Hans Quecke was a member of the Zentrum, the German Center Party and a department head at the economics Ministry in Berlin. He was the brother-in-law of Harald Dohrn, who had married his sister Herta. He was an avid humanist and devout Christian, which did not go unnoticed by local National Socialist officials.
As the ministerial offices in Berlin were evacuated as the war's end was nearing, Hans Quecke came to Bad Wiessee in Bavaria, where Herta and Harald Dohrn lived. On April 28, 1945, he and Dohrn heard together the radio call for participation "Freiheitsaktion Bayern" (Action Free Bavaria), a movement wanting among other things to avoid the costly and needless defense of Munich, such as destroying all the bridges. They were so overjoyed to hear this that they expressed their satisfaction too loudly and were promptly arrested. On April 29th they, along with 150 other innocent citizens, were summarily executed as the American army was approaching Munich. Their bodies were left lying in the Perlach Forest and Quecke and Dohrn were two of a very few whose bodies could later be identified. So it was this fate that determined they would be buried nearby in the same cemetery where most of the White Rose victims were laid to rest.
(Sources: Wikipedia, www.nikolaus-gross.com - home page of the Nikolaus Groß Evening School in Essen, and "Letzte Heimat, Persönlichkeiten in Münchner Friedhöfen 1784-1984", by Erich Scheibmayr)
As the ministerial offices in Berlin were evacuated as the war's end was nearing, Hans Quecke came to Bad Wiessee in Bavaria, where Herta and Harald Dohrn lived. On April 28, 1945, he and Dohrn heard together the radio call for participation "Freiheitsaktion Bayern" (Action Free Bavaria), a movement wanting among other things to avoid the costly and needless defense of Munich, such as destroying all the bridges. They were so overjoyed to hear this that they expressed their satisfaction too loudly and were promptly arrested. On April 29th they, along with 150 other innocent citizens, were summarily executed as the American army was approaching Munich. Their bodies were left lying in the Perlach Forest and Quecke and Dohrn were two of a very few whose bodies could later be identified. So it was this fate that determined they would be buried nearby in the same cemetery where most of the White Rose victims were laid to rest.
(Sources: Wikipedia, www.nikolaus-gross.com - home page of the Nikolaus Groß Evening School in Essen, and "Letzte Heimat, Persönlichkeiten in Münchner Friedhöfen 1784-1984", by Erich Scheibmayr)
Hans Quecke was a member of the Zentrum, the German Center Party and a department head at the economics Ministry in Berlin. He was the brother-in-law of Harald Dohrn, who had married his sister Herta. He was an avid humanist and devout Christian, which did not go unnoticed by local National Socialist officials.
As the ministerial offices in Berlin were evacuated as the war's end was nearing, Hans Quecke came to Bad Wiessee in Bavaria, where Herta and Harald Dohrn lived. On April 28, 1945, he and Dohrn heard together the radio call for participation "Freiheitsaktion Bayern" (Action Free Bavaria), a movement wanting among other things to avoid the costly and needless defense of Munich, such as destroying all the bridges. They were so overjoyed to hear this that they expressed their satisfaction too loudly and were promptly arrested. On April 29th they, along with 150 other innocent citizens, were summarily executed as the American army was approaching Munich. Their bodies were left lying in the Perlach Forest and Quecke and Dohrn were two of a very few whose bodies could later be identified. So it was this fate that determined they would be buried nearby in the same cemetery where most of the White Rose victims were laid to rest.
(Sources: Wikipedia, www.nikolaus-gross.com - home page of the Nikolaus Groß Evening School in Essen, and "Letzte Heimat, Persönlichkeiten in Münchner Friedhöfen 1784-1984", by Erich Scheibmayr)
As the ministerial offices in Berlin were evacuated as the war's end was nearing, Hans Quecke came to Bad Wiessee in Bavaria, where Herta and Harald Dohrn lived. On April 28, 1945, he and Dohrn heard together the radio call for participation "Freiheitsaktion Bayern" (Action Free Bavaria), a movement wanting among other things to avoid the costly and needless defense of Munich, such as destroying all the bridges. They were so overjoyed to hear this that they expressed their satisfaction too loudly and were promptly arrested. On April 29th they, along with 150 other innocent citizens, were summarily executed as the American army was approaching Munich. Their bodies were left lying in the Perlach Forest and Quecke and Dohrn were two of a very few whose bodies could later be identified. So it was this fate that determined they would be buried nearby in the same cemetery where most of the White Rose victims were laid to rest.
(Sources: Wikipedia, www.nikolaus-gross.com - home page of the Nikolaus Groß Evening School in Essen, and "Letzte Heimat, Persönlichkeiten in Münchner Friedhöfen 1784-1984", by Erich Scheibmayr)
