Luci Pollreis (also spelled Lucia Pollreiss) was an

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 ...

n woman who was recognized as

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 sav ...

for saving three Jews hiding from the Gestapo in Vienna during World War II.Luci Pollreis
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 The young Viennese woman hid two Jewish women and one man in her apartment in Vienna, on her farm and in a country house in Ramsau near

Hainfeld Hainfeld is a municipality in the district of Lilienfeld in the Austrian state of Lower Austria. Geography Hainfeld is situated on the Gölsen River in the Southeast Lower Austria. It's the biggest city in Gölsen Valley (''Gölsental''). The ...

for three years beginning in 1942. They were a couple, Max and Johanna Arnold and Max's sister, Leopoldine Stern. Max had been ordered 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 organi ...

, to move from Pressbaum, where he lived, to Vienna. He had been commissioned to register at the Jewish community. As he desisted, he was arrested on suspicion of

Rassenschande ''Rassenschande'' (, "racial shame") or ''Blutschande'' ( "blood disgrace") was an anti-miscegenation concept in Nazi German racial policy, pertaining to sexual relations between Aryans and non-Aryans. It was put into practice by policies like ...

and taken to the regional court II, where he remained imprisoned for six weeks. After his release he went underground. He met his future wife Johanna. She asked an acquaintance to help him and his sister Johanna Leopoldine. One day this friend turned to Luci Pollreis, who lived alone since her husband was drafted into the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...

. Would she be ready to accept and hide three Jews, who are threatened to be arrested by the

? Luci Pollreis immediately gave a positive response and coordinated hiding places with Maria Schauer, who hid the Jews in the fall, winter and spring months. Luci was a dressmaker, and Max, a tailor, helped her at work. Again and again members of the Gestapo appeared and were searching for the missing Jews. In the night she often took the three from her home to the factory, her country house or to friends. Max and Johanna Arnold and Leopoldine Stern all survived the war.

Recognition

On 8 July 1982, Yad Vashem recognized both Maria Schauer and Lucia Pollreiss (sic) as Righteous Among the Nations, which is recognition given to "non-Jews who took great risks to save Jews during the Holocaust."

References

Austrian Righteous Among the Nations People from Vienna Living people Year of birth missing (living people) {{Austria-activist-stub