Willi Ahrem

Willi Ahrem (January 1, 1902 – June 20, 1967) was a German businessman and Wehrmacht officer who was recognized as Righteous Among the Nations for his efforts to save Jewish people during the Holocaust. As a commander of the forced-labor camp Arbeitslager, operated by the Todt organization in Nemyriv, Ukraine during World War II he used his authority to protect Jewish prisoners from execution by employing them in construction projects and sheltering them from Nazi persecution. in the Elberfeld area of Wuppertal, Germany, where he lived throughout adulthood.

Ahrem was a soldier during World War I. He worked for his father's export firm, during which he traveled to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. He became a partner in his father's firm in 1930, and he continued to travel and be away from his family a great deal of the time. He married Elly Fix in 1931 and they had a son and three daughters.

Although Ahrem did not closely follow the news, both father and son hated the anti-semitic rhetoric and actions of the Nazi regime and Ahrem was particularly horrified by Kristallnacht (November 9–10, 1938), when the state instigated the pogrom against Jews.

World War II Wehrmacht Ahrem was drafted in the spring of 1941. He went through infantry training for the Wehrmacht in Munster and was first assigned as an interpreter. He attended services conducted by Clemens August Graf von Galen, Bishop of Munster at that time. By September of that year, he was reassigned to manage construction work in Ukraine for the Organisation Todt (OT), who reported to through the German military. By October, Germany occupied Reichskommissariat Ukraine.

Ahrem was responsible for the expansion of Durchgangsstrasse IV, a main supply route through Ukraine for the Wehrmacht. There were few forced-labor projects that used Jewish people in Ukraine, but this was a major project for the Nazis. After the work was done, the Jews who worked on the road were to be executed, as part of the overall plan that had executed 150,000 to 200,000 Jews in Reichskommissariat Ukraine by December 1941.

Commander of forced-labor camp As a commander, he managed a forced-labor camp (Arbeitslager) operated by the OT organization in Nemyriv, Ukraine during World War II. While he was in the Bucharest area he relayed letters, money, and other help to Jewish people from their relatives. Ahrem received the title Righteous Among the Nations on June 15, 1965.