Search for Names, Places and Biographies

Heinrich Orgler * 1905

Hufnertwiete 2 (Hamburg-Nord, Barmbek-Nord)

HIER WOHNTE
HEINRICH ORGLER
JG. 1905
VERHAFTET 1936
KZ FUHLSBÜTTEL
FLUCHT IN DEN TOD
11.8.1944

Heinrich Georg Orgler, born 3 Feb. 1905, imprisoned 1936–1937, suicide 11 Aug. 1944 in Hamburg

Hufnertwiete 2

The ladies’ tailor Heinrich Orgler is one of the instances in which his biography was destroyed along with his file. All that remains are some prisoner file cards and a police report about the discovery of his body to give us some idea of his fate.

Heinrich Orgler was born on 3 Feb. 1905 in Rosenheim as the illegitimate son of Franziska Orgler. His stepfather was called Paul Danner. His sister who lived in Hamburg may have persuaded him to move from Bavaria to the north. He fell into the clutches of the NS regime in Oct. 1936 due to homosexual acts. Consequently he was detained in police "protective custody” from 20 Oct. until 27 Nov. 1936 at Fuhlsbüttel concentration camp. On 12 Dec. 1936 he was sentenced to 12 months in prison for offenses against section 175. By order of the "clemency department”, he was released from prison early, on 1 Aug. 1937. His whereabouts after that date are not known.

In early 1939, he married Irma, née Lehmbecker, who was eight years his senior. During the war he was conscripted to work at a factory and likely suffered from a heart condition. He was found dead in his groundfloor apartment at Hufnertwiete 2 on 11 Aug. 1944, where he lived with his wife and two tenants. His wife was away on a trip at the time. He had poisoned himself with coal gas. The police file on the "unnatural death” of Heinrich Orgler does not explain whether he chose to commit suicide for fear of being imprisoned again or out of bitterness for not being able to live out his homosexuality.


Translator: Suzanne von Engelhardt
Kindly supported by the Hermann Reemtsma Stiftung, Hamburg.

Stand: January 2018
© Bernhard Rosenkranz (†)/Ulf Bollmann

Quellen: StaHH, 331-5 Polizeibehörde – Unnatürliche Sterbefälle, 1103/44; StaHH, 213-8 Staatsanwaltschaft Oberlandesgericht – Verwaltung, Abl. 2, 451 a E 1, 1 a; StaHH, 242-1 II Gefängnisverwaltung II, Ablieferungen 13 und 16; B. Rosenkranz/U. Bollmann/G. Lorenz: Homosexuellen-Verfolgung in Hamburg 1919–1969, S. 243.