages ranged just as diversely and their social status ranged from high-profile government officials to slum dwellers.
As Jewish persecution persisted members of the Red Orchestra helped Jews and anti-fascists hide or escape. By 1942, as a last resort many led clandestine operations to bring international attention to Nazi war crimes. The key members of Red Orchestra all maintained anonymity throughout the war; only the key members knew of other leading contacts that reorganized from loose alliances into a larger ring of intellectuals and workers fighting for the cause. Harro Schulze-Boysen was a founding member who laid out his position in the May 5, 1932 magazine editorial Gegner (“Opponent”) “We serve no party. We serve an invisible confederation of thousands, who may be present in every camp and know that the day is approaching when all must unite. We have no program. We proclaim no truths in stone. The only thing that is sacred to us is life – the only thing that appears to be of value to us is movement” (Nelson, 133). Although Harro was detained and tortured a month after this editorial was printed, his “anti-ideology” fueled the movement.
Nelson goes into great detail about the key members of the group. We follow the moving stories of the leading members including Harro and wife Libertas Shulze-Boysen, Arvid and Mildred Harnack, Adam and Greta Kuchkoff, and John Sieg. Nelson provides an intimate portrait of these peoples’ lives, both before they became spies and when they served as agents. Interestingly, Nelson provides a rare glimpse into the lives of the wives and mothers Libertas, Mildred and Greta who risked everything, including Greta's child Ule, to handle covert operations. She deeply empathizes with their situation which brings to light the adversity of women living under a patriarchal society, where men often times kept the female agents shrouded in the dark, fearing that they might expose information. Nelson exposes the struggles of indefinable mother-wife bond juxtaposed to their other life: clandestine agents fighting one of the biggest dictatorial regimes of our time. I appreciated these anecdotes very much as this part of the story has too often been ignored by historians engaged in looking at the “bigger picture.”
Each key member provided and worked with top Nazi officials and some even held government positions. Arvid Harnack worked for Hitler's Economics Ministry and believed the best way to combat fascism was through economics. Mildred Harnack spent her time aiding Arvid by making contacts and circle discussions with people who were against the Nazi regime and serving as a go-between for her husband. Adam Kuckhoff was a journalist who wrote for many left-wing papers including Die Tat ("The Deed"). Greta Kuckhoff spent most of her time aiding and saving persecuted Jews, which brought mounting criticism, even by her husband as she became more conspicuous (Nelson, 159). Harrow Schulze-Boysen dropped out of law school to publish anti-fascist writings; later he participated in wireless contact with Soviet agents. The flirty wife of Harro, Libertas Shulze-Boysen worked for Berlin's MGM which put her in direct contact with Joseph Goebbels and the Nazi media empire. John Sieg was an American with dual German citizenship. He was inspired by the U.S. labor movement and participated in many clandestine Red Orchestra operations.
The Berlin circles of Harnack and Schulze-Boysen are compelling as they operated under the noses of the Gestapo for much of the war. During the early 1940s the Red Orchestra circles worked primarily exposing information through political activism and intelligence work. As many Berliners turned off their radios and stopped reading newspapers because of intense Nazi propaganda, Harnack and Schulze-Boysen provided foreign news through production and distribution of underground publications. In 1941 the Red Orchestra dramatically stepped up its publications, printing, typing whenever and wherever supplies were located. Arvid Harnack believed that sending these military interceptions to the Soviets and other leading countries as the best way to combat Nazism.
Most members of the Red Orchestra believed peace could be negotiated and the war could be averted by reaching out to key countries: the United States, the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union. In 1939 and 1940 various German resistance groups divided up the world. Arvid Harnack reached out to Washington and Moscow while Adam von Trott shuttled back and forth to London, New York and Washington. Stalin was busy taking advantage of the diplomatic lull and focused his attention on his own aggressive campaigns with Hitler. Trott was written off by British officials and even considered his endeavors “traitorous.” Roosevelt dismissed Trott and Harnack without a hearing, and the FBI even considered them spies (Nelson, 161). In all it proved a failure, since only a few low level foreign officials were sympathetic to their plight.
Nelson was able to gather some very valuable underground material from a few surviving members of the Red Orchestra, which offers a rare glimpse into the lives and day-to-day activities during the war years. We find the story of Hans Sussmann, a longtime member of the communist party who joined the Schulze-Boysen circle and actively participated in clandestine operations. In his touching memoir he recounts his resistance work, comparing it to a chronic illness. “If you're fighting an opponent that you hate from the bottom of your heart, you don't take it lightly,” he wrote. “It's as though you're possessed, and the urge to fulfill it is an indispensable obligation” (Nelson, 146). The members came from all socioeconomic factions and had a range of reasons for opposing Hitler's regime. Some rejected the growing violence, others opposed the regime for religious, political or racial intolerance. Nelson writes about a young dentist, Helmut Himpel, who shared his connection to the Schulze-Boysen circle through what could be depicted in the saddest love story: his love for a beautiful half-Jewish law student whom he was forbidden to marry because of Nazi race laws (Nelson, 139). This anecdote is one of many heartbreaking stories Nelson writes about in Red Orchestra, which informs readers about the diversity each member faced.
The most compelling, dangerous and life changing clandestine work came from Harro's wife, Libertas who worked at the Reich's Kulturfilm central office in 1941. Her new job was to deal with “art, German peoples and lands, and other peoples countries” (Nelson, 233). Libertas found herself in the center of a “dangerous world full of secrets and contradictions.” However, she used her cunning flirtatiousness and charm to gather information for Harnack's circle in hopes of collecting enough information to expose Hitler and the Nazi party’s atrocities, which were of great value since Hitler tried hard to keep the information as private as possible. Greta later wrote about the images Libertas collected as “cynically grinning torturers posing with their victims” (Nelson, 239). Her collection included pictures from the Rohm massacre, torture of young children and infants, and entire “liquidation's” of Polish, Jewish, and Soviet civilians. Although this took a tole on Libertas mental health Greta later wrote that she “accomplished it consistently, because we considered it necessary” (Nelson, 239).
By 1942 the Gestapo had amassed enough information against members of the Red Orchestra and were ready to raid the group. The Gestapo had followed their trail as early as August 26, 1941 when a chain of gross errors were committed by Soviet intelligence. Moscow had wired the encoded names and addresses of Adam Kuckhoff, and Harro and Libertas Schulze-Boysen to their agents in Brussels. Although initially the Gestapo was unable to interpret the code, a larger chain of events would unfold throughout the year in order to piece together enough information to make arrests. On August 31, 1942 the Gestapo made their first arrest, Harro Schulze-Boysen. During interrogation John Sieg, Harro Schulze-Boysen and Arvid Harnack were severely beaten and tortured with axes and rubber clubs. By the end of three consecutive days of torture John Sieg hanged himself in his prison cell at Prinz-Albrecht-Strasse. Arvid Harnack, Harro Schulze-Boyen and Adam Kuckhoff had their fate settled when each confessed working with the Soviets. By the end of 1943 all were executed. The women of the Red Orchestra fared better in the prison at Alexanderplatz but only Greta Kuckhoff survived. Mildred Harnack and Libertas Schulze-Boysen were beheaded by guillotine. By the end of 1942 more than 130 people were identified and arrested for their role in the operation, of whom six died during interrogation and 49 were executed.
Through Nelson's work readers are able to understand how German democracy fell to the hands of a terrible dictator. We know through the record that at least 130 Red Orchestra members paid with their lives for standing up to the regime out of conviction. Nelson demonstrates the necessity of understanding the political and ideological environment that molds spies and counter-agents. Her book shows how one of the world's most frightening dictators could be totally wrong in tactics and targeting, costing the lives of millions of innocent civilians. Through these unsung heroes can we learn that ordinary citizens are capable of accomplishing extraordinary acts of heroism, especially in the modern world. Although Nazi Germany was one of the most tragic events in recent history, we can take away the members of the Red Orchestra not as victims of Hitler’s “plan,” but more importantly as resisters, risking almost certain death in the name of truth and conviction.
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