Orli Wald
Encyclopedia
Orli Wald was a member of the German Resistance
in Nazi Germany
. She was arrested in 1936 and charged with high treason
, whereupon she served four and a half years in a women's prison, followed by "protective custody
" in Nazi concentration camps until 1945, when she escaped. She was a prisoner functionary in the infirmary at Auschwitz-Birkenau and because of her helpfulness to Jewish and other prisoners, was called the "Angel of Auschwitz". After the war, Wald was often ill with physical problems stemming from illness during her confinement. She was also plagued by depression, unable to cope with her memories of the concentration camps and she made numerous suicide attempts. She wrote stories about her experiences in an attempt to overcome the past, but died at the age of 48 in a psychiatric hospital.
, France, the sixth child of a German couple, Maria and August Torgau. Her father, a skilled worker
, found work in France as a locomotive mechanic, but World War I
broke out weeks after Wald's birth and the family was interned. Though her father was kept in detention until 1919, her mother and the children were forced to leave France. They went to Luxemburg, but were forced to leave there as well, ending up in Trier
, Germany in 1916. After his release, August Torgau joined the family in Trier, where he became active in the communist movement. Wald graduated from school in Trier, then completed an apprenticeship as a sales clerk. In the 1920s, she became a member of the Young Communist League of Germany
(YCLG), as did her brothers, Fritz and Willhelm, called Willi.
of the government in 1933, she became involved in political resistance, smuggling educational pamphlets into Germany. This work led to her arrest in 1934, but lack of evidence caused the matter to be dropped and she resumed her activities.
In 1934, she was married to a construction worker and YCLG member, Friedrich-Wilhelm (Fritz) Reichert in 1935, but the marriage lasted only six months. Reichert, who turned his support toward the Nazis and became a member of the Sturmabteilung
(SA), filed for separation in 1936. In June 1936, her resistance cell was arrested and charged with high treason
,This charge was later punishable by execution. (See the biography at FemBio.) presumably because of incriminating statements made by her husband, who denounced her. On December 21, 1936, at the age of 22 years, she was sentenced to four and a half years at hard labor and was taken the same day to the Ziegenhain
women's prison. She served four years at Ziegenhain, three of them in solitary confinement
. Her mother made several efforts to win clemency for her, but to no avail.
Reichert divorced her in 1939 on the grounds that he was "known to the Nazis" and was a member of the SA. In 1940, despite having served her full sentence, Wald, then known as Orli Reichert, was not released, but was sent to Ravensbrück concentration camp
, where she was held in "protective custody
" as a danger to the Third Reich. She was made to wear the "red triangle
", designating her as a political prisoner and she became friends with Margarete Buber-Neumann
. In March 1942, she was transferred to Auschwitz and became prisoner number 502. She was sent to work at the prisoner infirmary and herself became sick the following winter. Seeing her situation as hopeless, she attempted suicide with sleeping pills, but was saved and she recovered. In 1943, she became Lagerälteste, putting her in a better position to help other prisoners. At the notorious infirmary, headed by Josef Mengele
, she witnessed numerous Nazi crimes, including newborn babies killed by doctors with injections of phenol
, while the mothers were sent to the gas chamber
; Nazi medical experiments on prisoners; and the "selections", where doctors chose sick people to be gassed rather than cured. As Lagerälteste, she sometimes had to assist Mengele in the selections, although she was able to save many others.
Wald continued to work in the German resistance, even while imprisoned. She risked her life to help and save Jewish and other prisoners, earning her the name "Angel of Auschwitz". She survived the January 1945 death march
from Auschwitz to Ravensbrück and Malchow concentration camp
, which she was able to escape with a group of women in April 1945. She was found by Soviet soldiers
, who then raped her.
after the war in the Carl von Ossietzky
Sanatorium, then run by the Union of Persecutees of the Nazi Regime
in Sülzhayn, in the Harz
mountains. An editor, he had also been a German resistance fighter and had been imprisoned at Brandenburg-Görden
. They were married in November 1947 and moved to Hannover, where he had previously lived. Both she and her husband, who later became a politician and trade unionist, had fought the stalinization of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany
and joined the Social Democrats
.
Wald wrote short biographical stories in an attempt to overcome the traumatic experiences of the concentration camps and until her death, suffered both physically and mentally from the effects of her imprisonment. Along with the memories she could not forget, she could no longer bear to hear music, which reminded her of the Auschwitz orchestra, which had played for incoming transports of prisoners. Succumbing often to depression, she attempted suicide numerous times, and ended up addicted to the drugs given to her for the depression. After being scheduled to testify in the Frankfurt Auschwitz Trials
, which she wanted to do, her memories became so overpowering to her, she suffered a complete mental breakdown
and died in a psychiatric clinic in Ilten, near Hanover at the age of 48.
German Resistance
The German resistance was the opposition by individuals and groups in Germany to Adolf Hitler or the National Socialist regime between 1933 and 1945. Some of these engaged in active plans to remove Adolf Hitler from power and overthrow his regime...
in Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
. She was arrested in 1936 and charged with high treason
High treason
High treason is criminal disloyalty to one's government. Participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplomats, or its secret services for a hostile and foreign power, or attempting to kill its head of state are perhaps...
, whereupon she served four and a half years in a women's prison, followed by "protective custody
Protective custody
Protective custody is a type of imprisonment to protect a prisoner from harm, either from outside sources or other prisoners. Many administrators believe the level of violence, or the underlying threat of violence within prisoners, is a chief factor causing the need for PC units...
" in Nazi concentration camps until 1945, when she escaped. She was a prisoner functionary in the infirmary at Auschwitz-Birkenau and because of her helpfulness to Jewish and other prisoners, was called the "Angel of Auschwitz". After the war, Wald was often ill with physical problems stemming from illness during her confinement. She was also plagued by depression, unable to cope with her memories of the concentration camps and she made numerous suicide attempts. She wrote stories about her experiences in an attempt to overcome the past, but died at the age of 48 in a psychiatric hospital.
Early years
Wald was born Aurelia Torgau in Bourell, near MaubeugeMaubeuge
Maubeuge is a commune in the Nord department in northern France.It is situated on both banks of the Sambre , east of Valenciennes and about from the Belgian border.-History:...
, France, the sixth child of a German couple, Maria and August Torgau. Her father, a skilled worker
Skilled worker
A skilled worker is any worker who has some special skill, knowledge, or ability in their work. A skilled worker may have attended a college, university or technical school. Or, a skilled worker may have learned their skills on the job...
, found work in France as a locomotive mechanic, but World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
broke out weeks after Wald's birth and the family was interned. Though her father was kept in detention until 1919, her mother and the children were forced to leave France. They went to Luxemburg, but were forced to leave there as well, ending up in Trier
Trier
Trier, historically called in English Treves is a city in Germany on the banks of the Moselle. It is the oldest city in Germany, founded in or before 16 BC....
, Germany in 1916. After his release, August Torgau joined the family in Trier, where he became active in the communist movement. Wald graduated from school in Trier, then completed an apprenticeship as a sales clerk. In the 1920s, she became a member of the Young Communist League of Germany
Young Communist League of Germany
The Young Communist League of Germany was a political youth organization in Germany. It was formed in 1920 from the Free Socialist Youth of the Communist Party of Germany, which itself was formed in October 1918, with support from the Spartacus League . The KJVD was created in 1925...
(YCLG), as did her brothers, Fritz and Willhelm, called Willi.
Nazi era
After the Nazis seized controlMachtergreifung
Machtergreifung is a German word meaning "seizure of power". It is normally used specifically to refer to the Nazi takeover of power in the democratic Weimar Republic on 30 January 1933, the day Hitler was sworn in as Chancellor of Germany, turning it into the Nazi German dictatorship.-Term:The...
of the government in 1933, she became involved in political resistance, smuggling educational pamphlets into Germany. This work led to her arrest in 1934, but lack of evidence caused the matter to be dropped and she resumed her activities.
In 1934, she was married to a construction worker and YCLG member, Friedrich-Wilhelm (Fritz) Reichert in 1935, but the marriage lasted only six months. Reichert, who turned his support toward the Nazis and became a member of the Sturmabteilung
Sturmabteilung
The Sturmabteilung functioned as a paramilitary organization of the National Socialist German Workers' Party . It played a key role in Adolf Hitler's rise to power in the 1920s and 1930s...
(SA), filed for separation in 1936. In June 1936, her resistance cell was arrested and charged with high treason
High treason
High treason is criminal disloyalty to one's government. Participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplomats, or its secret services for a hostile and foreign power, or attempting to kill its head of state are perhaps...
,This charge was later punishable by execution. (See the biography at FemBio.) presumably because of incriminating statements made by her husband, who denounced her. On December 21, 1936, at the age of 22 years, she was sentenced to four and a half years at hard labor and was taken the same day to the Ziegenhain
Schwalmstadt
Schwalmstadt is the largest town in the Schwalm-Eder district, in northern Hesse, Germany. It was established only in 1970 with the amalgamation of the towns of Treysa and Ziegenhain together with some outlying villages to form the town of Schwalmstadt.-Location:Schwalmstadt lies in the Schwalm...
women's prison. She served four years at Ziegenhain, three of them in solitary confinement
Solitary confinement
Solitary confinement is a special form of imprisonment in which a prisoner is isolated from any human contact, though often with the exception of members of prison staff. It is sometimes employed as a form of punishment beyond incarceration for a prisoner, and has been cited as an additional...
. Her mother made several efforts to win clemency for her, but to no avail.
Reichert divorced her in 1939 on the grounds that he was "known to the Nazis" and was a member of the SA. In 1940, despite having served her full sentence, Wald, then known as Orli Reichert, was not released, but was sent to Ravensbrück concentration camp
Ravensbrück concentration camp
Ravensbrück was a notorious women's concentration camp during World War II, located in northern Germany, 90 km north of Berlin at a site near the village of Ravensbrück ....
, where she was held in "protective custody
Protective custody
Protective custody is a type of imprisonment to protect a prisoner from harm, either from outside sources or other prisoners. Many administrators believe the level of violence, or the underlying threat of violence within prisoners, is a chief factor causing the need for PC units...
" as a danger to the Third Reich. She was made to wear the "red triangle
Nazi concentration camp badges
Nazi concentration camp badges, primarily triangles, were part of the system of identification in Nazi camps. They were used in the concentration camps in the Nazi-occupied countries to identify the reason the prisoners had been placed there. The triangles were made of fabric and were sewn on...
", designating her as a political prisoner and she became friends with Margarete Buber-Neumann
Margarete Buber-Neumann
Margarete Buber-Neumann , was a leading member of the Communist Party of Germany during the years of the Weimar Republic. She survived imprisonment during World War II in both the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany...
. In March 1942, she was transferred to Auschwitz and became prisoner number 502. She was sent to work at the prisoner infirmary and herself became sick the following winter. Seeing her situation as hopeless, she attempted suicide with sleeping pills, but was saved and she recovered. In 1943, she became Lagerälteste, putting her in a better position to help other prisoners. At the notorious infirmary, headed by Josef Mengele
Josef Mengele
Josef Rudolf Mengele , also known as the Angel of Death was a German SS officer and a physician in the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau. He earned doctorates in anthropology from Munich University and in medicine from Frankfurt University...
, she witnessed numerous Nazi crimes, including newborn babies killed by doctors with injections of phenol
Phenol
Phenol, also known as carbolic acid, phenic acid, is an organic compound with the chemical formula C6H5OH. It is a white crystalline solid. The molecule consists of a phenyl , bonded to a hydroxyl group. It is produced on a large scale as a precursor to many materials and useful compounds...
, while the mothers were sent to the gas chamber
Gas chamber
A gas chamber is an apparatus for killing humans or animals with gas, consisting of a sealed chamber into which a poisonous or asphyxiant gas is introduced. The most commonly used poisonous agent is hydrogen cyanide; carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide have also been used...
; Nazi medical experiments on prisoners; and the "selections", where doctors chose sick people to be gassed rather than cured. As Lagerälteste, she sometimes had to assist Mengele in the selections, although she was able to save many others.
Wald continued to work in the German resistance, even while imprisoned. She risked her life to help and save Jewish and other prisoners, earning her the name "Angel of Auschwitz". She survived the January 1945 death march
Death march
A death march is a forced march of prisoners of war or other captives or deportees. Those marching must walk over long distances for an extremely long period of time and are not supplied with food or water...
from Auschwitz to Ravensbrück and Malchow concentration camp
Malchow concentration camp
Malchow concentration camp was one of the numerous sub-camps of Nazi concentration camp: Ravensbrück, located in Germany, which is believed to be first opened in the winter of 1943...
, which she was able to escape with a group of women in April 1945. She was found by Soviet soldiers
Soviet Army
The Soviet Army is the name given to the main part of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union between 1946 and 1992. Previously, it had been known as the Red Army. Informally, Армия referred to all the MOD armed forces, except, in some cases, the Soviet Navy.This article covers the Soviet Ground...
, who then raped her.
After World War II
As a result of her imprisonment, she was unable to drop her married surname of Reichert, which was required for her to receive the Haftentschädigung (financial compensation for imprisonment) and later, government aid to meet rising medical costs stemming from her confinement. She met Eduard WaldEduard Wald
Eduard Wald was a Communist politician, trade unionist and member of the German Resistance against Nazism.- Biography :...
after the war in the Carl von Ossietzky
Carl von Ossietzky
Carl von Ossietzky was a German pacifist and the recipient of the 1935 Nobel Peace Prize. He was convicted of high treason and espionage in 1931 after publishing details of Germany's alleged violation of the Treaty of Versailles by rebuilding an air force, the predecessor of the Luftwaffe, and...
Sanatorium, then run by the Union of Persecutees of the Nazi Regime
Union of Persecutees of the Nazi Regime
The Society of People Persecuted by the Nazi Regime – Federation of Anti-Fascists is a political organization founded in 1947....
in Sülzhayn, in the Harz
Harz
The Harz is the highest mountain range in northern Germany and its rugged terrain extends across parts of Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. The name Harz derives from the Middle High German word Hardt or Hart , latinized as Hercynia. The legendary Brocken is the highest summit in the Harz...
mountains. An editor, he had also been a German resistance fighter and had been imprisoned at Brandenburg-Görden
Brandenburg-Görden Prison
Brandenburg-Görden Prison is located on Anton-Saefkow-Allee in the Görden section of Brandenburg an der Havel. Erected between 1927 and 1935, it was built to be the most secure and modern prison in Europe. It was a Zuchthaus for inmates with lengthy or life sentences at hard labor, as well as...
. They were married in November 1947 and moved to Hannover, where he had previously lived. Both she and her husband, who later became a politician and trade unionist, had fought the stalinization of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany
Socialist Unity Party of Germany
The Socialist Unity Party of Germany was the governing party of the German Democratic Republic from its formation on 7 October 1949 until the elections of March 1990. The SED was a communist political party with a Marxist-Leninist ideology...
and joined the Social Democrats
Social Democratic Party of Germany
The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...
.
Wald wrote short biographical stories in an attempt to overcome the traumatic experiences of the concentration camps and until her death, suffered both physically and mentally from the effects of her imprisonment. Along with the memories she could not forget, she could no longer bear to hear music, which reminded her of the Auschwitz orchestra, which had played for incoming transports of prisoners. Succumbing often to depression, she attempted suicide numerous times, and ended up addicted to the drugs given to her for the depression. After being scheduled to testify in the Frankfurt Auschwitz Trials
Frankfurt Auschwitz trials
The Frankfurt Auschwitz Trials, known in German as der Auschwitz-Prozess or der zweite Auschwitz-Prozess, was a series of trials running from December 20, 1963 to August 10, 1965, charging 22 defendants under German penal law for their roles in the Holocaust as mid- to lower-level officials in the...
, which she wanted to do, her memories became so overpowering to her, she suffered a complete mental breakdown
Mental breakdown
Mental breakdown is a non-medical term used to describe an acute, time-limited phase of a specific disorder that presents primarily with features of depression or anxiety.-Definition:...
and died in a psychiatric clinic in Ilten, near Hanover at the age of 48.
Legacy
There is a small street in the Wettbergen neighborhood of Hannover named Reicherthof. Relatives and friends objected to the street name, which used the name of her first husband, who was likely responsible for her arrest. As a result, in 2007, the city of Hannover renamed a street near the Engesohde cemetery, where she is buried, after Orli Wald. On February 23, 2007, a stolperstein in the name Orli Torgau-Wald was laid in Trier, where she had previously lived.Publications
- Nachgelassenes - Schriften von Orli Wald in Der dunkle Schatten
- Orli Wald-Reichert, Das Taschentuch in H. G. AdlerH. G. AdlerHans Günther Adler, who wrote as H. G. Adler was a German-language poet and novelist.Born in Prague to Emil and Alice Adler, Hans Adler was a Jew, though not devout....
, Hermann LangbeinHermann LangbeinHermann Langbein was an Austrian who fought in the Spanish Civil War with the International Brigades for the Spanish Republicans against the Nationalists under Francisco Franco...
& Ella Lingens-Reiner, editors: Auschwitz. Zeugnisse und Berichte. Europäische Verlagsanstalt, Cologne (1979) ISBN 3434004114 pp. 105 - 108 Eyewitness testimony and report about a killing through poison injection by the SS in Auschwitz of a blind girl, the daughter of a German officer, according to statements by the Polish mother. Thüringer Volk, April 10, 1948. The killer with the injection was Hans Nierzwicki (1905 - 1967), who remained unpunished after 1945.
Sources
- Bernd Steger, Günter Thiele, ed. Peter Wald, Der dunkle Schatten. Leben mit Auschwitz. Erinnerungen an Orli Reichert-Wald. Schüren, Marburg (1989) ISBN 3-924800-57-X
- expanded and re-published: Steger & Wald, Hinter der grünen Pappe. Orli Wald im Schatten von Auschwitz. Leben und Erinnerungen. VSA-Verlag Hamburg (2008) ISBN 9783899653229
- Hermann Langbein, Menschen in Auschwitz. Europa, Vienna (1996) ISBN 3-203-51145-2 (also published by Ullstein)
- Margarete Glas-Larsson, "Ich will reden!" G. Botz, Vienna (1981) ISBN 3-217-01186-4
- Adélaïde Hautval, Medizin gegen die Menschlichkeit. Die Weigerung einer nach Auschwitz deportierten Ärztin, an medizinischen Experimenten teilzunehmen. Karl Dietz, Berlin (2008) ISBN 9783320021542
- Ella Lingens-Rainer, Gefangene der Angst. Berliner Taschenbuchverlag (2005) ISBN 3-8333-0152-X
- Bruno Baum, Widerstand in Auschwitz. VVN, Berlin (1949) p. 25; also Congress, Berlin (1962) p. 80Wald is referred to as Orly Reichert. Baum later a Socialist Unity Party functionary.
- Edu Wald papers, Confederation of German Trade Unions-Archiv, Düsseldorf and Archiv der sozialen Demokratie