Berthold Jacob (12 December 1898 in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

– 26 February 1944 in Berlin) was a German journalist and

pacifist Pacifism is the opposition to war or violence. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaigner Émile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress in Glasgow in 1901. A related term is ''a ...

during the

Interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period, also known as the interbellum (), lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days) – from the end of World War I (WWI) to the beginning of World War II ( ...

Biography

Jacob was born into a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

family in

, on 12 December 1898, the son of art salesman and silk manufacturer David Jacob. He served on the Western Front in 1918 during the

First World War 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 ...

, which led him to become a pacifist. He became a journalist in 1920, and went on to become a radical critic of

German militarism German militarism was a broad cultural and social phenomenon between 1815 and 1945, which developed out of the creation of standing armies in the 18th century. The numerical increase of militaristic structures in the Holy Roman Empire led to ...

, writing articles about German secret rearmament and the

Feme murders The Feme murders ( ) were extrajudicial killings that took place during the early years of the Weimar Republic. They were carried out primarily by far-right groups against individuals, often their own members, who were thought to have betrayed t ...

. From 1925 to 1928 he wrote a series of articles for ''

Die Weltbühne ''Die Weltbühne'' (, ‘The World Stage’) was a German weekly magazine for politics, art and the economy. It was founded in Berlin in 1905 as (‘The Theater’) by Siegfried Jacobsohn and was originally a theater magazine only. In 1913 it ...

'' under the pseudonym "Old Soldier". In 1928, Jacob was prosecuted for treason and imprisoned until 1929. He joined the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

in 1928, but later moved to the Socialist Workers' Party upon its foundation in 1931. Jacob left Germany for

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

in 1932, where he set up an independent press service, and was stripped of his German citizenship the following year. Having been enticed to

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, by undercover

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 ...

agent Hans Wesemann, Jacob was kidnapped on 9 March 1935 and taken across the

German-Swiss border The German-speaking part of Switzerland ( ; ; ; ) comprises about 65 percent of Switzerland (North Western Switzerland, Eastern Switzerland, Central Switzerland, most of the Swiss Plateau and the greater part of the Swiss Alps). The variety ...

Weil am Rhein Weil am Rhein (, ; High Alemannic German, High Alemannic: ''Wiil am Rhii'') is a German town and commune. It is on the east bank of the River Rhine, and extends to the tripoint of Switzerland, France, and Germany. It is the most southwesterly tow ...

. He had known Wesemann for some time and had served as best man at Wesemann's wedding. Wesemann was later sentenced to three years in jail for the kidnapping. The case was investigated by Swiss police officer Anton Ganz, who went to London to interview such people as Dora Fabian and

Karl Korsch Karl Korsch (; August 15, 1886 – October 21, 1961) was a German Marxist theoretician and political philosopher. He is recognized as one of the "dissidents" that challenged the Marxism of the Second International of Karl Kautsky, Georgi Plekhan ...

. The subsequent death of Fabian alongside her friend Mathilde Wurm led to concern that they had been murdered rather than committed suicide which was the verdict of the coroner's court. This contributed to the climate of opinion which led to a successful campaign for Jacob's release from

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

. This campaign was based on Swiss diplomatic pressure on the German government and German exile protests. Upon being returned to Switzerland in September 1935, Jacob was deported to France. Here, he continued his work until the outbreak of the

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 ...

. He was interned with his wife in

Southern France Southern France, also known as the south of France or colloquially in French as , is a geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Marais Poitevin,Louis Papy, ''Le midi atlantique'', Atlas e ...

between 1939 and 1940, and attempted unsuccessfully to acquire a

visa Visa most commonly refers to: * Travel visa, a document that allows entry to a foreign country * Visa Inc., a US multinational financial and payment cards company ** Visa Debit card issued by the above company ** Visa Electron, a debit card ** Vi ...

for the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. They managed to escape from

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

, travelling to Portugal in 1941. Jacob was one of the refugees aided by

Varian Fry Varian Mackey Fry (October 15, 1907 – September 13, 1967) was an American journalist. Fry ran a rescue network in Vichy France from August 1940 to September 1941 that helped 2,000 anti-Nazi and Jewish refugees, mostly artists and intellec ...

."Some of the 2,000 people assisted by Varian Fry and the Emergency Rescue Committee."
Varian Fry Institute, 12 February 2008. Retrieved 31 December 2017. However, he was once again kidnapped by the Gestapo in

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

and held in the Gestapo prison at Prinz-Albrecht-Straße, Berlin. Owing to the harsh treatment he endured, Jacob died in the Berlin Jewish Hospital on 26 February 1944.

Works

* 1925: ''Weissbuch über die Schwarze Reichswehr'' (with

Emil Julius Gumbel Emil Julius Gumbel (18 July 1891, in Munich – 10 September 1966, in New York City) was a German mathematician and political writer. Gumbel specialised in mathematical statistics and, along with Leonard Tippett and Ronald Fisher, was instrum ...

) Berlin: Verlag der Neuen Gesellschaft, * 1925: ''Deutschlands geheime Rüstungen?'' Berlin: Verlag der Neuen Gesellschaft * 1929: ''Verräter verfallen der Feme: Opfer, Mörder, Richter 1919–1929'' (with Emil Julius Gumbel, Ernst Falck) Berlin: Malik * 1934: ''Die Hindenburg-Legende.'' Verlag La République, Strasbourg * 1934: ''Wer? Aus dem Arsenal der Reichstagsbrandstifter.'' Strasbourg * 1934: ''Memoiren des Stabschefs Röhm.'' (Anonymous) Strasbourg * 1936: ''Das neue deutsche Heer und seine Führer: Mit einer Rangliste des deutschen Heeres und Dienstaltersliste (nach dem Stande von Mitte August 1936).'' * 1936: ''Warum schweigt die Welt?'' (with contributions from

Carl von Ossietzky Carl von Ossietzky (; 3 October 1889 – 4 May 1938) was a German journalist and Pacifism, pacifist. He was the recipient of the 1935 Nobel Peace Prize for his work in exposing the clandestine German rearmament. As editor-in-chief of the magazin ...

Georg Bernhard Georg Bernhard (October 20, 1875 in Berlin – February 10, 1944 in New York) was a left-liberal German journalist of Jewish descent who became active against National Socialism early on. He had to emigrate in 1933 and was the founder of an ...

, Wolf Franck, Jack Iwo, Alfred Kantorowicz,

Rudolf Leonhard Rudolf Leonhard (27 October 1889, in Lissa, German Empire (today Leszno, Poland) – 19 December 1953, in East Berlin) was a German author and communist activist. Life Leonhard came from a family of lawyers and studied law and Philology in Berlin ...

Paul Westheim Paul Westheim (7 August 1886 in Eschwege, German Empire, Germany – 21 December 1963 in East Berlin, East Germany) was a German art historian and publisher of the magazine ''Das Kunstblatt.'' The fate of Westheim's art collection, which was ...

) Paris: Éditions du Phénix * 1937: ''Weltbürger Ossietzky. Ein Abriss seines Werkes'' (with a biography of Ossietzkys, and foreword by Wickham Steed) Paris: Éditions du Carrefour

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jacob, Berthold 1898 births 1944 deaths German pacifists German Jewish military personnel of World War I who died in the Holocaust German non-fiction writers 20th-century German journalists Journalists from Berlin Jewish journalists Jewish pacifists People deported from Switzerland Kidnappings in Portugal

Biography

Works

See also

References

External links