Elfriede Scholz

Elfriede Maria Scholz, née Remark (March 25, 1903 – December 16, 1943) was the younger sister of writer Erich Maria Remarque. She was executed by the Nazi regime for anti-Nazi remarks.

Biography

Elfriede Remark, younger sister of writer Erich Maria Remarque, was born on 25 March 1903 in Osnabrück. She was fifth ) in 1941, then divorced.

After two women reported to the Nazi regime that they overheard Elfriede as she was scolding the Nazi Party and Adolf Hitler, she was arrested in Dresden on August 18, 1943, and imprisoned in the prison in Moabit, Berlin. She was indicted by the People's Court (Volksgerichtshof) on October 26, 1943, on charges of Wehrkraftzersetzung (undermining the war effort), specifically by "continuing and publicly undermining the military strength of the German people and aiding and abetting the enemy".

On October 29, Elfriede was sentenced to death by the court's presiding judge Roland Freisler, who declared, "" ("Your brother is unfortunately beyond our reach you, however, will not escape us.") She was directed for execution to Plötzensee Prison in Berlin, but authorities unexpectedly cancelled the execution, because the execution paper was burnt during an Allied air raid, and after a week in the Plötzensee Prison she was directed to the Barnimstrasse women's prison, then a month later she was directed back to Plötzensee and guillotined on December 16, 1943.

Legacy

Erich Maria Remarque dedicated the novel Spark of Life (1952) to his sister.

A Stolperstein for Elfriede Scholz was placed in Dresden (see the photograph).

A memorial plaque dedicated to Elfriede Scholz on the house in Berlin on the Suarezstraße, 31, where she lived for some time, was created in 2013. The plaque was financed by residents of the house (see the photograph).