Else Feldmann (25 February 1884 – 1942) was an Austrian

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short sto ...

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

, and victim of the

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

. She grew up in

Leopoldstadt Leopoldstadt (; ; "Leopold-Town") is the 2nd municipal district of Vienna () in Austria. there are 103,233 inhabitants over . It is situated in the heart of the city and, together with Brigittenau (20th district), forms a large island surrou ...

as the daughter of poor

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

parents with her six siblings. She attended college, but after her father lost his job she was forced to leave school to work in a factory. In 1908, she became a contributor to the

newspaper '' Arbeiter-Zeitung'' and went on to co-found a socialist writers group, ''Vereinigung sozialistischer Schriftsteller'', with Jewish socialist poet Josef Luitpold Stern,

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

author, poet,

essayist An essay ( ) is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a Letter (message), letter, a term paper, paper, an article (publishing), article, a pamphlet, and a s ...

, and

songwriter A songwriter is a person who creates musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music genre and film scoring. ...

Fritz Brügel, Jewish

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...

and socialist

lyricist A lyricist is a writer who writes lyrics (the spoken words), as opposed to a composer, who writes the song's music which may include but not limited to the melody, harmony, arrangement and accompaniment. Royalties A lyricist's income derives ...

and poet Theodor Kramer, and early

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

author Rudolf Brunngraber.
Keepers of the Motherland: German Texts by Jewish Women Writers
', Dagmar C.G. Lorenz. 1997. Feldmann was able to develop stories from her articles into novels to reach a wider audience with her socialist message. She began working full-time for the ''Arbeiter-Zeitung'' in 1923 until the newspaper, along with other socialist and

political activity, was forbidden by the

austrofascist The Fatherland Front (, VF) was the right-wing conservative, authoritarian, nationalist, corporatist, fascist and Catholic ruling political organisation of the Federal State of Austria. It claimed to be a nonpartisan movement, and aimed to unit ...

Fatherland Front Party in 1934. On 14 June 1942 Feldman was captured by the

Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, 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 F ...

and sent to

Sobibór extermination camp Sobibor ( ; ) was an extermination camp built and operated by Nazi Germany as part of Operation Reinhard. It was located in the forest near the village of Żłobek Duży in the General Government region of German-occupied Poland. As an ext ...

, where she was murdered.

Books

* ''Lowenzahn: Eine Kindheit'' * ''Liebe ohne Hoffnung'' * ''Der Leib der Mutter'' * ''Martha und Antonia''

References

1884 births 1942 deaths Austrian women writers Austrian women poets Austrian Jews who died in the Holocaust Austrian people who died in Sobibor extermination camp Austrian civilians killed in World War II People from Leopoldstadt 20th-century Austrian women writers 20th-century Austrian writers 20th-century Austrian journalists Jewish dramatists and playwrights Executed journalists {{Jewish-hist-stub