Others did, however, and it was an intercepted transmission from Moscow that provided information that led to her 1942 arrest. Although sympathetic to the Soviet Union, Harnack may not have engaged directly in espionage. Orchestra described any enemy network, and Red labeled it as communist. Harnack’s group came to be known as the Red Orchestra, but this was a name given by German intelligence. Many urged readers to sabotage military production. In the first years of Nazi rule, when public opposition was possible, she made no secret of her beliefs and organized informal meetings in her apartment to “discuss Germany’s political climate.” After several years, her group moved underground and began active resistance, largely by printing and distributing leaflets. Living mostly in Berlin, Harnack earned money by lecturing, translating, and teaching English. Specific facts about the lives of people who aim to leave no evidence are hard to come by (“her aim was self-erasure”), but Donner has clearly worked hard in East German, Soviet, and recently released American archives to tell an impressive story. She opposed Hitler even before he came to power in 1933 and spent 10 years in the resistance before her arrest and execution. Historical biography of an American woman who led resistance groups against the Nazis before Hitler personally ordered her execution in 1943.ĭonner’s subject is Mildred Harnack (1902-1943), who traveled to Germany in 1929 to obtain a doctorate in literature.
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