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Getting to Know My Parents, Hans and Hilde Coppi
Book Presentation with Dr. Geertje Andresen
Hans (1916–1942) and Hilde (1909–1943) Coppi were part of the Berlin resistance network centered around Harro Schulze-Boysen and Arvid Harnack. Starting in 1940, they participated in leafleting campaigns and cared for those being persecuted. Hilde Coppi listened to Radio Moscow and informed the relatives of German prisoners of war about the messages of life broadcast there. Starting in June 1941, Hans Coppi tried in vain to establish a radio connection to the Soviet Union. The Gestapo classified the Berlin resistance network under the code name “Red Orchestra” as part of the Soviet military intelligence service in Western Europe.
In September 1942, Hans and Hilde Coppi were arrested and sentenced to death by the Reich Military Court, the highest court of the Wehrmacht, and executed at Berlin-Plötzensee Prison. Hans Coppi was beheaded on December 22, 1942. Hilde Coppi gave birth to her son Hans on November 27, 1942, at the Berlin women’s prison on Barnimstraße. She was allowed to breastfeed her child for a few more months before she, too, died under the guillotine on August 5, 1943, in Berlin-Plötzensee.
This child never knew his parents. Hans Coppi Jr. grew up in the GDR, knew primarily the official account of his parents, and was, due to their resistance activities, effectively a public figure. It was not until the late 1980s that he was able to begin researching his parents’ activities within the resistance network in the GDR. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, he continued his work on this topic at the German Resistance Memorial Center. In numerous archives, he was able to examine documents previously unknown to him, contribute to the deconstruction of the alleged communist spy organization “Red Orchestra,” and, above all, learn facts about his parents.
This research has resulted in books and exhibitions. For health reasons, he is no longer able to write detailed biographies of his parents. Dr. Geertje Andresen, a long-time freelance collaborator at the German Resistance Memorial Center and close colleague of Hans Coppi Jr., has, in consultation with him, compiled several works from his unpublished manuscripts on Hans and Hilde Coppi and the “Red Orchestra” into a publication, which she will present this evening.Translated with DeepL
In September 1942, Hans and Hilde Coppi were arrested and sentenced to death by the Reich Military Court, the highest court of the Wehrmacht, and executed at Berlin-Plötzensee Prison. Hans Coppi was beheaded on December 22, 1942. Hilde Coppi gave birth to her son Hans on November 27, 1942, at the Berlin women’s prison on Barnimstraße. She was allowed to breastfeed her child for a few more months before she, too, died under the guillotine on August 5, 1943, in Berlin-Plötzensee.
This child never knew his parents. Hans Coppi Jr. grew up in the GDR, knew primarily the official account of his parents, and was, due to their resistance activities, effectively a public figure. It was not until the late 1980s that he was able to begin researching his parents’ activities within the resistance network in the GDR. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, he continued his work on this topic at the German Resistance Memorial Center. In numerous archives, he was able to examine documents previously unknown to him, contribute to the deconstruction of the alleged communist spy organization “Red Orchestra,” and, above all, learn facts about his parents.
This research has resulted in books and exhibitions. For health reasons, he is no longer able to write detailed biographies of his parents. Dr. Geertje Andresen, a long-time freelance collaborator at the German Resistance Memorial Center and close colleague of Hans Coppi Jr., has, in consultation with him, compiled several works from his unpublished manuscripts on Hans and Hilde Coppi and the “Red Orchestra” into a publication, which she will present this evening.Translated with DeepL
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