Elli Smula
German tram conductor and Holocaust victim (1914–1943)
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Key Takeaways
- Elli Smula (10 October 1914 – 8 July 1943) was a German tram conductor who was arrested in September 1940.
- Like her colleague Margarete Rosenberg, she was detained by the Gestapo in the prison on Alexanderplatz.
- The following November both women were transferred to the Ravensbrück Concentration Camp where Smula "suddenly died" on 8 July 1943.
- She and her brother Willi were born out of marriage with the result that when her father was killed in World War I, her mother received no pension.
Elli Smula (10 October 1914 – 8 July 1943) was a German tram conductor who was arrested in September 1940. She was accused of seriously compromising the Berlin Transport Authority (BVG) by failing to report for work after going out drinking with female fellow workers. Like her colleague Margarete Rosenberg, she was detained by the Gestapo in the prison on Alexanderplatz. BVG had received complaints that some of their female employees were taking their colleagues home, encouraging them to consume alcoholic drinks and involving them in lesbian sexual relationships. The following November both women were transferred to the Ravensbrück Concentration Camp where Smula "suddenly died" on 8 July 1943.
Biography
Born in the Charlottenburg district of Berlin on 10 October 1914, Elli Smula was the daughter of Martha Smula who worked as a housemaid in Hohenlychen, Uckermark. She and her brother Willi were born out of marriage with the result that when her father was killed in World War I, her mother received no pension. The family later moved to Berlin.
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