Zeller Hermann & Elsbeth (Műller)

Zeller, Hermann Zeller, Elsbeth Max Krakauer and his wife Ines lived in Berlin. When the last Jews of the city were deported in February 1943, they decided to go into hiding. Like many other clandestine Jews, they were often forced to move often from one place to the other. The Krakauers first stayed in Pomerania. From November 1943, they were saved by a network of Protestant pastors in the German state of Baden-Wuertemberg, who belonged to the Brüderverein (Brotherly Association) of the Confessing Church that was opposed to the Nazi regime. This rescue was initiated by Pastor Moerike*. The Krakauers were brought to the home of Pastor Hermann Zeller and his wife Elsbeth in Waiblingen by Pastor Moerike, who introduced them as Hans and Grete Ackermann. However, the Zellers knew this was not their real name, and that they were actually Jews persecuted by the regime. In March 1945, the Zellers were asked to shelter the Krakauers once more. At first the couple hesitated, because the home of Hermann's relatives in Stuttgart had been bombed and they had asked to come and stay with them. Nevertheless, the pastor decided it was more important to provide shelter to the Krakauers. He later accompanied them on foot to their subsequent hiding place, placing himself at great risk as the war was coming to an end, and anyone discovered opposing the regime was being treated with even greater brutality. On September 23, 2007, Yad Vashem recognized Hermann and Elsbeth Zeller as Righteous Among the Nations.