Hermann Carl Hagen

Hermann Carl Hagen
Born	1886-02-19 Berlin, Germany
Died	1942-05-28
Occupation(s)	Economist, bank archivist, banker
Known for	German economist and banker killed during the Holocaust at Sachsenhausen concentration camp

Hermann Carl Hagen (originally named Hermann Levy; born 19 February 1886 – died 28 May 1942) was a German economist, bank archivist, and banker who was killed during the Holocaust at Sachsenhausen concentration camp.

Personal life

Born in Berlin into a Jewish family prominent in banking, Hermann Levy was the son of Carl Levy, a co-founder of Wiener Levy & Co in 1880. In 1893, his uncle Louis adopted the surname "Hagen" after his non-Jewish spouse Anna Emma Hagen, a change that other family members later embraced. Following his marriage to Hedwig Elise Caroline Staadt, a German Christian, Hermann officially changed his surname to Hagen by police decree in 1905. The banking firm Wiener Levy & Co was renamed Hagen & Co in 1921.

The family relocated to a prosperous district of Berlin in 1894. Hermann completed his secondary education at the Französisches Gymnasium Berlin in 1905 and pursued studies in philosophy, law, and economics at universities across Munich, Freiburg, Berlin, and Heidelberg until 1910, although he did not graduate. At his father’s request, he also served one year with the 1st Guard Uhlan Regiment stationed in Potsdam. His mother passed away in 1907.

Hermann’s children and siblings survived the Holocaust period. His children Helga and Günther emigrated to America, while Hertha settled in London. His daughter Gerda married Alexander Catsch of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute; following World War II, they were relocated to the Soviet Union for five years. His son Karl-Heinz faced brief imprisonment on accusations of "undermining military strength" and subsequently held editorial leadership roles at major German newspapers including BZ, Berliner Morgenpost, Bild-Zeitung, Quick, and Revue.

His youngest son, Hans Oliva-Hagen, who worked as a journalist and screenwriter under the pen names "Hans Oliva" and "John Ryder," was subjected to Nazi medical experiments during incarceration at Moabit prison. Hans’s daughter is the singer Nina Hagen, whose daughter Cosma Shiva Hagen is an actress.

Murder

Hagen experienced multiple arrests by Nazi authorities. Diagnosed as mentally unstable, he escaped deportation to extermination camps and was instead confined to Waldhaus asylum. After fleeing from there, he lived in hiding within Berlin but was eventually apprehended by the Gestapo.

On 18 May 1942, the resistance group led by Herbert Baum carried out an arson attack against an anti-Soviet propaganda exhibition shortly following the assassination attempt on Reinhard Heydrich. In response, Nazi forces detained approximately 500 Jewish individuals in Berlin; half of these detainees were executed at Sachsenhausen concentration camp on 28 May, among them Hermann Hagen, aged 56, along with his wife Hedwig. These acts of reprisal culminated with the destruction of Lidice in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia on 10 June.

Commemoration

A stolperstein commemorating Hermann Hagen is placed at Waitzstraße 27 in Berlin-Charlottenburg. This small brass plaque set into the sidewalk outside former Jewish homes serves as a memorial for victims of the Holocaust.

On the occasion of Sachsenhausen’s liberation's 30th anniversary in 1975, East German newspaper Neues Deutschland published an entry from a guest book written by Hagen’s granddaughter Nina Hagen paying tribute to her grandfather.

External links

• The Tragic Story of Hermann Hagen