Mildred Fish Harnack, the Only American Female Ever Executed For Espionage by Nazi Germany

Mildred Fish Harnack was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on September 16, 1902.  Her parents, descended from a New England, protestant background, separated when Mildred was a teenager and she was primarily raised by her mother.  After her father’s death in 1918, the family relocated to the Washington, DC area but Mildred returned in 1921 to attend the University of Wisconsin.

While a student at the University, Mildred met a German Rockefeller scholar, Arvid Harnack, in 1926.  In September they were married and Mildred continued with her studies and taught literature.  Having been immersed as a youngster in the deeply German immigrant culture of Milwaukee and subsequently exposed to the radical political atmosphere of Madison, Mildred’s attraction to a German intellectual would be completely predictable.  From the very beginning, the Harnack’s marriage was atypical.  Although Harnack’s uncle was the esteemed German theologian Adolf Von Harnack, Arvid’s father also died when he was a teenager and his immediate family was struggling with the disastrous German economy of the twenties.  When Harnack’s academic stipend ran out in 1928, he was forced to return to Germany.  Mildred Harnack obtained a teaching position at Goucher College in Baltimore and the young couple hoped to reunite quickly.

Horst Heilemann, a young member of this German cryptology unit was also a former student of Harro Schulze-Boysen and regularly socialized with the couple.  After Harro confided that he worked with Russian intelligence, Heilemann mentioned that his group had successfully intercepted some communications and identified some Russian agents.  When Heilemann returned to his office and reviewed decoded messages he determined that the Schulz-Boysens had been compromised.  He unsuccessfully attempted to telephone Harro and was forced to leave an urgent message.  Later, when Harro returned the call, instead of Heilemann he got a senior colleague on the line.  Confused by the cryptic message he had received, he unfortunately identified himself.  Heilemann’s stunned colleague figured out what had happened and immediately informed the secret police.  The Gestapo did not want to risk further warnings to other members of the group and Harro Schulze-Boysen was arrested on August 31, 1942.  Convicted by a military court, he was hanged in Plotzensee Prison, Berlin, December 22, 1942

Libertas Shulze-Boysen was in the unique position of having access to film footage that was used by the propaganda ministry.  She was able to produce photographic copies of atrocities that were being committed against Jews and others on the Eastern Front.  Unsuccessful attempts were made to get this information to the West.  She was guillotined in Plotzensee Prison, Berlin, December 22, 1942, one hour after her husband was hanged.