Johann Sniegowski was born in 1919 into a family of Polish extraction that had lived in Dortmund for many years, and was active in the youth organization of the Roman Catholic church. After being called up for military service, he refused – given his family background – to shoot at Polish people. He was found guilty by court martial and shot on 8 August 1940 in Thorn (now Toruń) for “subversion of the national defence capability”.

His fate is documented in the permanent exhibition “Resistance and Persecution in Dortmund 1933-1945” in the Steinwache Memorial Museum.