Minna Specht

Minna Specht (22 December 1879 – 3 February 1961) was a German educator, socialist and member of the German Resistance. She was one of the founders of the Internationaler Sozialistischer Kampfbund.

Early years Minna Specht was born on 22 December 1879 in Schloss Reinbek, as the seventh child of Mathilde and Wilhelm Specht (d. 1882). The family lived in Reinbek castle, originally the hunting lodge in Friedrichsruh, which they acquired in 1874 and turned into a hotel. The approximately 70-room castle was only open in summer, during which the children lived with a nanny and a governess in one of two small houses next door. In 1882, following an accident, her father died, leaving the family in financial difficulties. Her education was such, that Specht first applied for work as a governess. along with Max Hodann and his wife, Mary.

Specht worked for a short while with Hermann Lietz at his Haubinda progressive boarding school, Specht returned to Walkemühle in March 1933, as it was occupied by the SA. The school was confiscated in May 1933. In November 1938, she immigrated to Wales and was interned as an enemy alien on the Isle of Man from 1940 to 1941. Specht was a member of the German Commission for UNESCO. In 1952, she began working with Professor Dr. Walther Merck at the UNESCO-Instituts für Pädagogik in Hamburg.

Selected works Jakob Friedrich Fries. Der Begründer unserer politischen Weltansicht, Verlag Öffentliches Leben, Stuttgart (1927) Vom Sinn der Jugendweihe, Verlag Öffentliches Leben, Göttingen (1930) Education in post-war Germany, International Publishing Company, London (1944) Re-making Germany, by Mary Saran, Willi Eichler, Wilhelm Heidorn, Minna Specht. Preface by James Griffiths. Published on behalf of the Socialist Vanguard Group, International Publishing Company, London (1945) Kindernöte, edited with Martha Friedländer. Verlag Öffentliches Leben, Frankfurt am Main (1950) Leonard Nelson. Zum Gedächtnis, Verlag Öffentliches Leben, Frankfurt am Main (1953)