Robert Havemann

A death sentence for treason did not end the life of Robert Havemann in 1943, as his expertise in chemical weapons delayed his execution by the Gestapo long enough for the Red Army to liberate Brandenburg-Görden Prison. This survival allowed him to become a pivotal East German chemist, philosopher, and dissident who navigated the complex political landscapes of the twentieth century.

Early Career and Resistance

Born in 1910 in Munich, Havemann pursued chemistry studies in Berlin and Munich from 1929 to 1933. He later secured a doctorate in physical chemistry from the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute. His political trajectory began when he joined the Communist Party of Germany in 1932. During the war, he co-founded the European Union, a resistance organization, an act that led to his 1943 arrest and eventual condemnation.

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Academic and Political Shifts

Following the war, he managed the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry, though American authorities dismissed him in 1948. By 1950, he lost laboratory access, leading him to a professorship at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. He served as a member of the Volkskammer and received the National Prize of East Germany in 1959. Throughout this period, he was a member of the German Academy of Sciences at Berlin.

Dissidence and Final Years

Havemann’s critical stance on socialist ideology intensified after his 1963 lectures, which were later published as 'Dialectic without Dogmatism.' These views led to his expulsion from the Socialist Unity Party and his dismissal from the university. In his later years, he became a target of the Stasi's Zersetzung program. From 1976 until his death in 1982 in Grünheide, he lived under house arrest while battling lung disease.

Legacy and Recognition

The Socialist Unity Party’s Central Party Control Commission politically rehabilitated Havemann in 1989. Beyond his scientific and philosophical contributions, which included the work 'About Censorship and Media,' he was recognized for his humanitarian efforts during the war. In 2005, Yad Vashem awarded him the title of Righteous Among the Nations. He holds the Patriotic Order of Merit in Silver among his various distinctions.