( Log Out /  Her brother’s death during the German assault on France prompted Elise and her husband to become opponents of the Nazi regime. They believe the statement, and they believe you’re the author, or at the very least, the distributor of the cards. 4.1943 and ELISE HAMPEL 27.10.1903 to 8. What did the White Rose movement do? You can’t deliver me to them, I can’t stand it, I’ll scream . They contained messages encouraging people not to co-operate with the government, to refuse to serve in the German army, and not to donate to Nazi organisations like Winter Relief. The postcards called for civil disobedience and sabotage in the workplace, and the Hampels managed to keep it going for nearly three years before they were caught. didn't use violence ... What did Otto and Elise Hampel do? How significant were the Hampels in the history of Germany 1933-1945? [5], Their life was fictionalized in the Hans Fallada novel, where they are called Otto and Anna Quangel, and it is their son who is killed, rather than the wife's brother. In many cases, regime opponents acted alone: from 1940, Elise Hampel and her husband Otto in Berlin distributed postcards and leaflets that called upon people to resist National Socialism. “What really occurs to me is the way they set out,” says Stoltzfus. A couple, Otto and Elise Hampel, fought a campaign against the Reich by writing postcards and leaving them to be found. I’d rather be dead!’, `Yes, I think you’re right there,’ confirmed the inspector, ‘you’d be better off.’  (Pages 296/297). Do you think Otto and Elise Hampel were Brave or Foolish. They were eventually caught, tried, and beheaded in Berlin's Plötzensee Prison in April 1943. Neither  the Hampels in real life nor the Quangels in the book are highly educated, but they have considerable moral force and the determination to fight for what they believe to be right. This resource is free to everyone. But that won’t bother them, they’ll enjoy it. “It was not only an unpardonable challenge to the Führer, it was also something that the Nazis called a crime against the folk. . Otto Hampel told police that he was "happy with the idea" of protesting against Hitler and his regime. Their brave protest suggests that German resistance was more widespread than commonly believed. In due course the ‘law’ catches up with them, and Fallada takes us through the process of interrogation, imprisonment and trial in great detail. They married in 1935. The Hampels were sentenced to death on January 22, 1943 by the People’s Court for “Wehrkraftzersetzung-undermining military force ” and “preparation for high treason,” and executed on April 8, 1943. He served in World War I and was later a factory worker. What a deplorable person, I hear you say – especially compared to Hans Keilson, a notable psychoanalyst who lived to the ripe old age of 101 after a lifetime of good works. They started writing postcards and leaving them all over Berlin, scattered in the streets and other public places. They defied the Nazis for over two years, until their arrest and execution in April 1943. All rights reserved. Spend a few minutes discussing with your neighbour what your difficult decision was and how you set about taking that difficult decision. Berlin was a very large city, and the scattering of the postcards took place over a very wide area, so it was clear that it would take time for knowledge of their activities to permeate everywhere. No amount of reticence could change the fact that every individual German belonged to the generality of Germans and must share in the general destiny of Germany, even as more and more bombs were falling on the just and unjust alike.’ (Page 306). https://www.gdw-berlin.de/.../biographie/view-bio/elise-hampel/?no_cache=1 In any event, the rise of the Nazis did not actually change their lives - until Elise's brother was killed in the fighting. ‘I don’t want to hear any more. Otto and Elise Hampel were sentenced to death on January 22, 1943 by the 2nd Senate of the People’s Court for "demoralizing the troops" and "preparation for high treason," and murdered in Berlin-Plötzensee on April 8, 1943. The Gestapo were convinced there was a gang of communist spies and agent dropping off the postcards all over Berlin. In other words, the Quangels were like most people: they believed what they hoped.’ (Page167). “It’s very unlike the conspiratorial attempts to assassinate Hitler. “The time that the Hampels were protesting was not the ideal time for resistance,” he explains. Otto Hampel was born 21 June 1897 in Mühlbock, a suburb of Wehrau, now in Poland, but then part of Germany. Otto and Elise Hampel were 2 ordinary people. ‘God’s own truth! Forgotten History- The T-4 Holocaust victims:the killing of the disabled, Allied troops and Axis troops fighting together. Otto Hampel  was born 21 June 1897  in Mühlbock, a suburb of Wehrau, now in Poland, but then part of Germany. Plötzensee. He came up with a nom de plume on the advice of his father, who knew only too well that his son had been jailed for killing a friend in a duel and, on two occasions after that, for embezzlement. Fallada explains their state of mind.