August Landmesser's Story of Rebellion

August Landmesser was an employee at the Blohm+Voss shipyard in Hamburg, Germany, who gained notoriety for his refusal to perform the Nazi salute in a photograph taken in 1936, unlike his fellow workers. Landmesser's opposition to the Nazi Party stemmed from his relationship with Irma Eckler, a Jewish woman, which was deemed unlawful by the party.

As a consequence of his relationship with Eckler, Landmesser was imprisoned and later conscripted into penal military service, where he ultimately lost his life in action.

Background Story

August Landmesser, who was born in Moorrege in 1910, was the only child of August Franz Landmesser and Wilhelmine Magdalene. In 1931, he joined the Nazi Party in the hopes that it would improve his job prospects. However, in 1935, when he became engaged to Irma Eckler, a Jewish woman, he was expelled from the party.

Although Landmesser and Eckler registered to be married in Hamburg, the enactment of the Nuremberg Laws a month later prevented them from doing so. On 29 October 1935, the couple welcomed their first daughter, Ingrid, into the world, despite the legal and social barriers imposed by Nazi persecution and discrimination.

The Nuremberg Laws, which were introduced in Nazi Germany on 15 September 1935, were a set of discriminatory laws that institutionalized antisemitism and racism. These laws stripped Jewish people of their civil rights, citizenship, and property, and laid the groundwork for their systematic persecution and extermination during the Holocaust.

Fleeing Germany and Getting Arrested

In 1937, Landmesser made an attempt to flee Nazi Germany to Denmark with his family. However, he was apprehended at the border and charged with "dishonoring the race" or "racial infamy" under the Nuremberg Laws. Landmesser argued that neither he nor Eckler knew whether she was fully Jewish. Despite the lack of evidence, he was acquitted on 27 May 1938, with the warning that a repeat offense would result in a lengthy prison sentence.

Despite the legal and social barriers imposed by Nazi persecution, Landmesser and Eckler continued their relationship in public, defying the discriminatory policies of the regime. However, on 15 July 1938, Landmesser was arrested again and sentenced to two and a half years in the Börgermoor concentration camp, where he was subjected to brutal and inhumane treatment. Irma Eckler was detained by the Gestapo and held at the Fuhlsbüttel prison, where she gave birth to her and Landmesser's second daughter, Irene.

After Landmesser's imprisonment, he received a few letters from Irma Eckler until January 1942. Sadly, it is believed that Eckler was taken to the Bernburg Euthanasia Centre in February 1942, where she was among the 14,000 people who were murdered. In the aftermath of the war, Eckler was officially pronounced legally dead in 1949, with a date of 28 April 1942.

August Landmesser Becomes More Rebellious

In a photograph taken on 13 June 1936, which was published in 1991, a figure identified by Irene Eckler as her husband, August Landmesser, can be seen.

The photograph captures a group of workers raising their arms in the Nazi salute, except for Landmesser who stands with his arms folded in front of him, refusing to participate in the salute. The picture was published in a German national weekly newspaper, the Die Zeit.

The origins of the photograph are debated, with some sources suggesting that it was taken in 1936 at the unveiling of the ship the Horst Wessel, which was attended by Adolf Hitler.

Landmesser was released from prison on 19 January 1941.

In February 1944, August Landmesser was drafted into the 999th Fort Infantry Battalion, a penal battalion. He fought in Croatia and was declared killed in action on 17 October 1944, after his unit was involved in combat.