(March 22, 1903 – December 11, 1942) was a German
writer, poet and journalist.
Klepper was born in Beuthen an der Oder
, the son of a Lutheran
minister. He originally studied theology
at the University of Breslau
, but dropped out to become a radio journalist in Berlin
before being ostracized by the Nazi Party
for his marriage to Johanna Stein, a Jewish
widow with two daughters. He was fired from his work with Berliner Funk
in June 1933, and was later fired from Ullstein Publishing House
in September 1935. He had written favourably about a Prussian king and the stark differences to the current government. The book became very popular and by March 1937, he had lost his license to publish his largely Christian
works from the state literary office. He appealed this with a letter to Joseph Goebbels
, signing his protest with a Heil Hitler
, and the case was ceded.
In December 1940, he was drafted by the German Army
— perhaps a bureaucratic mistake since citizens married to Jews were not to be drafted. His wife however had been baptized and they had a church wedding ceremony in 1938. While Klepper did not see combat, he served in a supply unit for forces through Bulgaria
before being discharged in 1942 to tend to his wife.
On December 11, 1942, after Adolf Eichmann
refused a visa
for the couple's second daughter, the three of them committed suicide
by turning on a gas valve - Jochen writing in his journal just before they died:......