The memoir of Ilse Seger : wife, mother, hostage, Nazi resister /
edited by Melissa Kravetz ; epilogue by Mark Brandt, Ilse's grandson.
- 1 online resource
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Becoming a wife and mother with Nazism on the rise -- The Reichstag fire and Gerhart's arrest -- Visiting Oranienburg and resisting Nazism -- Under house arrest -- A hostage in Rosslau -- Meeting Marvis Tate and leaving Germany -- Reunited with Gerhart and living in exile -- Another separation from Gerhart and planning for America.
"The Memoir of Ilse Seger is a gripping narrative of adventure and intrigue about the wartime life of an ordinary, decent woman. Elisabeth ("Ilse") Seger was the wife of Gerhart Heinrich Seger, a German Social Democratic member of the Reichstag from 1930 to 1933. He was reelected for the last time on March 5, 1933, shortly after Hitler came to power. A week later, the Nazis arrested him and held him in "protective custody" for three months in a local prison in Dessau and then sent him to Oranienburg concentration camp for six months until he escaped to Czechoslovakia. Ilse tells Gerhart's story, but more importantly, she tells the story of her early resistance to the Nazi regime as a political opponent herself. She stood in solidarity with the Jews during the early years of Nazi persecution, defying expectations of women at the time. She performed gendered acts of resistance, for example shopping at Jewish-owned stores during the Nazi boycott of April 1, 1933. She also accounts her life as a hostage alongside her daughter, Renate, in Rosslau concentration camp after Gerhart had escaped. She shares how she got out of Rosslau and out of Germany with help from Members of Parliament. Lastly, she discusses her first years living in exile in France and Switzerland, as her husband was on an anti-fascist speaking tour in the U.S. Ilse's story contributes to our knowledge of how the partners of political exiles were influenced by and involved in their husband's political lives, but also how they created and sustained political identities of their own, for example, as Nazi resisters in Ilse's case. Ilse's resistance to the Nazis is prevalent throughout her memoir, and thus, adds to new literature that explores women's defiance to Hitler, the impact they had, and the moral and ethical dilemmas they faced. Ilse's imprisonment at Rosslau concentration camp adds to our knowledge of early concentration camps, as she provides one of the most detailed descriptions of the layout of the camp, the personnel working there, the prisoners, and the various privileges that some prisoners did or did not enjoy. Lastly, Ilse's memoir adds further insight to Alltagsgeschichte (the history of everyday life) by showing what everyday life was like for the wife of a political opponent in Nazi Germany"-- "Elisabeth "Ilse" Seger was the wife of Gerhart Heinrich Seger, a German Social Democratic member of the Reichstag from 1930 to 1933. He was reelected for the last time on March 5, 1933, shortly after Hitler came to power. A week later, the Nazis arrested him and held him in "protective custody" for three months in a local prison in Dessau and then sent him to Oranienburg concentration camp for six months, until he escaped to Czechoslovakia. In The Memoir of Ilse Seger, Ilse tells Gerhart's story, but more importantly, she tells her own story: of her early resistance to the Nazi regime as a political opponent herself; of her solidarity with the Jews during the early years of Nazi persecution; of her defiance of expectations for women at the time; of her time as a hostage alongside her daughter, Renate, in Rosslau concentration camp and how they got out with help from members of Parliament; and, lastly, of her first years living in exile in France and Switzerland as her husband went on an anti-fascist speaking tour in the US. Ilse's story is an incredible contribution to our understanding of gendered political resistance, life in early German concentration camps, and Alltagsgeschichte, or the history of everyday life, by showing what everyday life was like for the wife of a political opponent in Nazi Germany.The Memoir of Ilse Seger is a gripping narrative of adventure and intrigue about the wartime life of an ordinary, decent woman"--
9780253071569
Seger, Ilse, 1903-1979.
Women--Germany--Biography. Women--Social conditions--Germany--20th century. Women--History--Germany--20th century. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Personal Memoirs HISTORY / Modern / 20th Century / Holocaust