August Friedrich Kellner (help·info) (February 1, 1885 – November 4, 1970) was a mid-level official in Germany who worked as a justice inspector in Mainz and Laubach. During the First World War, Kellner was an infantryman in a Hessian regiment. After the war he became a political organizer for the Social Democratic Party of Germany, which was the leading political party during the time of the turbulent and short-lived Weimar Republic, the name given to Germany’s first democracy. Kellner campaigned against Adolf Hitler and the Nazis. At the beginning of World War II, Kellner began writing in a diary to record his observations of the Nazi regime. He titled his work Mein Widerstand, meaning "My Opposition". After the war Kellner served on denazification boards, and he also helped to reestablish the Social Democratic Party. He gave his diary to his American grandson in 1968 to translate into English and to bring it to the attention of the public. He explained his purpose for writing the diary: Image File history File links Size of this preview: 488 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (822 × 1009 pixel, file size: 83 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. ... is the 32nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1885 (MDCCCLXXXV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Vaihingen an der Enz is located on the western periphery of the middle Neckar region, between Stuttgart and Karlsruhe, in southern Germany. ... is the 308th day of the year (309th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link shows full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the undead creature. ... A gymnasium (pronounced with or, in Swedish, as opposed to ) is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English Grammar Schools and U.S. High Schools. ... is the 32nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1885 (MDCCCLXXXV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... is the 308th day of the year (309th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link shows full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Mainz is a city in Germany and the capital of the German federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate. ... Laubach is a town known as a “Luftkurort,” a climatic health resort. ... Ypres, 1917, in the vicinity of the Battle of Passchendaele. ... The term Hessian refers to the inhabitants of the German state of Hesse. ... SPD redirects here. ... Anthem Das Lied der Deutschen Germany during the Weimar period, with the Free State of Prussia (in blue) as the largest state Capital Berlin Language(s) German Government Republic President  - 1918-1925 Friedrich Ebert  - 1925-1933 Paul von Hindenburg Chancellor  - 1919 Philipp Scheidemann(first)  - 1933 Kurt von Schleicher (last) Legislature... Hitler redirects here. ... The Nazi party used a right-facing swastika as their symbol and the red and black colors were said to represent Blut und Boden (blood and soil). ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... == c programming[[a--203. ... My Opposition (German: ) is a diary secretly written by the German social democrat Friedrich Kellner (1885 - 1970) during World War II to describe life under Nazi Germany and to expose the propaganda and the crimes of the Nazi dictatorship. ... Denazification (German: Entnazifizierung) was an Allied initiative to rid German and Austrian society, culture, press, economy, judiciary and politics of any remnants of the Nazi regime. ...

"I could not fight the Nazis in the present, as they had the power to still my voice, so I decided to fight them in the future. I would give the coming generations a weapon against any resurgence of such evil. My eyewitness account would record the barbarous acts, and also show the way to stop them."^[1][2]

Biography

Family and education

Kellner was born in Vaihingen an der Enz, a town on the Enz River in southern Germany. At the time of his birth, Vaihingen was part of the Kingdom of Württemberg, German Empire. Kellner was the only child of Georg Friedrich Kellner, a baker and confectioner from the town of Arnstadt in Thuringia, and Barbara Wilhelmine Vaigle from Bietigheim-Bissingen near Ludwigsburg. The Kellner family could trace its beginnings to when the Protestant reformer, Martin Luther, lived and preached not far from Arnstadt. The Kellners were Evangelical Lutherans. Vaihingen an der Enz is located on the western periphery of the middle Neckar region, between Stuttgart and Karlsruhe, in southern Germany. ... Neuraminidase ribbon diagram An enzyme (in Greek en = in and zyme = blend) is a protein, or protein complex, that catalyzes a chemical reaction and also controls the 3D orientation of the catalyzed substrates. ... Coat of Arms of the (formerly royal) Württemberg family, on a gate of the familys current residence, Schloss Altshausen in Altshausen, Germany // Counts of Württemberg Conrad I 1089-1122 Conrad II 1100-1130 John d. ... For German colonial territories, see German Colonial Empire. ... Arnstadt is a town in Ilm-Kreis, Thuringia, Germany. ... The Free State of Thuringia (German: Freistaat Thüringen) is located in central Germany and is considered one of the smaller of Germanys sixteen Bundesländer (federal states), with an area of 16,200 km² and 2. ... Bietigheim-Bissingen is a town in the district of Ludwigsburg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. ... Ludwigsburg is a city in Germany, about 12 km north of Stuttgarts city center, near the river Neckar. ... Protestantism is a general grouping of denominations within Christianity. ... Martin Luther (November 10, 1483 – February 18, 1546) was a German monk,[1] priest, professor, theologian, and church reformer. ... Evangelical Church in Germany (German Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland, abbreviated as EKD) is a federation of 23 regional Lutheran, Reformed and United Protestant churches[1]. In fact only one member church (the Protestant Reformed Church) is not restricted to a certain territory. ...

Vaihingen/Enz, Kellner birthplace

When Friedrich Kellner was four years old, his family moved to Mainz where his father became the master baker at Goebels Zuckerwerk (Goebels Confectionery). Mainz is a city in Germany and the capital of the German federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate. ...

After completing Volksschule, primary school, Kellner had a nine-year course of non-classical study in the Oberrealschule in Mainz. In 1902 he completed his final exams at Goetheschule, which qualified him for an apprenticeship in courthouse administration. A Volkschule was an eighteenth century system of state-supported primary schools established in the Habsburg Austrian Empire. ... In Germany, the Realschule was an outgrowth of the rationalism and empiricism of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. ...

In 1903 he started work as a junior clerk in the Mainz courthouse, remaining there until 1933. He advanced in the administrative ranks to justice secretary, then to court accountant, and in April 1920 to justice inspector.

Military service and marriage

Friedrich Kellner, 1914

From September 1907 through October 1908 Kellner fulfilled his initial military reserve duty in the 6th Infantry Company of the Leibregiments Großherzogin (3. Großherzoglich Hessisches) Nr. 117 in Mainz. In 1911 he completed an additional two months reserve training. When the First World War began in 1914, Kellner was called up for active duty as a sergeant and deputy-officer in the Prinz Carl Infantry Regiment (4. Großherzoglich Hessisches Regiment) Nr. 118, in Worms. Within the first month of his return to army service, Kellner was in eight engagements in Belgium and France, including fights at Neufchâteau, Revigny-Laimont, and Rinarville, associated with what has become known as the Battle of the Frontiers. His regiment also fought at the First Battle of the Marne. The Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt came into existence in 1568, as the portion of George, youngest of the four sons of Landgrave Philip I of Hesse. ... “The Great War ” redirects here. ... Wormser Dom Worms (pronounced ) is a city in the southwest of Germany. ... Neufchâteau (Walloon: Li Tchestea) is a Walloon municipality located in the central part of the Belgian province of Luxembourg. ... Belligerents France United Kingdom German Empire Commanders Joseph Joffre, Sir John French Helmuth von Moltke Strength France: 1,200,000 Britain: 70,000 1,300,000 The Battle of the Frontiers was a series of battles fought along the eastern frontier of France and in southern Belgium shortly after the... Combatants France United Kingdom German Empire Commanders Joseph Joffre John French Helmuth von Moltke Karl von Bülow Alexander von Kluck Strength 1,071,000 1,485,000 Casualties Approximately 263,000: 250,000 French casualties (80,000 dead) 13,000 British casualties (1,700 dead) Approximately 250,000 total...

1908 beerstein

Under a prolonged bombardment in the trenches near Reims, he was wounded and was sent to St. Rochus Hospital in Mainz to recover. He spent the remainder of the war as a quartermaster secretary for the 13th Army Corps in Frankfurt. For other uses, see Reims (disambiguation). ... Frankfurt am Main [ˈfraŋkfʊrt] is the largest city in the German state of Hessen and the fifth largest city of Germany. ...

In 1913, a few months prior to being called up for service in the war, Kellner married Pauline Preuss (January 19, 1888 - February 8, 1970), who was from Mainz. Their son, Karl Friedrich Wilhelm (a.k.a. Fred William), who was to be their only child, was born on February 29, 1916.

Political activism

Kellner welcomed the birth of German democracy after the war. In 1919 he became a political organizer for the Mainz branch of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, the (SPD). Throughout the 1920’s and into the 1930’s, he spoke out against the danger posed to the fragile democracy by the extremists in the Communist Party and the Nazi Party. At rallies near the Gutenberg Museum, which honored the founder of the printing press, Kellner would hold above his head Adolf Hitler’s book, Mein Kampf, and yell out to the crowd: "Gutenberg, your printing press has been violated by this evil book". He would often be accosted by brown-shirted thugs from the Nazi Party, known as Storm Troopers.^{[3] [4]} SPD redirects here. ... 1932 KPD poster, End This System The Communist Party of Germany (German Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands – KPD) was a major political party in Germany between 1918 and 1933, and a minor party in West Germany in the postwar period. ... The Nazi Party, officially: National Socialist German Workers Party, (German: , abbreviated NSDAP), was a political party in Germany between 1919 and 1945. ... This article is about the inventor of printing in Europe; for other uses, see Guttenberg (disambiguation) and Gutenberg. ... Hitler redirects here. ... Mein Kampf (English: My Struggle/My Battle) is a book by the Austrian-born leader of Nazi Germany, Adolf Hitler. ... The seal of SA The Sturmabteilung (♫) (SA, German for Storm Division and is usually translated as stormtroops or stormtroopers) functioned as a paramilitary organisation of the NSDAP – the German Nazi party. ...

Inspector Kellner, 1923.

Two weeks before Adolf Hitler was sworn in as Chancellor in January 1933, and before the beginning of Hitler's murderous purge of his political opponents, Kellner and his family moved to the village of Laubach in Hesse, where he worked as the chief justice inspector in the district court. In 1935 his son immigrated to the United States in order to avoid service in the Wehrmacht, Hitler’s army. The head of government of Germany is called Chancellor (German: Kanzler). ... Laubach is a town known as a “Luftkurort,” a climatic health resort. ... Location Time zone CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2) Administration Country NUTS Region DE7 Capital Wiesbaden Largest city Frankfurt Minister-President Roland Koch (Acting) (CDU) Votes in Bundesrat 5 (of 69) Basic statistics Area  21,100 km² (8,147 sq mi) Population 6,073,000 (09/2007)[1]  - Density 288 /km... The straight-armed Balkenkreuz, a stylized version of the Iron Cross, the emblem of the Wehrmacht. ...

During the November pogrom of 1938, known as Kristallnacht ("Night of the Broken Glass"), Friedrich and Pauline Kellner tried to stop the rioting. When Kellner approached the presiding judge to bring charges against the leaders of the riot, Judge Schmitt instead opened an investigation into the Kellners’ religious heritage. The Kellner family documents, which included baptismal records dating back three hundred years, proved Kellner and his wife were Christians. On November 18, 1938, the district judge in Darmstadt closed the case in Kellner’s favor: “Doubts about the Kellner bloodlines cannot be validated.”^[5] A finding to the contrary could have meant imprisonment and death. Nazism in history Nazi ideology Nazism and race Outside Germany Related subjects Lists Politics Portal         Kristallnacht, also known as Reichskristallnacht, Reichspogromnacht, Crystal Night and the Night of the Broken Glass, was a pogrom that occurred throughout Nazi Germany on November 9–November 10, 1938. ... For other uses, see Darmstadt (disambiguation). ...

The war years

Kellner knew during his campaigns against the National Socialists that the election of Hitler would mean another war in Europe. Within a few years after coming to power, Hitler abrogated the Treaty of Versailles, the WWI peace treaty that many Germans considered a humiliation. Hitler re-militarized the Rhineland, and spent great sums on modern weaponry and to expand the German military forces. This article is about the Treaty of Versailles of June 28, 1919, which ended World War I. For other uses, see Treaty of Versailles (disambiguation) . Left to right, Prime Minister David Lloyd George of the United Kingdom, Prime Minister Vittorio Emanuele Orlando of Italy, Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau of France... The Remilitarization of the Rhineland by the German Army took place on 7 March 1936 when German forces entered the Rhineland. ...

The politicians in Britain and France were unprepared for another war, so they appeased Hitler and gave in to his demands. In a meeting in Munich in 1938, Britain and France agreed that Germany could annex and occupy the Sudetenland, the German-speaking regions of Czechoslovakia. ^[6][7] The British prime minister, Neville Chamberlain, declared that the Munich Agreement meant "peace for our time." Despite having given his word that Germany would make no further territorial claims, Hitler invaded the rest of Czechoslovakia in March 1939. Appeasement is a policy of accepting the imposed conditions of an aggressor in lieu of armed resistance, usually at the sacrifice of principles. ... For the annual global security meeting held in Munich, see Munich Conference on Security Policy. ... Sudetenland (Czech and Polish: Sudety) was the German name used in English in the first half of the 20th century for the Western regions of Czechoslovakia inhabited mostly by Germans, specifically the border areas of Bohemia, Moravia, and those parts of Silesia associated with Bohemia. ... This article is about the British Prime Minister. ...

Hitler next signed a pact with the Soviet Union that included a secret protocol to divide Central Europe into German and Soviet areas of interest, and to divide Poland between the two countries. On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland. The Third Reich’s propaganda ministry, under Josef Goebbels, convinced the German nation the invasion was necessary and would lead to great victories. Molotov signs the German-Soviet non-aggression pact. ... Central Europe is the region lying between the variously and vaguely defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe. ... Joseph Goebbels Dr. Paul Joseph Goebbels (October 29, 1897 – May 1, 1945) was Adolf Hitlers Propaganda Minister (see Propagandaministerium) in Nazi Germany. ...

It was on this day that Friedrich Kellner began to record his observations in a secret diary that he entitled Mein Widerstand, "My Opposition". He wanted the coming generations to know how easily young democracies could turn into dictatorships, and how people were too willing to believe propaganda rather than resist tyranny and terrorism.^[8] My Opposition (German: ) is a diary secretly written by the German social democrat Friedrich Kellner (1885 - 1970) during World War II to describe life under Nazi Germany and to expose the propaganda and the crimes of the Nazi dictatorship. ... Nazism in history Nazi ideology Nazism and race Outside Germany Related subjects Lists Politics Portal         Nazi propaganda is the term that describes the psychologically powerful propaganda within Nazi Germany, much of which was centered around Jews, consistently alleged to be the source of Germanys economic problems. ...

Kellner did not confine himself to the diary. He continued to express his views, and in February 1940 he was summoned to the district court in Giessen where he was warned by the president of the court, Hermann Colnot, to moderate his views.^[9] A few months later he was summoned to the mayor’s office in Laubach where he was warned by the mayor and the local Nazi Party leader that he and his wife would be sent to a concentration camp if he continued to be a "bad influence" on the population of Laubach.^[10] A report written by the district Nazi leader, Hermann Engst, shows that authorities were planning to punish Kellner at the conclusion of the war. ^[11],^[12] Gießen (Giessen pronunciation) is a city in the federal state (Bundesland) of Hesse in Germany, capital of the Gießen district. ... Piles of bodies in a liberated Nazi concentration camp in Germany Prior to and during World War II, Nazi Germany under Hitler maintained concentration camps (Konzentrationslager, abbreviated KZ or KL) throughout the territories it controlled. ...

A page from the diary

Throughout the first two years of the war, Kellner looked to America to provide support for England and France. Numerous entries in the diary reveal Kellner’s belief that Germany had no chance to win if America would put aside its neutrality and do more than just send supplies to England. When America entered the war in 1941, the diary entries show Kellner’s impatience for the Allies to mount an effective invasion of the continent, and to bring the fight to the Germans on their own territory. When the invasion of Normandy took place on June 6, 1944, Kellner inscribed in large letters in the entry of that date: “Endlich!,” meaning “Finally!”^[13] This article is about the assault phase of Operation Overlord. ... Battle plans for the Normandy Invasion — the most famous D-Day. ...

Kellner rarely wrote about his personal situation. He wrote primarily about Nazi policies and propaganda, and about the war. He noted the injustices in the court system, and recorded the inhumane deeds and genocidal intentions of the Nazis. In all of this he considered the German people as accomplices before and after the fact: first voting Hitler into power, and then acquiescing in his abuse of that power.

One of the most important historical entries in the diary was written on October 28, 1941. Most Germans after the war would insist they knew nothing at all about the state-sponsored genocide of the Jews,^[14] yet very early in the war Kellner recorded this in his diary, showing that even in the small towns, the average citizen knew what was occurring: is the 301st day of the year (302nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see 1941 (disambiguation). ... “Shoah” redirects here. ...

"A soldier on vacation here said he was an eyewitness to terrible atrocities in the occupied parts of Poland. He watched as naked Jewish men and women were placed in front of a long deep trench and upon the order of the SS were shot by Ukrainians in the back of their heads and they fell into the ditch. Then the ditch was filled with dirt even as he could hear screams coming from people still alive in the ditch.

These inhuman atrocities were so terrible that some of the Ukrainians, who were used as tools, suffered nervous breakdowns. All the soldiers who had knowledge of these bestial actions of these Nazi sub-humans were of the opinion that the German people should be shaking in their shoes because of the coming retribution.

There is no punishment that would be hard enough to be applied to these Nazi beasts. Of course, when the retribution comes, the innocent will have to suffer along with them. But because ninety-nine percent of the German population is guilty, directly or indirectly, for the present situation, we can only say that those who travel together will hang together."^[15]

Part of the 28 October 1941 entry. Sütterlin script transcribed to modern German and translated into English

The history of Poland from 1939 through 1945 encompasses the German invasion of Poland through to the end of World War II. On September 1, 1939, without a formal declaration of war, Germany invaded Poland. ... SS redirects here. ... is the 301st day of the year (302nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see 1941 (disambiguation). ... Sütterlin example in German The Sütterlinschrift, or Sütterlin for short, is a form of the old German blackletter handwriting (Spitzschrift) that was designed by and named after Ludwig Sütterlin, a German graphical designer and teacher who was commissioned to do so by the Prussian ministry for...

After the war

The war came to an end for Kellner on March 29, 1945 when the Americans marched into Laubach. Only a few days earlier the Allies had crossed the Rhine River in their invasion of the German homeland. With the approval of the occupation forces, the new mayor of Laubach made Kellner deputy mayor. Kellner aided in the denazification process, which primarily meant removing former Nazis from positions of power in the region. Kellner helped to resurrect the Social Democratic Party in Laubach, and he became the regional party chairman.^[16] is the 88th day of the year (89th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar). ... During World War II, Operation Plunder was the crossing of the Rhine river at Rees, Wesel and south of the Lippe Canal by the British Second Army, under Lieutenant-General Miles C Dempsey, and the US Ninth Army, under Lieutenant-General William H Simpson. ... Denazification (German: Entnazifizierung) was an Allied initiative to rid German and Austrian society, culture, press, economy, judiciary and politics of any remnants of the Nazi regime. ...

Kellner wrote only a few more entries in the diary. In one of the last entries, on May 8, 1945, the day Germany officially surrendered to the Allies, Kellner noted: is the 128th day of the year (129th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar). ...

“If now, after the collapse, should any of these lackeys of Adolf Hitler have the insolence to claim they were merely harmless onlookers, let them feel the scourge of avenging mankind …. Whoever cries about having lost the Nazi system or wants to resurrect National Socialism is to be treated as a lunatic.”^[17]

Robert Scott Kellner, who translated the diary into English, in 1960.

Kellner served as chief justice inspector and administrator of the Laubach courthouse until 1948. He was appointed district auditor in the regional court in Giessen until his retirement in 1950. For the next three years he was a legal advisor in Laubach. In 1956 he returned to politics and was Laubach’s leading councilor and deputy mayor until he retired in1960 at age 75. theatre in Giessen Architecture in Giessen Giessen (German spelling Gießen) is a city in the German federal state (Bundesland) of Hesse, capital of both the Giessen district and the Giessen Administrative Region. ...

On July 19, 1966, Kellner received compensation from the Federal Republic of Germany because of the injustices committed against him during the time of National Socialism. The compensation ruling included this statement: The Federal Republic of Germany can refer to two things: West Germany from 1949-1990 Germany since German reunification in 1990 ...

“Kellner's political opposition was recognized by the ruling powers and they took measures against him. In a memorandum dated June 23, 1937, they noted that Kellner had not been active enough for the National Socialist movement, and that he has caused disturbances with the local party. Further, the incidents in the year 1940 (the threatened incarceration in a concentration camp) had really an unfavorable effect. It was Kellner's open opposition to National Socialism which prevented possible promotions and damaged him in his service.”^[18]

Kellner and his wife arranged to have their son, Fred William Kellner, sent to the United States in 1935 out of concern he might otherwise have to fight for Hitler. Fred William returned to Germany in 1945 as a member of the U.S. Army. He was unable to cope with the devastation he witnessed, and in 1953 he took his own life.^[19] He is buried in the American Legion Tomb in Neuilly, France, on the outskirts of Paris. Fred’s son, Robert Scott Kellner, grew up in a children's home in Connecticut. In 1960, while in the United States Navy and traveling through Germany, Robert Scott Kellner located his grandparents, Friedrich and Pauline Kellner, and learned of the existence of the diary.^[20] In 1968 Friedrich Kellner gave his diary to his American grandson to translate and bring to the attention of the public. He believed his observations during WWII could have meaning in the increasing hostilities in the world brought about by the Cold War with Communism, and the proliferation of neo-Nazi cults. USN redirects here. ... For other uses, see Cold War (disambiguation). ... The terms Neo-Nazism and Neo-Fascism refer to any social or political movement to revive Nazism or Fascism, respectively, and postdates the Second World War. ...

Decades later, Robert Scott Kellner would use the diary to combat the resurgence of fascism and anti-Semitism in the twenty-first century, and to counter historical revisionists^[21] who would deny the Holocaust and other Nazi atrocities. He offered a copy of the diary to the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who according to some sources has referred to the Holocaust as "a myth" and has called for Israel to be "wiped off the map."^[22][23] The Eternal Jew: 1937 German poster. ... (20th century - 21st century - 22nd century - other centuries) Definition In calendars based on the Christian Era or Common Era, such as the Gregorian calendar, the 21st century is the current century, as of this writing, lasting from 2001-2100. ...  [1] (born October 28, 1956)[2] is the sixth and current President of the Islamic Republic of Iran. ... For other uses, see Holocaust (disambiguation) and Shoah (disambiguation). ...

Kellner grave, Mainz

In his offer to Ahmadinejad, Kellner said: "We need to renounce ideologies that do not uphold, above all else, human life and personal liberty."^{[24] [25]}

Friedrich and Pauline Kellner spent their last few years in Mainz, where Kellner had first begun his service as a law administrator and a political activist. He served as a volunteer legal advisor in Mainz from 1962 until 1969. After Pauline's death on February 8, 1970, Friedrich returned to Laubach for the remaining few months of his life. He died on November 4, 1970 in the regional hospital in Lich, not far from Laubach. He was buried at the side of his wife in the Hauptfriedhof cemetery in Mainz. is the 39th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link shows full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 308th day of the year (309th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link shows full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Lich is a town in the district of Gießen, in Hesse, Germany. ...

Works

Main article: My Opposition

My Opposition (German: ) is a diary secretly written by the German social democrat Friedrich Kellner (1885 - 1970) during World War II to describe life under Nazi Germany and to expose the propaganda and the crimes of the Nazi dictatorship. ...

Diary

Volumes of the Friedrich Kellner Diary.

My Opposition consists of 10 volumes with a total of 861 pages. The volumes are sheets of accounting paper bound together by string. There are 676 individually dated entries beginning in September 1939 through May 1945. More than 500 newspaper clippings are pasted on the pages of the diary. The diary is written in a script called Sütterlin, the old German handwriting which was banned in 1941 and replaced by modern Latin lettering to make German easier for the conquered nations of Europe to read and understand. My Opposition (German: ) is a diary secretly written by the German social democrat Friedrich Kellner (1885 - 1970) during World War II to describe life under Nazi Germany and to expose the propaganda and the crimes of the Nazi dictatorship. ... Sütterlin example in German The Sütterlinschrift, or Sütterlin for short, is a form of the old German blackletter handwriting (Spitzschrift) that was designed by and named after Ludwig Sütterlin, a German graphical designer and teacher who was commissioned to do so by the Prussian ministry for...

There are separate pages written in 1938 and 1939, considered preliminary pages to the diary, that explain Kellner’s intentions. He meant for his observations to detail the events of those years, and to offer a prescription for future generations to prevent what occurred in Germany during Adolf Hitler’s rise to power, when a fledgling democracy willingly embraced dictatorship to solve political disputes. Kellner foresaw Germany’s defeat, and warned against a recurrence of totalitarianism. He prescribed unrelenting resistance against any ideology that threatened personal liberty and ignored the sanctity of human life.^[26] Totalitarianism is a term employed by some political scientists, especially those in the field of comparative politics, to describe modern regimes in which the state regulates nearly every aspect of public and private behavior. ...

Reception of the diary

The diary’s first public appearance was at the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum, where it was on display to commemorate the 60th anniversary of VE Day.^[27] It has since been exhibited in other museums in the United States and in Germany, and in the fall of 2007 is scheduled for an exhibit in The Great Synagogue of Stockholm, in Stockholm, Sweden. A permanent exhibit of diary facsimiles is at the Heimatmuseum in Laubach, Germany, which is located on the same street as the courthouse where Kellner wrote the diary.^[28] The George Bush Presidential Library and Museum is the presidential library of United States President George H. W. Bush. ... Victory in Europe Day (V-E Day) was May 8, 1945, the date when the Allies during the Second World War formally celebrated the defeat of Nazi Germany and the end of Adolf Hitlers Reich. ... The Stockholm Synagogue (Swedish: , ‎) also called the Great Synagogue of Stockholm, is located on the small street Wahrendorffsgatan close to the park KungsträdgÃ¥rden on Norrmalm, Stockholm, and was built 1867-1870 according to designs made in 1862 by the architect Fredrik Wilhelm Scholander. ... For other uses, see Stockholm (disambiguation). ...

In Giessen, where Kellner worked as district auditor, the Holocaust Literature Research Unit of the Justus Liebig University of Giessen has established the Kellner Project. The deputy director of the group, Dr. Sascha Feuchert, considers Kellner's work one of the most extensive diaries of the Nazi period.^[29] The University of Gießen (Giessen), officially called Justus Liebig-Universität Gießen after its most famous member, the founder of modern agricultural chemistry and inventor of artificial fertilizer. ...

A number of major universities in the United States, such as Purdue, Columbia, and Stanford, have offered to make the diary part of their libraries. The directors of the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., have also requested the diary for their archives.^[30] Purdue redirects here. ... Stanford redirects here. ... The Hall of Names containing books of all those who perished in the Holocaust. ... For other uses, see Jerusalem (disambiguation). ... Interior of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Exterior of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum viewed from Raoul Wallenberg Place (15th St. ... For other uses, see Washington, D.C. (disambiguation). ...

In 2007 CCI Entertainment, a Canadian film company, produced a documentary film entitled My Opposition: the Diaries of Friedrich Kellner, which interweaves the stories of Kellner and his American grandson.^[31] The documentary had its American premiere at the George Bush Presidential Library on September 26, 2007. It will be shown in the theater of the Dag Hammarskjöld Library at the United Nations in November 2008 to commemorate the 70th anniversary of Kristallnacht. Dag Hjalmar Agne Carl Hammarskjöld ( ) (July 29, 1905 – September 18, 1961) was a Swedish diplomat and the second Secretary-General of the United Nations. ... UN redirects here. ...

References

Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 87th day of the year (88th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 96th day of the year (97th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 146th day of the year (147th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 267th day of the year (268th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 119th day of the year (120th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 56th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 232nd day of the year (233rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 147th day of the year (148th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 112th day of the year (113th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 156th day of the year (157th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 117th day of the year (118th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 124th day of the year (125th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 56th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 114th day of the year (115th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 114th day of the year (115th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 7th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2008 (MMVIII) is the current year, a leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Era (or Anno Domini), in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 181st day of the year (182nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 56th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... The Anti-Defamation League (or ADL) is an interest group founded in 1913 by Bnai Brith in the United States whose stated aim is to stop, by appeals to reason and conscience and, if necessary, by appeals to law, the defamation of the Jewish people. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 114th day of the year (115th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... The New York Times is a daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed internationally. ... is the 303rd day of the year (304th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 290th day of the year (291st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 348th day of the year (349th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Reuters Group plc (LSE: RTR and NASDAQ: RTRSY); pronounced is known as a financial market data provider and a news service that provides reports from around the world to newspapers and broadcasters. ... is the 30th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 31st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 265th day of the year (266th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 114th day of the year (115th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 265th day of the year (266th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 288th day of the year (289th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 7th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 114th day of the year (115th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 56th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• My Opposition - Diary of one German man during Nazi Regime (Video about Friedrich Kellner's diary)
• Friedrich Kellner Website
• Diary Entries in German and English
• George Bush Presidential Library - Kellner exhibit
• Justus Liebig University - Kellner Project (German)
• Telefilm Canada - "My Opposition: the Diaries of Friedrich Kellner"
• Holocaust Museum Houston - Kellner exhibit
• Heimat Museum, Laubach, Germany - Kellner exhibit (German)
• Friedrich Kellner at Find A Grave