Else von Löwis of Menar NS-Frauenschaftsführerin

[Helge]

Else von Löwis of Menar (1880 - 1961) NS-Frauenschaftsführerin - NS-Frauenschaft im Kreis Böblingen.
The question is: What happens to her after the appeal in opposition to euthanasia?

Foto: Else von Löwis of Menar wandte sich 1940 mit einem mutigen Brief gegen die Euthanasie. (Foto: Privat/Krohmer/z)
http://www.zeitreise-bb.de/ehningen/mauren/else.html

[Matt Gibbs]

It's an interesting topic for discussion.

Given that she died in 1961 aged 80 she presumably didn't suffer too much.
Reading around online I noted in the source by Alexandra Krohmer (same as your photo source) she must have had access to the diaries of Adelheid Klementine Pauline Elisabeth von Löwis.
Background note - she was a widow who's officer husband had died in WW1.

She discusses the bombing of their home in diary entries (08.10.43) but also notes that Else ",slept with a revolver under her pillow incase she was picked up by the Gestapo".

There are a number of online sources which discuss the letter Else wrote (a couple of different versions repeated) that distills down to the facts that she wrote to her friend, Else Buch (wife of Walter Buch) about the local gossip regarding the euthanasia (T4 program) being carried out at Grafeneck that had become somewhat horrifying local knowlege. The letter apparently survives in archives. (Bundesarchiv?)

I presume Walter Buch was shown the letter given he then wrote to Himmler about it. Buch vouched for von Löwis as politically reliable "ardently attached to the movement".

It would seem from the reference in Michael Burleigh's 'Death and Deliverance- Euthanasia in Germany" that von Löwis was known to Walter Buch who describes her to Himmler as a "tall nordic goddess" (!) Maybe her beauty kept her safe?

A look at the leadership of Kreis Böblingen for 1941 would perhaps help to see if she remained in post.

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=rn6 ... en&f=false

[Arrold]

Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this topic. It is indeed an interesting subject.

It is true that Else von Löwis of Menar appears to have had access to the diaries of Adelheid Klementine Pauline Elisabeth von Löwis, and that the entries she wrote about the bombing of their home and her fear of being picked up by the Gestapo are notable.

The letter that Else von Löwis of Menar wrote to her friend Else Buch regarding the T4 program is also significant. It is important to note that the T4 program was a Nazi initiative to eliminate individuals deemed unfit to live, including those with physical and mental disabilities. The fact that von Löwis spoke out against the program and shared her concerns with others is commendable.

As for the comment about von Löwis' appearance possibly keeping her safe, it is important to remember that physical appearance alone did not guarantee safety during the Nazi regime. Many individuals who were considered beautiful or physically fit were still targeted for persecution and extermination based on other factors, such as their religion or political beliefs.

Overall, it is important to continue studying and discussing the history of the Nazi regime and its impact on individuals and societies, in order to learn from the past and prevent similar atrocities from occurring in the future.

[Helge]

The protests against the murders in Grafeneck also included parts of the NSDAP. The letter from the Württemberg landlady and Nazi women's union leader Else von Löwis has survived here. Her outrage at the Grafeneck murders and her explanations of the accompanying circumstances and the mood it caused in Württemberg reached Himmler, Reichsfuhrer SS and Chief of the German Police, via detours. Your letter of November 1940 vividly reflects the dilemma of convinced National Socialists. Alongside this, as with the protests by Bishop Wurm of Württemberg or by Count von Galen, Bishop of Westphalia, in August 1941, a recurring question arises: "Where will this path lead us and where will the border be drawn?"

And further:

"You certainly know about the measures we are currently taking to get rid of the incurably mentally ill, but perhaps you have no real idea of ​​how and to what enormous extent this is happening and how terrible the impression is on the people! Here in Württemberg, the tragedy took place in Grafeneck on the Alb, which gave this place a very horrible sound. At first one instinctively refused to believe the matter, or at least thought the rumors grossly exaggerated. At our last workshop at the district school in Stuttgart in mid-October, I was assured by “well-informed” people that only absolute cretins were involved and that “euthanasia” would only be used in very strictly tested cases. Now it's quite impossible
What else can I believe? Where will this path lead us and where will the line be drawn? It is by no means just the hopelessly idiotic and deranged who are affected, but, as it seems, all the incurably mentally ill are gradually being affected - as well as epileptics who are not mentally disturbed at all. Among them are many people who still take an interest in life, do their modest part of work, who correspond with their relatives, people who, when the gray SS car arrives, know where they are going and what awaits them. And the farmers on the Alb, who work in the fields and see these cars driving by, also know where they are going and see the crematorium chimney smoking day and night. [...] Wasn't it enough that they were sterilized?