Eleonore Baur (7 September 1885 – 18 May 1981), also known as Sister Pia, was a senior
Nazi Party
The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...
figure and the only woman known to have participated in the
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...
The Adelaide Advertiser
''The Advertiser'' is a daily tabloid format newspaper based in the city of Adelaide, South Australia. First published as a broadsheet named ''The South Australian Advertiser'' on 12 July 1858,
Bad Aibling
Bad Aibling () is a spa town and former district seat in Bavaria on the river Mangfall, located some southeast of Munich. It features a luxury health resort with a peat pulp bath and mineral spa.
History
Bad Aibling and its surrounding ...
,
Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
, Baur's mother died when Baur was an infant, and when she was five Baur moved to Munich with her father and stepmother.Hastings, p. 85.
In Munich, Baur left school aged 14 to work as a
midwife
A midwife is a health professional who cares for mothers and newborns around childbirth, a specialization known as midwifery.
The education and training for a midwife concentrates extensively on the care of women throughout their lifespan; co ...
's assistant. At 15 she gave birth to an
illegitimate child
Legitimacy, in traditional Western common law, is the status of a child born to parents who are legally married to each other, and of a child conceived before the parents obtain a legal divorce. Conversely, ''illegitimacy'', also known as '' ...
whose fate is currently unknown. At 19 she gave birth to a second illegitimate son named Willhelm, whom she gave up for adoption, then soon after she moved to
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
to work as 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 ...
's assistant at a
Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the Capital city, capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, List of ...
hospital.
Baur returned to Munich in 1907, calling herself "Sister Pia", and worked for the
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
* Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...
charitable order Gelbes Kreuz (Yellow Cross). In 1908 or 1909 she married Ludwig Baur, a mechanical engineer. The marriage ended in divorce after five or six years. Baur served as a nurse during
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
and then assisted the
Freikorps Oberland
The ''Freikorps Oberland'' (also ''Bund Oberland'' or ''Kameradschaft Freikorps und Bund Oberland'') was a voluntary paramilitary organization that, in the early years of the Weimar Republic, fought against Communist and Polish insurgents. It w ...
troops during their battle against the
Bavarian Soviet Republic
The Bavarian Soviet Republic, or Munich Soviet Republic (german: Räterepublik Baiern, Münchner Räterepublik),Hollander, Neil (2013) ''Elusive Dove: The Search for Peace During World War I''. McFarland. p.283, note 269. was a short-lived unre ...
and in the Baltic campaign in 1919.
In 1923 she married for the second time, a hotel manager named Sponseil ten years her junior. This marriage also ended in divorce.
Nazi Party
In 1919, Baur met
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
National Socialist German Workers' Party
The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported th ...
(Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei; NSDAP), and was Member No. 11.'' Singleton Argus'', "Sentenced to 10 Years", 29 April 1949, p. 1. Baur became one of the most visible Nazi figures in Munich in the spring of 1920, and was arrested on 11 March 1920 for disturbing the peace following an anti-Semitic speech at a women's rally in Munich. Her subsequent acquittal made her a hero of the Nazi movement.
Baur continued to be active in German politics, giving speeches and organising Nazi-based charitable events, and on 9 November 1923 was the only woman to participate in the Beer Hall Putsch, during which she received minor injuries and for which she later received the
Blood Order
The Blood Order (german: Blutorden), officially known as the "Decoration in Memory (of the Munich putsch) of 9 November 1923" (), was one of the most prestigious decorations in the Nazi Party (NSDAP). During March 1934, Hitler authorized the Bl ...
, being one of only two German and 14 Austrian women to be awarded the party's highest decoration.
Throughout the rise of the Nazis and following their assumption of power in 1933, Baur remained close to the Nazi leadership, accompanying Hitler on picnic trips, and
Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was of the (Protection Squadron; SS), and a leading member of the Nazi Party of Germany. Himmler was one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany and a main architect of th ...
appointed her welfare sister for the
Waffen-SS
The (, "Armed SS") was the combat branch of the Nazi Party's ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts, volunteers and conscripts from both occup ...
, reaching the rank of General.
In 1934, Baur founded the National Socialist Order of Sisters (Schwesternschaft), becoming its honorary chairwoman in 1937. She was promoted under the Nazi regime as the ideal Nazi woman ('' Der Spiegel'' called her "the nurse of the Nazi nation") and her role in the nascent Nazi party was well known. Known as a fanatical Nazi who hated
Jew
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""T ...
s and
Poles
Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, who share a common history, culture, the Polish language and are identified with the country of Poland in C ...
Baur played a major role in the construction and administration of Dachau and, while there is no evidence Baur physically harmed prisoners, she was accused of bullying prisoners, staff and neighbours, and forcing prisoners to work on the renovations of the villa Hitler had given her in
Oberhaching
Oberhaching is a municipality in Bavaria, Germany, with 13,638 inhabitants (2020) on an area of . It is located south of Munich city centre and has a 1,250 year history.
Architecture
The most important buildings are the originally Romanesque c ...
. The only woman allowed in Dachau, Baur gained a reputation in the camp as someone who "requisitioned anything that was not nailed down".
From a small nearby camp, München-Schwabing, groups of prisoners were "reportedly whipped and ordered to do manual labour" at Baur's home, including "cleaning her house, tending her garden and even building children’s toys."
Post-war
Baur was first arrested on war crimes charges in May 1945 but shortly thereafter released due to insufficient evidence. She then appeared before a denazification court in Munich in September 1949, where she was categorised as a major criminal, sentenced to ten years at Rebdorf labour camp and her personal property confiscated.
Released from prison in 1950 for health reasons, Baur successfully applied for a pension and compensation in 1955 and returned to Oberhaching, where she died aged 95 in 1981.
Baur never renounced National Socialism, once stating, "There is only one
Frederick the Great
Frederick II (german: Friedrich II.; 24 January 171217 August 1786) was King in Prussia from 1740 until 1772, and King of Prussia from 1772 until his death in 1786. His most significant accomplishments include his military successes in the S ...
, there is only one Adolf Hitler, and there is only one Sister Pia."Holzhaider, H. "Schwester Pia", ''Dachau Booklets 10'', 1994.
References
Bibliography
* Hastings, D. (2010). ''Catholicism and the Roots of Nazism: Religious Identity and National Socialism'',
Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...
:
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...