Monika Ertl

Monika Ertl (17 August 1937 – 12 May 1973) was a German-Bolivian communist militant and guerrilla fighter and the daughter of Nazi propagandist Hans Ertl. She is most known for executing Colonel Roberto Quintanilla Pereira, the man responsible for chopping off Che Guevara's hands. This successful execution earned her the title 'Che Guevara's avenger' in Germany. She continued to serve as a soldier in the National Liberation Army (ELN), resisting the Bolivian government, until she was murdered by Bolivian security services in 1973. Her body was never returned to her family, and the site of her grave remains unknown.

Biography Ertl was born in Munich. After World War II her father emigrated to Bolivia, where he continued to film for some time and became a farmer.

Monika Ertl came to Bolivia in 1952 when her father brought the family over from Germany. Her father established a new life on the farm La Dolorida where he bred livestock. In Bolivia, she accompanied her father on several filming expeditions and learnt to use both a film camera and firearms. In Germany, she became known as "Che Guevara's avenger" because of her involvement in the 1971 killing of Colonel Roberto Quintanilla Pereira in Hamburg, Germany: although this has never been completely proven, it is assumed that she shot Quintanilla who, at the time, was serving in Hamburg as the Bolivian consul. Klaus Barbie was a long-time acquaintance of Monika’s family, to the point that she used to call him 'uncle'. At the time Barbie was known to be an adviser of the secret police in Bolivia. Her body was not turned over to her family to be buried and she rests in an unknown grave.