PART III. 1943 – Present

Mildred Fish Harnack – LATE 1940s

A Memorial Failed Attempt

CORRESPONDENCE

• Senator Alexander Wiley to University of Wisconsin President E. B. Fred [9 December 1947]

CORRESPONDENCE

• University of Wisconsin Department of Public Services F. O. Holt to Senator Alexander Wiley [9 December 1947]
• C. G. Blakeney, Colonel, GSC, Legislative and Liaison Division to Wiley [30 December 1947]
• Wiley to Holt [8 January 1948]

CORRESPONDENCE

• University of Wisconsin Graduate and close friend to Mildred Fish Harnack Clara Leiser to University of Wisconsin President E. B. Fred [13 January 1948]
• University of Wisconsin Department of Public Services F. O. Holt to Leiser [26 January 1948]

CORRESPONDENCE

• Merritt Y. Hughes to University of Wisconsin ‘s Helen C. White [23 May 1948]
• White to University of Wisconsin President E. B. Fred [21 June 1948]
• Proposed letter by White(?) to Senator Alexander Wiley [28 July 1948]

CORRESPONDENCE

• Senator Alexander Wiley to University of Wisconsin President E. B. Fred [2 August 1948]

A Relative’s Story

Harnack, Axel von. “Arvid und Mildred Harnack. Erinnerungen an ihren Prozess 1942/42.” Die Gegenwart 26/27 (1947). Sonderdruck, Freiburg i. Br.: Universitätsdruckerei Poppen & Ortmann, 1947. [pdf]

Harnack, Axel von. “Arvid und Mildred Harnack. Erinnerungen an ihren Prozess 1942/42.” Die Gegenwart 26/27 (1947). Sonderdruck, Freiburg i. Br.: Universitätsdruckerei Poppen & Ortmann, 1947. [pdf]

Translated by R. M. S. Heffner (1948) and Thomas Ihde-Scholl (2000).

A Friend’s Poem
“To and From the Guillotine” by Clara Leiser

The unfinished poem To and From the Guillotine was written by Clara Leiser, a friend and colleague of Mildred Fish Harnack. Both attended The University of Wisconsin in the early 1920’s.

Later in the 1930’s, Clara traveled a few times to Europe to visit Mildred and her German-born husband, Arvid (whom Mildred had met at the University and later married in 1926). The last time Clara saw Mildred in the U.S. was when Mildred stayed with her in New York in 1937.

Clara received a postcard from Mildred dated January 12, 1939 from London. In it Mildred writes Clara that she had “Better not write but don’t forget me and don’t be angry.”

[View Clara’s explanation of postcard.] The next news she heard told of the execution of Mildred and her husband by Hitler and his war machine on February 16, 1943 and December 22, 1942 respectively.

As a “memorializing salute” to Mildred and her husband, Clara began to work on this epic poem in the mid to late 1940’s. The following images are thumbnail versions of original drafts that exist of the poem. The two images on the left are taken from the original introduction and the first page of the poem.

The two images on the right are taken from earlier, individual ‘draft’ pages of the poem that were sent to UW president, E.B. Fred, during the late 1940’s. A closer inspection, reveals some of the changes and comments that Clara Leiser had made in the process of writing and rewriting this work, which according to her notes on the last page of the poem, was not finished, with the addition of several parts still yet to come.

The unfinished poem, graciously supplied by Anita Leiser, who granted Shareen Blair Brysac permission, is reproduced here as a pdf and attempts to follow, as closely as possible, the layout of the original.

“To and From the Guillotine”  Poem by Clara Leiser [pdf]

The Media Slant

NEWS ARTICLES:  1943

NEWS ARTICLES:  1943 – 1945

NEWS ARTICLES:  1947

NEWS ARTICLES:  1948

The FBI Files

1970s to Present: Media Recognition

1970s:  Recognition first from abroad.

1980s:  Milwaukee, Wisconsin recognizes a “Heroine of The Resistance.”

1990 – Present:  Shareen Blair Brysac and Arthur Heitzer keep Mildred Fish Harnack’s name and heroic actions alive.

UW-Madison since 1986: Recognition begins as Cold War heads towards an end.

Garson, Sandra. “‘Better not write but don’t forget me.'” Wisconsin Alumnus 84, no.4 (May/June 1986): 8-12.

Present day: Memorials

Three dimensional permanence – stamps, stone markers and plaques.

Three dimensional temporary – exhibits

Names and observances – schools

Honoring Mildred Fish Harnack’s cause – lectures and discussion

Documenting Mildred Fish Harnack’s life, love, fight and loss – written words.

The following books are just a handful of those that have been written about members of resistance movements in World War II (specifically the “Red Orchestra”). The following examples deal mainly with Mildred’s life and contributions.

17.2 Arvid und Mildred Harnack [pdf]. Berlin: Gedenkstätte Deutscher Widerstand, 10/91.
President E.B. Fred’s Files: Mildred Fish Harnack 1947-1948. 4/16/1 box 82.