page_title: Hanna Solf
hierarchical_section_title: Hanna Solf
caption_attribution_description: English: "Prosecution witness Hanna Solf sits on the witness stand at the Nuremberg Trials. [...] Inscription: OMGUS MILITARY TRIBUNAL - CASE THREE OMT-III-W-28 / Mrs. Hanna Solf, prosecution witness against Lautz and the Peiple's [sic.] Court. Widow of Dr. Wilhelm Heinrich Solf, foreign minister in last cabinet during World War One and German ambassador to Tokyo from 1920-28, who was known throughout the world war for humanitarian ideology and belief in the rights of the inidividual. After the Nazis came to power in 1933, he and Mrs. Solf worked to help those who were persecuted, particularly on racial and religious grounds. After his death, Mrs. Solf carried on his work. She was arrested by the Gestapo on 12 January 1944, ostensibly because of sentiments she had expressed at a tea she had attanded several months before. Was sent to Ravensbrueck and kept there in solitary confinement until June, being subjected to continual ill-treatment, long and brutal interrogations, and threats and intimidations. On 30 June was taken to Moabit prison in Berlin, and on the same day was handed indictment signed by defendant Lautz for trial before People's Court. Was allowed to talk to counsel (Dr. Rudolf Dix) for about an hour that evening, which was only time she saw him before the trial. Trial began next morning (1 July 1944), with Freisler presiding, and lasted until late at night when she was ordered to leave the court. Was taken back to Ravensbrueck, where conditions became increasingly bad, and almost unbearable after the 20 July. Second trial was scheduled for mid-December, then postponed until January, then postponed again until February 8. As result of Freisler being killed in air raid, postponed a last time until April 28. By that time Berlin in a state of siege and in ensuing complete disorganization she managed to get released." -- Photo 14/15 April 1947 --
context_page_description: Johanna Susanne Elisabeth Solf was a member of the German resistance to Nazism and key member of the Solf Circle.
  Johanna Dotti married Wilhelm Solf in 1908, who was then governor of German Samoa. Lagi von Ballestrem was their eldest child. Starting in 1928 they lived in Berlin, where Wilhelm died in 1936.
  Hanna Solf and Elisabeth von Thadden frequently hosted tea parties for intellectuals opposed to the Nazi government, a group which would later be called Solf Circle. They would make plans how to enable victims of Nazi persecution to flee the country.
  After the betrayal of the Solf Circle by Paul Reckzeh, its members were arrested by the Gestapo. Hanna Solf was detained on 12 January 1944 and ultimately brought to Ravensbrück concentration camp. While several members of the group were executed, Solf and her daughter were freed before their trial when the Red Army liberated Ravensbrück.
context_section_description: Johanna Susanne Elisabeth Solf (née Dotti, 14 November 1887 – 4 November 1954) was a member of the German resistance to Nazism and key member of the Solf Circle.
  Johanna Dotti married Wilhelm Solf in 1908, who was then governor of German Samoa. Lagi von Ballestrem (born So'oa'emalelagi Solf in 1909) was their eldest child. Starting in 1928 they lived in Berlin, where Wilhelm died in 1936.
  Hanna Solf and Elisabeth von Thadden frequently hosted tea parties for intellectuals opposed to the Nazi government, a group which would later be called Solf Circle (German: Solf-Kreis). They would make plans how to enable victims of Nazi persecution to flee the country.
  After the betrayal of the Solf Circle by Paul Reckzeh, its members were arrested by the Gestapo. Hanna Solf was detained on 12 January 1944 and ultimately brought to Ravensbrück concentration camp. While several members of the group were executed, Solf and her daughter were freed before their trial when the Red Army liberated Ravensbrück.
caption: Hanna Solf as a prosecution witness at the Nuremberg trials (1947)
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