Harnack, Mildred Fish 1902-1943 | Wisconsin Historical Society

Historical Essay

Harnack, Mildred Fish 1902-1943

Harnack, Mildred Fish 1902-1943 | Wisconsin Historical Society
Dictionary of Wisconsin History.

Milwaukee-born anti-Nazi resistance leader; Mildred E. Fish was born and raised in Milwaukee and attended UW-Madison, 1921-1928. There she met a visiting German scholar named Arvid Harnack, whom she married and with whom she moved to Germany in 1929. They settled in Berlin, where she finished her PhD and translated contemporary American literature into German. During the 1930s both Mildred and Arvid became vocal opponents of Nazism, and after World War II began they joined the underground resistance movement. They were arrested in 1942 and executed, Arvid in Dec. 1942 and Mildred on Feb. 16, 1943. Many photographs, letters, and other documents from Mildred Harnack's life are available at the site "Honoring Mildred Fish Harnack" created by the Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison Archives.  Other documents and video were mounted in Nov. 2007 by WISC-TV of Madison.

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[Source: University of Wisconsin Archives]