Lily Franz (1924–2011), born Adele Franz, married as Lily van Angeren, published as Lily van Angeren-Franz) was a

Sintezza The Sinti (masc. sing. ''Sinto''; fem. sing. ''Sintetsa, Sinta'') are a subgroup of the Romani people. They are found mostly in Germany, France, Italy and Central Europe, numbering some 200,000 people. They were traditionally Itinerant groups i ...

writer. She was arrested with her family in 1943 and taken to

Auschwitz concentration camp Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 Nazi concentration camps, concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany, occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) d ...

as part of the

Romani Holocaust The Romani Holocaust was the genocide of European Roma and Sinti people during World War II. Beginning in 1933, Nazi Germany systematically persecuted the European Roma, Sinti and other peoples pejoratively labeled 'Gypsy' through forcible ...

. Franz survived the camp, testifying against a SS officer. She lived in the Netherlands and published a memoir.

Life

Adele Franz was born in Neustädtel,

Upper Silesia Upper Silesia ( ; ; ; ; Silesian German: ; ) is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia, located today mostly in Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic. The area is predominantly known for its heav ...

, then in Germany, to

Sinti The Sinti (masc. sing. ''Sinto''; fem. sing. ''Sintetsa, Sinta'') are a subgroup of the Romani people. They are found mostly in Germany, France, Italy and Central Europe, numbering some 200,000 people. They were traditionally Itinerant groups i ...

parents on 24 January 1924. The family lived in a caravan and travelled for father Julius to find seasonal work. When he was arrested in 1938, the family stayed in

Hildesheim Hildesheim (; or ; ) is a city in Lower Saxony, in north-central Germany with 101,693 inhabitants. It is in the district of Hildesheim (district), Hildesheim, about southeast of Hanover on the banks of the Innerste River, a small tributary of t ...

. Franz and her sister Waltraud attended school then started working in a factory. She was arrested on 1 March 1943 with her sister by the ''

Kriminalpolizei ''Kriminalpolizei'' (, "criminal police") is the standard term for the criminal investigation agency within the police forces of Germany, Austria, and the German-speaking cantons of Switzerland. In Nazi Germany, the Kripo was the criminal polic ...

'' and taken to

, where they were held in the Gypsy family camp as part of the

. She was registered as Adele Franz, number Z-561. She worked as a clerk and was later moved to

Ravensbrück concentration camp Ravensbrück () was a Nazi concentration camp exclusively for women from 1939 to 1945, located in northern Germany, north of Berlin at a site near the village of Ravensbrück (part of Fürstenberg/Havel). The camp memorial's estimated figure of 1 ...

. After the war, Franz married and lived in

Woerden Woerden () is a city and a municipality in central Netherlands. Due to its central location between Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, and Utrecht, and the fact that it has rail and road connections to those cities, it is a popular town for commu ...

in the Netherlands. She searched for her family and in 1952 was reunited with her father and sister. Between 1987 and 1991, Franz was a key witness in the trial of SS officer Ernst-August König, testifying on the names of the camp guards working in the Gypsy family camp. She visited Auschwitz several times with the

Central Council of German Sinti and Roma The Central Council of German Sinti and Roma () is a German Romani rights group based in Heidelberg, Germany. It is headed by Romani Rose, who lost 13 members of his close family in the Romani Holocaust. The organization is a member of the Fede ...

. Franz died on 7 March 2011, in Woerden. In 2014, Hildesheim council decided to rename a street to .

Selected works

* (2004) Lily van Angeren-Franz and Henny Clemens, ''"Polizeilich zwangsentführt": Das Leben der Sintizza Lily van Angeren-Franz'' (''"Abducted by the police": The life of Sintezza Lily van Angeren-Franz''), edited by Hans Schmid

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Franz, Lily 1924 births 2011 deaths Sinti in Germany Auschwitz concentration camp survivors Ravensbrück concentration camp survivors People from Hildesheim People from Woerden Women memoirists