Herbert Engelsing

{{Short description|German lawyer and resistance fighter (1904–1962)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}} {{Use British English|date=August 2021}} {{Infobox person | honorific_prefix = | name = Herbert Engelsing | honorific_suffix = | image = Herbert_Engelsing.png | image_upright = | landscape =  | alt =  | caption = Herbert Engelsing as a young judge | native_name = | native_name_lang = | pronunciation = | birth_name =  | birth_date = {{Birth date|1904|09|02|df=y}} | birth_place = [[Overath]], [[German Empire]] | baptised =  | disappeared_date =  | disappeared_place = | disappeared_status = | death_date = {{Death date and age|1962|02|10|1904|09|02|df=y}} | death_place = [[Konstanz]], [[West Germany]] | death_cause =  | body_discovered = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates =  | burial_place =  | burial_coordinates =  | monuments = | other_names = | siglum = | citizenship = | education = | alma_mater = | occupation = Lawyer, film producer | years_active = | era = | employer = [[Tobis Film]] company, [[UFA GmbH]] | organization = | agent =  | known_for = | notable_works =  | style = | height =  | television = | title =  | term = | predecessor = | successor = | party = | otherparty = | movement = | opponents = | boards = | criminal_charges =  | criminal_penalty = | criminal_status = | spouse = Ingeborg Engelsing née Kohler | partner =  | children = Tobias Engelsing | parents =  | mother =  | father =  | relatives = | family = | callsign = | awards = }} '''Herbert ''Enke'' Wilhelm Engelsing''' (born 2 September 1904 in [[Overath]], died 10 February 1962 in [[Konstanz]]) was a right-wing German Catholic lawyer<ref>{{cite book |last=Nelson |first=Anne |title=Red Orchestra. The Story of the Berlin Underground and the Circle of Friends Who Resisted Hitler |publisher=Random House |location=New York |date=2009 |isbn=978-1-4000-6000-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/redorchestrastor00anne|page=1}}</ref> in Berlin and [[German resistance to Nazism|resistance fighter]] against the Nazi regime. When the Nazi regime began, Engelsing found himself unable to work in law. Instead he found work in the German film industry, becoming a very successful film producer with [[Tobis Film]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Engelsing, Herbert |url=https://archive.org/details/EngelsingHerbert |website=Internet Archive |publisher=Central Intelligence Agency |access-date=30 August 2021 |date=2007}}{{PD-notice}}</ref> In 1938, Engelsing and his wife Ingeborg became close friends with [[Libertas Schulze-Boysen|Libertas]] and [[Harro Schulze-Boysen]] who were part of a resistance organisation against the Nazis. Engelsing maintained a high profile in the film business and low profile in the resistance, but made his mark by introducing many new people into the organisation, brokering deals and providing secure locations for meetings.<ref name="nelson_P130"/> The couple survived the war and moved to the United States in 1947. Engelsing did not receive permanent residency due to false accusations of being the head of a Soviet sleeper cell.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Engelsing |first1=Tobias |title=Das Doppelleben meines Vaters |url=https://www.zeit.de/2022/08/herbert-engelsing-nationalsozialismus-reichsdeutsche-filme-tochter/komplettansicht |access-date=10 June 2022 |agency=Die Zeit Online |date=21 February 2022}}</ref>

==Life== Engelsing studied law, literature and art history and earned a doctorate in law.

In 1938, Engelsing married Ingeborg Engelsing née Kohler.<ref name="CIA_p9">{{cite web |title=Engelsing, Herbert |url=https://archive.org/details/EngelsingHerbert/ENGELSING%2C%20HERBERT_0009/page/n1/mode/2up |website=Internet Archive |publisher=Central Intelligence Agency |access-date=30 August 2021 |date=2007|page=9}}{{PD-notice}}</ref> Kohler came from a prominent Berlin based legal family.<ref name="CIA_p9"/> The couple were engaged in 1936, however Kohler was classified as half-Jewish or ''[[Mischling]]'', a pejorative term.<ref name="nelson_P130">{{cite book |last=Nelson |first=Anne |title=Red Orchestra. The Story of the Berlin Underground and the Circle of Friends Who Resisted Hitler |publisher=Random House |location=New York |date=2009 |isbn=978-1-4000-6000-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/redorchestrastor00anne|page=130}}</ref> When she went for her race characteristics exam, and although the photographer attempted to portray her as ''tall, blond and slim'', she was refused permission to marry.<ref name="nelson_P130"/> The couple began to look for help and received it, in the form of the actor [[Käthe Dorsch]].<ref name="nelson_P130"/> Dorsch was a childhood friend of [[Hermann Göring]] and through her advocacy managed to persuade Goring to present the couple's case to Hitler.<ref name="nelson_P130"/> Finally in September 1937, permission was received from Hitler<ref name="nelson_P130"/> and the couple married in England.<ref name="CIA_p9"/> The couple had a son, Thomas<ref>{{cite book |last=Nelson |first=Anne |title=Red Orchestra. The Story of the Berlin Underground and the Circle of Friends Who Resisted Hitler |publisher=Random House |location=New York |date=2009 |isbn=978-1-4000-6000-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/redorchestrastor00anne|page=238}}</ref> (16 August 1938) and a daughter, Catherine (9 September 1941).<ref name="two"/>

Beginning in 1943, the couple began to change their address, moving numerous times over the next two years, so that Ingeborg wasn't drafted into a Reich women's work unit (Berufsausbildungsprogramm Ost).<ref>{{cite web |title=ENGELSING, HERBERT 0022 |url=https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/document/51966eca993294098d50ab9a |website=CIA |publisher=Nazi War Crimes Disclosure Act |access-date=3 September 2021|page=2}}</ref> These women's work units were introduced by the Reich Minister of the Economy [[Walther Funk]] in 1943 and would have meant Ingeborg being assigned to a farming unit in [[Occupation of Poland (1939–1945)|occupied Poland]].<ref>[http://www.calvin.edu/academic/cas/gpa/images/maedel/dm5-42.jpg ''Das Deutsche Mädel'']</ref>

==Career== In 1935, he became a lawyer at the [[Tobis Film]] company, after the Nazis took over the courts.<ref name="nel_p129"/> When Tobis was purged by the Nazis he was offered a position in 1937 as a director of production groups (Herstellungs-Gruppenleiter) that involved retraining.<ref name="nel_p129">{{cite book |last=Nelson |first=Anne |title=Red Orchestra. The Story of the Berlin Underground and the Circle of Friends Who Resisted Hitler |publisher=Random House |location=New York |date=2009 |isbn=978-1-4000-6000-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/redorchestrastor00anne|page=129}}</ref> Engelsing retained the right to practice as a lawyer, by joining the firm of [[Carl Langbehn]], a well known and prominent law firm.<ref name="nel_p129"/>

He was responsible for distribution the films, such as [[Willi Forst]]'s upbeat comedy [[Tomfoolery (film)|Tomfoolery]] (Allotria) produced in 1936. He held a similar position at several film companies until the end of the war in 1945. Engelsing's films include the Forst productions [[Serenade (1937 film)|Serenade]] (1937) and the 1939 film [[Bel Ami (1939 film)|Bel Ami]],<ref name="nelson_p237"/> but also the Nazi propaganda films [[The Fox of Glenarvon]] (Der Fuchs von Glenarvon), [[My Life for Ireland]] (Mein Leben für Irland)<ref>{{cite book |last1=Giesen |first1=Rolf |title=Nazi Propaganda Films: A History and Filmography |date=11 September 2015 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-1-4766-1269-0 |page=211 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lLmJCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA211 |language=en}}</ref> and Jakko.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Giesen |first1=Rolf |title=Nazi Propaganda Films: A History and Filmography |date=11 September 2015 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-1-4766-1269-0 |page=204 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lLmJCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA204 |language=en}}</ref> Between 1937 and 1944, Engelsing was executive producer on thirty-four films.<ref name="nelson_p236">{{cite book |last=Nelson |first=Anne |title=Red Orchestra. The Story of the Berlin Underground and the Circle of Friends Who Resisted Hitler |publisher=Random House |location=New York |date=2009 |isbn=978-1-4000-6000-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/redorchestrastor00anne|page=236}}</ref> He was sufficiently successful to maintain his own division in 1942<ref name="nelson_p236"/> when Tobis Films lost its independence when it was merged with [[Terra Film|Terra]], [[Bavaria Film]] and [[Wien-Film]] to form [[UFA GmbH]] by the Nazis.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kroon |first1=Richard W. |title=A/V A to Z: An Encyclopedic Dictionary of Media, Entertainment and Other Audiovisual Terms |date=30 March 2010 |publisher=McFarland |location=London |isbn=978-0-7864-5740-3 |page=716 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HjmNAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA716 |language=en}}</ref>

Engelsing friends included the actors [[Heinz Rühmann]] and [[Theo Lingen]]<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ohler |first1=Norman |last2=Mohr |first2=Tim |last3=Yarbrough |first3=Marshall |title=The Bohemians : the lovers who led Germany's resistance against the Nazis |date=14 July 2020 |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt |location=Boston |isbn=9781328566232|page=XXIII}}</ref> Engelsing was close to many members of the [[Babelsberg]] film community, the home of the [[Babelsberg Studio]].<ref name="nelson_p237"/> Many of them opposed the Nazis and worked to help the victims of the regime.<ref name="nelson_p237">{{cite book |last=Nelson |first=Anne |title=Red Orchestra. The Story of the Berlin Underground and the Circle of Friends Who Resisted Hitler |publisher=Random House |location=New York |date=2009 |isbn=978-1-4000-6000-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/redorchestrastor00anne|page=237}}</ref>

==Resistance== Both Herbert and Ingeborg Engelsing were anti-Nazis who were active during the war in resisting the Nazis. They collected and distributed food to dispossessed Jews and other people who didn't possess ration-cards and identity papers.<ref name="twotwo_p3">{{cite web |title=ENGELSING, HERBERT 0022 |url=https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/document/51966eca993294098d50ab9a |website=CIA |publisher=Nazi War Crimes Disclosure Act |access-date=3 September 2021|page=3}}</ref> In 1938, the Engelsings met the couple [[Harro Schulze-Boysen]] and [[Libertas Schulze-Boysen]] at a party, held by a mutual friend.<ref name="twotwo_p3"/> From that point forward they became good friends and began to meet frequently. Ingeborg became particularly close friends with Libertas,<ref name="twotwo_p3"/> who confided in her about her slightly scandalous past; about her mother running away with her art tutor and her parents divorcing.<ref>{{cite book |last=Nelson |first=Anne |title=Red Orchestra. The Story of the Berlin Underground and the Circle of Friends Who Resisted Hitler |publisher=Random House |location=New York |date=2009 |isbn=978-1-4000-6000-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/redorchestrastor00anne |page=135}}</ref> Ingeborg was largely kept in the dark about the groups resistance activities, as being both a young mother and Jewish made her particularly vulnerable.<ref>{{cite book |last=Nelson |first=Anne |title=Red Orchestra. The Story of the Berlin Underground and the Circle of Friends Who Resisted Hitler |publisher=Random House |location=New York |date=2009 |isbn=978-1-4000-6000-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/redorchestrastor00anne |page=108}}</ref>

In 1939, the Engelsing's introduced [[Maria Terwiel]] and her future fiancé [[Helmut Himpel]] into the group.<ref name="nelson_p139">{{cite book |last=Nelson |first=Anne |title=Red Orchestra. The Story of the Berlin Underground and the Circle of Friends Who Resisted Hitler |publisher=Random House |location=New York |date=2009 |isbn=978-1-4000-6000-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/redorchestrastor00anne |page=139}}</ref> Himpel had been the Engelsings family dentist for a number of years. His work was so good that Engelsing had recommended him to his film friends and that led to him to build a career as a dentist to German film stars.<ref name="nelson_p139"/> Engelsing also introduced the industrialist [[Hugo Buschmann]] to the group.<ref name="twotwo_p3"/> Buschmann, an ardent anti-nazi, rented one of Engelsings apartments,<ref name="twotwo_p3"/> in the house at 2 Bettinastraße in [[Grunewald (locality)|Grunewald]] that the Engelsings moved into in 1939.<ref>{{cite web |title=ENGELSING, HERBERT 0022 |url=https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/document/51966eca993294098d50ab9a |website=CIA |publisher=Nazi War Crimes Disclosure Act |access-date=3 September 2021|page=4}}</ref>

In 1940, Adam and Greta Kuckhoff met Harro and Libertas Schulze-Boysen at the home of the Engelsing's.<ref name="cop_p62">{{cite book |last1=Coppi |first1=Hans |last2=Tuchel |first2=Johannes |title=Libertas Schulze-Boysen und die Rote Kapelle |publisher=Gedenkstätte Deutscher Widerstand Berlinauf Schloss & Gut Liebenberg |location=Berlin |isbn=978-3-926082-55-8 |url=https://www.gdw-berlin.de/fileadmin/bilder/publikationen/beitraege/2004_Libertas_screen.pdf |access-date=4 September 2021|date=2013|page=62}}</ref> In 12–13 May 1940, the couple spent the weekend at Liebenberg castle, the family home of Libertas Schulze-Boysen, where they were joined by the Schumachers, [[Günther Weisenborn]]<ref name="cop_p62"/> and other friends in the group. During the weekend, the group discussed writing leaflets and formulated a method of distributing them.<ref name="cop_p62"/> After the war Weisenborn stated of Engelsing, who was familiar with film and political figures, ''tolerated our work and encouraged it wherever he could. He was a so-called contact man, which means that our organization used the connections he had with key figures in the Third Reich.'' In early 1941, when Schulze-Boysen began to spy for the Soviet Union, Engelsing broke of their friendship, as he believed it was an act of betrayal.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Moody |first1=Oliver |title=At the heart of the Nazi propaganda machine, cinema's Schindler worked his magic |url=https://www.thetimes.com/world/europe/article/at-the-heart-of-the-nazi-propaganda-machine-cinemas-schindler-worked-his-magic-3hgdrk55p |access-date=10 June 2022 |agency=The Times |publisher=News UK |date=17 April 2022 |location=Berlin}}</ref>

At the end of the war, he had made his last entertainment film with director [[Gustav Fröhlich]] on the island of [[Mainau]] on [[Lake Constance]] in the summer of 1944, and brought his family from Berlin to safety on Lake Constance.

In the spring of 1945, agents of the CIC, the intelligence service of the US Army, operating out of Zurich, contacted Engelsing and used him as a source of information on members of the Nazi state. At the beginning of 1950, Engelsing made himself available as a witness in the preliminary proceedings against the then representative of the prosecution in the "Red Orchestra Trial", the Nazi apologist and General Judge [[Manfred Roeder (judge)|Manfred Roeder]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sälter |first1=Gerhard |title=Phantome des Kalten Krieges: die Organisation Gehlen und die Wiederbelebung des Gestapo-Feindbildes "Rote Kapelle" |date=2016 |publisher=Ch. Links Verlag |isbn=978-3-86153-921-6 |page=130 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F112DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA130 |language=de}}</ref> However, the proceedings were discontinued.

==After the war== Before the end of the war, Engelsing moved from Berlin to [[Konstanz]]<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sälter |first1=Gerhard |title=Phantome des Kalten Krieges: die Organisation Gehlen und die Wiederbelebung des Gestapo-Feindbildes "Rote Kapelle" |date=2016 |publisher=Ch. Links Verlag |isbn=978-3-86153-921-6 |page=104 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F112DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA104 |language=de}}</ref> at the time in the [[French occupation zone in Germany]].<ref name="two">{{cite web |title=Herbert Engelsing 0022 |url=https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/document/51966eca993294098d50ab9a |website=CIA |publisher=Nazi War Crimes Disclosure Act}}</ref> Engelsing was admitted to the bar of the French military courts in 1945, where he was one of two lawyers admitted to practice.<ref name="two"/> In the fall of 1945 was employed by the [[Konstanz]] district court.<ref>{{cite web |title=Engelsing, Herbert |url=https://archive.org/details/EngelsingHerbert/ENGELSING%2C%20HERBERT_0009/page/n1/mode/2up |website=Internet Archive |publisher=Central Intelligence Agency |access-date=3 September 2021 |date=2007|page=9}}{{PD-notice}}</ref> He ran a criminal and civil law practice. In addition to the usual mandates, he also represented victims of Nazi Aryanization as well as German and French [[Sinti]] families in restitution proceedings. He also took on mandates for some former southwest German military economic leaders in denazification proceedings.

In March 1947, Ingeborg emigrated with her family to Berkeley, California,<ref>{{cite web |title=Engelsing, Herbert |url=https://archive.org/details/EngelsingHerbert/ENGELSING%2C%20HERBERT_0002|website=Internet Archive |publisher=Central Intelligence Agency |access-date=3 September 2021 |date=2007|page=1}}{{PD-notice}}</ref> where Ingeborg's parents had moved to in 1939<ref>{{cite web |title=ENGELSING, HERBERT_0022 |url=https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/ENGELSING%2C%20HERBERT_0022.pdf |website=CIA |publisher=Nazi War Crimes Disclosure Act |access-date=3 September 2021|page=10}}</ref> and immediately applied for [[Citizenship of the United States|American citizenship]]. Herbert arrived in the United States in December 1947.<ref>{{cite web |title=Engelsing, Herbert 0025|url=https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/document/51966eca993294098d50ab8a |website=CIA |publisher=Central Intelligence Agency |access-date=3 September 2021 |date=2007|page=3}}{{PD-notice}}</ref> Attempts by Herbert to regain a foothold there in the film business failed. Engelsing remained a lawyer until his untimely death in 1962.

==Filmography== The following is a list of films that were produced by Engelsing:

* 1937: [[Don't Promise Me Anything]] (Versprich mir nichts) * 1937: [[Another World (1937 film)|Another World]] (Andere Welt) * 1937: Der Katzensteg * 1937: ''[[Capers (1937 film)|Capers]]'' * 1937: [[Serenade (1937 film)|Serenade]] * 1937: [[The Roundabouts of Handsome Karl]] (Die Umwege des schönen Karl) * 1938: [[Covered Tracks]] (Verwehte Spuren) * 1938: Dir gehört mein Herz * 1939: [[Bel Ami (1939 film)|Bel Ami]] * 1940: [[The Fox of Glenarvon]] (Der Fuchs von Glenarvon) * 1940: [[The Three Codonas]] (Die 3 Codonas) * 1941: ''[[Jakko (film)|Jakko]]'' * 1941: [[My Life for Ireland]] (Mein Leben für Irland) * 1941: ''[[The Night in Venice]]'' * 1941: Der Fall Rainer * 1942: Der große Schatten * 1942: ''[[My Friend Josephine]]'' * 1943: [[Kohlhiesel's Daughters (1943 film)|Kohlhiesel's Daughters]] (Kohlhiesels Töchter) * 1943: ''[[Light of Heart]]'' * 1943: Herr Sanders lebt gefährlich * 1944: ''[[Harald Arrives at Nine]]'' * 1944: ''[[Philharmonic (film)|Philharmonic]]'' * 1944: [[The Years Pass]] * 1945: Leb’ wohl, Christina (unvollendet) * 1945: Der Scheiterhaufen (unvollendet) * 1948: [[An Everyday Story]] (Eine alltägliche Geschichte) * 1949: Ruf an das Gewissen

==Literature== * {{cite book |last1=Weniger |first1=Kay |title=Das große Personenlexikon des Films die Schauspieler, Regisseure, Kameraleute, Produzenten, Komponisten, Drehbuchautoren, Filmarchitekten, Ausstatter, Kostümbildner, Cutter, Tontechniker, Maskenbildner und Special Effects Designer des 20. Jahrhunderts |date=2001 |publisher=Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf |location=Berlin |isbn=9783896023407 |page=558 |language=German|volume= 2: C – F.|trans-title=The great encyclopedia of film the actors, directors, cinematographers, producers, composers, screenwriters, film architects, outfitters, costume designers, editors, sound technicians, make-up artists and special effects designers of the 20th century}} * {{cite book |last1=Roloff |first1=Stefan |last2=Vigl |first2=Mario |title=Die Rote Kapelle : die Widerstandsgruppe im Dritten Reich und die Geschichte Helmut Roloffs |date=2002 |publisher=Ullstein Taschenbuchvlg Verlag |location=Munic |isbn=9783550075438 |language=de|trans-title=The Red Orchestra: the resistance group in the Third Reich and the story of Helmut Roloff}} * {{cite book |last1=Kettelhake |first1=Silke |title=Erzähl allen, allen von mir : Das schöne kurze Leben der Libertas Schulze-Boysen 1913-1942. |date=2014 |publisher=Buch & media |location=München |isbn=9783869065618 |language=German|trans-title=Tell everyone, everyone about me : the beautiful short life of Libertas Schulze-Boysen 1913-1942.}} * {{cite book |last1=Malek-Kohler |first1=Ingeborg |title=Im Windschatten des Dritten Reiches : Begegnungen mit Filmkünstlern und Widerstandskämpfern |date=1986 |publisher=Herder |location=Freiburg |language=German|series=Herderbücherei, Bd. 1288|oclc=1086306336|trans-title=In the slipstream of the Third Reich : encounters with film artists and resistance fighters}} * {{cite book |last1=Verhoeven |first1=Michael |title=Paul, ich und wir : die Zeit und die Verhoevens |date=2005 |publisher=Ullstein |location=Berlin |isbn=9783550078606 |language=German|trans-title=Paul, me and us : time and the Verhoevens}}

==References== {{Reflist}} {{People of the German Rote Kapelle resistance group}} {{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Engelsing, Herbert}} [[Category:1904 births]] [[Category:1962 deaths]] [[Category:Red Orchestra (espionage)]] [[Category:German film producers]] [[Category:20th-century German lawyers]]