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Wilm Hosenfeld

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Wilm Hosenfeld (May 2 1895 in Rhoendorf Mackenzell, Germany–August 13 1952 near Stalingrad), a teacher by trade, was a German Catholic regular-army officer promoted to rank of major by the end of the war. He joined the Nazi party in 1935, but was responsible for saving the Polish pianist and composer Władysław Szpilman from death in the ruins of Warsaw.

Hosenfeld and several fellow officers who felt sympathy for the people of occupied Poland, Jews included, had grown ashamed of what some of their countrymen were doing and offered help to those they could whenever possible. Hosenfeld is known to have saved at least four people in danger of capture or death by the Nazis. Hosenfeld was stationed in Warsaw, Poland, for four years of the war.

Hosenfeld was taken captive by the Soviets on January 17, 1945. He was sentenced to 50 years in labour camp for alleged war crimes simply because of his unit affiliation. Despite the many who testified in his behalf, the Soviets refused to believe that he had not been involved in war crimes. He died in a Soviet prison camp in 1952 due to unknown conditions.

Hosenfeld was played by Thomas Kretschmann in The Pianist, a film based on Szpilman's memoirs.

Szpilman's son, Andrzej Szpilman, has long demanded that Yad Vashem honour Wilm Hosenfeld as a Righteous Among the Nations: non-Jews who risked their lives in order to rescue Jews. Along with him, the Szpilman family and thousands of others are asking that Hosenfeld be recognized in this way for his acts of kindness throughout the war.

References

  • Wilm Hosenfeld: "Ich versuche jeden zu retten"—Das Leben eines deutschen Offiziers in Briefen und Tagebüchern (Wilm Hosenfeld: "'I try to save everyone '—The life of a German officer in 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 3-421-05776-1

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