Gerty Spies (1897–1997)

Gerty Spies was born Gertrud Gumprich, the daughter of an ancient German Jewish family. Her father Sigmund Gumprich was a merchant and poet. She trained as a kindergarten teacher in Frankfurt. In 1920, she married a chemist and moved with him to Freiburg. Although they had two children, the marriage was unhappy and they divorced in 1927. Gerty began to write poetry and political satire, although after the rise to power of the Nazi regime her publishing was restricted. In 1942, she deported to the concentration camp at Terezín (Theresienstadt), Czechoslovakia. There she managed to write, with mutual encouragement from novelist Elsa Bernstein. She survived, and after the war, returned to her home in Munich. She published a book of poems entitled Theresienstadt in 1947. She wrote a memoir, Drei Jahre Theresienstadt (Three Years in Theresienstadt), and a novel, Bittere Jugend (Bitter Youth), but could not find a publisher for them in the 1950s. Three Years in Theresienstadt was finally published in 1984. Bitter Youth was published in 1997. She also wrote other novels, in addition to tales and poems for children.