Elisabeth Schneck, married name Guttenberger (6.2.1926 Stuttgart – 25.3.2024 Wildberg)

Elisabeth Schneck moved with her parents and her four siblings from Stuttgart to Munich in 1936. Her father traded in violins, among other things. On March 8, 1943, the entire family was arrested and taken to Munich police prison, before being deported to the ‘gypsy camp‘ at Auschwitz-Birkenau a few days later. The collective transport of March 13, 1943 was accompanied by members of the ‘Office for Gypsy Affairs‘ of the Munich Criminal Police and some of the Schutzpolizei (state protection police force). The Sinti and Roma were mistreated during their arrest and while being transported.

Conditions in the ’gypsy camp‘ were appalling as disease spread extremely rapidly because of a lack of sewerage over a long period of time. In addition to intentional deprivation of food, heavy forced labor and lack of drinking water, the inmates suffered from the brutality of the guards. Elisabeth Schneck was initially assigned to building work on the camp’s grounds, but from September 1943, she worked in the ‘gypsy camp’ Schreibstube (inmate registry office).

During the Frankfurt Auschwitz trials, Elisabeth Guttenberger gave an account in 1965 of her work there, which consisted in keeping the inmate records for men and recording deaths: “As someone who worked in the prisoner registry office, I had permission to write to people outside the camp, and because I once mentioned in a letter written in gypsy language to an uncle in Munich that there was great hunger in the camp, that people were dying, I was interrogated by the defendant Broad, taken to task and had my writing permission revoked. I was also not allowed to receive any more packages, which had a disastrous effect on my mother and another sister, whom I was unable to sup0port, resulting in them dying from exhaustion. My mother died at Easter 1944, my older sister in November 1943, while my father and younger sister had already died in September 1943” (Commissioner Hearing of February 2, 1965, 135th day of the trial/29.131f.).

In the summer of 1944, Elisabeth Schneck was transported to the Ravensbrück Concentration Camp and, a short time later, to the Graslitz satellite camp, Flossenbürg Concentration Camp. She was able to flee during the “death march” in April 1945.