Heinz Dehn

Heinz Dehn

Franz Lebrecht

The Nussbaum family

Kitchener Camp

Ida Dehn

The Flieder family

The Dehn family

Ernst Friedlich

Leon Gottlieb

Erich Tichauer

Dr Ernst Wasser

Dr Hans Frankenstein

Josef Ganz

The „Shanghai 12“

Ginette Rozenfeld

George Chodziesner

Heinz Dehn was father and grandfather of the operators of this website Peter and Paul Dehn. Like many other Nazi victims, he told little about this time and about his family at all. It was only long after his and his wife Ida’s death that the two began intensive research into the stories of their ancestors, their relatives, and some of the people around the family. Thus, and including Peter Dehn’s memories of his parents, a relatively comprehensive picture of Heinz Dehn’s life emerged.

Peter Dehn, January 2024.

A Berliner during the Nazi era and the Cold War

The only surviving photograph of Heinz as a child, probably taken around 1907. Source: Dehn family archive.

More about the Dehn family

Heinz Dehn is born on September 23, 1905[1] Registry office Charlottenburg, entry no. 1522 of 1905. in his parents’ apartment in Charlottenburg[2] Charlottenburg was an independent city until its incorporation into Greater Berlin in 1920 and is today part of the Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf district., Stuttgarter Platz 9. His father Leberecht Dehn (February 3, 1856[3] Registry office Danzig entry no. 3445, March 3, 1856. to January 7, 1928[4] Newspaper „Berliner Tageblatt und Handels-Zeitung“, morning edition, page 10.) founded the Centralbureau für Annoncen an Strassenbahnwagen[5] Adress Book of 1909, retrived via www.zlb.de on Mai 10, 2023. (Central Office for Ads on Streetcars) shortly before the turn of the century. His first marriage to Rosa Goldstein (April 28, 1862[6] Marriage certificate of the registry office in Gdansk no. 551/1884, Sep 15, 1884. to April 5, 1941[7] Wilmersdorf registgry office, entry no. 534, April 7, 1941.), divorced in 1897, produced siblings Leo (October 29, 1885 to September 2, 1936[8] Death entry no. 387 Sep 3, 1936.) and Alice Emmi (October 22, 1888[9] Birth entry no. 2197 of Oct 29, 1888. to January 8, 1945[10] Cf. Mapping the Lives, retrieved May 10, 2023.). Since August 10, 1900 Leberecht is married in second marriage[11] Marriage certificate no. 590, Aug 10, 1900. to Clara Anna Philippson (born April 28, 1865). She was murdered in the Treblinka extermination camp[12] Cf. Memorial Book, Bundesarchiv Germany, Yad Vashem database, Czech victims database, retrieved Jan 10, 2024. in 1942.

Heinz attended Charlottenburg’s Schiller-Realgymnasium until 1921 and then began a commercial apprenticeship with the Berlin company Arno Wolf[13] The Arno Wolf GmbH, Berlin commercial register issue 64 of 1928, no. Nr. 38507, retrieved May 12, 2023.. However, importing and exporting electrical equipment such as the new radios does not (yet) seem to be a recipe for success. At least not for Heinz, who is unemployed for a long time after his apprenticeship. He has a few jobs, including a brief stint as assistant stage manager at the Piscator stage on Nollendorfplatz in the late 1920s. After a long period of unemployment, he assists in the house management of his half-brother Leo. Shortly after Leo’s early death in 1936, Heinz Dehn takes over a registered company from Hartwig Deutschland in November 1936 and registers a trade. However, he does not get the opportunity to establish his own business. All that has survived is a blank payment card for the postal checking account 55713 with the company imprint “Heinz Dehn Web- u. Wirkwarenfabrikation”.

On April 1, 1937, Heinz marries the kindergarten teacher Margot Bick (born on October 19, 1912[14] Registry office Charlottenburg 1, entry no. 279, April 1, 1937. in Posen). The marriage produced daughter Monika Ruth[15] Registry office Wilmersdorf entry no. 1804, Sep 24, 1937. (born September 22, 1937) and son Denny[16] Registry office Wilmersdorf, entry no. 1641, Mar 15, 1940. (born March 12, 1940).

Locked up without evidence or trial

For allegedly possessing and passing on the Communist newspaper “Rote Fahne,” which had been banned by the Nazis, “in the fall of 1934 or early 1935,” Heinz Dehn was arrested in October 1937. This coincides with the filing of charges and sentences against nearly 40 Charlottenburg Communists[17] Cf. Heinrich-Wilhelm Wörmann, „Widerstand in Charlottenburg“ (German),page .76Ed.: Gedenkstätte Deutscher Widerstand, Berlin 1998. whom the fascists had arrested in the summer of 1936.

Heinz Dehn does not deny possession of forbidden materials. For the accusation that “as a former member of the KPD he had continued to be active in the Communist sense even after the seizure of power” or even for a conviction “there is no evidence[18] The Attorney General at the Berlin Regional Court to the Reich Prosecutor at the People's Court on Oct 20, 1937, file no. 1.P.Js.720/37., however”, Chief Public Prosecutor Dr. Depenthal, General Prosecutor at the Berlin Regional Court, had to concede. “I do not consider immediate judicial measures by the investigating judge of the People’s Court to be necessary”, Depenthal wrote to the court on October 20, 1937. The proceedings for “preparation for high treason” were discontinued.

Postal identity cards were originally issued in 1904 for presentation at the post office. However, they were also recognised as travel documents in some European countries. Heinz Dehn’s identity card was issued in 1936. Source: Dehn family archive.

Nevertheless, Heinz Dehn was taken into so-called protective custody[19] Cf. Buchenwald concentration camp, index card via Arolsen Archives. on November 5, 1937, by order of the Gestapo without a trial or even a final judgment. He was initially held in the Gestapo prison at Alexanderplatz[20] The Nazis‘ Geheime Staatspolizei (Gestapo) took over the Berlin police headquarters (“Red Castle”) near Alexanderplatz in 1933 and turned it into a torture site. and then in the Berlin-Plötzensee detention center. On February 26, 1938, he is transferred to the Dachau concentration camp[21] Dachau concentration camp, entrance list, Feb 26, 1938., where he is assigned the number 13570. At Buchenwald concentration camp[22] Buchenwald concentration camp, entrance list, Sep 22, 1938. near Weimar, he is registered with the number 3935 in the arrivals from Dachau of September 22, 1938. After about 16 months of imprisonment, Heinz’s release[23] Buchenwald concentration camp, departure notice, Feb 15, 1939. is recorded as a departure from Block 10 of Buchenwald concentration camp on February 13, 1939.

Almost at the same time as Heinz Dehn, Franz Lebrecht from Mainz, Leon Gottlieb from Hamburg and Ernst Friedlich from Bünde were imprisoned in Dachau and then Buchenwald. Later they went to Australia on different ways. Whether they first met in Australia or became friends in the concentration camp is not known.

He was released from Buchenwald concentration camp on condition that he leave Germany as soon as possible. In Berlin, Heinz has to report regularly to the police. The family is already planning to leave the country. At the end of December 1938, a III. class passage[24] Receipt No. 72140 by Hamburg-Amerika Linie, Dec 29, 1938. to “Vera Cruz + back” (Mexico) is booked on the MS Iberia for 570 dollars; 80 dollars are paid in advance. This project is given up – probably because of not granted visas. The comparatively high sum at that time is lost to the Dehns. The down payment has to be ceded – the Jewish Benefit Society receives 200 Reichsmark[25] Letter of the shipping company to Heinz Israel Dehn, Aug 10, 1939.. Thanks to the mediation of the Berlin “Hilfsverein” and the Council for German Jewry in London, Heinz Dehn gets a place in the transit camp Richborough/Kent[26] Reichsvereinigung der Juden in Deutschland to Heinz Dehn, Aug 8, 1939.. “Now your departure must be carried out with the utmost speed,” writes the “Dept. of Migration-C7 (transit camp)” of the Reich Association of Jews in Germany on August 8, 1939. The joy remains clouded. Margot and their daughter Monika Ruth have to stay in Germany; their son Denny is born after Heinz’s departure. They and Margot’s mother Dora Hartmann are deported to Riga with the 21st Osttransport[27] Deportation list no. 73 to 75, Dehn family archive. on October 19, 1942 and murdered there[28] Yad Vashem, database of deportations, retrieved May 10, 2023. on October 22, 1942.

“I want to write to you quickly before our journey …” Margot Dehn wrote the last postcard to her husband Heinz a few days before she, the children and her mother were deported to the Riga ghetto by the Nazis in October 1942 and murdered in a forest near the Latvian capital. Source: Dehn family archive.

Months in Kitchener Camp

Under the impact of the anti-Semitic night of terror on November 8 and 9, 1938, donations in the millions are raised in England to get Jewish people out of Germany and to help refugees already in the UK. The government holds back and takes months of pleading until Kitchener Camp is made available as a transmigration camp for Jewish emigrants[29] The historical information about Camp Kitchener essentially follows Clare Ungerson's book, “Four Thousand Lives. The Rescue of German Jewish Men to Britain, 1939”, The History Press Cheltenham 2019. Another important resource is the website maintained by Clare Weissenberg. in February 1939.

With the donations, Jewish aid organizations reorganize and operate the camp on the English southeast Channel coast near Sandwich/Richborough in the county of Kent. The first residents begin to make the camp, which had not been used for 20 years, habitable in February 1939. They rehabilitate the grounds and buildings, furnish the living quarters and outbuildings. 4,000 people pass through the camp – many with the hope of traveling from there to other countries and reuniting with their families.

Of some 73,000 refugees from the German Reich and ethnic Germans from Britain whose interrogations in front of tribunals are recorded, only 569 are identified with certainty as Nazis and placed in category “A”. They are to be arrested immediately. About 6,700 cannot be clearly classified, among them, oddly enough, a number of Jewish refugees. They are placed in category “B”, their freedom of movement is restricted and they are not allowed to own bicycles or cameras. Probably about 55,000 to 60,000 of those classified in category “C” as “friendly aliens from enemy territory” are Jews or politically persecuted. They wind exempt from all internment measures.

All Nazi victims believe they have found protection from persecution in England. Many of them would have liked to contribute to the destruction of the Third Reich by taking up arms, e.g. in the British Army. Other refugees see England only as a stopover.

They have visas for the USA, Central and South America or Palestine, or applications are in progress. They often have relatives living in the destination countries who vouch for them and provide financial guarantees. Those who cannot muster relatives try to get into visa-free Shanghai.

After arriving in Dover, Heinz Dehn reported to Kitchener Camp on August 16, 1939 – a few days before the start of the war. Like all refugees, he is interviewed by a committee and assigned to category “C”[30] Index card Heinz Dehn, British Home Office, via ancestry.de. on October 20, 1939. Heinz is thus considered a friendly alien, is not subject to any internment and is listed as a “Richborough Trainee”. A questionnaire from the German Jewish Aid Committee notes, among other things, his intention to emigrate to Chile[31] German Jewish Aid Committee, questionaire to case no. 33968., where a half-sister of Margot’s managed to escape. In the camp he works, among other things, in road construction. Like many other refugees, he was not granted a normal work permit. However, he was allowed to leave the camp.

A Home Office index card for Heinz Dehn. Source: Dehn family archive via Ancestry.de.

The group photo from the Kitchener camp was taken in 1939. Heinz Dehn is the third from the right in the second row from the top. 22 of the 30 camp mates have signed the back. Like Heinz, Chaim Bobker, Heinz Falkenburg and Hans Meyerstein were deported to Australia on the HMT Dunera. We are looking for information about the men in the photo. Source: Dehn family archive.

Regufees: Hitler’s “fifth column”?

From May 1940, fears of a German invasion increase in Great Britain. Right-wing newspapers launch a wave of propaganda – by no means free of anti-Semitic and nationalist prejudices: the 70,000 or so refugees and ethnic Germans living on the island are sweepingly insulted as “Hitler’s fifth column” and accused of preparing an invasion. Winston Churchill, prime minister since a few days, takes ownership of this and wants to eradicate “this malignancy[32] Churchill in House of Commons, 4 June 1940quoted from Richard M. Langworth "Churchill, Refugees, and Aliens" (Hillsdale College's Churchill Project on April 27, 2017), retrieved May 10, 2023.“.

Under the catchphrase attributed to him, “Collar them all[33] „Collar them all“ or „Collar the lot“ is a reference tot he Middle Ages, when in iron ring was placed around the neck of criminals.” Churchill orders the deportation of all German, Austrian, and Czech males between the ages of 16 and 60. The “C” classification is now worth as little as Nazi Germany’s demonstrable threat to Jews and political refugees. Those persecuted by the Nazis only a short time before are now insulted and persecuted again – as the “fifth column” of the fascists!

As a result, tens of thousands of emigrants are arrested and locked up in camps; thousands were deported overseas. Most of them are of Jewish origin or known as anti-fascists. Some are already living in England in the second generation and were born there. Others have fought in British pioneer forces on the mainland, but were disarmed before embarking at Dunkirk after the French defeat.

Kitchener Camp again becomes important to the military because of its exposed location near the southeast channel exit. Already during the Dunkirk evacuation at the end of May 1940, gradual evacuation begins. After decades of neglect, the Army regains a functioning facility made operational without tax money.

Many internees are now transported to the Isle of Man[34] The island in the Irish Sea is not officially part of Great Britain, but is (like the Channel Islands of Guernsey and Jersey) “Crown Dependency” – a property of the British Royals. and dispersed to several locations. These camps are hastily created by expropriating and clearing private homes and fencing off entire streets. In Ramsey, where Heinz Dehn is assigned, and other camps, there is no furniture, at best straw sacks for sleeping. The food supply[35] According to Section 43 Paragraph 1 of the West German Compensation Act, there is a claim if imprisonment abroad violated international law. A five-page presentation by Heinz Dehn is part of his evidence  (LG Berlin, file no. 191.0 (Decision) 421/74). The judgment (Az 5 U (WG) 43/71 OLG Koblenz) won by Dunera Boy Fritz Kassel in 1972 after 10 years of litigation inspired Heinz Dehn to take action. is one-sided (lots of dried fish) and inadequate, Heinz later reports. In most of these places, the prisoners can see the sea from a very short distance. Barbed wire and posts prevent them from reaching the sea. Surprisingly for Heinz, he and other prisoners were transferred to Huyton, north of Liverpool, in early July 1940, where conditions were similarly bad.

Deportation on the Dunera to Australia

The stay there is only short. On July 10, 1940, Heinz Dehn is loaded onto the troopship HMT Dunera (HMT = Hired Military Transporter) without being told where the journey is to go.

On board the ship, which is registered for about 1,600 passengers, are more than 2,000 Jews and anti-fascists. Another 200 prisoners of war Italians and about 250 Germans are survivors[36] These include many POWs know as Nazis as well as Jewish refugees, e.g. the three Radok brothers. of the sinking of the Arandora Star by a German submarine ten days earlier. In addition, there are about 300 guards and crew. The Dunera is not marked (under the Hague Convention) as a prisoner transport or civilian ship. The ship is visibly armed and sails unaccompanied.

As soon as they board the ship, the internees are systematically robbed of their valuables by the guards with the cooperation of their officers. They are subjected to anti-Semitic attacks, luggage is destroyed or thrown overboard, important personal documents (e.g. visas and passports) are destroyed. During one of the rarely permitted walks above deck, they are once even forced to walk barefoot over broken glass. The sanitary conditions in the completely overloaded ship are impossible.

Unlike Italians and Nazis, the Jewish internees are crampedly housed; opening the portholes is forbidden and many are covered by steel plates so that neither sunlight nor fresh air enters the rooms. Lacking adequate hammocks or mattresses, many must sleep on tables, benches or the bare floor.

After only two days, the Dunera is attacked north of Ireland by the German submarine U-56. The two torpedoes do not explode and cause only slight damage to the hull. Everyone escapes with a scare, especially since there have been no rescue drills and the internees rushing on deck are kept away from the few lifeboats with firearms.

After two months without a change of clothes and in the most abominable sanitary conditions, the Dunera arrives in the Western Australian port of Fremantle end of August 1940. After an initial tour of the ship, an Australian military doctor makes an official complaint about the condition of the men and their treatment during that horror voyage.

The Dunera docked at Jones Wharf in Sydney Harbour on September 6, 1940 (seen here in 2021). From there, the internees were taken by train to Camp Hay (New South Wales). Photo: Peter Dehn.

Interned behind barbed wire in Australia

The survivors of the Arandora Star and some other internees are disembarked a few days later in Melbourne and taken to a camp near Tatura (Federal Country Victoria). Most of the men must endure on board until September 6. Their ordeal on the Dunera ends in Sydney Harbor. They are immediately taken by rail to a newly built camp at Hay in the state of New South Wales. There they are trapped behind triple barbed wire and guard towers. There are weather conditions unfamiliar to Europeans, with almost abrupt changes between extreme heat and cold nights. In June 1941, they are transferred to Tatura, which has a somewhat milder climate and is surrounded by several camps. Once again, the internees find themselves behind triple barbed wire and under military guard. In Hay, as in Tatura, the internees use the self-government left to them to organize daily life. In addition, expert comrades offer continuing education in many subjects. There are sports and cultural activities, and they even create artworks and their own plays.

Heinz Dehn is involved in these self-governments. In Hay, as “Hut Captain,” he represents the fellow internees from Hut 18 in the camp council. In 1941, on the occasion of the transfer to Tatura, the spokesman of Camp 7 Hay Andreas Eppenstein thanked him for his “excellent work[37] Camp spokesman Andreas Eppenstein to Heinz Dehn, Hay, May 1941.“. “Under often unfavorable conditions” Heinz had “selflessly and in the best sense of comradeship contributed to alleviating the distress of our internees”. He is also active in the Tatura camp. On the occasion of the dissolution of the camp and his farewell from the camp council, comrade Ulrich Laufer[38] The talented artist from Berlin-Schöneberg is one of the youngest “Dunera Boys”. He was only 20 years old and a working soldier when he and his comrade Max Schwarz (26) drowned in a swimming accident in Tocumwal (NSW) on December 30, 1943. paints a watercolor as a personal gift. He caricatures Heinz in numerous situations of his activity for the internees.

Internment as a “regrettable mistake“?

As early as the summer of 1940, the internment policy in England in general and the events surrounding the Arandora Star and the Dunera in particular were discussed publicly and critically – even in Parliament. On August 22, 1940 – the Dunera had not yet arrived in Australia – Major Victor Alexander Cazalet, a member of the Conservative Party, admonished the House of Commons:

„No ordinary excuse, such as that there is a war on and that officials are overworked, is sufficient to explain what has happened. (…) Horrible tragedies, unnecessary and undeserved, lie at the door of somebody (…). We have, unwittingly I know, added to the sum total of misery caused by this war, and by doing so we have not in any way added to the efficiency of our war effort. (…) Frankly, I shall not feel happy, either as an Englishman or as a supporter of this Government, until this bespattered page of our history has been cleaned up and rewritten.“

Source: British House of Commons[39] I.e. House of Commons, Minute of Aug 22, 1940, retrieved May 10, 2023., Minutes of 22 August 1940.

Prime Minister Churchill shrugs off the events surrounding the more than 11,000 men deported by superficial saying[40] Cf. Wikipedia about the Dunera, retrieved May 11, 2023. it was “a deplorable and regrettable mistake”.

The government is providing a rather modest 35,000 pounds[41] The value of the amount is given as around 2 million pounds as of 2021. Cf, Wikipedia ibid, retrievec on May 11, 2023. in financial compensation. This may satisfy the material losses, but hardly does justice to the broken lives of the 2,500 men. A British military court conducts the trial of only three accused guards. It refuses to bring internees to England to testify. Even written testimonies from those affected are not wanted and are ignored. After a lengthy delay, an officer and two enlisted men from the Dunera guards are sentenced to rather light sentences. Officially, government files on the entire subject are blocked for 100 years. By the time “history can be cleaned up and rewritten,” it may be forgotten if possible.

In parallel, the British Home Office sends an officer[42] Major Julian Layton, was a Brit with German-Jewish roots who had already committed himself to the Kitchener Camp. He was sent to Australia as a Home Office liaison to deal with the internment camps. to Australia to recruit soldiers among the internees for pioneer units or other war-related duties. From mid-1941 until the end of the war, 1,131 men are released from internment and sent to England for military service[43] Cf. Inglis, Spark, Winter, „Dunera Lives. A Visual History“, Melbourne 2018, page 518.. Attacks by German submarines[44] Cf. Interview of J. Layton, quoted from Bartrop/Eisen „The Dunera Affair. A Documentary Ressource Book“, Sydney 1990, page 101. during these voyages claim 47 victims among them.

As a Soldier Down Under

Several hundred ex-interns wanted to travel from Australia to third countries to join their families or relatives. About 500 internees want to stay in Australia. They join the Australian military under voluntary duress[45] Cf. Note from the Adjudant-General to the Australian Parliament, March 29, 1946. National Archives of Australia (NAA), NAA_ItemNumber4938132, sheet 28, paragraph d., but are not allowed to serve with weapons. Heinz Dehn and most of the other ex-internees are assigned to the 8th Australian Employment Company, newly formed exclusively from Jewish ex-internees. Among other things, they have to transfer military and civilian goods between trains of different gauges at Albury station (on the border of the states of Victoria and New South Wales). There and at other operational locations, they replace the manpower of Australians on duty with weapons.It was not until March 21, 1946 – almost a year after the end of the war – that Heinz Dehn was released from the army[46] Cf. „Service and Casualty Form“ Heinz Dehn, service no. V503914, National Archives of Australia NAA_ItemNumber6259383..

Unlike other ex-interns, he renounces naturalization in Australia. Before his discharge from the army, however, he applies for permanent residency[47] NAA_ItemNumber7841298.

Life in Melbourne

Like many former internees, he settles in Melbourne and finds employment in companies in the clothing industry, among others. His first known home of freedom is at 57 Wellington St. in the Windsor district east of Melbourne’s business district. In March 1947, “My Ladies Gloves” advertises for a “clicker”. Did Heinz apply for this? In early 1948, he names this company as his place of employment. He now lives a few houses away at 109 Wellington St.[48] NAA_ItemNumber6025111, page 13. The building is near the corner of the then shopping mile Chapel St. and the “Astor” cinema[49] The Austrian refugees Karl and Olga Bodan ran a hairdresser and a tobacco shop (Bodan & Kann) in that building in the 1940s. Apart from the immediate proximity there might have been a connection to Heinz Dehn through Eva Schwarcz, who came from Shanghai with the Bodan's.. Heinz provides this postal address to the actress Eva Schwarcz as the address for the Heinrich Heine League[50] A head arch with the c/o Heinz Dehn adress is preserved in the Dehn family archive. (League for German Democracy), which she founded. Ida Flieder, the only survivor of a Jewish family from Hanover, soon moves into the new address.

From July 1949 Heinz Dehn runs the company Hyman & Wieselmann[51] The founding is not documented. It could be speculated that Heinz took the company over, which was possibly founded by the Austrian Dunera Boys Ladislaus and Victor Wieselmann., a button and belt making business in Melbourne’s Chinatown.

Ida and Heinz get married[52] Marriage Contract of the Caulfield Hebrew Congregation, March 12, 1951, Dehn family archive. Secular: NAA_ItemNumber6025111 (Heinz Dehn); NAA_ItemNumber6025112 (Ida Dehn). on March 12, 1951. Their witnesses were the “Dunera Boys” Walter Fürst from Vienna and Eric Towers [Link] (Erich Tichauer) from Ratibor (Racibórz, Silesia), who had become naturalized citizens during their time in the army. Heinz and Ida now live in a semi-detached house at 47a Henry Street, also in the Windsor district. Their son Peter is born in 1953. Later in the year, Ida, like Heinz, receives a salary from Hyman & Wieselmann based on halving the net profit earned.

Against immigration of Nazis to Australia

As early as 1947, anti-Semitic attacks were reported from Australian camps for Displaced Persons[53] Displaced Persons (DPs) were people who were stranded as a result of the war. Remains of SS blood group[54] Philip Mendes, The Jewish Council to Combat Fascism and Anti-Semitism an the Campaign Against Nazi War Criminals, Australian Historical Studies 2008. With thanks to Mr Mendes. had been found on some perpetrators. In the early 1950s, the Australian government under the Prime Minister Robert Menzies agrees on a campaign with the Federal Republic of Germany to recruit up to 10,000 preferably young Germans[55] The contract was signed in Bonn on Aug 28, 1952. Text: NAA_ItemNumber30156359.. Jewish circles in particular protest against such uncontrolled immigration from Germany to Australia. It is feared that Menzies is bringing people into the country who will have a negative impact on Australian society due to their anti-democratic and racist upbringing by the Nazis.

At 47a Henry Street the initiative “Victorian Council Against Nazi Immigration” was founded, whose appeal[56] „Protest Against Mass-Immigration of Pro-Nazi Germans“, 1951, Dehn family Archive. Heinz Dehn signed as spokesman in early 1951. Denazification in Germany had proved a failure, says the appeal, which is sent to numerous politicians, trade unionists, etc., among others. Heinz Dehn fears[57] „Says Screening is Ineffective“, „The Age“, Jan 9, 1951, page 4; National Library of Australia (NLA). that “no amount of political screening could deter former Nazis from immigrating to Australia”. Immigration Minister Holt, on the other hand, believes that the screening of candidates will already separate the wheat from the chaff.

In April 1951, the Melbourne newspaper “The Age” let a Polish immigrant[58] „Tension on ship Over German Migrant Party“, „The Age“ April 25, 1951, page 4. Ibid. have his say: “It was an unhappy journey. We cannot live and travel with men who fought for Hitler.” Another daily newspaper quotes Heinz Dehn in January 1952 as saying that a Reichswehr colonel[59] „Hitler Men Let in“, „The Argus“Jan 29, 1952, page 8. ibid, “one of Hitler’s personal bodyguards”, among others, had arrived with a group of immigrants. The newspaper “Herald” quotes an emigrant at the end of January 1952 under the headline “Nazis Not Wanted”: One must prevent the entry – of people “with tattoos under their armpits[60] „Nazis Not Wanted“, „The Age“ Jan 28, 1952, page 7. ibid., who were guards in concentration camps, not the inmates”.

Later Heinz Dehn is honorary secretary of the party group of the Communist Party of Australia for the Melbourne district of St. Kilda. He is monitored by the Australian domestic intelligence service ASIO[61] Files on this will not be released to the family. According to ASIO files about Walter Kaufmann (NAA_ItemNumber8334494) and Salomea Genin (NAA_ItemNumber3249567) Heinz Dehn is filed under no. VPF 1708..

Return to Germany

Heinz, Ida and Peter return to Germany[62] Ticket of the shipping company Sitmar for the Fairsea to Plymouth, leaving Melbourne May 10, 1957, Dehn family archive. in July 1957 and settle in West Berlin. Sensibly they spend the first days in the “Hotel Traber[63] Hotel Traber, Receipt from July 1, 1957, Dehn family archive.” in Charlottenburg at Stuttgarter Platz 9, the house where Heinz was born. At the end of 1957 they are officially assigned an apartment in Steglitz[64] District administration Steglitz, „Allocation by Permission of Use“, Ovt 28, 1957, Dehn family archive.. In 1963 their daughter is born and they are looking for a larger apartment. When a man’s voice on the phone introduces himself as “Mr. Niemand” (Nobody) and offers an apartment, Heinz initially wants to hang up. In the Friedenau district, the Niemand and Dehn families soon become neighbors.

The family’s livelihood is the rented house from the estate of Heinz’s father Leberecht Dehn, which was reclaimed after years of disputes with the authorities and courts and which his mother Clara had been forced to sell in 1940. Heinz Dehn manages it himself. From 1951 to 1976, Heinz and Ida Dehn also fight for financial compensation or reparations from authorities and courts for the property of their 14 family members murdered by the Nazis and for their own claims arising from the Federal German laws on “Wiedergutmachung” and “Entschädigung”[65] Extensive documentation on that in Dehn family archive. of Nazi victims.

In Westberlin, Heinz Dehn became politically active again, among other things in the Steglitz group of the “Campaign against Nuclear Death“. It had come into being after the CDU (Christian Democrat Party) majority in the Bundestag had voted for the stationing of nuclear weapons in the Federal Republic under German control.

After the campaign was dissolved, Heinz Dehn became honorary managing director of the „Ständiger Arbeitsausschuß für Frieden, nationale und internationale Verständigung West-Berlin“ (Standing Working Committee for National and International Understanding, West Berlin) from around 1961. Co-founder and chairman until his death is the film director Erich Engel (1891 to 1966). This association goes public for the first time in 1961 with a “Declaration of West Berlin Opponents of Nuclear Weapons” to continue the tasks of the campaign.

„Entry Permits“ for West Berliners into the GDR

After the construction of the Berlin Wall on August 13, 1961, the topic of the nuclear threat due to the Cold War is expanded by an important aspect. The Arbeitsausschuß shakes the foundations of the Cold War and demands negotiations with the GDR. The Federal Republic and Westberlin do not want to recognize the GDR’s state existence and refuse to negotiate in order to avoid even the appearance of diplomatic recognition of the GDR.

At the end of 1962, social democrat and Kreuzberg Mayor Willy Kressmann  advocates negotiations with the GDR in a Danish newspaper. The “Informationsdienst” (Information Service) of the Arbeitsausschuß is, as far as known, the only medium in Western Germany to document the entire text[66] Special edition of „Informationsdienst“ with a copy of the front page and translation of the Kressmann-interview to „Aktuelt“ of Nov 6, Dehn family archive. of the article. In a short statement, it is suggested that Kressmann is facing “consequences regarding his position in the party”. Willy Brandt, since 1957 governing mayor and SPD (Social Democratic Party) chairman in West Berlin the frontline city of the Cold War, declared in the city parliament that Kressmann’s statement[67] Cf. Wikipedia about Willy Kressmann, retrieved Nov 20, 2023. is “not in line with our policy”.] Kressmann is indeed forced to resign as a district mayor a short time later and leaves the SPD in 1963.

Title page of the “Informationsdienst” including the translation of the Danish article.

The “Appeal on the Passport Licence Question” was signed by numerous West Berlin celebrities[68] [68] Among the first signatories in 1964 were the later West Berlin FDP (Liberal Party) chairman Wolfgang Lüder, the theatre critic Herbert Ihering, the actors Hans Hessling and Gertrud von Bargen, the writers Christoph Meckel and Dinah Nelken, and the publisher Wolfgang Haug..

It takes until the end of 1963 for the West Berlin Senate and the GDR to reach a first visitation agreement after long negotiations. For the first time since August 13, 1961, West Berliners can visit relatives in Berlin/GDR at Christmas 1963[69] The GDR renounces diplomatic recognition. Instead of visas “entry permits“ are issued in five offices in West Berlin by GDR officials who act as postmen..

With the collection of signatures for the “Appell zur Passierscheinfrage” (Appeal on the Entry Permit Question), the Arbeitsausschuß promoted the continuation of this visiting arrangement from 1964 onward. Hate mail and telephone terror with death threats against Heinz Dehn show how incited public opinion is in Cold War West Berlin.

It was only after 1969 that Willy Brandt – now as Federal Foreign Minister – began to implement the “change through rapprochement” strategy developed by Egon Bahr (SPD), which culminated in the „Grundlagenvertrag[70] The “Grundlagenvertrag” (basic treaty) of 1972 was based on a compromise: the GDR renounced formal diplomatic recognition. Permanent representations wee set up instead of embassies.“ (Basic Treaty) of FRG and GDR in 1972.

“100,000 for Vietnam”

The “Informationsdienst” publishes documents from East-West negotiations and international conferences are published in full text – in part for the first time in West Germany and in German. After the entry permit-regulations have been stepped up, the organization devotes itself increasingly to, among other things, collections of money, medicines and medical products for the benefit of the Red Cross of the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam (FNL).

In the ongoing Cold War, such activities incur the wrath of those in power. The West Berlin police chief had the committee’s bank accounts seized and banned the collection. At the time, this is also a declaration of war against the Cold War. The Senate and the media in Westberlin declare any criticism of the USA (and even more so of its war against Vietnam) to be an attack on the democratic society of the West, which is defended in Vietnam by the US. From Senate circles, an attempt is made at the end of August 1968 to ban the “100,000 for Vietnam” money collection run by the Arbeitsausschuß. This is one of the first actions of Hans-Joachim Prill[71] Prill is referred to as „Neo Noske“ by the extra-parliamentary opposition because of his overly harsh actions against leftists. Cf. „Der Spiegel“ no. 32/1968 (German), retrieved May 11, 2023. (SPD) as interim police chief.

On September 13, 1968, the Westberlin administrative court strucks down the collection ban by the police and the confiscation of the account. In the “Informationsdienst” both the police order and the verdict of the administrative court appealed to by the Arbeitsausschuß are documented verbatim. The court rejected, among other things, the claim that the funds did not reach the FNL:

“The facts that or for what reason the proper implementation of the collection was not sufficiently guaranteed – for example irregularities in the management of the organizer – are not known and have not been cited by the respondent,” the judges state. “There is no reason to assume that the proceeds of the collection will not be used for this purpose.” Last but not least, the collection is “not carried out with the intention of disrupting the peaceful coexistence of the peoples. According to the current collection law, it does not matter whether the purpose of the collection is approved by the authority.” (author’s emphasis).

From the court ]judgement[72] Berlin Administrative Court file no. VG I A 151.68, judgement of Sep 13, 1968. Quoted from „Informationsdienst“ no. 6/1968, page 8f..

The court’s last remark is a slap in the face of the Senate, which apparently wanted to silence the opposition. By mid-1976, more than 700,000 DM in money and medicine were collected in West Berlin alone.

The Arbeitsausschuß is also active internationally. At international conferences of the World Peace Council, Heinz Dehn meets acquaintances again: Heinz Altschul from Vienna is a Dunera Boy; Heinz knows the Labor politician and peace activist Sam Goldbloom from Australia. Even before the student movement, the working committee is helping to ensure that solidarity with Vietnam is supported by broad sections of the public in Westberlin and West Germany.

The demand for peaceful coexistence between East and West also brought more and more people together during the 1960s and 1970s, without having to ignore or abandon different political and ideological positions. The working committee made a small contribution to ensuring that Willy Brandt’s “Neue Ostpolitik” (new eastern policy) was accepted and led to the “Grundlagenvertrag” between the Federal Republic of Germany and the GDR in 1972.

In April 1967, Heinz Dehn took part in the founding meeting of the Republikanischer Club Berlin e.V.[73] Invitation to the founding assemby, dated April 25, 1967 and the draft statutes with handwritten notes by Heinz Dehn. Dehn family archive. (RC). In Charlottenburg, the RC offers a meeting point and a platform for debates between the feuding left-wing groups, who can argue about current and ideological issues here. Heinz Dehn is not only member number 249, but also one of 20 limited partners of the GmbH & Co KG, which is intended to backup the club’s operations, including a restaurant and bookstore. The Berlin RC became a model for other clubs in the Federal Republic. However, the Berlin association failed due to economic problems and differences[74] Correspondence of Heinz Dehn. Dehn family archive. between management, tax advisors and limited partners and was dissolved in 1970.

Post-reunification historians refer to the Arbeitsausschuß as “preliminary organization” of the West Berlin Communist Party SEW (Socialist Unity Party Westberlin). It is known that Heinz Dehn was a member of this party. It is not yet publicly known that he prevented the Arbeitsausschuß from being misused to recruit members for the party. The author remembers an extremely heated and loud discussion between Heinz Dehn (who was a rather quiet discussant) in the office room of the Dehn place with the liaison man to the SEW board when they wanted to enforce a corresponding demand.

Heinz did not live to see the peak of international activities against nuclear armament in the first half of the 1980s. He would have been very pleased by the great unity and strength of the socially broad peace movement.

Heinz Dehn headed the Arbeitsausschuß until his death on January 1, 1977 at the age of 71. He leaves behind his wife Ida and two children.

Please note: Unless sources are explicitly stated, this biography is based on stories told by the Dehn parents and the memories of their son Peter Dehn. The “Informationsdienst” of the working committee from 1961 to 1976 is part of the Dehn family archive. Further documents, e.g. from procedures for compensation and reparation for family members, are extensively preserved there.

Footnotes