John Graudenz

Passions

Vocation

Notable

Family

German press photographer and resistance fighter, one of the co-founders of the Communist Workers Party in 1921. In 1922 he moved to the Moscow office of United Press, where he worked until 1924 as its correspondent. Among other things Graudenz was the first to report the death of Lenin to America. In 1924 he organized a steamer trip on the Volga, travelling with other journalists through the areas of the Soviet Union where hunger and misery prevailed. The Soviet Union disapproved of his reports of the desolate state of the country so he was expelled. In 1928, together with Franz Jung, he cofounded the Berlin photo agency Dephot. From 1928 to 1932 he had a permanent job with the New York Times. After the rise of the Nazis in 1933, he kept contact with various resistance groups such as Jung and the Roten Kämpfern (Red Fighters). He also helped the daughter of Jung's friend Otto Gross to emigrate. In the spring of 1939 he met Harro and Libertas Schulze-Boysen through Jung. Graudenz participated in the resistance activities of the Berliner Roten Kapelle (Red Chapel/ Red Orchestra), procuring a duplicating apparatus to print various political pamphlets. He was instrumental in the production of the "AGIS" flyer and assisted Schulze-Boysen with the acquisition of information, especially with regard to the latest aircraft technology. Graudenz was arrested on 12 September 1942, sentenced to death on 19 December, and hanged on 22 December at Berlin-Plötzensee on the orders of Adolf Hitler. Link to Wikipedia biography (German)