August Kellner German politician, military lawyer. Born in Vaihingen an der Enz. Worked as a justice inspector in Mainz and Laubach, Germany. Organizer of the Social Democratic Party of Germany. Opposed Adolf Hitler and Nazism. Author of a secret diary Date of Birth: 01.02.1885 Country: Germany

1. Early Life and Career
2. Political Activism and Resistance
3. Opposition to Nazism and "My Resistance" Diary
4. Post-War Life and Legacy

Early Life and Career

August Friedrich Kellner was born in Vaihingen an der Enz, Kingdom of Württemberg (now southern Germany), on July 19, 1885. He was the only child of Georg Kellner, a baker from Arnstadt (Thuringia), and Barbara Weigel from Bietigheim-Bissingen. The Kellner family was Evangelical Lutheran.

Friedrich Kellner attended elementary and higher school in Mainz. In 1903, he became a clerk in the Mainz court. In 1920, he was appointed Inspector of Justice. He continued to work in the court until 1933.

Political Activism and Resistance

In 1908, Friedrich Kellner joined the military reserve. When World War I broke out in 1914, he was called up for active duty. He fought in Belgium and France, participating in the First Battle of the Marne. He was wounded near Reims, France, and spent the rest of the war in the 13th Army Corps in Frankfurt am Main.

After the war, Friedrich Kellner became active in the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) in Mainz. Throughout the 1920s, he campaigned against the Communist Party and the National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP). In one speech, Friedrich Kellner held up Adolf Hitler's book "Mein Kampf" and shouted to the crowd, "Gutenberg, your printing press has been disgraced by this evil book." Nazi paramilitary "Stormtroopers" often tried to disrupt his rallies.

Opposition to Nazism and "My Resistance" Diary

In January 1933, shortly before Hitler purged his political opponents, Friedrich Kellner moved his family to the village of Laubach in Hesse, where he took up a post as administrator at the district court. In 1935, to spare his son from serving in Hitler's army, Friedrich Kellner sent him to the United States.

After Kristallnacht in November 1938, Friedrich Kellner demanded charges against local Stormtroopers in Laubach who had led the pogrom against Jews. An investigation was opened, but not against the Stormtroopers, but against Friedrich Kellner and his wife, to check their ancestry and determine if they were Jewish.

Despite the Nazi's influence, Friedrich Kellner continued to speak his mind. In 1940, the mayor of Laubach and local Nazi party leader threatened to send Friedrich Kellner to a concentration camp if he continued to be a "bad influence" on the people in the town.

On September 1, 1939, the day Hitler ordered the German armed forces to attack Poland, Friedrich Kellner began writing his diary. He titled it "Mein Widerstand" ("My Resistance"). He rarely wrote about his personal situation in the diary. He wrote about Nazi policies and propaganda, and about Hitler's unprovoked aggression against other nations.

One of the most significant historical entries he made in his diary occurred on October 28, 1941. The entry clearly shows that even in the smallest towns in Germany, the German people were well aware of the genocide of the Jews:

> "The Jews are being murdered wholesale in Poland, Russia and elsewhere. Thousands are being picked up here every day and driven off to destinations unknown. And from those destinations, no news comes back."

Before the war, Friedrich Kellner could not understand why the leaders of democratic nations refused to stop the dictator Hitler from building up armaments in Germany. Now, he wondered why they had so long delayed attacking the European continent to confront the German army. On June 25, 1941, he wrote:

> "Why did England and France wait until the war had been brought to their own borders? Why did they not strike earlier? If they had done so, they would have had little to worry about."

Post-War Life and Legacy

By the end of the war, Friedrich Kellner had filled 10 notebooks, 861 pages, written in an old German script called "Sutterlin." Friedrich Kellner also inserted over 500 newspaper clippings into the pages of his diary.

After the war, Friedrich Kellner became deputy mayor of Laubach and pursued the prosecution of former Nazis. He re-established the Social Democratic Party in Laubach and became chairman of the organization.

He served as Chief Inspector of Justice and court administrator in Laubach until 1948, and then as an auditor in the district of Giessen until his retirement in 1950. From 1956-1960, he again served as first deputy and deputy mayor of Laubach.

Friedrich Kellner received a compensation payment from the Federal Republic of Germany in 1966 for the injustices done to him by the Nazis: "Kellner's political opposition was remarkable, and this produced retaliatory measures against him. It was Kellner's open opposition to National Socialism that prevented his promotion and caused him professional damage."

On February 8, 1970, after 57 years of marriage, his wife, Pauline, died. Friedrich Kellner died on November 4, 1970. He and his wife are buried together at the Hauptfriedhof (main cemetery) in Mainz.