The life of Mildred Fish Harnack and her role in the anti-Nazi resistance in Germany may be one of the most compelling stories about World War II you’ve never heard; and this story has strong ties to Wisconsin.
On Thursday, Oct. 6, Wisconsin Public Television will premiere its original documentary, “Wisconsin’s Nazi Resistance”at the Jewish Museum Milwaukee at 7 p.m.
The film focuses on Mildred Fish Harnack, who grew up on Milwaukee’s West Side and later attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she pursued her undergraduate and graduate degrees. While teaching at the university, she met and married Arvid Harnack, a native German and fellow student.
When the couple moved to Germany in 1933, they became involved with a group of Soviet sympathizers and Nazi resisters in reaction to the emergence of Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich, which the Gestapo eventually named The Red Orchestra.
The Harnacks joined the Nazi party, partly for survival, (you could not be employed without being a member) and used their membership to act as double agents. Arvid passed on information he learned as an economist to Russia and the U.S. embassy, and Mildred recruited her students for the resistance movement.
It is widely speculated, though not confirmed, that the Harnacks used their connections with the embassy to obtain visas to help their Jewish friends to escape the country.
The Harnacks’ resistance work ended in 1942 when Germany intercepted a Soviet transmission that erroneously used their real names. They were arrested, tortured, interrogated, and tried. Though Arvid received a death sentence, Mildred was given a prison sentence, until Hitler intervened. She, too, was sentenced to death, becoming the only American woman executed by Hitler’s direct order.
Directed and produced by Joel Waldinger, “Wisconsin’s Nazi Resistance” is completely riveting from start to finish.
The narrator is actress Jane Kaczmarek, herself a Milwaukee native. “In my life, to think of the kind of courage that these people had, that they loved something so much that they were willing to stop fascism and Adolf Hitler, but also loved Germany so much that they were willing to give their lives to save it,” she said. “That, and Mildred’s love of the idea of freedom and democracy fascinates me.”
Mildred’s story is told through candid photographs, film footage, letters, and diary entries. Waldinger creates an intimacy that helps the viewer understand and relate to the Harnacks and the important work they did.
Footage of the Gestapo prisons and their death rooms, which were nothing less than medieval-like torture chambers, is hard to look at, but incredibly important to witness to learn from these atrocities.
Waldinger presents the Harnacks’ story without being maudlin or preachy through his expert use of the material. As the film progresses, it feels more like a thriller than a documentary, yet the viewer takes away from the film an almost unbelievable true story of courage.
Partly because of her Soviet ties, Harnack’s story was suppressed and forgotten until Wisconsin civil rights attorney Art Heitzer brought it forward.
Since 1986, her birthday, Sept. 16, is a day of observance in the state of Wisconsin, the first major honor for Harnack in the United States.
The Jewish Museum Milwaukee is currently presenting an exhibit of photos, letters and artifacts titled, “Mildred Fish Harnack: The Story of a Wisconsin Woman’s Resistance” through Nov. 27.
The premiere of “Wisconsin’s Nazi Resistance” will be held at the JMM, 1360 N. Prospect Ave., on Oct. 6 at 7 p.m. The event is co-sponsored by the Nathan and Esther Pelz Holocaust Education Resource Center, Wisconsin Public Television, and Milwaukee Public Television.
The film screening will be followed by a panel discussion featuring Waldinger; Bonnie Shafrin, director of the Nathan and Esther Pelz Holocaust Education Resource Center; and Ellie Gettinger, JMM educator.
The event will serve as Milwaukee Public Television’s October Community Cinema Event and is free and open to the public, but space is limited. RSVP by calling 414-390-5730.
The film also will be broadcast on MPTV 10.1 HD on Nov. 7 at 8 p.m., and repeated Nov. 15 at 7 p.m.
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