Wilhelm Grouls lived with his wife and his two children near the Holland border in very poor conditions. He was a miner and until 1933 he was a member of the German Communist Party. In 1936 he was condemned to two years and a half on the charges of high treason.
After getting out of prison, Wilhelm Grouls helped some Jews to leave Germany illegally. In September, 1939, he was arrested while guiding a Jewish couple through the German-Dutch border. He had received 350 marks for his help (which represented an employee’s salary approximately).
Initially, Wilhelm Grouls was taken to the Buchenwald concentration camp. In March of the year 1942 to Ravensbruck and, half a year later, to Auschwitz. On June 15, 1944 he could leave Auschwitz, probably due to the efforts carried out by his family, which had with a ”positive” image from the National Socialist leadership of his hometown.
