Günther Weisenborn was a German writer and fighter in the German Resistance against Nazism. He was notable for collaborating with Bertolt Brecht, along with Hanns Eisler, Slatan Dudow, on the play, The Mother. However, in 1933, when the work fell out of favour by the Nazis after being blacklisted by Joseph Goebbels, he emigrated to Argentina. When he returned in 1937, be became a member of a Berlin-based resistance group that was later renamed to the Red Orchestra by the Abwehr. Arrested in 1942 and sentenced to several years in prison, he was released in 1945 by Soviet troops.
Portrait of Weisenborn, 1946
Günther Weisenborn (c.) with Harro Schulze-Boysen and Marta Husemann
Die Illegalen premiered on March 21, 1946, at Berlin's Hebbel Theater. (Pictured: Ernst Wilhelm Borchert)
Red Orchestra (espionage)
The Red Orchestra, as it was known in Germany, was the name given by the Abwehr Section III.F to anti-Nazi resistance workers in August 1941. It primarily referred to a loose network of resistance groups, connected through personal contacts, uniting hundreds of opponents of the Nazi regime. These included groups of friends who held discussions that were centred on Harro Schulze-Boysen, Adam Kuckhoff and Arvid Harnack in Berlin, alongside many others. They printed and distributed prohibited leaflets, posters, and stickers, hoping to incite civil disobedience. They aided Jews and resistance to escape the regime, documented the atrocities of the Nazis, and transmitted military intelligence to the Allies. Contrary to legend, the Red Orchestra was neither directed by Soviet communists nor under a single leadership. It was a network of groups and individuals, often operating independently. To date, about 400 members are known by name.
2010 sculpture by Achim Kühn, at Schulze-Boysen-Straße 12, in Lichtenberg, Berlin
Harro Schulze-Boysen; East Germany (1964)
Memorial stone for Arvid and Mildred Harnack at Friedhof Zehlendorf cemetery in Berlin-Zehlendorf, Onkel-Tom-Straße 30–33
Adam Kuckhoff, DDR