Albert Battel

Albert Battel (German: [ˈalbɛʁt ˈbatl̩] ⓘ; 21 January 1891 – 1952) was a German Army lieutenant and lawyer recognized for his resistance during World War II to the Nazi plans for the 1942 liquidation of the Przemyśl Jewish ghetto. He was posthumously recognized as Righteous Among the Nations in 1981.[1]

Albert Battel in occupied Poland
Righteous
Among the Nations
By country

Early life

Battel was born in Klein-Pramsen (Prężynka), next to Neustadt (Prudnik), Prussian Silesia in 1891. After serving in the Imperial German Army in World War I, he studied economics and jurisprudence at the University of Munich and Breslau (Wrocław). He then worked as a lawyer in the interwar years. In the 1930s, he joined the Nazi Party.

World War II

In 1942, Battel was a 51-year-old reserve officer with the rank of lieutenant stationed in Przemyśl in southern Poland. He was the adjutant to the local military commander, major Max Liedtke. When the SS prepared to launch its first large-scale "resettlement" (liquidation) action against the Jews of Przemyśl on 26 July 1942, Battel, in concert with his superior, ordered the bridge over the River San, the only access into the Jewish ghetto, to be blocked. As the SS commando attempted to cross to the other side, the sergeant-major in charge of the bridge threatened to open fire unless they withdrew. The events occurred in broad daylight, to the amazement of the local inhabitants.

Later that same afternoon, an army detachment under the command of Oberleutnant Battel entered the cordoned-off area of the ghetto and used army trucks to evacuate approximately 100 Jews and their families to the barracks of the local military command. These Jews were placed under the protection of the Wehrmacht and were thus sheltered from deportation to Belzec. All the remaining ghetto inmates, including Judenrat head Dr. Duldig, were sent to the gas chambers in the next few days.

SS investigation

After the incident, the SS authorities began a secret investigation into Battel's conduct. Battel, though himself a member of the Nazi Party since May 1933, had attracted notice in the past because of his friendly behavior toward the Jews. Before the war, he had been indicted before a party tribunal for having extended a loan to a Jewish colleague. Later, in the course of his service in Przemyśl, he was officially reprimanded for cordially shaking Dr. Duldig's hand.

The affair reached the attention of the highest level of the Nazi hierarchy. Heinrich Himmler, the Reichsführer-SS, took an interest in the results of the investigation and sent a copy of the incriminating documentation to Martin Bormann, chief of the Party Chancellery and Adolf Hitler's right-hand man. In the accompanying letter, Himmler vowed to have the lawyer expelled from the Nazi Party and arrested immediately after the war.[2][3]

In 1944, Battel was discharged from military service because of heart disease. He returned to his hometown Breslau, only to be drafted into the Volkssturm and fall into Soviet captivity. He was released in 1946.[4]

Post-war

After his release, Battel settled in West Germany but was prevented from returning to practice law by a denazification court. He instead worked in a glass factory.[4]

Death

Battel died in 1952 in Hattersheim am Main, near Frankfurt. He was 61 years old.

Recognition and honor

Battel’s stand against the SS would not be recognized until years after his death, most notably through the tenacious efforts of the Israeli researcher and lawyer Dr. Zeev Goshen.

On January 22, 1981, almost 30 years after Battel's death, Yad Vashem recognized him as Righteous Among the Nations.

References
  1. "Righteous Among the Nations Honored by Yad Vashem by 1 January 2020 - Germany" (PDF). Yad Vashem. January 1, 2020. Retrieved January 27, 2022.
  2. "Factories of Death". Auschwitz: Inside the Nazi State. Season 1. Episode 3. BBC Television. 2005.
  3. Kitterman, David H. (1988). "Those Who Said "No!": Germans Who Refused to Execute Civilians during World War II". German Studies Review. 11 (2): 241–254. doi:10.2307/1429971. ISSN 0149-7952. JSTOR 1429971.
  4. "A lawyer like no other - the true crime story of Albert Battel, a Nazi lawyer who stood up to the SS | Duhaime's Anti-Money Laundering & Financial Crime News". March 31, 2020. Retrieved September 1, 2022.
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