Helene Gotthold

Helene Nieswand Gotthold (31 December 1896 – 8 December 1944) was a Jehovah's Witness who was guillotined by Nazi Germany at Plötzensee Prison.

Helene was the daughter of Theodor August Nieswand and Wilhelmina Geborene Britt, born in Dortmund, Germany on 31 December 1896. She married Friedrich Gotthold in the Lutheran Church in Herne, North Rhine-Westphalia. In 1923, their daughter Gisela (Tillmann) was born in Herne. Three years later, Helene and Friedrich converted to Jehovah's Witness. In 1931, their son Gerd was born in Buchom.

As part of their faith, Jehovah's Witnesses refuse to swear allegiance to or join political entities. Their unwillingness to join the Nazi party and Hitler Youth, fly Nazi flags, or give the Nazi salute, they were particular targets for Nazi persecution. On 1 April 1935, the Reich outlawed the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society. In 1936, Friedrich was arrested. Following a search of their home (which still stands on Düngelstraße in Herne) in 1937, Helene was also arrested. While incarcerated, she was beaten, tried, convicted, and sentenced to eight months imprisonment.

In February 1944, Helene and Friedrich were again arrested and imprisoned in Essen. After Allied bombings there on the night of 26–27 April by 493 bombers, Helene was transferred to Potsdam on 6 May 1944.[1] From there she was transferred to Berlin on 4 August.

Helene was charged with giving asylum to men who refused to fight for the Nazis[2] and for holding illegal meetings for her faith.[3] She was held at Plötzensee Prison. Helene was allowed to write a letter to her family before her execution. She was executed by guillotine on Friday, 8 December 1944, at 11:48 am.

References

  1. ^ Arlonsen Archives, Personal file of Helene Gothold
  2. ^ Sian Reynolds (1987). Women, State and Revolution: Essays on Power and Gender in Europe Since 1789. University of Massachusetts Press. p. 97. ISBN 978-0-87023-552-8.
  3. ^ Bernard A. Cook (2006). Women and War: A Historical Encyclopedia from Antiquity to the Present. ABC-CLIO. p. 329. ISBN 978-1-85109-770-8.

Further reading

  • Pateman, Colin (2017). Beheaded by Hitler: Cruelty of the Nazis, Judicial Terror and Civilian Executions 1933–1945. Fonthill Media. ISBN 9781781553435.
  • Bergen, Doris L (2017). War & genocide : a concise history of the Holocaust. University of British Columbia Crane Library. ISBN 9781442242272.


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