Heinz Harro Shulze-Boysen was born in 1909 in Kiel, the son of a Navy Officer. As a young man in the 1920s and 1930s, Boysen became a left wing political activist. In 1928, he founded a group for Communist Youth known as “Treffen der Revolutionaren Jugen Europas.” In 1933 the office of the youth group was attacked by Nazi brownshirts and Boysen was assaulted and held prisoner for several days. After his release, Boysen started attending flight school.
Boysen kept a close circle of politically active acquaintances, including Arvid Harnack, Hilde Coppi and Hans Coppi. They believed in the abolition of Capitalism and worldwide revolution. Boysen’s group was antifascist and included artists, pacifists, and Communists. Boysen later joined the Luftwaffe (German Air Force) while secretly continuing his political beliefs.
Boysen had access to classified military intelligence due to his rank of Lieutenant in the Luftwaffe. He began to pass information to the Soviets through his civilian political activist group. The Gestapo knew about a Communist German group involved in espionage against the Third Reich, however they did not know the identity of those involved. The Gestapo called this group “The Red Orchestra.”
The Red Orchestra used radio communications to inform the Soviet Union about their imminent invasion by the German military. In 1942, the German military decoded radio messages sent from The Red Orchestra and the information gained from those messages led authorities to Boysen and the other Orchestra members.
The members of The Red Orchestra were arrested and executed on the 22nd of December, 1942 in Plotzensee prison in Berlin. Their bodies were then donated to science.
In 1972 a street in Berlin was named for Heinz Harro Shulze-Boysen, and the executed members of The Red Orchestra were given commemorative “Stolpersteine” at Karl-Lehr-Strasse
Boysen kept a close circle of politically active acquaintances, including Arvid Harnack, Hilde Coppi and Hans Coppi. They believed in the abolition of Capitalism and worldwide revolution. Boysen’s group was antifascist and included artists, pacifists, and Communists. Boysen later joined the Luftwaffe (German Air Force) while secretly continuing his political beliefs.
Boysen had access to classified military intelligence due to his rank of Lieutenant in the Luftwaffe. He began to pass information to the Soviets through his civilian political activist group. The Gestapo knew about a Communist German group involved in espionage against the Third Reich, however they did not know the identity of those involved. The Gestapo called this group “The Red Orchestra.”
The Red Orchestra used radio communications to inform the Soviet Union about their imminent invasion by the German military. In 1942, the German military decoded radio messages sent from The Red Orchestra and the information gained from those messages led authorities to Boysen and the other Orchestra members.
The members of The Red Orchestra were arrested and executed on the 22nd of December, 1942 in Plotzensee prison in Berlin. Their bodies were then donated to science.
In 1972 a street in Berlin was named for Heinz Harro Shulze-Boysen, and the executed members of The Red Orchestra were given commemorative “Stolpersteine” at Karl-Lehr-Strasse