Walter Hammer, who as a German publisher and editor fought the Nazis arduously, and later tussled with the Russians in East Germany, is still fighting, by compiling a documented history of anti-Nazi resistance, it became known here today.
Hammer, who is 66, escaped from Germany to Denmark when the Nazis took over here, was arrested by the Germans in Denmark and sent to the Sachenhausen concentration camp. Later, he was taken to the Brandenburg penitentiary. There, he was liberated by the Russians. However, when he undertook to write a “memorial of honor” dedicated to the victims of Nazism, he clashed with the Russians who, he said, wanted him to falsify history “to make it agree with the Communist Party line.”
He escaped from the Russian East Zone, and was found here today working on a comprehensive chronicle of resistance to Hitlerism.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.