Robert Mohr (5 April 1897 – 5 February 1977) was an interrogation specialist 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 organi ...

. He headed the special commission responsible for the search and arrest of the

White Rose The White Rose (german: Weiße Rose, ) was a Nonviolence, non-violent, intellectual German resistance to Nazism, resistance group in Nazi Germany which was led by five students (and one professor) at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, ...

, part of the

German Resistance German resistance can refer to: * Freikorps, German nationalist paramilitary groups resisting German communist uprisings and the Weimar Republic government * German resistance to Nazism * Landsturm, German resistance groups fighting against France d ...

to Nazism.

Early life

Robert Mohr was born in Bisterschied in the Palatinate in 1897 into the family of a Palatine-born master mason, one of six brothers and three sisters. Mohr completed an apprenticeship as a tailor, but never practiced this profession. He served in the

German Army The German Army (, "army") is the land component of the armed forces of Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German ''Bundeswehr'' together with the ''Marine'' (German Navy) and the ''Luftwaf ...

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 ...

and was awarded the

Iron Cross The Iron Cross (german: link=no, Eisernes Kreuz, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, and later in the German Empire (1871–1918) and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). King Frederick William III of Prussia est ...

Second Class before resigning in May 1919. In October 1919, Mohr entered the Bavarian police. In May 1933 he joined 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 ...

. He also belonged to the

National Socialist Motor Corps The National Socialist Motor Corps (german: Nationalsozialistisches Kraftfahrkorps, NSKK) was a paramilitary organization of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) that officially existed from May 1931 to 1945. The group was a successor organisation to the old ...

, the

Reich Air Defense League ''Reich'' (; ) is a German noun whose meaning is analogous to the meaning of the English word " realm"; this is not to be confused with the German adjective "reich" which means "rich". The terms ' (literally the "realm of an emperor") and ' (li ...

, the Reich Colonial League, and the

National Socialist People's Welfare The National Socialist People's Welfare (german: Nationalsozialistische Volkswohlfahrt, NSV) was a social welfare organization during the Third Reich. The NSV was originally established in 1931 as a small Nazi Party-affiliated charity active loca ...

organizations. In the 1930s he worked as a police chief in

Frankenthal Frankenthal (Pfalz) ( pfl, Frongedahl) is a town in southwestern Germany, in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. History Frankenthal was first mentioned in 772. In 1119 an Augustinian monastery was built here, the ruins of which — known, aft ...

(Pfalz). From 1938 he worked for the

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

The White Rose

Between 18 and 20 February 1943, Mohr interrogated

Sophie Scholl Sophia Magdalena Scholl (9 May 1921 – 22 February 1943) was a German student and anti-Nazi political activist, active within the White Rose non-violent resistance group in Nazi Germany. She was convicted of high treason after having been f ...

and obtained her confession to the distribution of leaflets for the White Rose movement. In a 1951 report to Robert Scholl, Sophie's father, Mohr said he tried to save Sophie's life by leading her to testify against her brother

Hans Scholl Hans Fritz Scholl (; 22 September 1918 – 22 February 1943) was, along with Alexander Schmorell, one of the two founding members of the White Rose resistance movement in Nazi Germany. The principal author of the resistance movement's ...

, to say she was under his influence and that they had different opinions on politics.

Later life

After completion of the investigation into the White Rose, Mohr became chief of the Gestapo office in

Mulhouse Mulhouse (; Alsatian language, Alsatian: or , ; ; meaning ''Mill (grinding), mill house'') is a city of the Haut-Rhin Departments of France, department, in the Grand Est Regions of France, region, eastern France, close to the France–Switzerl ...

, occupied

Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...

. Around 1947 he was interned by the French but was not tried for his service in the Gestapo. From 1948 he worked in the spa at

Bad Dürkheim Bad Dürkheim () is a spa town in the Rhine-Neckar urban agglomeration, and is the seat of the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Geography Location Bad Dürkheim lies at the edge of Palatinate Forest on the German Wine ...

. He died in 1977 in

Ludwigshafen Ludwigshafen, officially Ludwigshafen am Rhein (; meaning " Ludwig's Port upon Rhine"), is a city in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, on the river Rhine, opposite Mannheim. With Mannheim, Heidelberg, and the surrounding region, it form ...

Media

Film

* ''

Sophie Scholl – The Final Days ''Sophie Scholl – The Final Days'' (german: Sophie Scholl – Die letzten Tage) is a 2005 German historical drama film directed by Marc Rothemund and written by Fred Breinersdorfer. It is about the last days in the life of Sophie Scholl, a 21-ye ...

'', Director:

Marc Rothemund Marc Rothemund (born 26 August 1968) is a German film director. He is the son of the film director Sigi Rothemund and the brother of the actress Nina Rothemund. He began his career as an assistant for his father and then began to direct episodes ...

. Mohr was played by

Alexander Held Gerald Alexander Held (born 19 October 1958) is a German actor. He is internationally best known for his historical depictions, as Walther Hewel in the 2004 film ''Der Untergang'', Robert Mohr in the 2005 film ''Sophie Scholl - Die letzten Tage' ...

Literature

* Inge Aicher-Scholl ''Die Weiße Rose.'' Mit Abdruck des Berichtes von Robert Mohr an Robert Scholl

References

External links

* Kirsten Schulz:
Robert Mohr. Kriminalobersekretär bei der Gestapo-Leitstelle in München.
' Ein Artikel publiziert von der Bundeszentrale für Politische Bildung, bei bpb.de vom 20. April 2005.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mohr, Robert 1897 births 1977 deaths People from Donnersbergkreis People from the Palatinate (region) Nazi Party members Gestapo personnel Recipients of the Iron Cross (1914), 2nd class