Erxleben Charlotte

Erxleben, Charlotte In 1939 Charlotte Erxleben (b. 1906) moved to Berlin, where she made a living as a prostitute. When the deportation of the Jews from Berlin began in autumn 1941, her apartment, where she would receive her clients, became a safe haven for fugitive Jews. She also arranged hiding places for fleeing Jews with other prostitutes and helped them with food. The danger was enormous—her apartment was very close to Alexanderplatz, where the Gestapo headquarters were situated. Steffi Ronau Walter testified on behalf of Erxleben to the Berlin Senate in 1960 and described her rescue efforts in an interview she gave in 1986. During the war Steffi was married to Walter Hinzelmann. The couple had a daughter, Reha, born in 1942. Shortly afterward, Walter died. Her mother and two sisters were deported to the east, and Steffi was left alone with her baby. A Jewish friend, Fritz Walter, convinced her to go into hiding. Walter was deported to Majdanek but managed to flee and make his way back to Berlin, where he was hiding at Erxleben’s place. After meeting Steffi and falling in love with her, he managed to obtain false papers for his friend, and Erxleben arranged for the young mother and her baby to stay with one of her colleagues, who was not aware that the woman who rented a room in her apartment was Jewish. Fritz Walter made money on the black market, and with the help of Erxleben, he was able to take care of Steffi and Reha. Sometime toward the end of 1943 or the beginning of 1944, the Gestapo raided Erxleben’s apartment. Walter was able to escape through the back staircase and join Steffi in her hiding place. The police found his clothes in Erxleben’s apartment and detained her. She claimed the clothes belonged to her fiancé and was eventually released. Returning to Erxleben’s place was too dangerous, and it was decided that Walter would stay with Steffi, but despite the frightening experience of being arrested, Erxleben continued to supply them with food and bring milk for little Reha. Soon after, the building where Erxleben lived was destroyed in a bombing, and she left Berlin for some time. On her return she continued to help the hiding Jews. After the war Steffi and Fritz Walter were married. It was now the Jewish couple who helped Erxleben and supported her financially. Fritz Walter passed away in 1957, and Steffi continued to send money to Erxleben, who lived in East Berlin. At some point the letters were returned, and Steffi understood that Erxleben was no longer alive. On December 16, 2014, Yad Vashem recognized Charlotte Erxleben as Righteous Among the Nations.