Käthe Sasso

Käthe Sasso (; ; 18 March 1926 – 14 April 2024) was an Austrian child resistance activist during World War II. As a concentration camp and death march survivor, she wrote several works that chronicle her experiences during Nazi rule in Germany.

Life

Early childhood Smudits was born on 18 March 1926 in Vienna. When the time came to go to school she moved to live with her parents, Agnes and Johann Smudits, back in Vienna. He was so disappointed by the irresolute reaction of the Social Democratic party leadership to the imposition of Fascist-style dictatorship that he switched his party allegiance to the Communist Party, which was also illegal, but had been preparing for "underground" operations since the mid-1920s, so became a focus for most of the still active left-wing government opponents in post-democratic Austria. Three principal activities of the group involved supporting the widows and dependents of executed resistance activists with food, monitoring foreign radio programmes (which was highly illegal) and distribution of antifascist literature (also illegal).

Arrest However, it turned out that the security services had introduced a spy into the resistance group. On 22 August 1942, two Gestapo men appeared at the door. They searched the house thoroughly, but found nothing. When they left they took Käthe Smudits with them.

Sasso died on 14 April 2024, at the age of 98.