In Memory of Liselotte Elisabeth Charlotte Franke:Her Journey from Munich to Auschwitz

Early Life and Persecution in Munich

Elisabeth Charlotte Franke, also known as Liselotte, was born on February 12, 1907, in Nuremberg. She later moved with her family to Munich, where she was subjected to the anti-Jewish measures of the Nazi regime. From 1940 onwards, she was forced to perform slave labor in the Kammerer battery factory. In the summer of 1941, she was compelled to live in the camp at Berg am Laim, where Munich's Jewish population was ghettoized.

Escape Attempt and Arrest

In March 1943, as rumors of an impending deportation circulated, Liselotte decided to flee. After hiding for a few days with acquaintances near Lake Starnberg, she attempted to reach Switzerland via the Paznaun Valley in Tyrol. During a stop in the municipality of Kappl, she was checked by the gendarmerie. Fearing arrest, she desperately attempted suicide by cutting her wrists. Because of this suicide attempt, Liselotte was taken to the hospital in Zams and later transferred to the psychiatric hospital in Innsbruck, and finally to the Solbad Hall sanatorium and nursing home (present-day Hall in Tirol).

Deportation and Murder

After a stay of nearly three weeks, the Gestapo (Secret State Police) removed her from the institution on April 9, 1943. According to prison records, she was taken to the Innsbruck police prison on April 15, 1943. The following day, she was deported to the Auschwitz concentration camp, where she was murdered.

Note on a Potential Perpetrator: Heinrich Andergassen

It is possible that Heinrich ANDERGASSEN (1908 - 1946) was involved in Elisabeth Charlotte Franke's arrest. In September 1943, he was responsible for the deportation of all Jewish residents still living in Merano to concentration camps. One of those deported was Valeska (Valery, Walli) Freifrau von Hoffmann (born November 26, 1874, in Rome, Italy). She was a citizen of Liechtenstein. Despite protests from the Swiss legation in Germany dated October 19, 1943, she was first taken to the Gestapo camp Reichenau/Innsbruck (until April 12, 1944) and then deported to the Ravensbrück concentration camp on July 22, 1944.

Commemoration at the Hall Memorial Site

Although Elisabeth Charlotte Franke (Liselotte) is not officially classified as a victim of the Nazi euthanasia program, her biography is mentioned at the information terminal of the memorial site in Hall, Tyrol. Her connection to Hall stems from her status as a patient in the former Heil- und Pflegeanstalt (Sanatorium and Nursing Home). It is important to note that she was not a resident of Hall; she originated from Munich, as her short biography indicates.

Acknowledgements

I extend my thanks to Dr. Oliver Seifert from the Landeskrankenhaus Hall (State Hospital Hall) for this information, which helps to better understand the biography of Elisabeth Charlotte Franke and to explain her stay in Hall.

Official Recognition

Elisabeth Charlotte Franke is commemorated at the memorial site in Hall: Gedenkort Hall (gedenkort-hall.at).

In Memory of Liselotte Elisabeth Charlotte Franke

This site remembers Liselotte-Elisabeth-Charlotte Franke, who lost her life in the inhuman conditions of Auschwitz. Her fate is representative of the immense suffering endured by millions of Jewish people during the Holocaust.

Broader Context: The Persecution in Tyrol

It is important to note that in Tyrol, 149 Jewish persons were held in the police prison in Innsbruck. Among them were:

• 108 people who were seized by the Gestapo.
• 41 people who were arrested by the border police in Nauders, Brenner, Reutte, or Bregenz.

One person died following their arrest. All others were deported to:

• The Gestapo camp Reichenau
• Concentration camps: Dachau, Mauthausen, Buchenwald, Sachsenhausen, Auschwitz, Ravensbrück
• Berlin