Born: 16 September 1902, United States
Died: 16 February 1943
Country most active: Germany
Also known as: Mildred Fish, Mildred Fish-Harnack
The following bio was written by Emma Rosen, author of On This Day She Made History: 366 Days With Women Who Shaped the World and This Day In Human Ingenuity & Discovery: 366 Days of Scientific Milestones with Women in the Spotlight, and has been republished with permission.
Mildred Elizabeth Harnack was an American literary historian, translator, and a member of the German resistance against the Nazi regime.
After marrying Arvid Harnack in 1929, she relocated to Germany and began her academic career. She spent a year each at the University of Jena and the University of Giessen, working on her doctoral thesis. During her time at Giessen, she observed the early stages of Nazism. In 1931, Mildred Harnack assumed a role as an assistant lecturer in English and American literature at the University of Berlin.
In 1932, Mildred and her husband Arvid began their resistance against Nazism, establishing an underground group known as “the Circle.” They developed connections with Louise and Donald Heath, with Donald serving as the First Secretary at the U.S. Embassy in Berlin. Arvid, positioned at the Reich Economics Ministry, shared intelligence with the Heaths.
Between 1935 and 1940, their group collaborated with three other anti-fascist resistance groups, the most significant of which was led by Luftwaffe lieutenant Harro Schulze-Boysen. These groups later formed an espionage network that partnered with Soviet intelligence against Hitler. The Berlin-based anti-fascist espionage group, originally called “the Circle,” was later designated the “Red Orchestra” (Rote Kapelle) by the Abwehr, Germany’s military intelligence.
In September 1942, the Harnacks were arrested and subsequently executed for their anti-Nazi activities.