Mildred Fish-HarnackGermany’s Secret Hero

Biography written by:

Becky Marburger Educational Producer Wisconsin Media Lab

Table of Contents

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Early Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Getting an Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Living in Germany . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Resistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Captured! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Introduction

Most laws are created to help keep people safe . Would you follow laws if they hurt people?

Mildred Fish-Harnack lived in Germany when Adolf Hitler was its leader . His laws led to war and the deaths of millions of people . Mildred chose to stand up to Hitler . Her actions helped save people’s lives .

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Courtesy of the University of Wisconsin Digital Collections Center . UW .MFH0021 .bib .

Mildred Fish-Harnack (1923)

Early Life

Mildred Fish was born on September 16, 1902, to Georgina and William Fish . Mildred had three older siblings: Harriette and twins Marion and Marbeau .

The family lived in Milwaukee, Wisconsin . Fearless Mildred enjoyed being the center of attention .

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Mildred (top row, second from the left) showing her silly side in a photo with family and friends (August 1917).

Courtesy of the University of Wisconsin Digital Collections Center . UW .MFH004 .bib .

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Mildred was 12 years old when World War I began in Europe . The war pitted Germany against other countries . The United States (US) disagreed with Germany .

During World War I, people in Milwaukee removed German poetry from school lessons and stopped printing the city’s German newspaper . They even renamed sauerkraut “liberty cabbage .”

Sauerkraut, sausage, and potatoes are a traditional German meal.

Liberty CabbageKobako . 2006 . Wikimedia Commons .

Getting an Education

Mildred’s parents separated when she was in high school . She moved with her mother Georgina in 1918 to Washington, DC . Georgina taught herself how to type and became a secretary . Mildred admired how hard her mother worked .

Mildred began college in Washington, DC, in 1920 . After one year she switched schools and went to the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-Madison) . Mildred studied books and poems .

Mildred graduated from UW-Madison in 1925 . She stayed to teach and get another college degree . One day a lost German student named Arvid Harnack came into her classroom . He soon fell in love with Mildred .

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Mildred (right) used her mother’s work ethic and self-reliance as a model for her own life (1917).

Courtesy of the University of Wisconsin Digital Collections

Center .

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As a progressive woman, Mildred kept her name after she got married and went by Mildred Fish-Harnack.

Courtesy of the University of Wisconsin Digital Collections Center . UW .MFH0020 .bib .

The couple married at her brother’s farm on August 7, 1926 .

Arvid finished his classes in 1928 and moved back to Germany . Mildred stayed in the US to teach at a Maryland college .

Life in Germany

Mildred moved to Germany a year later . She taught classes and worked to get a third college degree .

As Mildred studied, Hitler and the Nazi Party grew strong . The group wanted others to join the Nazi Party and share their beliefs . Mildred refused to do so, which caused her to lose her job .

Mildred, Arvid, and other scholars from Berlin went to the Soviet Union in 1932 to learn more about the country .

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Mildred admired the Soviet Union because women had the right to choose where to work . Her experiences in the country fueled her desire to gain equal rights in Germany and the rest of the world .

In 1991, the Soviet Union broke apart into 15 new countries, the largest being Russia.

Soviet Union

Resistance

Hitler led the Nazis . In 1933 he became the leader of Germany . The Harnacks hated the laws Hitler created .

They formed a resistance group the German secret police called the Red Orchestra . The group wanted to force Hitler from power and return peace to Germany . The Red Orchestra told the truth about the Nazis in handouts and on the radio . The Nazis hated this .

Arvid and Mildred went back to Wisconsin in 1937 to visit the Fishes . The family thought Mildred was secretly a Nazi because she had grown quiet and shy . They asked her and Arvid to emigrate from Germany . The couple said no because they wanted to keep working against Hitler .

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Adolf Hitler was the political leader ofGermany from 1933 to 1945.

Hoops . 2011 . Wikimedia Commons .

In 1939, World War II began in Europe . Mildred kept working within the Red Orchestra to tell the truth about the Nazis . She also helped people escape Germany and the Nazis . Arvid bought Mildred a boat ticket to the US because he felt Germany was too dangerous . But Mildred refused to go . She wanted to stay with Arvid and continue her work in Germany .

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Despite the war, Mildred completed her PhD on November 20, 1941. This is her degree from the University of Giessen.

Courtesy of the German Resistance Memorial Center .

Captured!

Arvid went outside alone on September 7, 1942 . He returned with three German secret policemen . The men took Arvid and Mildred to prison .

The couple went on trial . Arvid knew he would be found guilty . He said he hated the Nazi Party and it was his fault that Mildred had worked against it . He hoped to save Mildred’s life .

Both were found guilty on December 19, 1942 . Mildred’s sentence was six years in prison . Arvid’s sentence was death . He was hanged three days later . Arvid died believing his wife would live .

Hitler learned of Mildred’s sentence and called for a second trial . This time her sentence was death .

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Mildred and Arvid were kept in this Berlin prison before their five-day trial.

Courtesy of the German Resistance Memorial Center .

A pastor visited Mildred on February 16, 1943 . He gave her a picture of her mother . Mildred kissed it and wrote on the back about her love for her mother .

Mildred Fish-Harnack was put to death that night .

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Mildred was beheaded using a guillotine.

Ihle, T . 2004 . Wikimedia Commons .

The Red Orchestra was a resistance group that worked against Hitler and the Nazis . The organization gave Nazi secrets to countries such as the Soviet Union and the US so that they could work to defeat Hitler . The Red Orchestra also helped people flee from the Nazis. The members were so secretive that they often did not know each other . They did this because they feared they could be jailed or executed if discovered .

Red Orchestra

A Soviet soldier waving a flag after they beat the Nazis at the Battle of Stalingrad (1943).

Kobako . 2006 . Wikimedia Commons .

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Conclusion

The Harnacks risked their lives sharing Nazi secrets with the US and Soviet Union so Hitler could be defeated . World War II ended in 1945 .

Mildred Fish-Harnack was a fearless woman who challenged laws that harmed people . She believed in doing what she thought right . Mildred showed how the actions of one person can help save people’s lives .

In 1986, Wisconsin declared September 16 Mildred Fish-Harnack Day to honor her selfless actions. How do you hope to be remembered? (1938)

Courtesy of the University of Wisconsin Digital Collections Center .

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Glossary

emigrate (v): . . . . . . . . . . . . to move from one country to live in another

equal rights (n): . . . . . . . . . the same treatment for all people

guillotine (n): . . . . . . . . . . . a machine used to behead people as punishment

Nazi (n): . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . a nickname for the National Socialist German Workers Party; political party led by Adolf Hitler whose goal was to make Germany the most powerful country in the world

progressive (adj): . . . . . . . . in favor of improvement, progress, and new ideas

resistance group (n): . . . . an organization formed to fight back against authority

sauerkraut (n): . . . . . . . . . . shredded cabbage that is salted and fermented to make it sour; means sour cabbage in German

university (n): . . . . . . . . . . . a school for higher education; usually after high school

World War I (WWI) (n): . . a war fought from 1914 to 1918 mainly in Europe; France, Great Britain, the Soviet Union, the United States, and other allied countries defeated Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and Turkey

World War II (WWII) (n): a war fought from 1939 to 1945 in Europe and eastern Asia; France, Great Britain, the Soviet Union, the United States, and other allied countries defeated Germany, Italy, and Japan

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