View source for Georg Groscurth

{{Short description|German physician (1904–1944)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2015}}
[[File:Groscurth low resolution.tif|thumb|Georg Groscurth ]]
'''Georg Groscurth''' ({{IPA|de|ˈɡeː.ɔʁk ˈɡʁɔsˌkʊʁt|lang|De-Georg Groscurth.ogg}}; December 27, 1904 – May 8, 1944), was a German medical doctor and member of the [[German resistance to Nazism|resistance to Nazism]] in the time of the [[Third Reich]].

==Life==
{{Righteous Among the Nations}}
Georg Groscurth was born a farmer's son in the village of Unterhaun in the Province of [[Hesse-Nassau]], now part of [[Hauneck]] in the [[States of Germany|''Bundesland'']] of [[Hesse]]. He studied medicine at the [[University of Marburg]], the [[Albert Ludwigs University of Freiburg]], the [[University of Graz]], and the [[University of Vienna]]. He finished his studies in [[Berlin]] with a doctorate in medicine. Thereafter, Groscurth worked at the [[Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physical Chemistry]]. There he got to know [[Robert Havemann]], with whom he founded a resistance group some years later.

From 1933 Groscurth worked as an [[Internal medicine|internist]] at the Robert Koch Hospital in Berlin, and later at the [[Moabit]] Hospital, also in Berlin. In 1940, Groscurth was appointed as a lecturer at [[Humboldt University of Berlin|Friedrich Wilhelm University]], where he came to [[Rudolf Hess]]'s attention when he became Groscurth's patient.

Since Groscurth witnessed not only his [[Jew]]ish colleagues being removed from their positions when [[Hitler]] [[Machtergreifung|came to power]] beginning in 1933, he knowingly broke his [[Physician-patient privilege|professional discretion]] and tried to communicate to resistance groups everything that Hess had told him during medical consultations. This included, for example, plans for new [[concentration camp]]s and for an attack on the [[Soviet Union]]. Together with the [[chemist]] Robert Havemann, the architect [[Herbert Richter-Lukian]] and the dentist [[Paul Rentsch]], Groscurth then founded the resistance group ''[[European Union (resistance group)|Europäische Union]]'' ("European Union"). They hid Jews and fugitives. Whenever he could, Groscurth certified soldiers unfit for [[combat]] duty. In 1943, he got to know [[Galina Romanova]], a Soviet doctor from [[Dnepropetrovsk]] who had been forcibly brought to Germany as a [[slave labour]]er. He treated her with medications, gave her professional advice, and supported her in organizing the resistance.

The ''European Union'' resistance group was betrayed in 1943 and Groscurth was seized on September 4, 1943. Afterwards, he was sentenced to death at the ''[[Volksgerichtshof]]''. The death sentence was signed by judges, [[Roland Freisler]] and [[Hans-Joachim Rehse]]. Groscurth was [[Hanging|hanged]] at the [[Brandenburg-Görden Prison]] on May 8, 1944.
[[Image:Unterhaun groscurthvorne.jpg|thumb|Memorial stone for Georg Groscurth at Unterhaun cemetery]]

== Posthumous recognition ==
After the war ended, his widow, Dr. [[Anneliese Groscurth]], lived in [[Haunetal|Wehrda]] in Hesse, and later in [[West Berlin]] together with the couple's two sons. [[Friedrich Christian Delius]], who later became a writer, grew up with the two Groscurth boys and later wrote the book ''Mein Jahr als Mörder'' ("My Year as a Murderer"), a novel with both autobiographical and historical elements, based on the lives of Georg and Anneliese Groscurth. His book played a major role in bringing recognition to the Groscurth's story.<ref name="Roeder">Dr. Friedhelm Röder. [https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:zChPLm15t7YJ:www.hersfelder-zeitung.de/netcontentmedia/office/200746101192442986.pdf+%22Paul+Rentsch%22+gedenktafel&hl=en&sig=AHIEtbQ0FKQUzZ5LSWphsunFMz3CAGwYYg "Das Gedenken an den Wiederstandskämpfer – Dr. Georg Groscurth aus Unterhaun"] ''Mein Heimatland – Zeitschrift für Geschichte, Volks- und Heimatkunde'' Bad Hersfeld (October 2007) No. 10, Vol. 46. Retrieved March 18, 2010 {{in lang|de}}</ref>

A memorial [[Commemorative plaque|plaque]] that recalls Georg Groscurth's activities can be found at the former [[Moabit]] Hospital, Turmstraße 21 in Berlin. Furthermore, a street in the [[Pankow]] section of Berlin was named Groscurthstraße in his honour on August 31, 1977. In 1980 a memorial to Groscurth with the inscription "I die for a world without hate" was erected within the cemetery of Unterhaun. In 2005, Israel awarded Groscurth with the designation, [[Righteous among the Nations]].<ref>Claudia Keller. [http://www.tagesspiegel.de/berlin/art270,1959739 "Späte Ehre für die selbstlosen Retter"] ("Late Honor for the selfless Lifesaver") ''Der Taggespiel'' (July 6, 2005) Retrieved March 16, 2010 {{in lang|de}}</ref>

==Literature==

*Friedrich C. Delius: ''Mein Jahr als Mörder''. Rowohlt, Berlin 1999 {{ISBN|3-87134-458-3}}

== References ==
<references/>

==External links==
* {{DNB portal|121278956|TYP=}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20050510150911/http://www.aerztezeitung.de/docs/2004/12/07/223a1901.asp?cat= Article in medical newspaper] {{in lang|de}}
*[http://www.gegen-diktatur.de/beispiel.php?beisp_id=476&tafel_id=12&thema=0 Biography at gegen-diktatur.de] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716154120/http://www.gegen-diktatur.de/beispiel.php?beisp_id=476&tafel_id=12&thema=0 |date=July 16, 2011 }} {{in lang|de}}
*[http://www.luise-berlin.de/Gedenktafeln/mit/g/groscurth_georg.htm Inscription on the plaque] {{in lang|de}}
*[http://db.yadvashem.org/righteous/family.html?language=en&itemId=5419419 Georg Groscurth] – his activity to save Jews' lives during the [[Holocaust]], at [[Yad Vashem]] website

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Groscurth, Georg}}
[[Category:1904 births]]
[[Category:1944 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Hersfeld-Rotenburg]]
[[Category:People from Hesse-Nassau]]
[[Category:German internists]]
[[Category:German Righteous Among the Nations]]
[[Category:Executed German Resistance members]]
[[Category:People executed by Nazi Germany by hanging]]
[[Category:People from Hesse executed by Nazi Germany]]
[[Category:People executed by Nazi courts]]