As the son of a textile wholesaler, Carl Mierendorff
had access to education from an early age. He volunteered for military service during World War I, founded a literary magazine in Darmstadt, studied economics, and entered politics.
In 1930, he was the youngest SPD member of the Reichstag and one of its most courageous opponents of the Nazis. In 1931, he publicly challenged Joseph Goebbels. In June 1933, he was arrested and mistreated. This was followed by the concentration camps at Osthofen, Börgermoor, Lichtenburg, Esterwegen, and Buchenwald. Released in 1938, he later joined the resistance group “Kreisauer Kreis” and drafted documents outlining joint action by opponents of the Nazis. He was killed during an air raid on Leipzig.
