Theodor Görner

Theodor Görner, born in 1884, ran a printing press at Rosenthaler Straße 26 from the 1920s on. He was an ex-member of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and opposed the Nazis. Like Otto Weidt, he employed Jews, at first legally, later illegally with forged documents.

In the summer of 1944, Görner tried to enroll 14-year-old Sinaida Zuckermann, who was classified as “half-Jewish,” at a secondary school. This resulted in his denunciation for being a “Jews’ friend.” He was interrogated and detained in prison for several weeks, but the Gestapo was unable to get any information from him about other aid activities. He was released because his firm was classified as “important for the war effort.” Although he was threatened with imprisonment in a concentration camp “if accused again of a friendly attitude toward Jews,” he continued obtaining food and accommodation for victims of persecution.

In 1959 the Berlin Senate honored Theodor Görner and recognized him as an “Unsung Hero.” In 1967 the Israeli memorial center, Yad Vashem, awarded him the title “Righteous among the Nations.”