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© Geschichtswerkstätte Barmbek
Wilhelm 'Willi' Häussler * 1907
Halbenkamp 16 (Hamburg-Nord, Barmbek-Nord)
Zwangsarbeit Wilhelmsburg
ermordet 22.03.1945
Wilhelm "Willi” Häussler, born on 18 Apr. 1907, died on 22 Mar. 1945 while performing forced labor in Wilhelmsburg
Halbenkamp 16 (Pestalozzistrasse 72)
The apartment building of the "Produktion” cooperative, called PRO Block, was constructed in 1906 and considered a stronghold of working-class culture in Barmbek since then. In this PRO Block on Hinrichsenstrasse (today: Brucknerstrasse), Willi Häussler grew up with his siblings Karl and Helmi. Thus, it comes as no surprise that even in his schooldays, Willi Häussler grappled with followers of the left and the right political scenes, participating in numerous discussions. His friend Bruno Wagner reports about him, "Willi was a slender fellow, with light brown hair, about 1.75 m to 1.80 m [approx. five foot ten or eleven] tall. Fearless in defending the republic against opponents from the Left and the Right alike. By nature, he was a level-headed, rather calm, friendly person, not a great orator, but he had firm principles, which he knew how to put forward.”
In his early youth, Willi Häussler already joined leftist associations. For example, he was a member of the Kinderfreunde [a children’s organization run by the SPD], the "Socialist Young Workers” (Sozialistische Arbeiterjugend – SAJ), and joined the German Social Democratic Party (SPD) at the age of 18. He was also involved in the Banner of the Reich (Reichsbanner), a Social Democratic paramilitary association, and the "protective formation” (Schutzformation, abbreviated: "Schufo”) founded in 1930. In Barmbek, there was the "Schufo 10,” whose members met regularly in the restaurant of Gustav Mause in PRO Block corner at the intersection of Lohkoppelstrasse and Schleidenstrasse. Willi Häussler, too, often sat there together with his friends, including Bruno Wagner. Even years afterward, the latter remembered an adventurous trip of the "Schufo 10” to Wilhelmsburg: "Like other detachments, we traveled, transported on trucks, over the Elbe bridges (Elbbrücken) when suddenly our vehicle went into a skid, the side panels of the truck broke and 40 men, including Willi Häusler, fell down on the street. Willi, together with several other men, was taken to Lohmühlen Hospital with serious injuries. At that very time, Willi wanted to move to a newly built apartment in Schwansenstrasse on the Dulsberg with his wife Mimi. He was very grateful that I took on the task of furnishing the apartment with his wife and of doing a number of visits to the authorities while he was in hospital.”
In 1932, the "Banner of the Reich” disbanded the "Schufos” because otherwise the entire "Banner of the Reich” would have been threatened with a ban. However, in 1933, the "Schufo 10” was revived in order to offer resistance against Nazi rule. In this connection, members wrote anti-Fascist slogans on walls or distributed leaflets, for instance.
Due to his involvement in the "Schufo 10” Willi Häussler was dismissed in 1933. Until that time, he had been employed by a warehouse company, for which he worked as a longshoreman in the port. He was dismissed because of his "attitude hostile to the state” ("staatsfeindliche Einstellung"). One year later, the "Schufo 10” appointed him leader. One of his actions involved the distribution of greeting cards for the Christian rite of confirmation, serving as a cover for spreading appeals against National Socialism.
Prior to his arrest, Willi Häussler lived together with his wife Wilhelmine, called "Mimi,” at Pestalozzistrasse 72, today Halbenkamp 16. They had one daughter, who was five years old when her father was arrested.
In the summer of 1936, the family lived in their allotment garden cottage for several weeks. Upon their return, neighbors told them that the Gestapo had been at their apartment the night before in search of them. As a result, Willi Häussler went into hiding with a friend, a former member of the German Communist Party (KPD), who lived at Kegelhofstrasse. On 13 June 1936, however, the hiding place was exposed and Willi Häussler was arrested by the Gestapo. His wife Mimi recalled the time up to the arrest: "Until his arrest the Gestapo showed up at our place night after night since the first visit to find out where my husband was staying. My husband procured all of the necessary papers and tickets to flee for Denmark. But two hours before his departure, the arrest took place.”
The trial against Willi Häussler dragged out, as some 45 other persons were involved in it. His conviction eventually took place on 13 June 1938. Initially, he was sentenced to seven years in prison. However, at least one year of this time in pretrial detention was calculated against his prison term, which meant he ultimately had to serve six years in the Bremen-Oslebshausen penitentiary. During this time, his wife was allowed to visit him only every four months. In addition, his daughter received the entry of "father detained as a political prisoner” in her student’s file.
On 13 Apr. 1943, Willi Häussler was released and immediately handed over to the Fuhlsbüttel police prison. He remained there until May, before being transferred to the Gestapo camp in Wilhelmsburg. There, he had to perform forced labor until his death.
Mimi Häussler only barely managed to feed her family during the entire prison term. From time to time, she succeeded in finding a job, which she quickly lost again every time, however. "During the entire period of [my husband’s] imprisonment, any support by friends was practically impossible. Twice, soon after the arrest in 1936, I received a bit of money. I got no assistance whatsoever from what was the welfare authority at the time. I would have received support only if I had gotten a divorce. First, I was forced to perform "compulsory labor duties” ("Pflichtarbeiten”) for a wage of 0.75 RM (reichsmark) a day, later I did welfare work.”
On a regular basis, Mimi had to bring her husband clean clothes to the Gestapo camp in Wilhelmsburg. In this way, at least, the two were able to see each other more often again. Two weeks before his death, Mimi obtained for her husband money, papers, and food stamps. The prisoners knew that the war was lost and that her fate would be decided soon. Willi Häussler promised to make an attempt to escape if he learned anything about his planned execution.
On 22 Mar. 1945, Willi Häussler died in Wilhelmsburg while performing forced labor. His wife received the death certificate, which contained the following remark: "Died as a result of enemy action in the Wilhelmsburg camp on 22 Mar. 1945.” His body was not released, despite an application to this effect.
It was possible to identify Willi Häussler’s corpse in a mass grave in Harburg in 1946. After that, his dead body was transported to Wandsbek-Tonndorf on 2 Nov. 1946. In 1968, friends and relatives undertook efforts to have his remains buried in the Hamburg-Ohlsdorf Cemetery on the burial and memorial site to "victims of war and tyranny of the Hans and Sophie Scholl Foundation [Geschwister-Scholl-Stiftung]).
Translator: Erwin Fink
Kindly supported by the Hermann Reemtsma Stiftung, Hamburg.
Stand: October 2016
© Carmen Smiatacz
Quellen: Ditt: Sozialdemokraten im Widerstand, S. 91; Hochmuth/Meyer: Streiflichter aus dem Hamburger Widerstand, S. 124, S. 128ff., S. 590; Leber: Das Gewissen steht auf, S. 86ff.; Interview mit Willi Häusslers Freund Bruno Wagner, Geschichtswerkstatt Barmbek.
