Eva-Maria Buch (31 January 1921 – 5 August 1943) was a

resistance fighter A resistance movement is an organized effort by some portion of the civil population of a country to withstand the legally established government or an occupying power and to disrupt civil order and stability. It may seek to achieve its objective ...

against the Nazi régime in Germany associated with the Red Orchestra (''Rote Kapelle'') resistance group.

Life

Buch was born and lived with her parents in

Charlottenburg Charlottenburg () is a locality of Berlin within the borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. Established as a town in 1705 and named after Sophia Charlotte of Hanover, Queen consort of Prussia, it is best known for Charlottenburg Palace, the la ...

, a borough of

Berlin Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...

, until the mid-1930s. She was sent to the

Ursuline Ursuline may refer to: * Ursulines, Catholic religious institutes that have been deeply involved in education Canada * École des Ursulines, Quebec, founded in 1639 United Kingdom ; England * Brentwood Ursuline Convent High School, an all- ...

School run by

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

nun A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 599. The term is ...

s until it was shut down in 1939. Without an ''

Abitur ''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen yea ...

'', she attended a seminar for

interpreters Interpreting is a translational activity in which one produces a first and final target-language output on the basis of a one-time exposure to an expression in a source language. The most common two modes of interpreting are simultaneous interp ...

at the

University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (german: link=no, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick Will ...

. While working at a bookshop during 1941 and 1942, Buch became acquainted with

Wilhelm Guddorf Wilhelm Guddorf (alias Paul Braun; 20 February 1902 – 13 May 1943) was a Belgian journalist, anti-Nazi and resistance fighter against the Third Reich. Guddorf was a leading member of a Berlin anti-fascist resistance group that was later c ...

, through whom she became involved with the Red Orchestra. In autumn 1942, Buch attempted to hide Guddorf from a wave of Red Orchestra arrests, but she was arrested by the

Gestapo The (), 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 Prussia into one or ...

on 11 October. Guddorf was arrested and sentenced to death soon thereafter. She was executed the following year, on 13 May 1943. Buch was charged and her case heard at the ''Reichskriegsgericht'' (Reich

Military Tribunal Military justice (also military law) is the legal system (bodies of law and procedure) that governs the conduct of the active-duty personnel of the armed forces of a country. In some nation-states, civil law and military law are distinct bodie ...

) between February 1–3, 1943. The primary evidence given against her was an article meant for slave labourers working in

munition Ammunition (informally ammo) is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines) and the component parts of other weapo ...

factories that she had translated into French. To protect others, Buch claimed she had composed the article herself. As a consequence, she was found guilty and sentenced to death. Her parents appealed to

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

for

clemency A pardon is a government decision to allow a person to be relieved of some or all of the legal consequences resulting from a criminal conviction. A pardon may be granted before or after conviction for the crime, depending on the laws of the j ...

, but he personally refused their request. Buch was guillotined at

Plötzensee Prison Plötzensee Prison (german: Justizvollzugsanstalt Plötzensee, JVA Plötzensee) is a juvenile prison in the Charlottenburg-Nord locality of Berlin with a capacity for 577 prisoners, operated by the State of Berlin judicial administration. The de ...

, Berlin, on 5 August 1943. She was 22 years old. The

Catholic Church in Germany , native_name_lang = de , image = Hohe_Domkirche_St._Petrus.jpg , imagewidth = 200px , alt = , caption = Cologne Cathedral, Cologne , abbreviation = , type = Nati ...

included Eva-Maria Buch in the

martyrology A martyrology is a catalogue or list of martyrs and other saints and beati arranged in the calendar order of their anniversaries or feasts. Local martyrologies record exclusively the custom of a particular Church. Local lists were enriched by na ...

of the 20th century.

Memorials

Eva-Maria Buch is remembered in Berlin by a memorial stone at

Unter den Linden Unter den Linden (, "under the Tilia, linden trees") is a boulevard in the central Mitte (locality), Mitte district of Berlin, the capital of Germany. Running from the City Palace, Berlin, City Palace to Brandenburg Gate, it is named after the l ...

6 and a plaque near

St. Hedwig's Cathedral St. Hedwig's Cathedral (german: St.-Hedwigs-Kathedrale) is a Catholic church on Bebelplatz in the historic centre of Berlin. Dedicated to Hedwig of Silesia, it was erected from 1747 to 1887 by order of Frederick the Great according to plans by ...

. Since 1993, the

Tempelhof Tempelhof () is a locality of Berlin within the borough of Tempelhof-Schöneberg. It is the location of the former Tempelhof Airport, one of the earliest commercial airports in the world. The former airport and surroundings are now a park call ...

City Library has borne the name ''Eva-Maria-Buch-Bibliothek''.

References

Bibliography

*Schilde, Kurt (1992). Eva-Maria Buch und die "Rote Kapelle". Erinnerung an den Widerstand gegen den Nationalsozialismus. Mit einem Geleitwort von Hanna-Renate Laurien. Berlin *Schilde, Kurt (1994). Eva-Maria Buch – Biographische Skizze eines kurzen Lebens. In: Hans Coppi / Jürgen Danyel / Johannes Tuchel (Hrsg.): Die Rote Kapelle im Widerstand gegen den Nationalsozialismus. Berlin, p. 204ff.

External links

*
Biography, Memorial Center of the German Resistance
{{DEFAULTSORT:Buch, Eva-Maria 1921 births 1943 deaths Executed communists in the German Resistance Executed Red Orchestra members People from Berlin executed at Plötzensee Prison Executed German women People executed by guillotine at Plötzensee Prison 20th-century Roman Catholic martyrs