Peter Bender
{{Short description|German writer and religious leader}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2024}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = Peter Bender
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1893|05|30|df=y}}
| birth_place = Bechtheim, German Empire
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1944|02|04|1893|05|30|df=y}}
| death_place = Mauthausen concentration camp, Nazi Germany
| occupation = Author
}}
Peter Bender (30 May 1893 – 4 February 1944) was a German writer, religious leader, and Hollow Earth theory advocate. He died in the Holocaust.
Biography
Bender was born in Rhineland-Palatinate in 1893. After graduating from high school and entering university to study philosophy, he volunteered for army service during World War I, serving as a pilot on the Eastern Front. He suffered a severe jaw injury in a plane crash. In the hospital, he met his future wife Charlotte Asch, whom he married in 1917; she came from a Jewish family of pharmacists.{{Cite news |last=Bartels |first=Gerrit |date=2023-02-10 |title=Der neue Roman von Clemens J. Setz: Alles zerschellt in der Hohlwelt |url=https://www.tagesspiegel.de/kultur/der-neue-roman-von-clemens-j-setz-alles-zerschellt-in-der-hohlwelt-9320462.html |access-date=2024-02-03 |work=Der Tagesspiegel Online |language=de-DE |issn=1865-2263 |archive-date=14 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231114153646/https://www.tagesspiegel.de/kultur/der-neue-roman-von-clemens-j-setz-alles-zerschellt-in-der-hohlwelt-9320462.html |url-status=live }} The couple settled in Worms and had two children, Gerhard and Maria.{{Cite web |title=Alle Produkte des Autors: Bender, Peter |url=https://wormsverlag.de/bender-peter-m-53133.html |access-date=2024-02-02 |website=Worms Verlag |archive-date=11 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230311144609/https://wormsverlag.de/bender-peter-m-53133.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |date=2023-03-10 |title=Nicht nur Hohlwelt-Theoretiker - Der historische Peter Bender und die Romanfigur von Clemens J. Setz |url=https://www.swr.de/swr2/literatur/nicht-nur-hohlwelt-theoretiker-der-historische-peter-bender-und-die-romanfigur-von-clemens-j-setz-100.html |access-date=2024-02-03 |work=SWR2 |language=de |archive-date=14 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231114153644/https://www.swr.de/swr2/literatur/nicht-nur-hohlwelt-theoretiker-der-historische-peter-bender-und-die-romanfigur-von-clemens-j-setz-100.html |url-status=live }}
Bender was involved in the socialist movement in Worms, co-founding and serving as a chairman in the local workers' council. While Bender worked as a writer and lecturer, his wife supported the family through income from language lessons. In 1919 Bender founded a religious community under the name “Wormser Menschgemeinde”. He was imprisoned in 1921 for blasphemy and spreading lewd writings.{{Cite web |title=Strafanzeige gegen Peter Bender, "Priester der Menschengemeinde Worms", wegen Gotteslästerung und Verbreitung unzüchtiger Schriften |url=https://www.archivportal-d.de/item/S4FNKFUBWXZHNFBCV2HQV3ZEGGHEILPU |access-date=2024-02-03 |website=Archivportal-D |archive-date=14 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231114153646/https://www.archivportal-d.de/item/S4FNKFUBWXZHNFBCV2HQV3ZEGGHEILPU |url-status=live }} In 1927, he published his only novel, Karl Tormann – A Rhenish Man of Our Time ({{Langx|de|Karl Tormann – Ein rheinischer Mensch unserer Zeit}}).
Among Bender's topics of interest was the Hollow Earth theory. He saw himself as a successor to the American religious leader and Hollow Earth proponent Cyrus Teed, basing his ideas off his teachings and frequently contacting Teed's Florida community.{{Cite news |last=Flessner |first=Bernd |date=2009-11-14 |title=Kuriose Theorie: Verkehrte Welt |url=https://www.spiegel.de/wissenschaft/weltall/kuriose-theorie-verkehrte-welt-a-656937.html |access-date=2024-02-03 |work=Der Spiegel |language=de |issn=2195-1349 |archive-date=14 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231114153651/https://www.spiegel.de/wissenschaft/weltall/kuriose-theorie-verkehrte-welt-a-656937.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |date=2023-02-11 |title=Neues Buch von Clemens J. Setz: Trost der Hohlkörper |url=https://www.br.de/nachrichten/kultur/neues-buch-von-clemens-j-setz-trost-der-hohlkoerper,TVYWBM5 |access-date=2024-02-03 |work=Bayerischer Rundfunk |language=de |archive-date=14 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231114211256/https://www.br.de/nachrichten/kultur/neues-buch-von-clemens-j-setz-trost-der-hohlkoerper,TVYWBM5 |url-status=live }}
After the Nazi rise to power, Charlotte Bender, as a Jew, faced increasing restrictions on her daily life. Due to financial difficulties, the Benders moved to Frankfurt in 1935. In 1943, during World War II, Peter Bender was arrested by the Gestapo for allegedly criticizing the Nazi regime. He was deported to the Mauthausen concentration camp, where he died on 4 February 1944. Charlotte died in the Auschwitz concentration camp in March 1943, while both Bender children survived the war.
Aftermath
In 2023, Austrian writer Clemens J. Setz published Monde vor der Landing, a novel about Bender.
References
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Category:People from Alzey-Worms
Category:Writers from Rhineland-Palatinate
Category:20th-century German male writers
Category:German Army personnel of World War I
Category:German World War I pilots
Category:Hollow Earth proponents
Category:German religious leaders