Susanne Hirzel

Susanne Zeller, née Hirzel (7 November 1921 in Untersteinbach – 4 December 2012), was a member of the resistance group "White Rose", for which she was arrested and convicted, but avoided the death penalty.

For the Swiss painter, see Susette Hirzel.

Life

Susanne Hirzel, daughter of Ulm pastor Ernst Hirzel and granddaughter of the geographer Robert Gradmann, was initially an enthusiastic member of the League of German Girls (where Sophie Scholl was her group leader), but distanced herself increasingly from those in power.[1]

She became a student at the State Academy for Music in Stuttgart, where by spring 1942 her exceptional musical ability was being recognised.[2]

Hirzel and White Rose

In late 1942, while a music student, she again met Sophie Scholl, who called for resistance. At the end of January, at the request of her teenage brother Hans she distributed envelopes containing the fifth "White Rose" leaflet in mailboxes in Stuttgart. This secret operation was prepared together with Hans' classmate Franz Josef Müller in Ulm Martin Luther Church behind the organ. Her father Ernst Hirzel was then pastor at this parish.

After the arrest and execution of the Scholls, Susanne, her brother Hans, and Franz Josef Müller, were also arrested and convicted in the second "White Rose" trial (in which Kurt Huber, Willi Graf and Alexander Schmorell were sentenced by the People's Court under Roland Freisler to death). Hirzel was sentenced to six months' imprisonment because her knowledge of the leaflets could not be established.

After the war

After the collapse of the Nazi dictatorship in 1945, she became a cello teacher. She wrote a number of books on cello technique.[3]

Like her brother Hans, a functionary of the Republican party and their Presidential candidate, Susanne Hirzel was active in right-wing circles, particularly among the Republicans. In her memoirs A Swabian Youth she writes, inter alia, to the effect that 'The Allies had been "trying to eradicate as many Germans" in their air raids on German cities, and the German concentration camps were of the "model" that Stalin used and that the British followed in the Boer War'. Furthermore she gave interviews to Junge Freiheit in 2002 and to the anti-Islamic blog Politically Incorrect in 2010. She lived most recently in Stuttgart and became actively involved in the civil rights movement Pax Europa (BPE) against the "Islamisation" of Germany, seeing parallels between the subversion of democracy by the Nazis and the aims of the Jihad.[4][5][6][7]

After retiring she published her memories of life in Nazi Germany, in her book, From Yes to No. A Swabian Youth 1933–1945 (2000).[8]

The Ulmer DenkStätte Weiße Rose in the foyer of the EinsteinHaus, the headquarters of the Ulmer Volkshochschule (Adult Education Centre of Ulm) includes a portrait of Susanne Hirzel.

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References
  1. Article about Susanne Hirzel spartacus-educational.com, accessed 25 May 2018
  2. Ruth Hanna Sachs: White Rose History, Volume II (Academic Version): Journey to Freedom, Exclamation! Publishers, 2005: 'in her second year... her prodigious musical ability had gained recognition from her professors and peers alike' ISBN 9780976718307
  3. 'Susanne Hirzel: Cello technique – the thumb position: scales, triads, and thirds for cello' universaledition.com (hirzel-susanne-ue31285), accessed 25 May 2018
  4. D. L. Adams (October 2009): The White Rose: An Interview with Mrs. Susanne Zeller–Hirzel newenglishreview.org Archived 2016-12-15 at the Wayback Machine Accessed 20 June 2018
  5. Vgl. das Interview Hirzel: Die „Weiße Rose“ und der Counter-Jihad; tr. See the interview Hirzel: "The 'White Rose' and the counter jihad", article in PI, 8 October 2009
  6. Werner van Bebber: CDU streitet über Islamkritiker in eigenen Reihen. tr. CDU argues within its own ranks over critics of Islam Der Tagesspiegel, 24 October 2009, accessed 25 May 2018
  7. Von der Weißen Rose zu den Republikanern. tr. From the White Rose to the Republicans 24 April 2009, www.merkur-online.de, accessed 25 May 2018
  8. Susanne Hirzel (1998), Vom Ja zum Nein: Eine schwäbische Jugend 1933–1945, tr. From yes to no: a Swabian youth, 1933-1945 ISBN 978-3931402280
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