Rudolf Mokry was born on April 24, 1905 and grew up in Rostock under precarious circumstances, influenced by his parents’ revolutionary mindset. As a child, he was active in various sports clubs such as gymnastics and wrestling. 1923-1927 he helped build the workers’ sports stadium. Mokry later became a locksmith.
From 1927 on, he lived in Wilhelmsburg, where he joined the Communist Party (KPD) and became chairman of the Fichte/Neuhof workers’ sports club. On June 11th 1933 he was arrested by Nazis during a secret meeting and imprisoned for the first time.
After his release from prison, Mokry founded a resistance group and taught youth martial arts for defending themselves against Nazis in Lüneburg Heath.
“We took a risk by travelling to the heath with 50 people… This was only possible because the farmers who lived there were also opponents of the Nazis.”
In 1935, Mokry was arrested again and taken to the Fuhlsbüttel concentration camp. In 1937, on the grounds of attempting high treason, he was sentenced to six years in prison in Bremen. After his prison sentence, he was transferred to Sachsenhausen concentration camp in 1941, where he quickly joined the resistance movement within the camp.
The resistance movement in the camp was exposed in 1944 and followed by torture and interrogations. On October 11, 1944, the Nazis murdered 27 communists, including Mokry, for alleged participation in the camp resistance.
The information on the memorial plaque and the accompanying website is intended to provide an overview of Rudolf Mokry’s life and is not intended to be a historical or journalistic work.
We would like to thank all our supporters, the Infoladen Wilhelmsburg, the Geschichtswerkstatt Wilhelmsburg, the Beirat für Stadtteilentwicklung Wilhelmsburg and our volunteer translators.
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