Johann Georg Elser - Vocational Career and Social Life

Vocational Career and Social Life

Elser was born in Hermaringen, Württemberg to Ludwig Elser and Maria Müller, who married one year after their son's birth. He attended elementary school in Königsbronn from 1910–17 and showed ability in drawing and handicrafts. His father was a farmer and lumber dealer, and expected his son to succeed him in this trade. Georg, who had helped his father in his work, however, instead pursued his own interests. He began an apprenticeship as a lathe operator in a foundry, which he quit two years later for health reasons. He completed an apprenticeship as a carpenter in 1922. He then worked as a carpenter in several joineries in Königsbronn, Aalen and Heidenheim. From 1925–29, he worked in a watch factory in Konstanz, where he acquired the knowledge enabling him to build the timer for the bomb he was later to use in an assassination attempt on Adolf Hitler. From 1929 – 1932 he worked as a carpenter, in Switzerland.

After his return to Königsbronn, he worked with his parents. From 1936, he worked in a fitting factory in Heidenheim. While working here, he became aware of the Nazis' rearmament program. Elser was a quiet yet sociable character, joining in different cultural societies and clubs, amongst others, a Tracht club. He played the zither and the double bass for the local choir. He also enjoyed to hike with his friends. In 1930, his girlfriend, Mathilde Niedermann, became pregnant and gave birth to his son Manfred. The pregnancy was unplanned and mirrored his parents' situation at his birth. Unlike his parents, Elser did not marry Mathilde and separated from her soon afterwards.

He became a member of the federation of wood workers union. In 1928, a colleague persuaded him to join the Red Front Fighters' Association, the paramilitary organization of the Communist Party. He did not devote much time to these memberships. Though he was not a committed Communist – he was a devoted church-going Protestant – he voted for the Communist Party until 1933, as he considered them to be the best defenders of workers' interests. He opposed Nazism from the beginning of the regime in 1933, and refused to perform the Hitler salute, or to join others in listening to Hitler's speeches broadcast on the radio. Nor did he vote in the Third Reich's elections or referendums.