August Landmesser

August Landmesser was a German man who is forever noted in history as the man who would not salute the Nazis, unlike his fellow countrymen. If defiance had a name and photograph, it is August Landmesser. It takes grit, character, courage and valor to defy not only the government, but also your fellow man who blindly follows the government edicts.

August began his career of defiance by marrying a Jewish woman named Irma Eckler. This was against the Nuremberg laws of “racial purity”. They both tried to escape to Denmark but were arrested at the border. He was eventually put in prison for his defiance, forced to fight on the front lines as a conscripted prisoner and was killed in action. His wife was sent to a concentration camp and later died there. He was survived by his two daughters who were both orphans and lived in separate homes. The marriage of August and Irma was never officially recognized by Nazi Germany but has since be retroactively recognized and is official

We salute the valor of a brave man who stood against all cultural odds, loved the woman of his dreams, and defied corrupt government to be himself.

August Landmesser: you will not be forgotten.