Anna Gerig (13.11.1886 Neuburg/Danube – 1942 Auschwitz Concentration Camp)

Anna Gerig an advertising sales representative, lived in Munich's Maxvorstadt district and was baptized in 1920 as a member of the Bible Students (which was renamed the Jehovah's Witnesses in 1931). On February 16, 1933, she was sentenced to a fine of 50 Reichsmarks, or alternatively five days in prison, for distributing religious literature. On July 23, 1936, she was arrested for “disturbing the public peace and order” because she refused to give the Hitler salute. A year later, Anna Gerig prepared the distribution of the “Open Letter” protest leaflet for Munich. On June 28, 1937, she was arrested. The Gestapo described her as one of the most well-known and zealous followers of the Jehovah's Witnesses. In October 1937, the Munich Special Court sentenced her to one year in prison. “Gerig has been previously convicted for a similar offense,“ the judges stated. “She did not let this sentence serve as a warning, but continued her activities to an increased extent and in a leading position.” (StAM StAnW 8460). She served her sentence in Aichach Prison. However, she was not released afterwards, but transferred to the Ravensbrück Concentration Camp and then to the Auschwitz Concentration Camp, where she died in 1942, probably as a result of the catastrophic conditions in the camp.