Hugo Adolf Höllenreiner (15 September 1933 – 10 June 2015) was a

Sinti The Sinti (masc. sing. ''Sinto''; fem. sing. ''Sintetsa, Sinta'') are a subgroup of the Romani people. They are found mostly in Germany, France, Italy and Central Europe, numbering some 200,000 people. They were traditionally Itinerant groups i ...

survivor of the

Porajmos The Romani Holocaust was the genocide of European Roma and Sinti people during World War II. Beginning in 1933, Nazi Germany systematically persecuted the European Roma, Sinti and other peoples pejoratively labeled 'Gypsy' through forcible ...

during the

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

dictatorship A dictatorship is an autocratic form of government which is characterized by a leader, or a group of leaders, who hold governmental powers with few to no Limited government, limitations. Politics in a dictatorship are controlled by a dictator, ...

Life

Höllenreiner was born on 15 September 1933 in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. His parents chose his middle name in order to protect him from the growing threat of the

Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

. Still he was deported to the concentration camp Auschwitz on 16 March 1943, where

Josef Mengele Josef Mengele (; 16 March 19117 February 1979) was a Nazi German (SS) officer and physician during World War II at the Russian front and then at Auschwitz during the Holocaust, often dubbed the "Angel of Death" (). He performed Nazi hum ...

tortured him and his brother with cruel pseudomedical experiments. After being taken to the other concentration camps Ravensbrück and Mauthausen, he finally ended up in

Bergen-Belsen Bergen-Belsen (), or Belsen, was a Nazi concentration camp in what is today Lower Saxony in Northern Germany, northern Germany, southwest of the town of Bergen, Lower Saxony, Bergen near Celle. Originally established as a prisoner of war camp, ...

. He, his five siblings, and both parents survived the

. Since the late 1990s, Höllenreiner has given numerous lectures about his experiences. Höllenreiner lived in

Ingolstadt Ingolstadt (; Austro-Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian: ) is an Independent city#Germany, independent city on the Danube, in Upper Bavaria, with 142,308 inhabitants (as of 31 December 2023). Around half a million people live in the metropolitan ...

Awards and honors

Hugo Höllenreiner has received numerous awards and honors for his commitment as a contemporary witness of the National Socialist tyranny: * In 2013 Höllenreiner received the

Austrian Holocaust Memorial Award The Austrian Holocaust Memorial Award (AHMA) was founded by the Austrian Service Abroad in 2006. Meaning The prize is annually conferred to a person, a group of individuals or an institution, which has shown special endeavors for the memory ...

, an annual award conferred by the initiative

Austrian Service Abroad The Austrian Service Abroad () is a non-profit organization funded by the Austrian government which sends young Austrians to work in partner institutions worldwide serving Holocaust commemoration in form of the Austrian Memorial Service, support ...

. The awarding, where

Charlotte Knobloch Charlotte Knobloch (born 29 October 1932, as Charlotte Neuland) is the former President of Central Council of Jews in Germany () from 2006 to 2010. She is also Vice President of the European Jewish Congress and the World Jewish Congress. She ...

held an laudation, took place in the

Jewish Museum Munich The Jewish Museum Munich (), provides an overview of Munich’s Jewish history and is part of the city's new Jewish Center located at Sankt-Jakobs-Platz in Munich, Germany. It is situated between the main synagogue Ohel Jakob synagogue, Ohel Ja ...

. * On occasion of a memorial event on the 70. anniversary of the Roma revolt in Auschwitz-Birkenau, Höllenreiner received an honoring as an 'ambassador of humanity' in the

Old Town Hall, Munich The Old Town Hall (German language, German ''Altes Rathaus''), until 1874 the domicile of the municipality, serves today as a building for representative purposes for the city council in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. The Old Town Hall bounds the ce ...

in 2014. The honor was conferred after a speech by

Christian Ude Christian Ude (born 26 October 1947) is a German politician who served as mayor of Munich from 1993 to 2014. He is a member of the German Social Democratic Party. Career Ude was born in Munich. From 1967 to 1969 he worked for the daily newspa ...

, ex-mayor of Munich. * In 2014 Höllenreiner was recipient of the honor-medal München leuchtet – Den Freundinnen und Freunden Münchens ("Munich aglow - dedicated to the friends of Munich"), awarded by the city munich, as 'an acknowledgement of his decade-long commitment in educational work as a contemporary witness of the National Socialist tyranny'. The medal was presented to him by the mayor of Munich,

Dieter Reiter Dieter Reiter (born 19 May 1958) is a German politician and the mayor of Munich, the capital of the state of Bavaria. He is a member of the Social Democratic Party. Career Reiter was born in Rain, Swabia. He studied at the Fachhochschule für ...

Portrayal in literature, film and music

In numerous interviews with the author Anja Tuckermann, Höllenreiner has talked about his fate during the Nazi era. Tuckermann received the German Youth literature prize for her book "Denk nicht, wir bleiben hier!" The book also received numerous nominations for other literature prizes. In 2007 Angelus Mortis shot a documentary about Höllenreiner's fate. Adrian Coriolan Caspar did some interviews with Höllenreiner in 2008, which he implemented musically with his first orchestral work Symphonia Romani - Bari Duk, an oratorium for solo bass, mixed choir and orchestra.

References

External links

*
Auge in Auge mit Todesengel Mengele
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hollenreiner, Hugo 1933 births 2015 deaths German Sinti people Romani Holocaust survivors People from Munich