Berlin renames square after Jewish resistance fighter Eva Mamlok

Berlin's Blücherplatz in the Kreuzberg district was renamed Eva-Mamlok-Platz on October 16, 2026, honoring a largely forgotten Jewish resistance fighter. Eva Mamlok was born in Berlin on May 6, 1918, into a Jewish merchant family, and joined the Socialist Youth (SAJ) as a teenager. After the SAJ was banned by the Nazis in 1933, the 14-year-old went underground to continue her resistance.

Arrested at 16 for Anti-Hitler Activities

Eva Mamlok's name first appeared in official records in November 1934 when she was arrested for attending a memorial event for Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht at the Berlin Central Cemetery. Authorities described the 16-year-old as having an "anti-state" mindset and placed her in "protective custody" — the Nazi euphemism for detention without trial. She was sent to the Moringen women's concentration camp in Lower Saxony until May 1935.

Legacy of Resistance

German resistance history is dominated by names like Sophie Scholl and Claus von Stauffenberg, but many others like Mamlok remain little known. Cultural scholar Alexandra Weltz-Rombach, who studied Mamlok's life extensively, describes her as "a very special person: a young Jewish woman from Berlin remarkable for her determined defiance." The renaming of the square brings her story to a wider audience for the first time.