Edeltrud Posiles

Edeltrud Becher (married Posiles; 4 June 1916 – 23 July 2016) was an Austrian woman who kept her partner, a Czech Jew, hidden from the Nazis during World War II. In recognition of her actions, she was recognised as Righteous Among the Nations by in 1978.

Early life and education Becher was born on 4 June 1916 into a middle-class family in Vienna; her father was a merchant, while her mother was a housewife. Becher had a younger sister, Charlotte (1918–2003). Becher attended a Realgymnasium, but was forced to drop out of school after her family's financial situation worsened during the Great Depression. While her parents had wanted her to become an interior designer, Becher had aspired to attend drama school to become an actress; however, she later decided to study art history and sculpture instead.

Relationship with Walter Posiles In either 1935 or 1937, Becher met Walter Posiles, a Czech national living in Austria, at the Café Museum in Vienna. Walter was Jewish, 19 years older than Posiles, and ran a wholesale wine business in Vienna. With the help of her sister Charlotte, Becher was able to contact a Jewish doctor, Ernst Pick, who subsequently treated Posiles.

Recognition

Becher was one of among 3, 400 Austrians who helped and supported Jews from Nazi persecution. Aware of the risks that came from sheltering Posiles, Becher always carried a vial of cyanide with the plan that if she were to be arrested she would die by suicide. The period of time Becher supported the Posiles brothers was between 1942 and 1945; she was able to build a network of friends and family members who assisted her, with her later stating a total of 12 people assisted her in protecting the Posiles.

On 26 October 1978, Becher received the title Righetous Among the Nations from Yad Vashem, Israel's official memorial to victims of the Holocaust.

From the 1980s, Becher regularly appeared in the Austrian and German media as an eyewitness of the Holocaust.

In 2010, Becher donated her personal records, including photos and documents relating to her family as well as the Posiles family, as well as some of her artwork, to the Vienna State and City Archives. To mark her 95th birthday, an exhibition of her life was held in Vienna in 2011.