Elisabeth Käsemann (11 May 1947 - 24 May 1977) was a West German sociologist killed in

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

as part of the

Dirty War The Dirty War () is the name used by the military junta or National Reorganization Process, civic-military dictatorship of Argentina () for its period of state terrorism in Argentina from 1974 to 1983. During this campaign, military and secu ...

Life

Käsemann was born in

Gelsenkirchen Gelsenkirchen (, , ; ) is the List of cities in Germany by population, 25th-most populous city of Germany and the 11th-most populous in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia with 262,528 (2016) inhabitants. On the Emscher, Emscher River (a tribu ...

to Margit Käsemann and German theologian

Ernst Käsemann Ernst Käsemann (12 July 1906 – 17 February 1998) was a German Lutheran theologian and professor of New Testament in Mainz (1946–1951), Göttingen (1951–1959) and Tübingen (1959–1971). Study and work Käsemann was born in Bochum. He ob ...

. The family moved frequently in her childhood due to her father's work, living in

Mainz Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...

Göttingen Göttingen (, ; ; ) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. According to the 2022 German census, t ...

, and

Tübingen Tübingen (; ) is a traditional college town, university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer (Neckar), Ammer rivers. about one in ...

(beginning in 1959). She ran a "political study group" at Wildermuth High School, from which she graduated in 1966. She attended

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

briefly on a language stay before going on to study politics at the

Freie Universität Berlin The Free University of Berlin (, often abbreviated as FU Berlin or simply FU) is a public university, public research university in Berlin, Germany. It was founded in West Berlin in 1948 with American support during the early Cold War period a ...

beginning in late 1966. Her coursework required her to take a mandatory practical training semester, which she spent in Bolivia in 1968. There, she worked for the

Evangelical Methodist Church The Evangelical Methodist Church (EMC) is a Christian denomination in the Wesleyan-Holiness tradition headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. The denomination reported 399 churches in the United States, Mexico, Burma/Myanmar, Canada, Philippine ...

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. While studying and working in Bolivia, Käsemann toured Latin America and decided to study economics at the

University of Buenos Aires The University of Buenos Aires (, UBA) is a public university, public research university in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is the second-oldest university in the country, and the largest university of the country by enrollment. Established in 1821 ...

. She also worked as a secretary and translator, and began to become involved with local political groups throughout 1968 and 1969. She also studied as a sociologist at

Tübingen University Tübingen (; ) is a traditional university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer rivers. about one in three of the 90,000 people ...

. In Argentina, Käsemann furthered literacy projects by teaching in poor neighborhoods. Following the country's 1976 military coup, she worked to forge documents to help political targets escape the country. Käsemann was arrested for her work on 9 March 1977, having been discovered missing after she failed to meet an American friend. She was taken to El Vesubio torture camp in

Monte Grande Monte Grande is a city which forms part of the urban agglomeration of Greater Buenos Aires. It is the administrative seat of Esteban Echeverría Partido in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It was founded in 1824 as an agricultural colony. The ...

, where she was killed sometime in late May. Her body was recovered on 23 May with signs of "heavy torture" from electric shocks. According to a German autopsy, she had been killed "by several close-range bullet shots to her back and neck". Junta leaders initially reported that she had died "in a firefight during a standoff with terrorist

guerillas Guerrilla warfare is a form of unconventional warfare in which small groups of irregular military, such as rebels, Partisan (military), partisans, paramilitary personnel or armed civilians, which may include Children in the military, recruite ...

". She was buried in Tübingen in the summer of 1977.

Political aftermath of Käsemann's killing

The German government faced criticism for their failure to secure Käsemann's release from Argentina. Germany issued warrants for Käsemann's killers in 2003. In 2011, General Hector Gamen and Colonel Hugo Pascarelli, two men involved in the El Vesubio camp and Käsemann's killing, were given sentences of life in prison by Argentine courts.

Legacy

Gelsenkirchen's family education center of the Protestant Church was named in Käsemann's honor in 1993. In 2005, after the center's building was closed, the entire, decentralized educational institution has been renamed "Elisabeth-Käsemann-Familienbildungsstätte". In 2012, Wildermuth High School established the Elisabeth Käsemann Award for outstanding social commitment. That same year, a street in Tübingen's Lustnau district was also named in Käsemann's honor. The Elisabeth Käsemann Foundation was established in 2014 by Käsemann's niece, Dorothee Weitbrecht. The organization focuses on German-Latin American relations and education surrounding totalitarian regimes.

References

{{Reflist 1947 births 1977 deaths People murdered in 1977 Free University of Berlin alumni German expatriates in Argentina German people murdered abroad German sociologists German torture victims German women sociologists Incidents of violence against women People from Gelsenkirchen People killed in the Dirty War Torture victims of the Dirty War University of Tübingen alumni Violence against women in Argentina West German expatriates West German women University of Buenos Aires alumni