Marianne Grunthal (31 January 1896 – 2 May 1945, Schwerin) was a German

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

who was executed under the

Nazi 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 ...

regime for expressing her wish for peace. Grunthal was born in

Zehdenick Zehdenick is a town in the Oberhavel district, in Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated on the river Havel, southeast of Fürstenberg/Havel, and north of Berlin (centre). Since 31 July 2013, the city has the additional appellation "Havelstadt". ...

Province of Brandenburg The Province of Brandenburg (german: Provinz Brandenburg) was a province of Prussia from 1815 to 1945. Brandenburg was established in 1815 from the Kingdom of Prussia's core territory, comprised the bulk of the historic Margraviate of Brandenburg ...

. In 1945, after having heard the news of

Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and then ...

's death, she had called out aloud with relief, "''Gott sei Dank, dann ist der furchtbare Krieg endlich zu Ende''". (English: "Thank god, then this terrible war will be over at last", different version: "Thank God, then there will be peace".) She was heard by SS guards who were on their way to bring prisoners from Ravensbrück and Sachsenhausen concentration camps on so-called death marches towards the west. For having spoken this single sentence, Grunthal was hanged by SS men on 2 May 1945 on the Schwerin Central Station square – only hours before American troops entered the city. Today, the station square is named after Marianne Grunthal, as is a street in Zehdenick. The lamp post on which she was hanged is still standing, bearing a memorial plaque. Her grave is situated on the Nordfriedhof (Northern cemetery) in the City of Zehdenick (State of Brandenburg).

Sources

*Hauff, Irmgard: "Der Wunsch nach Frieden brachte den Tod : Marianne Grunthal – gemordet am 2. Mai ´45." – In: ''Mecklenburg-Magazin / Regionalbeilage der Schweriner Volkszeitung''. – Schwerin (29 April 2005), Nr. 17, S. 23. *City of Schwerin
Landeshauptstadt picture of the ''Grunthalplatz''
*University of Erlangen, German

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grunthal, Marianne 1896 births 1945 deaths People from Zehdenick German schoolteachers German civilians killed in World War II People executed by Nazi Germany by hanging People from Brandenburg executed by Nazi Germany