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Carl Stuhr * 1912

Scheideweg 13 (Eimsbüttel, Hoheluft-West)

HIER WOHNTE
CARL STUHR
JG. 1912
MEHRMALS VERHAFTET
ZULETZT 1941
KZ FUHLSBÜTTEL
"FRONTBEWÄHRUNG"
TOT 2.2.1943
LAZARETT LEIPZIG

Carl Fritz Theodor Stuhr, b. 8.20.1912 in Hamburg, died on 2.2.1943 in the Reserve Infirmary in Leipzig

Scheideweg 13

The denunciation by an 18-year old Danish volunteer worker at the cocoa and chocolate factory, C. H. L. Gartmann in Bahrenfeld, in connection to his homosexual work comrades Fiete Raudies and Carl Stuhr, as "perverse" und "warm" led to their arrest at the end of May 1941 and ultimately to the death of both: the occasional laborer Fritz Raudies, born in 1899, committed suicide on 6 November 1941 in the Wolfenbüttel prison (see his commemorative stone in Hamburg-St. Georg, Stiftstrasse 68); immediately following his imprisonment, Carl Stuhr "proved" himself at the front and died on 6.2.1943 in the Reserve Infirmary in Leipzig.

Carl Stuhr was born in Hamburg in 1912, the son of the self-employed wallpaper hanger Fritz Stuhr and Meta, née Vooth. He had an older brother who later married in Herford [Westphalia]. After graduating from elementary school in the first class, Carl Stuhr attended the conservatory in Hamburg for the two years from 1929 to 1931 in order to become a professional musician; however, he broke off his training because of the poor prospects for earning a living. Until 1935, he was unemployed and worked from 1933, without pay, for the Hitler Youth. In his leisure time he took up sailing as a sport and sailed a boat on the Isebekkanal. From August 1935 until his arrest on 31 May 1941, he worked in the Labor Department at the Roboisen office. While there, his homosexual "offenses" were brought to light, but it was noted that he had "always" carried out his assigned work to the satisfaction of his superiors; however, his behavior was also described stereotypically as making "an effeminate and soft impression characteristic of his orientation."

According to his own testimony, Carl Stuhr first came to the attention of the Gestapo on account of his homosexual dealings in 1937. It is likely that he is identical to the "prisoner in protective custody, Carl E. Stuhr," who was imprisoned from 16 April to 10 May 1937 in the Fuhlsbüttel concentration camp. The proceedings against him in that instance were suspended because the statute of limitations had elapsed. He was even permitted to continue his membership in the Hitler Youth in that period.

The new accusation triggered by the remarks of the Dane was banal: following a communication from the labor department, Carl Stuhr, out of sympathy, secured better lodgings for the young foreigner, befriended him, and gave him or lent him some money; during a visit to his apartment, he took hold of him on his sofa. The Dane then noticed that Carl Stuhr was "warm and perverse." The criminal police designated this as an "attempted crime according to §175a of the Penal Code," because the Dane was only 18 years old. In addition they saw in Stuhr the "type who, although he seemed sexually normal, was a homosexual." There followed in intensive interrogation which recorded: "the accused ... even after repeated accusations, could not decide to admit the truth." To get at these "truths" through the application of more pressure, he was from 4 to 13 June 1941 placed in the Fuhlsbüttel concentration camp for the second time in his life. In any case Carl Stuhr confessed to no further incidents and, in reality, probably had no further homosexual experiences. On 13 June 1941, he was placed in investigative detention while the documents pertaining to his criminal investigation as well as his medical evaluation by the court physician were completed. The medical councilor Rolf Schwarke assessed the trivial occurrences in the indictment that had meanwhile been brought as "attempted homosexual activity.” On this basis in October 1941, he was condemned by the District Court, for only "simple” violation of §175, to just five months in prison, which was deemed served by the time in investigative detention.

His call-up to the Wehrmacht was already in force on 2 June 1941, at the beginning of his imprisonment; despite the district military command being informed of the grounds for his remaining absent, his call-up was renewed after his release from prison as a previously punished "175er.” Carl Stuhr did not return from his deployment as a corporal of the 13th company of the 90th infantry regiment. His commemorative stone, recalling his fate, stands before his parental home at Scheideweg 13.


Translator: Richard Levy
Kindly supported by the Hermann Reemtsma Stiftung, Hamburg.

Stand: January 2019
© Ulf Bollmann

Quellen: StaH 213-8 Staatsanwaltschaft Oberlandesgericht – Verwaltung, Abl. 2, 451 a E 1, 1 b; 213-11 Staatsanwaltschaft Landgericht – Strafsachen, 3715/42; 331-1 II Polizeibehörde II, Ablieferung 15 Band 1; 242-1 II Gefängnisverwaltung II, Ablieferung 1998/1; 332-5, 9939 (Eintragung Nr. 944).