Rosa was born into an observant Jewish family of eleven children, in Breslau, Germany (now Wroclaw, Poland). Inspired by her youngest sister, she converted to Catholicism sometime after her mother's death in 1936. Like her sister, Sr. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Rosa joined the Discalced Carmelite order and was an extern sister (member of the Order who handles the community′s needs outside the convent) at the Discalced Carmelite monastery in Cologne, Germany.
In the backdrop of pre-World War II, her life was always in peril. On November 9, 1938 the anti-Semitism of the Nazis became apparent to the whole world. Synagogues were burnt and the Jewish people were terrorized. The Prioress of the Cologne Carmel did her utmost to get the Jewish-born sisters abroad. On New Year's Eve 1938, Sr. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross was smuggled across the border into the Netherlands, to the Carmelite convent in Echt for her safety. Rosa was able to join her in 1940. Despite the Nazi invasion of the Netherlands in 1940, the sisters remained undisturbed until they were arrested, inside the chapel of the monastery, by the Gestapo on August 2, 1942. Together with many other Jewish Christians, the two women were taken to a transit camp in Amersfoort Prison Camp and then to Westerbork Concentration Camp. On August 7, early in the morning, 987 Jews were deported to Auschwitz concentration camp, where they died in the gas chamber on August 9, 1942.
THANK YOU to G Jack Donahue for so generously sponsoring this memorial!
In the backdrop of pre-World War II, her life was always in peril. On November 9, 1938 the anti-Semitism of the Nazis became apparent to the whole world. Synagogues were burnt and the Jewish people were terrorized. The Prioress of the Cologne Carmel did her utmost to get the Jewish-born sisters abroad. On New Year's Eve 1938, Sr. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross was smuggled across the border into the Netherlands, to the Carmelite convent in Echt for her safety. Rosa was able to join her in 1940. Despite the Nazi invasion of the Netherlands in 1940, the sisters remained undisturbed until they were arrested, inside the chapel of the monastery, by the Gestapo on August 2, 1942. Together with many other Jewish Christians, the two women were taken to a transit camp in Amersfoort Prison Camp and then to Westerbork Concentration Camp. On August 7, early in the morning, 987 Jews were deported to Auschwitz concentration camp, where they died in the gas chamber on August 9, 1942.
THANK YOU to G Jack Donahue for so generously sponsoring this memorial!
Rosa was born into an observant Jewish family of eleven children, in Breslau, Germany (now Wroclaw, Poland). Inspired by her youngest sister, she converted to Catholicism sometime after her mother's death in 1936. Like her sister, Sr. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Rosa joined the Discalced Carmelite order and was an extern sister (member of the Order who handles the community′s needs outside the convent) at the Discalced Carmelite monastery in Cologne, Germany.
In the backdrop of pre-World War II, her life was always in peril. On November 9, 1938 the anti-Semitism of the Nazis became apparent to the whole world. Synagogues were burnt and the Jewish people were terrorized. The Prioress of the Cologne Carmel did her utmost to get the Jewish-born sisters abroad. On New Year's Eve 1938, Sr. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross was smuggled across the border into the Netherlands, to the Carmelite convent in Echt for her safety. Rosa was able to join her in 1940. Despite the Nazi invasion of the Netherlands in 1940, the sisters remained undisturbed until they were arrested, inside the chapel of the monastery, by the Gestapo on August 2, 1942. Together with many other Jewish Christians, the two women were taken to a transit camp in Amersfoort Prison Camp and then to Westerbork Concentration Camp. On August 7, early in the morning, 987 Jews were deported to Auschwitz concentration camp, where they died in the gas chamber on August 9, 1942.
THANK YOU to G Jack Donahue for so generously sponsoring this memorial!
In the backdrop of pre-World War II, her life was always in peril. On November 9, 1938 the anti-Semitism of the Nazis became apparent to the whole world. Synagogues were burnt and the Jewish people were terrorized. The Prioress of the Cologne Carmel did her utmost to get the Jewish-born sisters abroad. On New Year's Eve 1938, Sr. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross was smuggled across the border into the Netherlands, to the Carmelite convent in Echt for her safety. Rosa was able to join her in 1940. Despite the Nazi invasion of the Netherlands in 1940, the sisters remained undisturbed until they were arrested, inside the chapel of the monastery, by the Gestapo on August 2, 1942. Together with many other Jewish Christians, the two women were taken to a transit camp in Amersfoort Prison Camp and then to Westerbork Concentration Camp. On August 7, early in the morning, 987 Jews were deported to Auschwitz concentration camp, where they died in the gas chamber on August 9, 1942.
THANK YOU to G Jack Donahue for so generously sponsoring this memorial!
