In Memoriam: Elisabeth Charlotte Franke (1907 – 1943)

Elisabeth Charlotte Franke, known as Liselotte, was born on February 12, 1907, in Nuremberg. She grew up in Munich, where her life took a cruel turn following the Nazi rise to power. From 1940, she was forced into slave labor in a Munich battery factory and was later compelled to live in the compulsorily established "Lager Laim am Berg" for Jewish citizens.
In March 1943, with deportation looming, Liselotte Franke made a desperate attempt to flee to Switzerland. She was discovered in Tyrol, and in her despair, she attempted to take her own life. Instead of finding help and protection, after receiving medical care, she was taken from the Solbad Hall sanatorium by the Secret State Police (Gestapo).
Via the Innsbruck police prison, she was deported to the Auschwitz extermination camp on April 16, 1943, and was murdered there.
Her fate stands as an example of the brutal persecution suffered by millions of Jewish people. We remember Liselotte Franke and preserve her memory as a warning for the present.