The Nazi Officer Who Saved 100 Jewish Families

Dr. Albert Battel was a German loyalist. Born in the Province of Silesia in 1891, a part of the German empire, Battel served in the German Army during World War I. The war was devastating for Germany; the country lost 12% of its population and 13% of its land to the Allied forces.

In the aftermath of WWI, Battel attended the University of Berlin and the University of Breslau, became an attorney, and practiced in Breslau, Poland (now renamed Wroclaw). As Hitler began his ascent to power, Battel heard him speak and was inspired to join the Nazi Party in the early 1930s, serving as a lieutenant in the Wehrmacht army reserves.

Inspired by Hitler, Battel joined the Nazi Party in the early 1930s, serving as a lieutenant in the Wehrmacht army reserves.

When Battel was 51, he was stationed in the town of Przemysl in Poland, working as the adjutant to Major Max Liedtke, the local military commander. On July 26, 1942, the Nazis were planning to “resettle” the Jewish ghetto there, which was a code word for “liquidate.”

Battel couldn’t believe his eyes: Jewish children and adults were beaten. Families were separated from each other and sent to their death in the concentration camps. Others were killed on the spot.

Albert Battel in Nazi uniform

This was a moment of truth for Battel. He so deeply loved his country, but at the same time, liquidation was not an act of patriotism. It was murder.

Could he go through with it?

Defying orders from the Nazis

Battel’s conscience kicked in. Though he wanted to serve his country, he couldn’t stand idly by as people were being beaten and killed.

Though he wanted to serve his country, he couldn’t stand idly by as people were being beaten and killed.

He summoned Major Max Liedke, his superior, and together, they ordered that the bridge over the River San – the only way into the ghetto – be blocked. When the SS commando tried to cross over to the other side, the sergeant-major tasked with overseeing the bridge threatened to shoot the soldiers unless they retreated. This happened in the middle of the afternoon, with the local inhabitants watching in shock.

Later in the day, Battel got army trucks to go into the ghetto and save 100 Jewish families. He placed them under the protection of the Wehrmacht and they were not sent to Belzec concentration camp, like so many others.

Sadly, the rest of the 24,000 Jews in the town were murdered.

Paying the price for saving Jews

Following the rebellion, the Nazis launched a secret investigation into Battel. They didn’t make it public because the entire incident was so embarrassing. The investigation reached the highest level of the Nazi party; Martin Borman, Hitler’s right-hand man and chief of the Party Chancellery, read the documentation and evidence against Battel. Heinrich Himmler, the chief architect of the Holocaust and another high-ranking Nazi Party leader, was going to have Battel arrested immediately after the war ended.

Albert Battal at 3 Piłsudskiego, Przemyśl, Poland, 1942

Not only had Battel defied Nazi orders – he also showed kindness towards the Jews prior to this event. Before the war, a party tribunal indicted Battel for giving a loan to a Jewish colleague. Then, when he was serving in Przemysl, he shook hands with Dr. Duldig, the chairman of the Jewish Council there and a friend of his from university.

Battel had no idea he was being investigated. He had been released from the army in 1944 because of a heart condition and returned to Breslau. He was drafted into the Volkssturm, a German militia that was founded right before the war ended and under control of the Nazi Party, with Himmler serving as commander. While in the Volkssturm, Battel was captured. After the war ended, he was released, and he settled in West Germany.

Because the investigation against Battel was kept secret, it was never revealed in his lifetime that he had gone against the Nazis. Following the war, he was unable to practice law anymore because of his affiliation with the Nazi party. He passed away from heart disease in 1952 in Hattersheim, near Frankfurt.

Battel’s legacy and honor at Yad Vashem

In 1963, some of Battel’s actions were revealed during a war crimes trial involving Himmler’s records. The documents showed that Battel was called a “friend of the Jewish people,” and the judge in the case said that Battel was a Nazi who chose to “stand up for the cause of human dignity.”

Battel was recognized by Yad Vashem’s Righteous Among the Nation.

Later on, Dr. Zeev Goshen, an Israeli lawyer, was researching Battel’s story. In 1981, he urged Yad Vashem, Israel’s memorial to the victims of the Holocaust, to designate Battel as a gentile who was Righteous Among the Nations. Israeli Michael Goldmann-Gilad, who was a teenager in the Przemyśl ghetto when Battel rescued the families, confirmed the story.

When talking about Battel, Goldmann-Gilad said, “We Jews knew that we had a protector in him. A few of the people Dr. Battel took out of the ghetto survived and are in Israel. Few like him risked their position and life out of decency and humanity.” Another survivor, Toni Rinde, saw a photo of Battel and also confirmed how he saved her family during the liquidation.

Today, a tree is planted in Israel to honor Battel and his legacy. Out of thousands and thousands, he was the one and only Nazi officer to risk his life, take a public stand against Hitler and his evil party, and save countless precious lives in the process.

 

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