Uncle Emil

Berlin, November 1938. As the windows of Jewish businesses are shattered on the streets, synagogues burn, and the persecution escalates openly, people gather in a house in Berlin-Steglitz who refuse to look away. They act – spontaneously, out of conviction. And they form what would later be known under the warning call „Onkel Emil!“: a resistance group without party affiliation, but with courage and determination.

Help in secret

The group is formed around the journalist Ruth Andreas-Friedrich and the conductor. Leo Borchard Their motivation is not ideological, but deeply human: they want to help those who have been persecuted. What begins with a few friends who are rescued soon develops into a vital network of survival.

• They provide food cards, medicines, and safe hiding places.
• They forge documents, provide work, and organize escape routes.
• And they risk their own lives to save the lives of others.

A key member is the printer Ludwig Lichtwitz, who skillfully produces identification cards and documents. Prison pastors Harald Poelchau and the doctor also secretly Walter Seitz support the work – whether with information or medical help.

Signs of resistance

In 1943, „Onkel Emil“ spread the last leaflet of the White Rose in Berlin – an act of solidarity with the students murdered in Munich. And in the final days of the war, on April 18, 1945, the word „NO“ appeared on Berlin’s walls – written in chalk but unmistakable: a symbolic act of resistance just before the collapse of the Nazi regime.

Uncovered until the very end

Despite contacts with other resistance groups such as the Red Chapel and the Kreisau Circle, „Onkel Emil“ remained undetected until the end of the war. Without military means, but with a clear moral compass and silent determination, the participants managed to save numerous Jewish lives.

Memory and legacy

Today, „Uncle Emil“ stands for invisible but effective resistance – beyond the headlines but with great impact. Her example shows: Civil courage begins in the small things. In everyday life. And it makes a difference.

Sources Ruth Andreas-Friedrich: The Shadow Man. Diary entries from 1938–1948. Berlin 2000.
Susanne Gretter: – Ruth Andreas-Friedrich Biography, 17.09.2022.