On an old fishing boat, posing as a group of innocent boating enthusiasts, Herman Rautenberg from Berlin met with other youths involved in anti-Nazi activities. In spite of being arrested a number of times, Rautenberg was undeterred. In 1937, after he was betrayed by an informant, he was arrested again and sentenced immediately. He was sent to Dachau and a year later to Buchenwald where he was imprisoned for over two years. During his incarceration, Rautenberg made a chess game from bits of paper that he found in the camp.
Chess set made from paper by Hermann Rautenberg in the Buchenwald camp where he was imprisoned until his execution.
Yad Vashem Artifacts Collection
Donated by Ruth Rappaport, Switzerland
![A photo of Hermann Rautenberg in a newspaper article about anti-Nazi activists published in a German paper after the war. "Schoneberger Nachrichten", 1952.](https://www.yadvashem.org/sites/default/files/9093.jpg "A photo of Hermann Rautenberg in a newspaper article about anti-Nazi activists published in a German paper after the war. "Schoneberger Nachrichten", 1952.")
A photo of Hermann Rautenberg in a newspaper article about anti-Nazi activists published in a German paper after the war. "Schoneberger Nachrichten", 1952.
