Hans Wesemann
Hans Wesemann (27 November, 1895, Nienburg on the Weser – 23 October, 1971, Caracas) was a German journalist and Gestapo agent.
Hans was born into the family of Fritz Wesemann and his wife Margarethe Hars. He lived with them and his three siblings Sigrid, Greta and Freiedrich on a large farm.[1]
His breakthrough as a journalist came when he was able to interview Ernst Toller in 1923. Following his brief spell as President of the Bavarian Soviet Republic Toller was still being held in Niederschönenfeld prison and Wesemann had to overcome the suspicions of the warders to gain access to the political prisoner.[1]
By 1935 he had become a Gestapo agent and conducted the first known kidnapping a person from another country by the Nazis. This was the kidnapping of pacifist writer Berthold Jacob from Basel, Switzerland.[2]
References
- ^ a b Barnes, James J.; Barnes, Patience P. (2001). Nazi Refugee Turned Gestapo Spy: The Life of Hans Wesemann, 1895-1971. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 9780275971243. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
- ^ Isenberg, Sheila (2005). A Hero of Our Own: The Story of Varian Fry. iUniverse. ISBN 9780595348824. Retrieved 31 December 2017.