Sender der europäischen Revolution

Hilde Meisel
Born	1914-07-31 Vienna, Austria-Hungary
Died	1945-04-17
Other names	Hilda Monte, Hilde Olday, Selma Trier, Helen Harriman, Eva Schneider, H. Monte, Hilda Olday, Hilde Monte
Occupation(s)	Socialist, journalist, resistance member
Known for	German Resistance against Nazi regime, socialist activism, journalism

Hilde Meisel (31 July 1914 – 17 April 1945) was a Jewish German socialist and journalist who actively resisted the Nazi regime through her written work within Germany. While exiled in England, she adopted the pseudonym Hilda Monte to promote German opposition via periodicals, books, and radio transmissions. She functioned as a courier, undertaking secret missions across Germany, Austria, France, and Portugal. Given her background as a social democrat and Jew, these undertakings involved considerable danger. Among the various aliases she employed were Hilde Olday, Selma Trier, Helen Harriman, Eva Schneider, H. Monte, Hilda Monte, and Hilde Monte.

Early political influences

Born in Vienna to Rosa and Ernst Meisel as the younger of two daughters in a middle-class German Jewish household, Meisel’s family relocated to Berlin in 1915 following the outbreak of World War I. There, her father engaged in trading household items. Until reaching adolescence, Meisel endured a chronic health condition necessitating frequent visits to Switzerland. In 1924, both she and her sister Margot became members of the socialist-revolutionary German-Jewish youth organization Schwarze Haufen, affiliated with the liberal Wanderbund-Kameraden. Margot developed close ties with leaders Max Fürst and Hans Litten and later devoted significant efforts to securing Litten’s release after his arrest by the Gestapo.

Meisel completed her education at the Berlin Lyceum (1924–1929) before relocating to England where her uncle Edmund Meisel, a conductor, resided. There she engaged with the socialist Internationaler Sozialistischer Kampfbund (ISK), an anti-Nazi group that published its own newspaper, Der Funke. Contributing articles focused on economic matters across France, England, and Spain, she also began art studies in London in 1932.

Beginning of the Nazi era

Following the Nazi takeover in 1933 and the subsequent suppression of Der Funke, Meisel became active within the German Resistance. She briefly moved to Cologne to assist in smuggling labor activists and financial resources to neighboring countries while also facilitating the covert import of banned literature into Germany. Upon returning to Berlin, she coordinated underground socialist propaganda efforts opposing the 1934 referendum that elevated Hitler to Führer. Interrupting her art education, she pursued national economy courses at the London School of Economics and produced extensive publications on economic topics.

As an ISK member, Meisel established international political networks. Residing temporarily in Paris, she supported clandestine trade unions within Germany before returning to Britain in 1936. Under the pseudonym "Hilda Monte", she relayed intelligence to German contacts, acted as a courier for smuggling literature into Germany, and aided individuals targeted by the Gestapo. Additionally, she contributed to and was part of the editorial team for Sozialistische Warte, an ISK exile publication centered on economic issues.

When Hans Litten was imprisoned at Dachau concentration camp in 1937, Meisel intensified efforts to obtain his release by arranging an article titled "In Dachau Camp. The Tragic Case of Hans Litten" published in the Manchester Guardian (1938). These attempts were unsuccessful; Litten died by suicide shortly thereafter.

To avoid deportation from Britain, Meisel entered into a marriage of convenience with British-German caricaturist John Olday in 1938, thereby acquiring British citizenship, which facilitated her activities in England. She pursued journalism careers with The Vanguard, Sozialistische Warte, Left News, and Tribune while also lecturing for the Workers' Educational Association. During this period, she resided in Sleights, North Riding of Yorkshire alongside Austrian artist Hannes Hammerschmidt and his wife Tess.

Meisel approached Labour MP George Strauss—one of the founders of Tribune—to seek funding for an assassination attempt on Hitler; Strauss arranged a meeting with financial journalist Werner Knop who agreed to support it; however, this plan never came to fruition.

How to conquer Hitler

Under the pen name Hilda Monte, Meisel collaborated with Fritz Eberhard on the publication How to Conquer Hitler – A Plan of Economic and Moral Warfare of the Nazi Home Front. It is generally accepted that Eberhard authored most of this work.

Meisel adapted her first name from Hilde to Hilda for English contexts but retained the original spelling in German-language manuscripts. When exercising caution, she abbreviated her name or used "Hilda Olday".

Eberhard reflected on their joint work during exile in England:

The onset of the war marked a pivotal change. I parted ways with ISK and concentrated on union activities but became politically isolated in England. My involvement in exile life improved through co-authoring a book with Hilde Monte shortly after war commenced based on prior groundwork. She had left Germany just before hostilities began but had been residing in England earlier.

Having recently witnessed Germany’s psychological condition firsthand, this book provided guidance on economic and psychological warfare against Hitler’s regime. Although most copies were destroyed during Nazi bombings, it received favorable reviews and opened significant opportunities for me.

Departure from ISK

In autumn 1939, discontented with ISK's aggressive stance against Nazism, Meisel left alongside Fritz Eberhard and Hans Lehnert (1899–1942). Throughout wartime, Meisel persisted in her efforts aimed at returning to Germany.

Sender der europäischen Revolution

At the beginning of 1940, Meisel and Eberhard served as advisers to the Gillies Committee, chaired by William Gillies. They devised plans for a "black propaganda" radio station named Sender der europäischen Revolution ("European Revolution Broadcasting Station"), which commenced broadcasts on 7 October 1940.

Following dissolution of this committee in 1941, Meisel collaborated until 1943 with trade unionist Walter Auerbach, lawyer Otto Kahn-Freund, and Eberhard forming a discussion group opposing National Socialism within Germany.

Commissioned by the Minister of Economic Warfare, Meisel worked alongside the Central European Joint Committee—an émigré collective based in Britain focused on propaganda efforts and intelligence analysis concerning Germany.

This Ministry also housed the Special Operations Executive, tasked with clandestine missions across Europe. Drawing upon her underground experience, Meisel was dispatched to Lisbon in 1941 as a courier transmitting international telegrams encoded via SOE ciphers as well as those from Auerbach's International Transport Workers' Federation.

Help Germany to Revolt!

The pamphlet Help Germany to Revolt! appeared in 1942 marking Meisel’s final collaboration with Fritz Eberhard. Commissioned by the Fabian Society for members of the Labour Party, it argued that not all Germans supported Nazism.

German Educational Reconstruction

In 1942 Meisel joined forces with Fritz Borinski, Werner Milch, Minna Specht, Walter Auerbach, Werner Burmeister, Fritz Eberhard, and Otto Kahn-Freund to found the German Educational Reconstruction Committee. This initiative operated under the umbrella of "Union of German Socialist Organisations in Great Britain", aiming at postwar educational reform planning for Germany.

Established in 1941 at Labour Party request in Britain, this Union united German Socialist exiles from various parties—including Sopade, the Socialist Workers' Party of Germany, Neu Beginnen, and the ISK—to strategize Hitler’s defeat and prepare for a democratic socialist future for Germany. The group additionally explored creating a unified socialist party to prevent mistakes made during Weimar times.

BBC contributions

Meisel contributed broadcasts targeting German workers through the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and participated in educational programs run by British forces. Toward war’s end she reconnected with ISK members based in London.

A radio script authored by Meisel in 1942 addressed Nazi extermination policies against European Jews:

What is occurring today in Poland—the systematic annihilation of Jewish people—is being carried out under your name as representatives of the German nation. [...] Demonstrate your solidarity with these victims even if it demands courage—especially if it requires courage.

The Unity of Europe

Initially involved with The Next Germany. A Basis of Discussion on Peace in Europe, alongside Walter Auerbach, Fritz Eberhard, Otto Kahn-Freund, and Kurt Mandelbaum, Meisel eventually withdrew due to ideological differences.

She subsequently authored her own volume titled The Unity of Europe, emphasizing economic integration and plans for postwar European reconstruction. This publication became an important reference for university theses within Germany.

Both works were published during 1943. The periodical Sozialistische Mitteilungen: News for German Socialists in England commended Meisel’s book:

In a succinct chapter within The Unity of Europe (issued by the Left Book Club), Hilda Monte explores Germany’s prospective role within a renewed Europe consistent with many themes from The Next Germany. Her accessible text provides abundant factual content alongside perceptive analysis regarding political-economic challenges facing Europe—especially tensions between industrialized Western regions versus agrarian southeastern areas contributing to export difficulties, rural poverty cycles leading ultimately toward crisis and war.

Covert mission into Switzerland

During summer 1944 Meisel was recruited into the "Faust Project" organized by the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), which sought approximately 200 operatives trained to collect military-political intelligence inside Germany. The OSS conducted training near London led by U.S. Army personnel including immigrant instructors. Trainees learned practical skills such as handling ration cards and arranging safe housing while undercover; parachute training concluded their preparation. Due to operational secrecy participants were prohibited from discussing their assignments.

In September 1944 Meisel traveled alongside Anna Beyer to France. Originally slated for parachute insertion near Lyon, they were instead landed by light aircraft at Thonon-les-Bains near Lake Geneva, onto an SOE airfield operated by British forces. Local French farmers transported them discreetly through an unused tunnel where they met an English officer who assisted their journey into Thonon-les-Bains; they remained there four weeks until picked up by Rene Bertholet. They then crossed clandestinely into Switzerland, arriving at Zurich where new identity papers were issued. Together with Hanna Bertholet they attended meetings organized around theologian Willem Adolf Visser 't Hooft held in Geneva. Meisel was assigned courier duties connecting with Jupp Kappius—a German socialist responsible for sabotage operations.

Following this they traveled into Ticino Alps near Intragna where Bertholet family maintained a retreat called "Al Forno," serving as refuge for emigrants. In autumn 1944 increasing numbers of forced laborers fled Germany swimming across lakes into Switzerland prompting border closures by German authorities.

As war neared conclusion Meisel along with Beyer, Hanna Bertholet and Anne Kapius received invitations from American headquarters based in Bern proposing returns into Germany for sabotage missions; all declined participation. Subsequently Meisel contacted German: Karl Gerold, future editor of Frankfurter Rundschau, aiming to establish links with Austrian resistance groups operating out of Ticino.

On 17 April 1945 while attempting illegal border crossing from Nazi-occupied Austria into Liechtenstein at Tisis near Feldkirch she sustained a gunshot wound to her thigh resulting in fatal blood loss along border area.

Legacy

Two streets commemorate Hilde Meisel: Hilda-Monte-Straße located in Bergkamen and Hilda-Monte-Weg within Hamburg's Bergedorf. Memorials honoring her exist at Feldkirch as well as a Stolperstein placed in Berlin marking her memory. The Jewish Museum situated in Hohenems, Austria—near where she died—features a permanent exhibition dedicated to her life.

Much information about Meisel’s time living in England originates from accounts provided by her husband that may contain embellishments or inaccuracies. In 1946 she was identified as principal organizer behind the failed assassination attempt at Munich’s Bürgerbräukeller targeting Hitler; however conclusive proof remains absent.

Books and pamphlets

As Hilde Meisel:

• Gedichte Hans Lehnert - Europäische Verlagsanstalt, Hamburg (1950)

As Hilda Monte:

• How to conquer Hitler, co-authored with Fritz Eberhard. - Jarrolds, London (1940)
• Help Germany to revolt!, jointly written with Fritz Eberhard under pseudonym Hellmut von Rauschenplat - Victor Gollancz Ltd & Fabian Society, London (1942)
• The Unity of Europe, introduction by Henry Noel Brailsford - Victor Gollancz Ltd., London (1943)
• Where freedom perished, foreword by Jennie Lee - Victor Gollancz Ltd., London (1947)

Contributions to Sozialistische Warte

(Pseudonyms indicated)

• [Selma Trier] Der Griff nach der Saar, Vol. 9 (1934), No. 8 (Dec), pp. 192–201
• [H. Monte] Krise und Ausbeutung, Vol. 11 (1936), No. 1 (Jan), pp. 13–16
• [H. Monte] Neues Labour-Programm, Vol. 12 (1937), No.10 (15 May), pp. 220–222
• [H. Monte] Evolutionaerer Kommunismus, Vol.13 (1938), No.12 (25 Mar), pp. 267–270
• [Hilde Monte] Die wirtschaftliche Unabhaengigkeit der CSR, Vol.13 (1938), No.26 (1 Jul), pp. 603–609
• [Hilde Monte] Ungarn vor der Wahl, Vol.13 (1938), No.28 (15 Jul), pp. 658–662
• [Hilde Monte] Die Erschliessung Polens, Vol.13 (1938), No.36 (9 Sep), pp. 845–848

See also

• List of Germans who resisted Nazism
• Soldatensender Calais

Further reading

• Andreas Wilkens (ed.), Hilda Monte - The Unity of Europe, introduction by H.N. Brailsford,—Lausanne: Peter Lang Publishing Company Limited, 2023.
• Andreas Wilkens: “Hilda Monte and The Unity of Europe: Resistance Solidarity and Planning During Exile,” included within Robert Belot & Daniela Preda eds., Visions of Europe in Resistance: Figures Networks Ideals.—Brussels: Peter Lang Publishing Company Limited, 2022.
• Anna Beyer,Politik ist mein Leben. Frankfurt am Main (1991) (in German)
• Willi Eichler: “Hilda Monte” essay published within ‘‘Geist und Tat’’, Vol II No IV April 1947 (in German)
• Max Fürst: ‘‘Gefilte Fisch und wie es weiterging.’’ Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag GmbH & Co., Munich (2004) ISBN 3-423-13190-X (in German)
• Gisela Konopka: ‘‘Mit Mut und Liebe’’, Weinheim: Beltz Verlag GmbH & Co., Weinheim/Basel/Wien/Weimar(1996) (in German)
• Annedore Leber: ‘‘Das Gewissen steht auf: Lebensbilder aus dem deutschen Widerstand’’ edited together with Willy Brandt & Karl Dietrich Bracher.—Berlin-Frankfurt am Main: Ullstein Verlag GmbH & Co.,(1955) (in German)
• Sabine Lemke-Müller: ‘‘Ethik des Widerstands: Der Kampf des Internationalen Sozialistischen Kampfbundes gegen den Nationalsozialismus.’’ Bonn University Press(1996) (in German)
• Heiner Lindner: “Um etwas zu erreichen muss man sich etwas vornehmen von dem man glaubt dass es unmöglich sei,” published within ‘‘Der Internationale Sozialistische Kampfbund und seine Publikationen’’(2000) (in German)
• Dieter Nelles: ‘‘Widerstand und internationale Solidarität: Die Internationale Transportarbeiter-Föderation im Widerstand gegen den Nationalsozialismus unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Seeleute.’’ Klartext Verlag Essen(2001); Dissertation(2000)

External links

• Works authored by and concerning Hilde Meisel available in the Friedrich Ebert Foundation's catalogue
• Collection of photographs featuring Hilde Meisel
• Official website of the Jewish Museum of Hohenems
• Hilde Meisel featured in the Sozialistische Mitteilungen hosted by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation and Supplement: Overview of debates regarding Germany’s future in newspapers and periodicals