Visit with Falk Harnack (Schmorell)

If I am asked why Scholl and I visited Harnack in Chemnitz, I will state: I learned from Berndl that Harnack’s brother had been arrested in Berlin on seditious grounds. I told Scholl about this verbally.

We finally agreed that we should visit Harnack in Chemnitz to recruit him for our goals. I expressly emphasize that Mrs. Berndl knew nothing of our intentions of recruiting Harnack.

During our discussion in Chemnitz, we intentionally steered the conversation to general political matters and understood that Harnack is more of a Socialist and stands in opposition to National Socialism. I can still recall that during this first discussion in Chemnitz, Harnack refused to cooperate with us.

I must mention beforehand [Note 1] that we had told Harnack that we wanted to get rid of the current form of government and set up a democracy in its place. After Harnack had assumed his negative attitude (he expected to be transferred to the front at any time), we took our leave from him without making any arrangements for another meeting. We only said that perhaps we could meet again in Munich (Harnack has a close relationship with Mrs. Berndl in Munich). But we did not make any definite plans.

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Note 1: Anticipating the next question.

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Source: Alexander Schmorell’s March 11, 1943 interrogation