August Perk (October 25, 1897, Lohne /

Lingen Lingen (), officially Lingen (Ems), is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany. In 2024, its population was 59,896 with 2,262 people who had registered the city as their secondary residence. Lingen, specifically "Lingen (Ems)" is located on the river Ems ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

; – May 12, 1945,

Braunschweig Braunschweig () or Brunswick ( ; from Low German , local dialect: ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Lower Saxony, Germany, north of the Harz Mountains at the farthest navigable point of the river Oker, which connects it to the ...

, Germany) was a German

Resistance fighter A resistance movement is an organized group of people that tries to resist or try to overthrow a government or an occupying power, causing disruption and unrest in civil order and stability. Such a movement may seek to achieve its goals through ei ...

against

National Socialism Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was frequ ...

. His brief friendship with

Erich Maria Remarque Erich Maria Remarque (; ; born Erich Paul Remark; 22 June 1898 – 25 September 1970) was a German novelist. His landmark novel '' All Quiet on the Western Front'' (1928), based on his experience in the Imperial German Army during World War ...

influenced Remarque's novel ''

All Quiet on the Western Front ''All Quiet on the Western Front'' () is a semi-autobiographical novel by Erich Maria Remarque, a German veteran of World War I. The book describes the German soldiers' extreme physical and mental trauma during the war as well as the detachme ...

''.

Biography

August Perk was born as the son of a merchant family based i
Lohne (Wietmarschen)

. At the Age of 17 August Perk served as a soldier in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

and

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

worked as a teacher in August Perk's hometown Lohne. Perk and Remarque had a brief friendship. Remarque described this time later in his novel '' The Road Back'' (1931). Perk told Remarque of his experiences in

and many of these stories appeared in Remarque's antiwar novel ''

''.

Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung ''Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung'' (; ; also known as ''Neue OZ'') is a regional daily newspaper published in Osnabrück, Germany. History and profile ''Neue OZ'' was established in 1967 as a successor of '' Neue Tagespost''. The daily is headquarter ...

: ''Was August Perk Schreckliches als Soldat im Ersten Weltkrieg erlebte, hat der weltbekannte Schriftsteller Erich Maria Remarque (1898-1970) in seinem Buch „Im Westen nichts Neues“ verarbeitet. Das Werk wurde in über 50 Sprachen übersetzt und gilt mit geschätzten Verkaufszahlen zwischen 15 und 20 Millionen als eines der meistgelesenen Bücher in der ganzen Welt (The horror August Perk experienced as a Soldier in World War I, reprocessed the famous Writer Erich Maria Remarque (1898-1970) for his Book "All Quiet on the Western Front". The work was translated into over 50 languages and is regarded with estimated sales numbers between 15 and 20 million as one of the most widely read books in the world)'' Perk's vocation Learnt as a Blacksmith- and Locksmith-Boss changed after a time of self-employment, when he moved over to

Nordhorn Nordhorn (; Northern Low Saxon: ''Nothoorn'', or ''Notthoarn'', ''Netthoarn,'' and Dutch: ''Noordhoorn'') is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the district seat of Grafschaft Bentheim, located in the southwest corner of the state, near th ...

(Germany), where he worked for the Textile Company "Rawe & Co.". In 1940 August Perk married Johanna Meyer, they had two children, Maria (1941) and Heinrich (1942–1965). Early on there were serious conflicts between August Perk and the

National Socialists Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

. After a bodily injury, August Perk's parents sued the Nazi Perpetrators and won the Trial. In 1934 the new Nazi Rulers condemned the faithful Catholic August Perk for political reasons to six months imprisonment, which was repealed for retention. Years later (in Nordhorn), on April 14, 1943, the

Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...

arrested August Perk as a result of

denunciation Denunciation (from Latin ''denuntiare'', "to denounce") is the act of publicly assigning to a person the blame for a perceived wrongdoing, with the hope of bringing attention to it. Notably, centralized social control in authoritarian states r ...

by neighbors and colleagues. On August 11, 1943, August Perk was convicted by the Higher Regional Court in

Hamm Hamm may refer to: Places ;Germany: * Hamm, North Rhine-Westphalia, a city north-east of Dortmund * Hamm (Sieg), a municipality in the eponymous ''Verbandsgemeinde'' in the district of Altenkirchen, Rhineland-Palatinate * Hamm, Bitburg-Prüm, part ...

(Germany) to two years in prison camp for "undermining military morale". August Perk survived the inhuman imprisonment in the notorious Prison Camp Wolfenbüttel (Germany) after the Liberation by the

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are calle ...

only a few days and died on May 12, 1945. In addition to a political Debate, whether or not to be named a Street in Lohne as a remembrance to August Perk after his name:

: ''SPD lässt nicht locker: Straße nach August Perk benennen ("The Socialist Party demands: Street Name after August Perk")'',

: ''SPD lässt nicht locker: Straße nach August Perk benennen'', am 2. Februar 2009 there are several Memorial Places in Lohne and Nordhorn which also remembers of the Fate of August Perk, such as the Memorial to the Victims of the First and

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

near

Jenny Holzer Jenny Holzer (born July 29, 1950) is an American neo-conceptual artist, based in Hoosick, New York. Her work focuses on the delivery of words and ideas in public spaces and includes large-scale installations, advertising billboards, projectio ...

's "Black Garden" in Nordhorn, Photographs at The Town Museum (Stadtmuseum) in Nordhorn and a Memorial-Stone (so-called "Stolperstein" or "Stumbling Block"), the small Copper Plaques, in the Pavement in Front of Houses of which the (mostly Jewish) Residents were murdered by the Nazis, mention the name, date of birth and place (mostly a concentration camp) and date of death. In many other German cities memorials also can be found. There are already many thousands of these plaques, and their number is still growing. The city of Nordhorn published a brochure and documentation of

Gunter Demnig Gunter Demnig (born 27 October 1947) is a German artist. He is best known for his ''Stolperstein'' ("stumbling block") memorials to the victims of Nazi persecution, including Jews, homosexuals, Romani people, Romani and the disabled. The project ...

Stolperstein A (; plural ) is a concrete cube bearing a brass plate inscribed with the name and life dates of victims of Nazi extermination or persecution. Literal translation, Literally, it means 'stumbling stone' and metaphorically 'stumbling block'. ...

in Nordhorn: "Mentioned by Name ... Stumbling Blocks in Nordhorn, Documentation of the City of Nordhorn".

References

External links

Official August Perk-Memorial-Site

Dokumentation Stolpersteine-6.01.071Dateiformat
PDF {{DEFAULTSORT:Perk, August 1897 births People from Bentheim 1945 deaths Roman Catholics in the German Resistance German Army personnel of World War I German people who died in the Holocaust