Wilm Hosenfeld
Encyclopedia : W : WI : WIL : Wilm Hosenfeld
Wilm Hosenfeld (May 2 1895 in Rhoendorf Mackenzell, Germany–August 13 1952 near Stalingrad), a teacher by trade, was a German regular-army officer (Captain), and a member of the Nazi party, who saved the Polish pianist and composer Władysław Szpilman from death in the ruins of Warsaw. He and several fellow officers, who had sympathy for the people of German-occupied Poland, the Jews included, and had grown ashamed of what some of their countrymen were doing, offered help to many others as well as Szpilman.
Hosenfeld was taken captive by the Soviets on January 17, 1945. He was sentenced to 25 years in labour camp for alleged war crimes because of his unit affiliation. Despite many people pleading his case, the Soviets refused to believe that he was not involved in war crimes. He died in a Soviet prison camp due to the harsh treatment he received.
Hosenfeld was played by Thomas Kretschmann in The Pianist, a film based on Szpilman's memoirs.
References
- Wilm Hosenfeld: "Ich versuche jeden zu retten"—Das Leben eines deutschen Offiziers in Briefen und Tagebüchern (Wilm Hosenfeld: "'I try to save everyone [I can]'—The life of a German officer in [his] letters and diaries"), compiled and with commentary by Thomas Vogel, published by the [Militärgeschichtlichen Forschungsamt (MGFA: Military History Research Institute)], Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Munich, 2004. ISBN 3421057761
External links
- http://www.shoah.dk/Hosenfeld/ - The story of Wilm Hosenfeld
- [Comment on Hosenfeld in conjunction with Roman Polanski's filmThe Pianist]
- [Page on Wilm Hosenfeld and The Pianist on the website of Hosenfeld's grandson]
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.