August Friedrich Kellner (1 February 1885 – 4 November 1970) was a German mid-level official and
diarist
A diary is a written or audiovisual record with discrete entries arranged by date reporting on what has happened over the course of a day or other period. Diaries have traditionally been handwritten but are now also often digital. A personal ...
who worked as a justice inspector in
Laubach
Laubach is a town of approximately 10,000 people in the Gießen region of Hesse, Germany. Laubach is known as a ', a climatic health resort. It is situated east of Gießen. Surrounding Laubach are the towns of Hungen, Grünberg, Schotten and ...
from 1933 to 1945.
Kellner was an
infantryman
Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...
in a
Hessian
A Hessian is an inhabitant of the German state of Hesse.
Hessian may also refer to:
Named from the toponym
*Hessian (soldier), eighteenth-century German regiments in service with the British Empire
**Hessian (boot), a style of boot
**Hessian f ...
regiment during the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. After the war, he became a political organizer for the
Social Democratic Party of Germany
The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany.
Saskia Esken has been the ...
, one of the leading political parties during the time of the turbulent and short-lived
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is al ...
, Germany's first period of
democracy
Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation (" direct democracy"), or to choose gov ...
. Kellner and his wife, Pauline, campaigned together as Social Democrats against
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
and the
Nazis
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...
.
During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, working as a civil servant at a small court house, Kellner wrote a
diary
A diary is a written or audiovisual record with discrete entries arranged by date reporting on what has happened over the course of a day or other period. Diaries have traditionally been handwritten but are now also often digital. A personal ...
to record his observations of the Nazi regime. Based on conversations and attentive reading of newspapers, he described the various crimes of that regime. He titled his work ''
Mein Widerstand,'' meaning "My Opposition". After the war Kellner served on
denazification
Denazification (german: link=yes, Entnazifizierung) was an Allied initiative to rid German and Austrian society, culture, press, economy, judiciary, and politics of the Nazi ideology following the Second World War. It was carried out by remov ...
boards, and he also helped to reestablish the Social Democratic Party. In 1968, he gave his diary to his American grandson, Robert Scott Kellner, to translate into English and to bring it to the attention of the public.
Kellner's diary is voluminous consisting of 10 notebooks and all the entries were handwritten in the
Old German
Old High German (OHG; german: Althochdeutsch (Ahd.)) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally covering the period from around 750 to 1050.
There is no standardised or supra-regional form of German at this period, and Old High ...
style
Sütterlin
(, " script") is the last widely used form of , the historical form of German handwriting that evolved alongside German blackletter (most notably ') typefaces. Graphic artist Ludwig Sütterlin was commissioned by the Prussian Ministry of Scien ...
script. As a result, the amount of material and possible transcription efforts dissuaded publishers from the project for many years. German and English publishers were not interested in publishing the diary initially, until in 2005, when former US president
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...
, who had been a combat pilot in World War II, arranged for the diary to be exhibited in his
presidential library, which brought the diary to the public. A Canadian film company produced
a documentary about Kellner and his diary in 2007; Robert Scott Kellner edited and translated the diary, and it was eventually published in German in 2011 and in English in 2018.
Kellner explained his purpose for writing the diary:
:"I could not fight the Nazis in the present, as they had the power to still my voice, so I decided to fight them in the future. I would give the coming generations a weapon against any resurgence of such evil. My eyewitness account would record the barbarous acts, and also show the way to stop them."
Biography
Family and education
![Vaihingen an der Enz-Tränkgasse-2007-01-18](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/46/Vaihingen_an_der_Enz-Tr%C3%A4nkgasse-2007-01-18.jpg)
Kellner was born in
Vaihingen an der Enz
Vaihingen an der Enz is a town located between Stuttgart and Karlsruhe, in southern Germany, on the western periphery of the Stuttgart Region. Vaihingen is situated on the river Enz, and has a population of around 30,000. The former district-cap ...
, a town on the
Enz River in southern
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
. At the time of his birth, Vaihingen was part of the
Kingdom of Württemberg
The Kingdom of Württemberg (german: Königreich Württemberg ) was a German state that existed from 1805 to 1918, located within the area that is now Baden-Württemberg. The kingdom was a continuation of the Duchy of Württemberg, which exist ...
in the
German Empire
The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...
. Kellner was the
only child
An only child is a person with no siblings, Birth, by birth or adoption.
Children who have half-siblings, step-siblings, or have never met their siblings, either living at the same house or at a different house—especially those who were born con ...
of Georg Friedrich Kellner, a baker and confectioner from the town of
Arnstadt
Arnstadt () is a town in Ilm-Kreis, Thuringia, Germany, on the river Gera about south of Erfurt, the capital of Thuringia. Arnstadt is one of the oldest towns in Thuringia, and has a well-preserved historic centre with a partially preserved town ...
in
Thuringia
Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million.
Erfurt is the capital and larg ...
, and Barbara Wilhelmine Vaigle from
Bietigheim-Bissingen
Bietigheim-Bissingen (locally: ''Biedge-Bissenge'') is the second-largest town in the district of Ludwigsburg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany with 42,515 inhabitants in 2007. It is situated on the river Enz and the river Metter, close to its conflu ...
near
Ludwigsburg
Ludwigsburg (; Swabian: ''Ludisburg'') is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about north of Stuttgart city centre, near the river Neckar. It is the largest and primary city of the Ludwigsburg district with about 88,000 inhabitants. It is ...
. The Kellner family could trace its beginnings to when the
Protestant
Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
reformer
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Reformation, Protestant Refo ...
lived and preached not far from Arnstadt. The Kellners were
Evangelical Lutherans
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...
.
When Friedrich Kellner was four years old, his family moved to
Mainz
Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main (river), Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-we ...
where his father became the master baker at Goebel's Confectionery (''Goebels Zuckerwerk'').
After completing
Volksschule
The German term ''Volksschule'' generally refers to compulsory education, denoting an educational institution every person (i.e. the people, ''Volk'') is required to attend.
In Germany and Switzerland it is equivalent to a combined primary (' ...
, primary school, Kellner had a nine-year course of non-classical study in the
Oberrealschule in Mainz. In 1902 he completed his final exams at Goetheschule, which qualified him for an apprenticeship in courthouse administration.
In 1903 he started work as a junior clerk in the Mainz courthouse, remaining there until 1933. He advanced in the administrative ranks to justice secretary, then to court accountant, and in April 1920 to justice inspector.
Military service and marriage
![Friedrich Kellner 1914](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/12/Friedrich_Kellner_1914.jpg)
From September 1907 to October 1908, Kellner fulfilled his initial military reserve duty in the 6th Infantry Company of the Leibregiments Großherzogin (3.
Großherzoglich Hessisches) Nr. 117 in Mainz. In 1911, he completed an additional two months reserve training.
When the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
began in 1914, Kellner was called up for active duty as a sergeant and deputy-officer in the Prinz Carl Infantry Regiment (4. Großherzoglich Hessisches Regiment) Nr. 118, in
Worms Worms may refer to:
*Worm, an invertebrate animal with a tube-like body and no limbs
Places
*Worms, Germany, a city
**Worms (electoral district)
*Worms, Nebraska, U.S.
*Worms im Veltlintal, the German name for Bormio, Italy
Arts and entertainme ...
. Within the first month of his return to army service, Kellner was in eight engagements in
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
and
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
, including fights at
Neufchâteau, Revigny-Laimont, and Rinarville, associated with what has become known as the
Battle of the Frontiers
The Battle of the Frontiers (, , ) comprised battles fought along the eastern frontier of France and in southern Belgium, shortly after the outbreak of the First World War. The battles resolved the military strategies of the French Chief of Staff ...
. His regiment also fought at the
First Battle of the Marne
The First Battle of the Marne was a battle of the First World War fought from 5 to 12 September 1914. It was fought in a collection of skirmishes around the Marne River Valley. It resulted in an Entente victory against the German armies in the ...
from 5 to 12 September. Under a prolonged bombardment in the trenches near
Reims
Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne.
Founded by ...
, he was wounded and was sent to
St. Rochus
Roch (lived c. 1348 – 15/16 August 1376/79 (traditionally c. 1295 – 16 August 1327, also called Rock in English, is a Catholic saint, a confessor whose death is commemorated on 16 August and 9 September in Italy; he is especially invoked a ...
Hospital in Mainz to recover. He spent the remainder of the war as a quartermaster secretary for the
13th Army Corps in
Frankfurt am Main
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...
.
![Friedrich Kellner WWI BeerStein 1907-1908](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Friedrich_Kellner_WWI_BeerStein_1907-1908.jpg)
In 1913, a few months prior to being called up for service in the war, Kellner married Pauline Preuss (19 January 1888 - 8 February 1970), who was from Mainz. Their son, Karl Friedrich Wilhelm (a.k.a. Fred William), their only child, was born in Mainz on 29 February 1916.
Political activism
![Friedrich Kellner 1923](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f5/Friedrich_Kellner_1923.jpg)
Kellner welcomed the birth of German democracy after the war. In 1919 he became a political organizer for the Mainz branch of the
Social Democratic Party of Germany
The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany.
Saskia Esken has been the ...
, the (SPD). Throughout the 1920s and into the 1930s, he spoke out against the danger posed to the fragile democracy by the extremists in the
Communist Party
A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...
and the
Nazi Party
The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...
. At rallies near the Gutenberg Museum, which honored
Johannes Gutenberg
Johannes Gensfleisch zur Laden zum Gutenberg (; – 3 February 1468) was a German inventor and Artisan, craftsman who introduced letterpress printing to Europe with his movable type, movable-type printing press. Though not the first of its ki ...
, the founder of the printing press, Kellner would hold above his head
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
's book,''
Mein Kampf
(; ''My Struggle'' or ''My Battle'') is a 1925 autobiographical manifesto by Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler. The work describes the process by which Hitler became antisemitic and outlines his political ideology and future plans for Germ ...
'', and yell out to the crowd: "Gutenberg, your printing press has been violated by this evil book." He would often be accosted by brown-shirted thugs from the Nazi Party, known as
Storm Troopers.
Two weeks before Adolf Hitler was sworn in as
Chancellor
Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...
in January 1933, and before the beginning of Hitler's murderous purge of his political opponents, Kellner and his family moved to the village of
Laubach
Laubach is a town of approximately 10,000 people in the Gießen region of Hesse, Germany. Laubach is known as a ', a climatic health resort. It is situated east of Gießen. Surrounding Laubach are the towns of Hungen, Grünberg, Schotten and ...
in
Hesse
Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major histor ...
, where he worked as the chief justice inspector in the district court. In 1935 his son emigrated to the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
in order to avoid service in the
Wehrmacht
The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...
, Hitler's army.
During the November pogrom of 1938, known as
Kristallnacht
() or the Night of Broken Glass, also called the November pogrom(s) (german: Novemberpogrome, ), was a pogrom against Jews carried out by the Nazi Party's (SA) paramilitary and (SS) paramilitary forces along with some participation from ...
("Night of the Broken Glass"), Friedrich and Pauline Kellner tried to stop the rioting. When Kellner approached the presiding judge to bring charges against the leaders of the riot, Judge Schmitt instead opened an investigation into the Kellners' religious heritage. The Kellner family documents, which included baptismal records dating back three hundred years, proved Kellner and his wife were Christians. On 18 November 1938 the district judge in
Darmstadt
Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it th ...
closed the case in Kellner's favor: "Doubts about the Kellner bloodlines cannot be validated." A finding to the contrary could have meant imprisonment and death.
The war years
![Kellner diary - Apr 14 1943 radio crime](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/33/Kellner_diary_-_Apr_14_1943_radio_crime.jpg)
From his reading of ''Mein Kampf'', Kellner believed the election of Adolf Hitler would mean another war in
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
, and events soon were to support his view. Within a few years after coming to power, Hitler abrogated the
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June ...
, re-militarized the
Rhineland
The Rhineland (german: Rheinland; french: Rhénanie; nl, Rijnland; ksh, Rhingland; Latinised name: ''Rhenania'') is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly its middle section.
Term
Historically, the Rhinelands ...
, expanded the German military forces, and spent great sums to outfit those forces with modern weaponry. Although the leaders in the democracies were concerned about such rearmament, they failed to take action to stop it. On 1 September 1939,
in coordination with the Soviet Union, Hitler ordered the German armed forces to
invade Poland.
It was on this day that Friedrich Kellner began to record his observations in a secret diary that he entitled ''Mein Widerstand'', "
My Opposition
''My Opposition'' (german: Mein Widerstand) is a diary secretly written by the German social democrat Friedrich Kellner (1885–1970) during World War II to describe life under Nazi Germany and to expose the propaganda and the crimes of the Nazi d ...
". He wanted the coming generations to know how easily young democracies could turn into dictatorships, and how people were too willing to believe
propaganda
Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...
rather than resist tyranny and terrorism.
Kellner did not confine himself to the diary. He continued to express his views, and in February 1940 he was summoned to the district court in
Giessen
Giessen, spelled Gießen in German (), is a town in the German state (''Bundesland'') of Hesse, capital of both the district of Giessen and the administrative region of Giessen. The population is approximately 90,000, with roughly 37,000 univers ...
where he was warned by the president of the court, Hermann Colnot, to moderate his views. A few months later he was summoned to the mayor's office in Laubach where he was warned by the mayor and the local Nazi Party leader that he and his wife would be sent to a
concentration camp
Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...
if he continued to be a "bad influence" on the population of Laubach.
[Regierungspräsident in Darmstadt, I/1pe2-3w02, Reg. Nr. D/34613/85(J)/Ke, 19 Juli 1966] A report written by the district Nazi leader, Hermann Engst, shows that authorities were planning to punish Kellner at the conclusion of the war.
Throughout the first two years of the war, Kellner looked to America to provide support for England and France. Numerous entries in the diary reveal Kellner's belief that Germany had no chance to win if America would put aside its neutrality and do more than just send supplies to England. When
Germany declared war on America in 1941, the diary entries show Kellner's impatience for the Allies to mount an effective invasion of the continent, and to bring the fight to the Germans on their own territory. When the
invasion of Normandy
Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Norm ...
took place on
6 June 1944, Kellner inscribed in large letters in the entry of that date: "''Endlich!''," meaning "Finally!"
Kellner rarely wrote about his personal situation. He wrote primarily about Nazi policies and propaganda, and about the war. He noted the injustices in the court system, and recorded the inhumane deeds and genocidal intentions of the Nazis. In all of this he considered the German people as accomplices before and after the fact: first voting Hitler into power, and then acquiescing in his abuse of that power.
![Kellner diary Oct 28 1941 Sutterlin German English](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8b/Kellner_diary_Oct_28_1941_Sutterlin_German_English.jpg)
One of the most important historical entries in the diary was written on 28 October 1941. Most Germans after the war would insist they knew nothing at all about the
state-sponsored genocide of the
Jew
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...
s, yet very early in the war Kellner recorded this in his diary, showing that word of atrocities reached the average citizens even in the small towns:
:A soldier on vacation here said he was an eyewitness to terrible atrocities in the
occupied parts of Poland. He watched as naked Jewish men and women were placed in front of a long deep trench and upon the order of the
SS were shot by
Ukrainians
Ukrainians ( uk, Українці, Ukraintsi, ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. They are the seventh-largest nation in Europe. The native language of the Ukrainians is Ukrainian language, Ukrainian. The majority ...
in the back of their heads and they fell into the ditch. Then the ditch was filled with dirt even as he could hear screams coming from people still alive in the ditch.
:These inhuman atrocities were so terrible that some of the Ukrainians, who were used as tools, suffered nervous breakdowns. All the soldiers who had knowledge of these bestial actions of these Nazi sub-humans were of the opinion that the German people should be shaking in their shoes because of the coming retribution.
:There is no punishment that would be hard enough to be applied to these Nazi beasts. Of course, when the retribution comes, the innocent will have to suffer along with them. But because ninety-nine percent of the German population is guilty, directly or indirectly, for the present situation, we can only say that those who travel together will hang together.
After the war
![Robert Scott Kellner in 1960](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a4/Robert_Scott_Kellner_in_1960.jpg)
The war came to an end for Kellner on 29 March 1945, when the Americans marched into Laubach. Only a few days earlier, beginning on 23 March 1945, in a series of coordinated events between the British and American forces, the Allies had
crossed the Rhine River in their invasion of the German homeland. With the approval of the occupation forces, the new mayor of Laubach appointed Kellner deputy mayor. Kellner aided in the
denazification
Denazification (german: link=yes, Entnazifizierung) was an Allied initiative to rid German and Austrian society, culture, press, economy, judiciary, and politics of the Nazi ideology following the Second World War. It was carried out by remov ...
process, which primarily meant removing former Nazis from positions of power in the region. Kellner helped to resurrect the Social Democratic Party in Laubach, and he became the regional party chairman.
Kellner wrote only a few more entries in the diary. In one of the last entries, on 8 May 1945, the day Germany officially surrendered to the Allies, Kellner noted:
:"If now, after the collapse, should any of these lackeys of Adolf Hitler have the insolence to claim they were merely harmless onlookers, let them feel the scourge of avenging mankind .... Whoever cries about having lost the Nazi system or wants to resurrect National Socialism is to be treated as a lunatic."
Kellner served as chief justice inspector and administrator of the Laubach courthouse until 1948. He was appointed district auditor in the regional court in
Giessen
Giessen, spelled Gießen in German (), is a town in the German state (''Bundesland'') of Hesse, capital of both the district of Giessen and the administrative region of Giessen. The population is approximately 90,000, with roughly 37,000 univers ...
until his retirement in 1950. For the next three years he was a legal advisor in Laubach. In 1956 he returned to politics and was Laubach's leading councilor and deputy mayor until he retired in 1960 at age 75.
On 19 July 1966, Kellner received compensation from the
Federal Republic of Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated between ...
because of the injustices committed against him during the time of National Socialism. The compensation ruling included this statement:
:"Kellner's political opposition was recognized by the ruling powers and they took measures against him. In a memorandum dated 23 June 1937, they noted that Kellner had not been active enough for the National Socialist movement, and that he has caused disturbances with the local party. Further, the incidents in the year 1940 (the threatened incarceration in a concentration camp) had really an unfavorable effect. It was Kellner's open opposition to National Socialism which prevented possible promotions and damaged him in his service."
![Friedrich Kellner gravestone plaque in Mainz](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ec/Friedrich_Kellner_gravestone_plaque_in_Mainz.jpg)
Kellner and his wife arranged to have their son, Fred William Kellner, sent to the United States in 1935 out of concern he might otherwise have to fight for Hitler. Fred William returned to Germany in 1945 as a member of the U.S. Army. He was unable to cope with the devastation he witnessed, and in 1953 he took his own life. He is buried in the American Legion Tomb in Neuilly, France, on the outskirts of Paris. Fred's son, Robert Scott Kellner, grew up in a children's home in Connecticut. In 1960, while in the
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
and traveling through Germany, Robert Scott Kellner located his grandparents, Friedrich and Pauline Kellner, and learned of the existence of the diary.
In 1968, Friedrich Kellner gave his diary to his American grandson to translate and bring to the attention of the public. He believed his observations during World War II could have meaning in the increasing hostilities in the world brought about by the
Cold War
The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
with Communism, and the proliferation of
neo-Nazi
Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazism, Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and Supremacism#Racial, racial supremacy (ofte ...
cults.
Friedrich and Pauline Kellner spent their last few years in Mainz, where Kellner had first begun his service as a law administrator and a political activist. He served as a volunteer legal advisor in Mainz from 1962 until 1969. After Pauline's death on 8 February 1970, Friedrich returned to Laubach for the remaining few months of his life. He died on 4 November 1970, in the regional hospital in
Lich
In fantasy fiction, a lich (; from the Old English , meaning "corpse") is a type of undead creature.
Various works of fantasy fiction, such as Clark Ashton Smith's "The Empire of the Necromancers" (1932), had used ''lich'' as a general term fo ...
, not far from Laubach. He was buried at the side of his wife in the Main Cemetery, ''Hauptfriedhof,'' in Mainz.
Decades later, Robert Scott Kellner would use the diary to combat the resurgence of fascism and
anti-Semitism
Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism.
Antis ...
in the twenty-first century, and to counter historical revisionists who would deny the Holocaust and other Nazi atrocities. He offered a copy of the diary to the
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
ian president,
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ( fa, محمود احمدینژاد, Mahmūd Ahmadīnežād ), born Mahmoud Sabbaghian ( fa, محمود صباغیان, Mahmoud Sabbāghyān, 28 October 1956), , who has referred to the
Holocaust
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...
as "a myth" and has called for Israel to be "wiped off the map." In his offer to Ahmadinejad, Kellner said: "We need to renounce ideologies that do not uphold, above all else, human life and personal liberty."
Works
Diary
![The Friedrich Kellner Diary](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b7/The_Friedrich_Kellner_Diary.jpg)
''
My Opposition
''My Opposition'' (german: Mein Widerstand) is a diary secretly written by the German social democrat Friedrich Kellner (1885–1970) during World War II to describe life under Nazi Germany and to expose the propaganda and the crimes of the Nazi d ...
'' consists of 10 volumes with a total of 861 pages. The volumes are sheets of accounting paper bound together by string. There are 676 individually dated entries beginning in September 1939 through May 1945. More than 500 newspaper clippings are pasted onto the pages of the diary. The diary is written in a script called
Sütterlin
(, " script") is the last widely used form of , the historical form of German handwriting that evolved alongside German blackletter (most notably ') typefaces. Graphic artist Ludwig Sütterlin was commissioned by the Prussian Ministry of Scien ...
, the old German handwriting which was banned in 1941 and replaced by modern Latin lettering to make German easier for the conquered nations of Europe to read and understand.
There are separate pages written in 1938 and 1939, considered preliminary pages to the diary, that explain Kellner's intentions. He meant for his observations to detail the events of those years, and to offer a prescription for future generations to prevent what occurred in Germany during Adolf Hitler's rise to power, when a fledgling democracy willingly embraced dictatorship to solve political disputes. Kellner foresaw Germany's defeat, and warned against a recurrence of
totalitarianism
Totalitarianism is a form of government and a political system that prohibits all opposition parties, outlaws individual and group opposition to the state and its claims, and exercises an extremely high if not complete degree of control and reg ...
. He prescribed unrelenting resistance against any ideology that threatened personal liberty and ignored the sanctity of human life.
The complete diary was published by in Göttingen, Germany, in 2011. It consists of two volumes, approximately 1,200 pages, with over 70 illustrations and photographs. The title is "Friedrich Kellner, 'Vernebelt, verdunkelt sind alle Hirne,' Tagebücher 1939-1945."
The English translation of the diary was published in January 2018 by
Cambridge University Press
Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII of England, King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press
A university press is an academic publishing hou ...
. Translated and edited by Robert Scott Kellner, it is a single volume hardback of 520 pages with 53 illustrations and photographs. The title is "My Opposition: The Diary of Friedrich Kellner -- A German against the Third Reich."
Reception of the diary
The diary's first public appearance was at the
George Bush Presidential Library and Museum
The George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum is the presidential library and burial site of George H. W. Bush, the 41st president of the United States (1989–1993), and his wife Barbara Bush. Located on a site on the west campus of ...
, where it was on display to commemorate the 60th anniversary of
VE Day
Victory in Europe Day is the day celebrating the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces on Tuesday, 8 May 1945, marking the official end of World War II in Europe in the Easter ...
, the end of the war in Europe. It has since been exhibited in other museums in the United States and in Germany. In October 2007, an exhibit of diary facsimiles was at
The Great Synagogue of Stockholm, in
Stockholm
Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...
,
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
. In 2010, the original diary was displayed in an extensive exhibit at
Friedrich Ebert Stiftung
The Friedrich Ebert Foundation (''German: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung e.V.; Abbreviation: FES'') is a German political party foundation associated with, but independent from, the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). Established in 1925 as th ...
in Berlin and Bonn, Germany. This was followed by a seven-month exhibit in the U.S., May-December 2010 at
Dwight Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum in
Abilene, Kansas
Abilene (pronounced ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Dickinson County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 6,460. It is home of The Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum and the G ...
, as part of the exhibit "Eisenhower and the Righteous Cause: The Liberation of Europe." In June 2018, the diary was exhibited at
Yad Vashem
Yad Vashem ( he, יָד וַשֵׁם; literally, "a memorial and a name") is Israel's official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; honoring Jews who fought against th ...
, Jerusalem, Israel, in the International School for Holocaust Studies during the 10th International Conference on Holocaust Education. A permanent Kellner exhibit is at the Fridericianum museum in Laubach, Germany. Coincidentally, this museum is located on the same street as the courthouse where Kellner wrote the diary.
In Giessen, where Kellner worked as district auditor from 1948 to 1950, the Holocaust Literature Research Unit of the Justus Liebig
University of Giessen
University of Giessen, official name Justus Liebig University Giessen (german: Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen), is a large public research university in Giessen, Hesse, Germany. It is named after its most famous faculty member, Justus von L ...
has established the Kellner Project. The director of the group, Dr. Sascha Feuchert, considers Kellner's work one of the most extensive diaries of the Nazi period.
A number of major universities in the United States, such as
Purdue
Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...
,
Columbia, and
Stanford
Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...
, have offered to make the diary part of their libraries. The directors of the
Yad Vashem
Yad Vashem ( he, יָד וַשֵׁם; literally, "a memorial and a name") is Israel's official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; honoring Jews who fought against th ...
Holocaust Museum in
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
and the
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) is the United States' official memorial to the Holocaust. Adjacent to the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the USHMM provides for the documentation, study, and interpretation of Holocaust hi ...
in
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, have also requested the diary for their archives.
In 2007, CCI Entertainment, a
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
film company, produced a documentary film entitled ''
My Opposition: The Diaries of Friedrich Kellner,'' which interweaves the stories of Kellner and his American grandson.
Documentary: "My Opposition: the Diaries of Friedrich Kellner.
The documentary had its American premiere at the George Bush Presidential Library on 26 September 2007. It was shown in the theater of the Dag Hammarskjöld Library
The Dag Hammarskjöld Library is a library on the grounds of the headquarters of the United Nations, located in the Turtle Bay/East Midtown neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It is connected to the Secretariat and Conference buildings ...
at the United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
on 10 November 2008 to commemorate the 70th anniversary of Kristallnacht.
References
External links
United Nations website about Friedrich Kellner event
* (Video about Friedrich Kellner's diary)
Diary Entries in German and English
George Bush Presidential Library - Kellner exhibit
Justus Liebig University - Kellner Project
Telefilm Canada - "My Opposition: The Diaries of Friedrich Kellner"
Holocaust Museum Houston - Kellner exhibit
Heimat Museum, Laubach, Germany - Kellner exhibit
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kellner, Friedrich
1885 births
1970 deaths
People from Vaihingen an der Enz
German Protestants
Social Democratic Party of Germany politicians
People from the Kingdom of Württemberg
German Army personnel of World War I
German resistance members
Protestants in the German Resistance
German diarists
German anti-fascists
German male non-fiction writers
20th-century German historians
Witnesses to The Holocaust