My great-grandfather
Dr. phil. Werner Hilpert
(17. January 1897 in Leipzig - 24. February 1957 in Oberursel)

Today is the 65th anniversary of his dead and I want to remember him.

1916:
Student of Economics, Legal Science and Philosophy

1916 -1918:
Fought in Romania and France (World War I)

1918 - 1920:
Continued studies and received doctorate in philosophy

1920:
Department secretary to the Statebank of Saxony

1920 - 1932:
Assistant/Syndicus to the Union of Leipzig Retailers

1922 - 1932:
CEO of the Linoleum Merchants Union

1927:
Member of the Leipzig city council

1932 - 1933:
President of the Centre Party in Saxony

1933:
Forced by the Nazis to give up all positions in politics and economy

1932 - 1937:
President of the Catholic Action in Saxony and open resistance against the Nazis

1932 - 1938:
Self-employed business consultant and syndicus, trying to provide Jewish business owners best working conditions

Authorized representative for Jewish citizens in "Aryanizations" in collaboration with Carl Goerdeler

1934:
Risk of being arrested in connection with the Röhm-Putsch

1938:
Office burnt down in Kristallnacht

1939:
Arrested by the Gestapo

1939 - 1945:
Political prisoner in Buchenwald concentration camp and member of the Buchenwald Resistance

1945:
Liberation by the Americans

One of five Germans on the Buchenwald International Camp Committee

Entrusted with certain tasks of the American military government

1945:
Taking part in founding the CDU party in Frankfurt am Main

1945 - 1952:
President of the CDU Hesse

1945 - 1951:
Deputy Prime Minister of Hesse

1946 - 1947:
Economics and Transport Minister of Hesse

1947 - 1951:
Minister of Finances of Hesse

1952 - death:
President and Finance Director of the Deutsche Bundesbahn

The chapel was built in 1946 in memory of the killed members of the resistance of the Secret Army, an armed Belgian resistance group. The symbol of this resistance group is an inverted triangle with a lion's head. The secret army was mainly active from 1944 after the Allies landed in Normandy. In September 1944, several resistance fighters gathered in this forest to attack the Germans with the Allies. The German troops became aware of the preparations due to treachery and attacked the animal shelter in Rotem (code name: Anatol), in which more than 130 resistance fighters from the region were killed or captured.

The monument to my great-grandfather Werner Hilpert (1897-1957) in the Dr.-Werner-Hilpert-Siedlung (Dr. Werner Hilpert settlement), east of the former Camp King in Oberursel, Germany.

He was a politician who took his humanist ideals very seriously. That's why he's a very important example for me. If you ask me if I'm a better person because of my great-grandfather, then I can only affirm that. It's my responsibility to keep the memory alive.

In 1932 he became President of the Center Party in Saxony until the dissolution in 1933. He lost all functions. From 1932 to 1937 he was President of the Catholic Action in Saxony and was in open opposition to National Socialism.

In collaboration with Carl Goerdeler he was adviser and authorised representative of Jewish citizens in "Aryanization". The resisters saved the lives of many Jewish families.

He worked as a syndic in a Jewish business building, trying to keep working conditions as human as possible. His office also burnt down during Kristallnacht in 1938.

In September 1939, he was arrested by the Gestapo. He spent the next 5 1/2 years in Buchenwald concentration camp as a political prisoner.

He was member of the Buchenwald Resistance and the Buchenwald Popular Front Committee. They not only campaigned for the prisoners, but also considered how Germany should continue after National Socialism.

In 1945, after Germany was freed from the Nazis, he took part in founding the CDU party in Hesse and was elected President of the CDU Hesse.

The second picture shows an election poster for the state election of Hesse in 1946. [License by CDU, creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/de/deed.de]