A workshop in Berlin-Kreuzberg cellar apartment at Großbeerenstraße 92 served as the starting point for Otto Weidt to manufacture brooms and brushes starting in 1936. This humble industrial site became a sanctuary where the entrepreneur actively defied the Holocaust, employing blind and deaf Jewish workers to shield them from systematic state deportation.
Early Life and Activism
Born on 2 May 1883 in Rostock to parents Max and Auguste Weidt, he eventually relocated to Berlin. He aligned himself with the German working-class movement, specifically engaging with anarchist and pacifist ideologies. While he trained as a paperhanger like his father, a worsening eye condition necessitated a career shift into brush making and broom binding. An ear infection successfully exempted him from military service during World War I.
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By 1940, Weidt relocated his business to 39 Rosenthaler Straße in Berlin-Mitte. He leveraged a contract with the Wehrmacht to label his workshop as vital to the war effort. Between 1941 and 1943, he employed up to 30 blind and deaf Jewish individuals. When threats of arrest intensified, he utilized forged documents and bribery to protect his staff, assisted by figures such as Hedwig Porschütz. Despite closing his shop during the February 1943 Fabrikaktion, many workers were seized by the Gestapo.
Rescue Efforts and Post-War Work
Weidt demonstrated persistent dedication to those he attempted to save, notably Hans Israelowicz, Inge Deutschkron, and Alice Licht. He sent 150 food parcels to the Theresienstadt camp and even traveled to Auschwitz to locate Alice Licht after she was transferred to the Christianstadt labor camp. Following the war, he founded an orphanage for concentration camp survivors. He died in 1947 of heart failure at the age of 64 and was interred at Friedhof Zehlendorf.
Legacy and Recognition
In 1971, Yad Vashem designated him Righteous Among the Nations. Commemorative efforts include a museum opened in 1999 at his former workshop site, currently managed by the Memorial to the German Resistance. Inge Deutschkron initiated the installation of a memorial plaque in 1993 and the development of Otto-Weidt-Platz in Berlin in 2018. His life inspired a 2014 television film titled A Blind Hero: The Love of Otto Weidt.
Fast facts
- Born: 2 May 1883, Rostock
- Died: 22 December 1947, Berlin
- Primary Occupation: Factory owner
- Key Recognition: Righteous Among the Nations, 1971
- Burial Site: Friedhof Zehlendorf
- Wife: Else Weidt
- Workshop Location 1940: 39 Rosenthaler Straße, Berlin-Mitte
Questions readers ask
How did he protect his workers?
He falsified identity documents, bribed officials, and provided hiding spots within his factory premises.
What happened to the workshop after his death?
His wife Else Weidt operated the business until the East-Berlin Magistrate dissolved it in 1952.
Achievements
- Righteous Among the Nations — 1971
- Worked as entrepreneur, resistance fighter and factory owner