Marie Gertrud Anna Burde, nicknamed Mieze (9 June 1892 – 12 July 1963), was a German rag-and-bone woman who hid three young Jewish men during the

Nazi era Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...

, thus saving their lives. Burde and the men first lived together in Burde's bare downstairs apartment in Berlin, and after her apartment building was destroyed by bombs, the group of four moved to Schönow near Bernau. They built a rude shelter on a lot that she owned there. Burde and three men — two brothers Alfred and

Rolf Joseph Rolf Joseph (December 11, 1920 – November 28, 2012) was a witness and person persecuted by the Nazi Germany, Nazi regime. He grew up with his brother in Berlin, having a typical childhood of school and soccer-playing until the persecution of the ...

and Arthur Fordanski — survived the war, but Alfred was in a

concentration camp A concentration camp is a prison or other facility used for the internment of political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or ethnic minority groups, on the grounds of national security, or for exploitati ...

in the latter part of the war. What is known about Burde is based primarily on the memories of Rolf Joseph (1920–2012), who came from a religious Jewish family. Burde received several posthumous awards between 2012 and 2015. She received the title

Righteous Among the Nations Righteous Among the Nations ( ) is a title used by Yad Vashem to describe people who, for various reasons, made an effort to assist victims, mostly Jews, who were being persecuted and exterminated by Nazi Germany, Fascist Romania, Fascist Italy, ...

and the Silent Heroes Memorial award. The Berlin Commemorative Plaque was erected in her honor, near the site of her former apartment, at Tegeler Straße 15 in

Berlin-Wedding Wedding (, ) is a locality in the borough of Mitte, Berlin, Germany. It was a separate borough in the north-western inner city until it was fused with Tiergarten and Mitte in Berlin's 2001 administrative reform. At the same time the eastern half ...

. Rolf Joseph was awarded the

Bundesverdienstkreuz The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (, or , BVO) is the highest federal decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany. It may be awarded for any field of endeavor. It was created by the first President of the Federal Republic ...

(Federal Cross of Merit) in 2002.

Background

During World War II, Jewish people were pursued in all countries occupied by

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

and once captured, they were sent to

extermination camp Nazi Germany used six extermination camps (), also called death camps (), or killing centers (), in Central Europe, primarily in occupied Poland, during World War II to systematically murder over 2.7 million peoplemostly Jewsin the Holocau ...

s, destined to be killed.

Life

Marie Gertrud Anna Burde was born on 9 June 1892 in Berlin, the only child of Anna and Karl Burde. She made a living by collecting and selling old goods and selling newspapers. Burde lived as a single woman throughout her life, residing in a basement apartment at Tegeler Straße 13 in

, that was full of stacks of newspapers and very little furniture. During her lifetime Wedding was a Working-class District.

described Burde as "one strange woman". She was 51 years old when she found out that Rolf and two other young men needed her assistance. Burde died at the age of 71 on 12 July 1963 in

East Berlin East Berlin (; ) was the partially recognised capital city, capital of East Germany (GDR) from 1949 to 1990. From 1945, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet occupation sector of Berlin. The American, British, and French se ...

World War II refuge

Joseph had witnessed his parents being deported in June 1942 and subsequently went into hiding, as did his brother Alfred (1921-2014). They slept in train station toilet rooms and hid and slept in the forest, evading Nazi soldiers, for about four months. In 1943, an acquaintance of Josephs' mother recommended they ask Marie Burde, for help, as she had been known to help other Jews. Burde took them, along with Arthur Fordanski, a friend of Alfred's, into her basement apartment in Berliner Wedding district, an area that was inhabited by working class people. The brothers' mother had left 2000

Reichsmarks The (; Currency sign, sign: ℛ︁ℳ︁; abbreviation: RM) was the currency of German Reich, Germany from 1924 until the fall of Nazi Germany in 1945, and in the Bizone, American, British and French occupied zones of Germany, until 20 June 19 ...

with a neighbor for the brothers with which they could buy food on the black market. In addition, since Marie Burde was a vegetarian, she was able to give the meat she was able to buy with her food stamps to the men. Burde also picked up vegetables that had been thrown out at the weekly markets. The stacks of newspapers served as a place for the men to sleep and helped to insulate them in winter. According to Joseph, Burde was highly intelligent and spoke several languages. Rolf, who was said to have been tortured several times by authorities, was arrested at a Wehrmacht checkpoint one day, having waited some time before venturing out of the apartment. He was questioned about who was sheltering him, and even with severe abuse, he would not answer their question. Rolf escaped custody twice, once when he jumped off of a moving train headed 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 ...

and another when he leapt from a window at the Jewish Hospital. Rolf made it back to Burde's apartment, where Fordanski and his brother had remained. When a neighbor asked about the young men, the story was that they were Burde's nephews. The police came to the apartment to investigate. After the house at Tegeler Straße 13 was destroyed by a

bombing raid Strategic bombing is a systematically organized and executed military attack from the air which can utilize strategic bombers, long- or medium-range missiles, or nuclear-armed fighter-bomber aircraft to attack targets deemed vital to the enemy' ...

in the fall of 1943, the men and Burde went to Schönow near Bernau to a lot she owned there, where they built a rough shelter in the spring of 1944. When Burde was allotted a room in Berlin, they moved back. Having been outed by friends, Alfred was arrested in Berlin in August 1944 and taken to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp and then to

Bergen-Belsen Bergen-Belsen (), or Belsen, was a Nazi concentration camp in what is today Lower Saxony in Northern Germany, northern Germany, southwest of the town of Bergen, Lower Saxony, Bergen near Celle. Originally established as a prisoner of war camp, ...

After the war

Alfred survived the camps and reunited with his brother after the war. Fordanski survived. Rolf had waited until April 1945 when the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

came through the area. Together the brothers later supported Marie Burde, who lived in

after the war, where she died in 1963. In retirement, Rolf Joseph repeatedly told his personal survival story and also about his memories of Marie Burde at events, especially in schools. For his commitment, he was awarded the

(Federal Cross of Merit) in 2002. He died on 29 November 2012, and Alfred died less than two years later, on 11 April 2014.

Recognition

* In Schönow, a district of Bernau since 2003, a street is named after her. * On 14 February 2012 she was posthumously awarded the honorary title

Yad Vashem Yad Vashem (; ) is Israel's official memorial institution to the victims of Holocaust, the Holocaust known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (). It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; echoing the stories of the ...

. * On 12 June 2015 Burde was one of four women honored at the Silent Heroes Memorial for having acted morally and selflessly. The Israeli Embassy hosted the event that was dedicated to "Resistance Against the Persecution of the Jews". * The Berlin Commemorative Plaque was erected in her honor at Tegeler Straße 15 in

on 13 July 2015. In English, it says:

Notes

References

Sources

* ''Translated using translate.google''

External links

Silent Heroes; include short biography of Marie Burde (English)

"Ragpicker, Resistance Fighter, Righteous Among the Nations: The Story of Marie Burde" by Nicolas Basse (German)

Das Leben von Rolf Joseph (German)
1963 deaths 1892 births People from Berlin German Righteous Among the Nations German people who rescued Jews during the Holocaust 20th-century German women German resistance to Nazism Articles containing video clips