Elisabeth Rothschuh

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Elisabeth Rothschuh (born March 5, 1893 in Berlin , † 1987 in Berlin) was one of the first employees of the Prussian Female Criminal Police (WKP).

Life

Elisabeth Rothschuh was born in Berlin, but grew up abroad with her family as a child and youth. The reason for this was the father's activity abroad, who worked as an engineer in the construction of the Baghdad Railway . So the family lived in Konya and New York City, among others . Due to her multicultural childhood and youth, she attended German, French and English-speaking schools. After the family moved back to Berlin in 1911, Elisabeth Rothschuh attended a Samaritan course in 1914. As part of this, from 1917 she took on the task of child welfare for the Red Cross for children during and after the First World War. In addition to childcare, Elisabeth Rothschuh also took on administrative tasks relating to the sending of children to Sweden and Denmark to relax . From the 1920s she also took care of her sick mother in her private environment.

Career

In 1924/1925 Elisabeth Rothschuh passed the examination to become a welfare worker in child welfare as part of an exam course at the Social Women's School of the Inner Mission. In this environment she already gained practical experience in 1925 during an internship and in 1926 in a temporary position in the district office. After these activities, she decided to be one of the first to register for the newly founded female criminal police, whereupon she joined the Berlin police service as an officer in 1926. Her welfare nursing training benefited her insofar as she took over the work of vulnerable care for young women at the WKP. After the establishment of the specialist group of Protestant welfare nurses in 1926, Elisabeth Rothschuh became the deputy chairwoman. Her tasks included, among other things, organizing the conference of the female police department of the German Association of Social Workers, the Association of Catholic German Social Workers and the Association of Evangelical Welfare Carers in Germany. In addition to her commitment to founding a unitary association for female police officers, she also published lectures and collected or archived material on the female police force. Within the WKP, she met Clara Reichelt, who also became a close friend. On the basis of Elisabeth Rothschuh's private documents, it can also be assumed that the relationship between the two women was to be regarded as a partnership.

After she was able to establish herself in the WKP, she passed the examination to become a detective inspector in 1932. However, like some of her colleagues, Elisabeth Rothschuh did not manage to rise further and stayed in her position as the criminal district secretary. A possible explanation for this can be found in the strict criteria of the agencies for cost savings at the WKP. "All denominational officers were [...] excluded from promotion". Since Elisabeth Rothschuh was a Protestant denomination, she fell under the WKP's promotion ban. At the end of the war, Elisabeth Rothschuh lost her job with the police and then initially worked for the Inner Mission. In 1952 she was reinstated in the police force, but she retired the following year.

Role in National Socialism

In the course of the National Socialist takeover of power in 1933, the WKP was reorganized, whereupon it was based on the National Socialist racial ideologies. In view of this, the WKP as an institution now took on tasks such as concentration camp transports, searches and reports from Jewish women. Although Elisabeth Rothschuh was neither a supporter of the NSDAP nor was she employed in a concentration camp , she contributed to the events during the Nazi era through her passivity and lack of resistance . Instead of revolting against National Socialist practices, she made clear anti-Semitic statements in her reports. Shortly after their publication, she was promoted in 1943, which she achieved the position of Commissioner and consequently received the higher salary. In 1951, Elisabeth Rothschuh was reinstated due to the new legal situation, along with many other civil servants who were active during the Nazi era. This was done on the basis of the 131 Act, which stipulated that only the main culprits and charges of the Nazi era should not be reinstated and should not receive any retirement benefits.

literature

  • Ursula Nienhaus : Himmler's willing accomplices - female police under National Socialism 1937 to 1945. In: Michael Grüttner et. al. (Ed.): History and Emancipation. Festschrift for Reinhard Rürup , Frankfurt a. M./New York 1999, pp. 517-539.
  • Paulini, Christa: "Serving the people as a whole is not a class struggle". The professional associations of social workers in the changing world of social work. Opladen / Siegen 2001.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Lisa Schug: Elisabeth Rothschuh. In: Digital German Women's Archive. 2019, URL: https://www.digitales-deutsches-frauenarchiv.de/node/651
  2. ↑ Christa Paulini: "Serving the people as a whole is not a class struggle". The professional associations of social workers in the changing world of social work. Opladen / Siegen 2001, p. 244.
  3. ↑ Ursula Nienhaus: Himmler's willing accomplices - female police in National Socialism 1937 to 1945. In: Michael Grüttner et al. (Ed.): History and Emancipation. Festschrift for Reinhard Rürup. Frankfurt a. M./New York 1999, p. 520.
personal data
SURNAME Rothschuh, Elisabeth
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Prussian-German detective
DATE OF BIRTH March 5, 1893
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin
DATE OF DEATH 1987
Place of death Berlin