Wisconsin Life

leaves on trees rustling in wind

On the shores of Lake Michigan stands a modern home designed by architect John Durbrow. Come on.

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I've been an architect for my whole life. In fact, this house is the first residence that I ever did. John had worked exclusively in commercial architecture helping to design such Chicago icons as the James Thompson center, the dorms at Illinois Institute of Technology and the high-rise at 120 North LaSalle. John's latest challenge creating awareness for a design eight feet tall. A memorial inspired by a book. I read a book by Shareen Brysac "Resisting Hitler." It's the story of Mildred Fish-Harnack, a Milwaukee native, University of Wisconsin graduate and the only American woman executed on the direct orders of Adolf Hitler. It gave me a pretty in-depth background as to her life and the, sort of, controversy that surrounds her memory. Mildred met German scholar Arvid Harnack at the University of Wisconsin. They married and returned to Germany. The Harnack's formed a resistance network and risked their lives providing secrets to the Americans and the Soviets. It must have been towards the end of the book when I realized that she really hadn't been commemorated in any notable way around here. I thought it was just obvious that she should be. That somebody should do something about that. "That somebody" would be John Durbrow. With his own money and his own design, John set out to honor this forgotten daughter of Wisconsin. This is a one-eighth scale version of the statue. It is this same black granite, except it stands eight feet, six inches high. John commissioned this sculpture, and had it delivered to his property near Newton, Wisconsin. That's where it remained covered in weeds for the next twelve years. It never even occurred to me that if I did something, it wouldn't be received with great enthusiasm in Madison. Instead, finding the statue a home proved far harder than he ever imagined. Well, this has to do with the global politics and the changing perception of our Allies.

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Once captured, the Nazis put the Harnacks on trial as Soviet spies. Gestapo records made no mention of their ties to the U.S. embassy.

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Everybody looks at World War II as the good war, and anything done to forward our victory is seen as a noble gesture. But in her case, she's been denied credit for having been involved in something that everybody else is giving accolades to. After the war, the CIA took the Nazis at their word and investigated surviving members of the German resistance as Communists. She was tagged with that Communist association. In 1947, the Wisconsin alumni magazine published an article putting Mildred in the spotlight. Instead of honoring Mildred, it triggered an FBI investigation. And in 2019, those FBI and CIA files remain heavily redacted. She had been very much allied with the Soviets during the war. And so post-war was tarnished with the anti-red brush. As a result, when the Cold War heated up, university plans to honor Mildred were halted. All the more reason John knew exactly where he wanted the statue to go. The first place was the university. It just seemed like it really ought to be on the university grounds. Again, the university declined the offer to honor Mildred with a statue. The reaction really wasn't centered on the piece itself. There were just people who found this to be a controversial subject. And again, I was... surprised. The idea to honor Mildred was going nowhere and the sculpture wasn't either. For more than a decade, John never gave up. Twelve years is a long time for waiting and wondering about whether or not something will come to fruition. John's dream of honoring Mildred would gain momentum when the City of Madison Parks stepped forward I wanted something that could stand apart stand alone, and that would, sort of, transcend its setting. Something that I thought would be in the spirit of Mildred's lifestyle. The site selected, an inspirational one. It's in Madison

and it overlooks some of her favorite points

Picnic Point and University Hill. Heartfelt places Arvid her husband remembers too in his farewell letter to Mildred on the eve of his execution. Do you still remember Picnic Point when we got engaged? I sang with joy early in the morning in the club. And even earlier, our first serious conversation on State Street? This conversation became my guiding star and has been so ever since. In the summer of 2019, hundreds gathered for dedication day at Marshall Park. I am very grateful that we can finally place Mildred back in Madison overlooking the lake that she had loved. For John, it marked more than a decade of determination and an unwavering belief Mildred was worthy of such an honor. We hope that the presence of this sculpture elicits the curiosity of many to become more acquainted with the legacy of Mildred Fish-Harnack.