FREE WHITEWATER

Daily Bread for 2.16.11

Good morning

It’s a cloudy day ahead for Whitewater, with a high temperature of forty-three.

The Wisconsin Historical Society recalls the commitment of Mildred Harnack, Wisconsin native, against tyranny and genocide:

1943 – Mildred Harnack Guillotined in Berlin

On this date Mildred Harnack was guillotined in Berlin, Germany. Harnack was born in Milwaukee and studied and lectured at the University of Wisconsin. She and her husband, Arvid Harnack, were key members of a German resistance group which assisted German Jews and political dissidents, circulated illegal literature, met secretly with prisoners of war, and worked to document Nazi atrocities in Europe. Known by the Nazis as the “Red Orchestra,” Harnack’s companions were arrested, tortured, and tried for their activities. Mildred Harnack was guillotined in Berlin on the personal orders of Adolf Hitler. [Source: UW – Madison Archives and Records Management Services]

More on her life is available at the website of the German Mission to the United States.

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