Karl Stein

Was it courage, or desperation that fueled Karl Stein? Here, at this memorial stone, we remember a man who dared to resist. Karl Stein, born in Dresden in 1902, became a symbol of defiance against the Nazi regime. Karl Stein’s life took a decisive turn in 1921. He joined the Communist Party of Germany and later the Rotfrontkämpferbund, a paramilitary organization associated with the Communist Party. His political convictions cost him his job as an electrician when he participated in a streetcar workers’ strike. This was just the beginning of his troubles. In June 1933, Karl Stein was arrested and imprisoned for several months. Undeterred, he co-founded a resistance group in Dresden in 1934 with Albert Hensel and the artist couple Fritz and Eva Schulze-Knabe. This group, operating clandestinely, also served as an illegal cell of the KPD. They risked their lives by listening to foreign radio broadcasts, distributing leaflets, and displaying anti-Nazi slogans in hard-to-reach places. They even smuggled forbidden literature and provided support to those persecuted by the Nazis. Imagine the bravery it took to perform these acts of resistance under constant threat of discovery. In January 1941, while at work, the inevitable happened. Karl Stein was arrested. The People’s Court, a kangaroo court used by the Nazis, deemed the resistance group’s meetings as an attempt to re-establish the KPD. This was considered high treason. On March 11, 1942, Karl Stein, along with Fritz Schulze, Albert Hensel, and Herbert Bochow, were sentenced to death. The sentence was carried out on June 5, 1942, at Plötzensee Prison in Berlin. Karl Stein’s symbolic grave is located in the Heidefriedhof Cemetery. His memory, however, lives on, not just in this stone, but in the street named after him in the Gittersee district and the stadium bearing his name in Johannstadt. Karl Stein’s life was a testament to the power of resistance, even in the darkest of times. His story reminds us that even small acts of defiance can have a profound impact.