Rose Schlösinger

Rose Schlösinger (5 October 1907 – 5 August 1943) was a German social worker and resistance fighter against the Nazi regime. She was associated with the Red Orchestra (Rote Kapelle) resistance group and passed along encrypted messages from Arvid Harnack. She was arrested in October 1942, sentenced to death by the Reich War Tribunal, and executed in August 1943.

Early life and family

Rose Ennenbach was born in Frankfurt am Main on 5 October 1907 to a working-class family. She was raised by a single mother, Sophie Ennenbach, who had some prominence as a member of the Social Democratic Party. Rose was active with the Socialist Workers Youth Party (Sozialistischen Arbeiterjugend) and studied to be a kindergarten teacher, training in childcare and job counseling at the Frankfurt Welfare School. She married Friedrich Heinemann and in January 1932 gave birth to their daughter, Marianne. They divorced soon afterwards and Rose returned to live with her mother. She interned with a social station after passing her exams, but was unable to gain employment as a social worker after the Nazi Party rose to power in 1933. She then learned shorthand and secured a job as a typist at the Wanderer Continental Typewriter Works in Chemnitz.

Farewell letter

Shortly before her execution, Schlösinger wrote a farewell letter to her daughter Marianne.