One has no idea what is in store when a picture is taken in a foreign place. It looks interesting, but it is impossible to know how fascinating it will be until investigated. The picture here is one of those that surprised me. I couldn't understand the words, but I knew the individual memorialized was an important person, so I got his biography on line. Here is only some of what I found:
Carl von Ossietzky, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1935 was an activist since he began his career in journalism at the age of 24. He wrote and published articles on human rights, arms control and disarmament which sent him to prison on several occasions.
In 1929, Ossietzky published an article in opposition to secret German rearmament in violation of the Treaty of Versailles which sent him to prison for seven months in 1931. By early 1933, Ossietzky realized he was in danger, but refused to leave the country saying that “a man speaks with a hollow voice from across the border.” He was apprehended, sent to a Berlin prison and later to concentration camps at Sonnenburg and Esterwegen. His treatment in those camps led to his final demise in May of 1938.
Ossietzky’s candidacy for the Peace Prize was led by friends in the German League for Human Rights. Alas, the nomination for 1934 arrived too late; the prize for 1935 was reserved in that year, but finally, in 1936 the prize was given to Ossietzky. Even after this, the government refused to release him to accept the prize. The German press was forbidden to comment on the granting of the prize to Ossietzky and the German government decreed that in the future, no German could accept any Nobel Prize.
Stay tuned for more pictures from the Esterwegen Concentration Camp Cemetery.
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