Rudolf Schlosser

Rudolf Schlosser (4 April 1880 – 11 December 1944) was a German pastor, social worker and Quaker. As part of the Quakers, he helped people persecuted in Nazi Germany emigrate and escape.

Biography

Early life and education (1880-1905) Schlosser was born into a family of Lutheran pastors in Gießen. He had a brother named Hans and a sister named Grete.

In 1895, he started studying theology in Halle, Gießen and Marburg. After completing his studies, he worked as a volunteer for the Bethel Foundation.

As a pacifist, he started distancing himself from the German Lutheran church during this time because of the church's increasingly militarist stance. He also organized lectures for the group, which included speakers such as Wilhelm Mensching, a pastor who was later given the title Righteous Among the Nations by the Israeli memorial site Yad Vashem for saving the life of a Jewish woman by hiding her, or Gustav Radbruch. He was also in close contact with Martin Buber, whom he brought in contact with Bertha Bracey. The activities of the bureau were mainly financed by Quakers from abroad, as well as donations from people who were not able to take all of their assets with them when they emigrated.

Activities during World War II and death (1939-1944) With the outbreak of World War II, the bureau was unable to continue their work. Schlosser began working for the Red Cross, as well as working as a voluntary nurse in a hospital. After the hospital was bombed and destroyed in 1944, Schlosser was commissioned to travel to Gießen to help planning the rebuilding of the destroyed city. While it is unclear whether he traveled to Gießen in connection with this commission or whether he was trying to visit a friend, he was killed during an air raid on Gießen on 11 December 1944.

Personal life Schlosser was married to Amalie Lehmann, with whom he had a biological daughter, Gertrud, who was born in 1908, as well as three adopted children.