"Community for peace and construction"

Hans Winkler was born in Berlin in 1906. After completing his administrative apprenticeship, he worked at the Luckenwalde district court. In November 1933, he was summoned to the town hall to record interrogations. Since these interrogations took place under torture, Winkler's personal-political turn came and he was convinced that he had to resist. Following an idea by Else Samuel, he founded the "Sparverein großer Einsatz" to collect money and food for Jews in hiding. However, when Winkler learned that 17-year-old Eugen Herman-Friede was looking for a hiding place, he immediately took him in. In September 1943, he met Werner Scharff, who had escaped from Theresienstadt, and together they renamed the savings association "Gemeinschaft für Frieden und Aufbau" (Community for Peace and Reconstruction). The goal was to find hiding places for Jews, so ten Jews could be hidden in Luckenwalde.