Prisoners who died in German detention

Hertha_Sturm

Hertha Sturm (born Edith Fischer, 24 July 1886: died while in state custody before or during 1945) was a German political activist (SPD, KPD) who after 1933 became a resistance activist. She spent most of the twelve Nazi years in state detention, during which time she was badly tortured and made at least one suicide attempt. She did not outlive the Nazi regime.Hertha Sturm is the name by which she is identified in most sources referring to her political actions and to her experiences under the Nazis. It was the name she took on for her Communist Party work in January 1920 and retained thereafter. In addition to her birth name, Edith Fischer, she may also be identified after 1912, by her married name, as Edith Schumann.

Fritz_Lindemann

General Fritz Lindemann (11 April 1894 – 22 September 1944) was a German officer in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany and member of the resistance to Adolf Hitler.
After serving in World War I, Lindemann participated in the suppression of the German Revolution of 1918–1919 as a member of the Freikorps. However, as a member of the Reichswehr and a loyalist to the Weimar Republic, he refused to participate in the Kapp Putsch.Lindemann served as commander of the 132nd Infantry Division from January 1942 to August 1943, before appointment as Chief of Staff of the Artillery Oberkommando des Heeres.Lindemann developed contacts with conspirators against Adolf Hitler including General Helmuth Stieff, and following the assassination of Hitler it was proposed that he would read the conspirators' proclamation to the German people over the radio, but he did not appear at the Bendlerblock on 20 July 1944 in order to do so. After the failure of the 20 July plot, he went into hiding. When the Gestapo came to arrest him, Lindemann tried to jump out of a window. However, he was shot in his leg and stomach, and later died in hospital from his injuries.
After standing trial for helping Lindemann at the People's Court, Erich and Elisabeth Gloeden, Hans Sierks and Carl Marks were all sentenced to death. They were executed by guillotine at Plötzensee Prison in September 1944.

Frieda_Rosenthal

Frieda Rosenthal (born Frieda Schrinner: 9 June 1891 – 15 October 1936) was a Berlin local politician and, after 1933, active in resisting the Nazi régime. Concerned that, under interrogation, she had inadvertently implicated a fellow activist, she died by hanging herself, using a radiator, in her prison cell.

Walter_Gempp

Walter Gempp (13 September 1878 – 2 May 1939) was a German engineer. From 1922 to 1933 he was the sixth head of the Berlin Fire Brigade.
After studying mechanical engineering, Gempp joined the Berlin Fire Department in 1908. He was given the project of developing a motorized fire extinguishing service, and in 1908 he produced the first engine-powered hose truck. In 1923 he became chief fire commissioner in Berlin.Gempp was head of the Berlin fire department at the time of the Reichstag fire on 27 February 1933, personally directing the operations at the incident. On 25 March he was dismissed for presenting evidence that suggested Nazi involvement in the fire. Gempp asserted that there had been a delay in notifying the fire brigade and that he had been forbidden from making full use of the resources at his disposal.
In 1937, he was arrested for abuse of office. Despite his appeal, he was imprisoned. On 2 May 1939, Gempp was found dead in his cell. Some literature suggests that he was murdered by the National Socialists. Other authors state that Gempp took his own life in order to secure his family's pension entitlements, which would have been lost if the judgment against him had become final.