Rupprecht Gerngroß
| Rupprecht Gerngroß | |
|---|---|
Rupprecht Gerngroß
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| Born |
Rupprecht Gerngroß 21 June 1915 Shanghai, China |
| Died | 25 February 1996 (aged 80) Munich, Germany |
| Nationality | German |
| Employer | Army |
| Known for | Freiheitsaktion Bayern leader |
| Home town | Munich, Germany |
| Title | Hauptmann |
Rupprecht Gerngroß (21 June 1915 - 25 February 1996) was a German lawyer and leader of the Freiheitsaktion Bayern, the FAB, (English:Bavarian freedom initiative), a group involved in an attempt to overthrow the Nazis in Munich in April 1945.
Rupprecht Gerngroß was born in Shanghai in 1915, to German parents who both originated from Munich. He returned with his family to Germany after the First World War and was educated in Munich.
He served as a volunteer in the Wehrmacht during the Second World War, was promoted to officer and was wounded. Recovering in a hospital in Poland, he witnessed the execution of a group of Jewish people, an event which turned his opinion against the Nazis.
Upon his return he was put in charge of an interpreter company in the Bavarian capital. Within this unit he found a group of people who were unconvinced of the Nazi ideals and ideas and he managed to arm his officially unarmed company. From 1942, this company formed the heart of the Freiheitsaktion Bayern, but it also involved a number of civilians. All up, the resistance movement had a strength of about 400 people.Jürgen Wittenstein, a friend of the members of the Weiße Rose, collected weapons for the movement from wounded soldiers at the Italian front, where he had volunteered to serve in order to escape the Gestapo.
During the war, he managed to complete his law degree at the University of Erlangen in 1942.
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