Carl von Ossietzky

Carl von Ossietzky was a German journalist and a pacifist. A pacifist is someone who believes in peace instead of war. He was born in Hamburg on October 3, 1889. His father was a stenographer who died when Carl was very young.

Carl grew up in a home with different religious views. His mother was a devout Catholic. He was later confirmed in a Lutheran church. Even though he did not finish all of his school, he became a writer. He wrote about many things like theater and women's rights. By 1913, he decided he wanted to work for peace.

During World War I, Carl was drafted into the German Army. He did not want to fight in the war. The terrible things he saw during the war made him a stronger pacifist. He later became the secretary of the German Peace Society in 1919.

In the 1920s, he became a leader for a group called the "homeless left." This group did not like Communism, but they also felt other groups were too soft. Carl wanted a strong democracy in Germany. He often worried that old leaders were still in charge. He believed these leaders did not truly care about the new democratic government.

In 1927, Carl became the editor of a magazine called Die Weltbühne.

In 1929, he published a story about a secret group. This group was called Abteilung M. It was a special air unit of the German military. The group was training pilots in secret. This was against the rules of the Treaty of Versailles. The treaty was a big agreement made after the first World War. The German government said this was a state secret. They arrested Carl and his writer, Walter Kreiser, for treason and espionage. They sentenced Carl to eighteen months in prison in 1931.

After the Nazis came to power, Carl continued to speak out. He warned people about the dangers of militarism and Nazism. The Nazis arrested him again after the Reichstag fire in 1933. They sent him to the Esterwegen concentration camp near Oldenburg.

Life in the camps was very hard and brutal. The International Red Cross documented how he was treated. In 1935, Carl was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. This is a famous prize given to people who work for peace.

The Nazi leaders would not let him travel to Norway to accept it.

Carl spent five years being mistreated in Nazi concentration camps. He suffered a lot during this time. In 1938, he died of tuberculosis in a hospital in Berlin.

His life shows how one person can stand up for what they believe in. He used his writing to tell the truth to the world. Even when it was dangerous, he spoke for peace. His story is a reminder of the importance of democracy. Many people still remember him today for his courage.