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Adolf Althoff

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Righteous
Among the Nations
By country

Adolf Althoff (German: [ˈaːdɔlf ˈaltˌhɔf] ⓘ, 25 June 1913 in Sonsbeck – 14 October 1998 in Stolberg (Rhineland) was a German circus owner, animal tamer and performer who saved several people from the Holocaust by having them work and travel in his circus. A member of a 300-year-old circus family, Althoff and his story are featured in a book about Germans who saved Jews from the Holocaust (Other Germans Under Hitler by Herbert Straeten). The events of his rescue during World War II are also dramatized in a 1998 Showtime TV-movie entitled Rescuers: Stories of Courage: Two Families.[1][2][3]

Althoff warned the people he rescued with the code Go Fishing.[4] In 1995 he and his wife Maria were named Righteous Among the Nations, an Israeli honor.[5][6]

He was born into the family in Sonsbeck, Germany. At age 17 he became publicity director for his families of the circus. In his twenties Althoff and his sister formed their own circus, of which he was the ringmaster for 30 years. In 1940, Althoff began five years work in concealing four members of the Danner performing family in his circus. Althoff provided the Danners with false identity papers and had the family working under pseudonyms.[7][8][9]

References

  1. ^ Pace, Eric (1998-10-19). "Adolf Althoff, 85, Circus Chief Who Hid People From Nazis". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-07-14.
  2. ^ "From the testimony of Adolf Althoff". www.yadvashem.org. Retrieved 2022-07-14.
  3. ^ "The Ringmaster Who Saved Jews - Adolf Althoff". Accidental Talmudist. 2017-12-06. Retrieved 2022-07-14.
  4. ^ "Sawdust and Spangle-Land – a Brief History of the Circus in Germany | Sarah Matthias". Retrieved 2022-07-14.
  5. ^ "Adolf and Maria Althoff". www.yadvashem.org. Retrieved 2022-07-14.
  6. ^ "Althoff, Adolf and Maria". The Jewish Foundation for the Righteous. Retrieved 2022-07-14.
  7. ^ "Obituary: Adolf Althoff". The Independent. 1998-10-21. Retrieved 2022-07-14.
  8. ^ malte. "Irene Bento (1923-2006), survived the Holocaust by being hidden in Circus Adolf Althoff – Diverging Fates". Retrieved 2022-07-14.
  9. ^ "Irene Danner's Testimony". www.yadvashem.org. Retrieved 2022-07-14.

External links


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