Ingrid Schaeffer-Rahtgens: Memories of her courageous father in the resistance

Ingrid Schaeffer-Rahtgens: Memories of her courageous father in the resistance

In downtown Cologne, while people were bustling about, 85-year-old Ingrid Schaeffer-Rahtgens was waiting for her doctor's appointment when she started talking to Susanne Hengesbach. In her section “Two coffees, please!” Hengesbach ties, like that Cologne City Gazette reports on topics and stories that reflect life in our city. Ingrid has an extraordinary biography: at the age of four she lost her father, Carl Ernst Rahtgens, who was executed on August 30, 1944 in Berlin-Plötzensee. He was a comrade-in-arms in the resistance against Adolf Hitler and was involved in the coup efforts of July 20th.

“I have good memories of my father,” says Ingrid. Despite his untimely death, his joy of life and his Christian faith spoke to her. She describes him as a “happy, Christian and funny person” who always wanted to be involved in her life. This is already evident in the fact that Carl Ernst Rahtgens wanted to be actively involved in her birth, which led to a deep emotional bond.

A man in resistance

Carl Ernst Rahtgens was born on August 27, 1908 and had a promising military career. He joined an infantry regiment in Potsdam in 1928 and earned his Abitur before passing the entrance exam for the War Academy in 1937. As a result, he fought on different fronts in different years of the war and discussed the war situation with friends like Günther Smend. His relatives, including his uncle, Field Marshal Günther von Kluge, also sympathized with the resistance at times, which led Rahtgens to initiate secret subversive activities.

But his happiness didn't last long: in September 1944, Gestapo men handed his family a death sentence. While his mother and siblings suffered from clan persecution, Ingrid also had to live with the stigma of being the daughter of a “traitor to the fatherland”. “I experienced a lot of humiliation at school,” she remembers. Nevertheless, she sees the “resistance” as part of her life, which is why she regularly takes part in July 20th commemorations, which she describes as her “big family”.

A desire for moral courage

Ingrid also expresses concern about the increasing indifference in society. “Civil courage is very popular today.” Their hope is that July 20th will one day be renamed the “International Day of Resistance” to keep alive the memory of all the people who fought for their beliefs - like many other resistance fighters of the time, including Sophie Scholl and Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg. These historical figures also fight in memory for the place that civil society should occupy in maintaining justice and human dignity.

“If he's not alive, I have to hold up my fist for him and for everyone who fought for a better life,” says Ingrid with conviction. Her committed nature and the memory of her father make it clear how important it is to stand up for freedom and democracy.