Marianne Grunthal

Marianne Grunthal was a German teacher who was executed under the Nazi regime for expressing her wish for peace.

Grunthal was born in Zehdenick, Province of Brandenburg. In 1945, after having heard the news of Hitler's death, she had called out aloud with relief, "Gott sei Dank, dann ist der furchtbare Krieg endlich zu Ende". She was heard by SS guards who were on their way to bring prisoners from Ravensbrück and Sachsenhausen concentration camps on so-called death marches towards the west. For having spoken this single sentence, Grunthal was hanged by SS men on 2 May 1945 on the Schwerin Central Station square – only hours before American troops entered the city.

Today, the station square is named after Marianne Grunthal, as is a street in Zehdenick. The lamp post on which she was hanged is still standing, bearing a memorial plaque.