Roos, Heinrich

City Treasurer

born: 21.12.1906 in Wiesbaden

died: 30.10.1988 in Wiesbaden

Heinrich Roos was already interested in politics as a schoolboy and was involved in a youth organization close to the "German Democratic Party" (DDP). He then joined the DDP in the mid-1920s. He was also a member of the Reichsbanner Schwarz-Rot-Gold and the Republican Student Association.

After graduating from high school, he began studying at the University of Frankfurt am Main. However, he was unable to complete his studies because he was expelled from the university before 1933 due to his numerous political activities, which the university administration disliked. He then took a job at the tax office of the Wiesbaden city administration.

After the National Socialists "seized power" in 1933, Roos was dismissed from public service. He appealed against this and succeeded in being reinstated around a year and a half later.

Roos, who was deemed "unfit for military service", then worked at the Wiesbaden tax office until 1945. As a staunch opponent of National Socialist rule, he resisted as best he could. He helped Jews who were forced to leave the Reich due to National Socialist persecution to sell their homes and businesses at the fairest possible price.

He also endeavored to warn people who were otherwise in political distress of impending actions by the Nazi authorities or to provide them with material support if they were in financial need. This was only possible because Roos maintained good contacts with various staunch opponents of National Socialist rule, who supported him in his activities in various ways. These included the Erbenheim farmer Wilhelm Steiger and the merchants Konrad Reeh and Ludwig Schwenck, who delivered fruit and vegetables, ration cards and laundry to the persecuted. They were joined by men such as telegraph inspector Karl Schneider, who informed Roos about upcoming telephone tapping operations, and detective inspector Werner van Look, who warned of Gestapo measures.

The circle around Roos also included the Social Democrat and later district president Martin Nischalke, the communist painter Adolf Noetzel (Noetzel, married couple), the neurologist Dr. Friedrich Mörchen and the KPD functionary Andreas Hoevel (Hoevel, married couple). Although the "chain", as Roos called his group, was never exposed as such because it acted relatively inconspicuously and neither developed any outstanding political plans nor attempted to implement them, many of its "members" were imprisoned, sent to concentration camps or died over the years.

When the Americans marched into Wiesbaden on March 28, 1945, Roos decided to once again publicly stand up for his democratic political convictions. The time of being forced to work in secret was over. Together with those who had worked with him over the previous 12 years, he met in his office on the afternoon of March 28, 1945 to discuss the next political steps.

As a result, the Wiesbaden Reconstruction Committee was founded the next day. This saw itself as representing the interests of all "anti-national socialist forces" that were to ensure democratic reconstruction. Reconstruction first had to begin on a small scale, i.e. in the municipal area. For this reason, the committee members initially focused on the democratic reorganization of the city administration. In addition, they were also concerned with reviving the political parties.

Although Roos had held liberal convictions for many years, he could not decide in 1945 to participate in the founding or re-founding of a liberal party. Instead, he took part in the formation of a party that represented conservative Christian ideas, namely the Christian Democratic Party (CDP), which was licensed on September 28, 1945. He served as a city councillor for the CDP, which was renamed the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) at the turn of the year 1945/46, from May 1, 1945 to August 12, 1946. He was then appointed city treasurer. He held this office until his retirement on July 9, 1954.