Elisabeth Eidenbenz, (

Wila, Switzerland Wila is a municipality in the district of Pfäffikon in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland. Geography Wila has an area of . Of this area, 38.4% is used for agricultural purposes, while 51.5% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 9.1% is set ...

, June 12, 1913 - Zurich, Switzerland, May 23, 2011) was a teacher and a

nurse Nursing is a profession within the health care sector focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. Nurses may be differentiated from other health c ...

and founder of the Mothers of Elne (also known as ''Maternitat d'Elna'' in

Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...

, ''Maternidad de Elna'' in

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

and ''Maternité Suisse d'Elne'' in French). Between 1939 and 1944, she saved some 600 children who were mostly the children of Spanish Republicans, Jewish refugees and gypsies fleeing the

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

invasion.

Biography

Elisabeth was a young teacher from Switzerland, teaching in Switzerland and

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until she decided to join the ''Asociación de Ayuda a los Niños en Guerra'' ("Association to Aid Children in War"). After the fall of the

Spanish Republic The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931, after the deposition of King Alfonso XIII, and was dissolved on 1 A ...

many Republican exiles sought refuge in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, including the Roussillon, which is part of the Northern Catalonia region. But almost all of them were stopped and held in concentration/

internment camps Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simpl ...

. There, fenced in the beach without any infrastructure, with the sand as the only protection and without any sanitary measure, many of them died of malnutrition, disease and other afflictions. Many pregnant woman lost their unborn children or died in childbirth. Elisabeth had arrived in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

on April 24, 1937 as a volunteer as part of the aid team Ayuda Suiza but had relocated to the south of France. She spoke both Spanish and

and, appalled by the situation of mothers and children amongst the refugees, Elisabeth decided to convert an abandoned mansion in Elne (adjacent to

Argelès-sur-Mer Argelès-sur-Mer (, literally ''Argelès on Sea''; ca, Argelers de la Marenda or ; oc, Argelers de Mar), commonly known as Argelès, is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in the administrative region of Occitania, France. It i ...

) into a maternity home. The group initially relied on voluntary donations from Europe, but after the start of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, funds dried up while refugees began to arrive from France and the rest of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

. These were mainly

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

women fleeing the Nazi occupation. Therefore, the group was forced to associate themselves with the

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, and ...

, and to abide by the policy of ''neutrality''. This would have prevented them from sheltering political refugees, mostly Jews. It was therefore decided that the identity of most of the refugees would be hidden in order to circumvent these laws. They were harassed by the

Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one orga ...

and on one occasion detained. Some 400 Spanish children and 200 Jews from Europe were saved throughout this period.Some of the children born in the motherhood were called Nael (boys), Elna or Elisabeth (girls), in honor of her. She retired later in life to Rekawinkel, 30 km from

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(

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

) and in 2009 moved to Zurich. In 2002 her work started gaining recognition with the publication of several books on her life and a reunion just before Easter 2002 when 60 of the survivors she helped save reunited in Elne to honour ''La Señorita''. She subsequently was * awarded the status of

Righteous among the Nations Righteous Among the Nations ( he, חֲסִידֵי אֻמּוֹת הָעוֹלָם, ; "righteous (plural) of the world's nations") is an honorific used by the State of Israel to describe non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust to sa ...

by the

Government of Israel The Cabinet of Israel (officially: he, ממשלת ישראל ''Memshelet Yisrael'') exercises executive authority in the State of Israel. It consists of ministers who are chosen and led by the prime minister. The composition of the governmen ...

in 2002.Elisabeth Eidenbenz
– her activity to save Jews' lives during the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

, at

Yad Vashem Yad Vashem ( he, יָד וַשֵׁם; literally, "a memorial and a name") is Israel's official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; honoring Jews who fought against th ...

website * made an honorary citizen of Elne * awarded the Orden Civil de la Solidaridad Social by the

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in 2006 * awarded the

Creu de Sant Jordi The Creu de Sant Jordi (, in English ' St George's Cross') is one of the highest civil distinctions awarded in Catalonia (Spain), surpassed only in protocol by the Gold Medal of the Generalitat de Catalunya. It was established by the Generalit ...

by the Generalitat of Catalonia in 2006 * awarded the star of the

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

by the

French Government The Government of France (French: ''Gouvernement français''), officially the Government of the French Republic (''Gouvernement de la République française'' ), exercises executive power in France. It is composed of the Prime Minister, who i ...

in 2007

References

External links

Noticias sobre Elisabeth Eidenbenz en ''Las madres de Elna''.

Elisabeth and her Maternité
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eidenbenz, Elizabeth Female wartime nurses People of the Spanish Civil War Swiss Righteous Among the Nations 1913 births 2011 deaths People from Pfäffikon District Swiss schoolteachers Swiss nurses Women in the Spanish Civil War Women in World War II 21st-century Swiss educators 20th-century Swiss educators 21st-century Swiss women 20th-century Swiss women