Hiltgunt Margret Zassenhaus (10 July 1916 – 20 November 2004) was a German

philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as th ...

who worked as an interpreter in Hamburg, Germany 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 opposing ...

, and later as a physician in the United States. She was honoured for her efforts to aid prisoners in

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

during World War II.

Early life

Hiltgunt Zassenhaus was born in Hamburg to Julius H. and Margret Ziegler Zassenhaus. Her father was a historian and school principal who lost his job when the Nazi regime came to power in 1933. Her brothers were the mathematician Hans (known for the butterfly lemma and the

Zassenhaus group In mathematics, a Zassenhaus group, named after Hans Zassenhaus, is a certain sort of doubly transitive permutation group very closely related to rank-1 groups of Lie type. Definition A Zassenhaus group is a permutation group ''G'' on a finite ...

), and physicians Günther and Willfried. Following a bicycling holiday in Denmark in 1933, she decided to study

philology Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as th ...

, specializing in the Scandinavian languages. She graduated from the

University of Hamburg The University of Hamburg (german: link=no, Universität Hamburg, also referred to as UHH) is a public research university in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded on 28 March 1919 by combining the previous General Lecture System ('' Allgemeines Vo ...

with a degree in

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

and

Danish language Danish (; , ) is a North Germanic language spoken by about six million people, principally in and around Denmark. Communities of Danish speakers are also found in Greenland, the Faroe Islands, and the northern German region of Southern Schle ...

in 1939 and continued her language studies at the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public research university in Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia after Uppsala Unive ...

World War II

In autumn 1940, Zassenhaus was employed as interpreter at the German office for the censorship of letters. She resigned this job in 1942 and started studying medicine in Hamburg. Later in 1942, she was asked by the prosecutor in Hamburg to censor letters to and from Norwegian prisoners in the '' Zuchthaus'' in

Fuhlsbüttel is an urban quarter in the north of Hamburg, Germany in the Hamburg-Nord district. It is known as the site of Hamburg's international airport, and as the location of a prison which served as a concentration camp in the Nazi system of repression. ...

, Hamburg. She initially refused, but after further pressure, she accepted on the condition that she be allowed to work independently. Instead of censoring the mail, she added messages urging the recipients to send food or warm clothing. According to the German prison rules, the prisoners were allowed to receive regular visits, and the Norwegian priests in Hamburg were authorized to visit the prisoners on behalf of their families. She was assigned to interpret for and watch the priests during their visits. Later, she also interpreted for Danish priests and prisoners. She began smuggling in food, medicine, and writing materials. She was aided by the suspicion of the authorities that, because of her position in the Department of Justice, she was a member of the

Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one orga ...

. Towards the end of the war, the prisoners were moved to various prisons all over Germany, and the visits, to more than 1,000 Scandinavian prisoners scattered in 52 prisons, required long journeys. Zassenhaus maintained her own records in order to keep track of where the prisoners were being held; these files became important for the later evacuation by the

White Buses White Buses was a Swedish humanitarian operation with the objective of freeing Scandinavians in German concentration camps in Nazi Germany during the final stages of World War II. Although the White Buses operation was envisioned to rescue Scan ...

in 1945. With the war in Europe nearing its end, Zassenhaus learned of "Day X", when all political prisoners were to be killed. She passed on her information and her files of prisoner locations to either the

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, and ...

or Swedish Count Bernadotte. A deal was negotiated; 1200 Scandinavian prisoners were freed and transported out of Germany. Zassenhaus wrote about her experiences during the war in her 1947 book ''Halt Wacht im Dunkel''. An English translation, ''Walls'', was published in 1974. In 1978, she was featured in a British television series called ''Women in Courage'' about four women who defied the Nazis. It was produced by Peter Morley, himself a German refugee. The other women were Maria Rutkiewicz, a Polish woman;

Sigrid Helliesen Lund Sigrid Helliesen Lund (23 February 1892 – 8 December 1987) was a Norwegian peace activist, noted for her humanitarian efforts throughout most of the 20th century, and in particular her resistance to the occupation of Norway during World War ...

, a Norwegian; and

Mary Lindell Gertrude Mary Lindell (11 September 1895 – 8 January 1987), Comtesse de Milleville, code named Marie-Claire and Comtesse de Moncy, was an English woman, a front-line nurse in World War I and a member of the French Resistance in World War II. S ...

, a British woman.

Later years and death

After the war, Zassenhaus was unable to complete her studies at the University of Hamburg due to the damage inflicted on the city. As Germans had been prohibited from entering Denmark, Zassenhaus was smuggled into the country in 1947 in a fish truck. Afterward, the Danish parliament passed a special law to legitimize her immigration. She continued her medical studies at the

University of Bergen The University of Bergen ( no, Universitetet i Bergen, ) is a research-intensive state university located in Bergen, Norway. As of 2019, the university has over 4,000 employees and 18,000 students. It was established by an act of parliament in 194 ...

, where she finished the first part of the course, and finally graduated as a physician from the University of Copenhagen. She emigrated to

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

in 1952, where she worked as a practising physician. Hiltgunt Zassenhaus died on 20 November 2004, aged 88.

Honours

Zassenhaus is the only person from Germany decorated with the

Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a ci ...

for her activities during

. She was also awarded the

Medal, the Danish Order of the Dannebrog, the German Bundesverdienstkreuz, and the British Cross of the Order of Merit. In 1974, the Norwegian government nominated her for the

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Chemistry, Physics, Physiolog ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zassenhaus, Hiltgunt 1916 births 2004 deaths German people of World War II Interpreters German philologists Physicians from Hamburg German expatriates in Norway German expatriates in Denmark German emigrants to the United States 20th-century translators 20th-century German women writers Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Knights of the Order of the Dannebrog 20th-century philologists