Maria von Maltzan
even members of the nobility did their bit in the resistance against hitler
Countess Maria von Maltzan was always one to go against the grain. In a time when certain things were expected of women, she studied veterinary science and got her doctorate in natural sciences in 1928. That wasn’t when she would stop breaking down boundaries.
As early as 1933 von Maltzan was part of the German resistance and when she realised the true extent of Hitler’s anti-semitic policies, she knew what she had to do. Whenever she received a call for help, she opened her home to the persecuted, feeding and protecting them with the German authorities none the wiser. As time went on she got more bold, securing fake visas so that Jews could escape the country and even driving them out of Berlin herself. She even created a special hiding place inside her sofa for Hans Hirschel, a Jewish author.
Maria and Hans eventually had a child together, but after the baby was placed in an incubator in the hospital, the building was bombed. Maria was devastated but she did have children – she would come to adopt two girls from a children’s camp.
“i prefer to be in a tough situation than to go to bed with a bad conscience”