Steffi Kunke

Steffi Kunke (née Jelinek, 26 December 1908 – 14 February 1943) was an Austrian teacher and socialist who was involved in the anti-fascist underground in Vienna during World War II. She died in Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp.

Biography

Kunke was born on 26 December 1908 in Vienna, Austria-Hungary.[1] Her parents Ignaz Jellinek and Marie Jellinek (née Ourednik) were of Czech background.[2] She married Hans Kunke (1906–1940), who was Jewish.[1] He worked for the Municipal Insurance Institution.[3] She worked as a teacher and composed music with her husband.[4]

From 1934, Kunke was a member of the Central Committee of the Revolutionary Socialist Youth.[5] Kunke and her husband were arrested[2] in July 1936 by the Viennese police for distributing socialist and anti-fascist literature[6] and she was sentenced to 7 months in prison.[5]

After the Anschluss (annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany), Kunke was summoned before the Gestapo who interrogated her[7] and "strongly advised" her to divorce her Jewish husband.[8] She remained married and operating as a leading functionary of the now illegal Revolutionary Socialist Youth organisation.[9]

Josef Buttinger procured false papers for Kunke and her husband to flee from Nazi occupied Austria, but they chose to remain in Vienna until their close friend Ferdinand Tschürtsch received his own papers.[2] In May 1938, all three were arrested and Kunke was transported to the Lichtenburg concentration camp.[10] She was among the first known female Revolutionary Socialist member to be arrested.[11]

From Lichtenbug, Kunke was sent to Ravensbrück concentration camp for women in May 1939.[7] At Ravensbrück, Kunke suffered repeated solitary confinement.[2][12][13] She was whipped under orders from Heinrich Himmler for not denouncing another political prisoner[5][14] then was held in the Strafblock (a punishment block located next to the gas chambers) where she was forced to undertake hard construction labour.[15] She was sent from Ravensbrück to Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in 1942.[16]

Kunke died in Auschwitz-Birkenau on 14 February 1943.[12] Some sources state she died of typhus[1][15][17] while others that she was beaten to death[18] by Schutzstaffel (SS) Obersturmbannführer Otto Max Koegel.[5] Her husband had died in Buchenwald in 1940.[13][19]

Legacy

Some of the letters written by Kunke to her aunt Flora Jelinek have survived and are held in the Michel Brisebois collection at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.[5][15]

Honorary graves for Kunke and her husband have been erected at the Hietzing Cemetery in Vienna.[15][20]

In 1954, the street Kunkegasse in Vienna was named in Kunke and her husband's honour.[21][22]

References

  1. ^ a b c Commire, Anne (2000). Women in World History: Jab-Kyt. Yorkin Publications. p. 865. ISBN 978-0-7876-4067-5.
  2. ^ a b c d "Kunke, Steffi (1908–1942)". Encyclopedia.com. Archived from the original on 14 October 2025. Retrieved 20 January 2026.
  3. ^ Binder, Otto (2010). Wien - retour: Bericht an die Nachkommen (in German). Böhlau Verlag Wien. p. 155. ISBN 978-3-205-78534-7.
  4. ^ Kerschbaumer, Marie Thérèse (1996). Woman's Face of Resistance: Seven Reports. Ariadne Press. pp. 216–217. ISBN 978-1-57241-027-5.
  5. ^ a b c d e "Kunke Steffi". biografiA (in German). Retrieved 20 January 2026.
  6. ^ Stimmer, Kurt (1988). Die Arbeiter von Wien: ein sozialdemokratischer Stadtführer (in German). Jugend & Volk. p. 387. ISBN 978-3-224-10699-4.
  7. ^ a b Schwarz, Helga; Szepansky, Gerda (2000). --und dennoch blühten Blumen: Frauen-KZ Ravensbrück : Dokumente, Berichte, Gedichte und Zeichnungen vom Lageralltag 1939-1945 (in German). Brandenburgische Landeszentrale für Politische Bildung. p. 59. ISBN 978-3-932502-25-5.
  8. ^ Neugebauer, Wolfgang (1975). Bauvolk der kommenden Welt: Geschichte d. sozialistischen Jugendbewegung in Österreich (in German). Europaverl. p. 453. ISBN 978-3-203-50526-8.
  9. ^ Fein, Erich (1975). Die Steine reden: Gedenkstätten des österr. Freiheitskampfes, Mahnmale f. die Opfer des Faschismus : eine Dokumentation (in German). Europaverl. p. 109. ISBN 978-3-203-50497-1.
  10. ^ Drobisch, Klaus (1987). Konzentrationslager im Schloss Lichtenburg (in German). Kommission zur Erforschung der Geschichte der örtlichen Arbeiterbewegung der Bezirksleitung Cottbus der SED. p. 74.
  11. ^ Spiegel, Tilly (1967). Frauen und Mädchen im österreichishen Widerstand (in German). Europa-Verlag. p. 23.
  12. ^ a b Patocka, Ing. Robert. "Lerch Julius, 28". Steine23.at. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 20 January 2026.
  13. ^ a b Exenberger, Herbert (1985). Guide to Vienna in resistance, 1938-1945. Austria Today. p. 28.
  14. ^ Reynolds, Sian (1987). Women, State and Revolution: Essays on Power and Gender in Europe Since 1789. University of Massachusetts Press. p. 90. ISBN 978-0-87023-553-5.
  15. ^ a b c d Oakley, Simon. "Women in Ravensbrück". The Virtual Museum of the Holocaust and the Resistance. Archived from the original on 7 June 2023. Retrieved 20 January 2026.
  16. ^ Degen, Barbara (2010). "Das Herz schlägt in Ravensbrück": die Gedenkkultur der Frauen (in German). Budrich. p. 137. ISBN 978-3-86649-288-2.
  17. ^ Amesberger, Helga (2001). Vom Leben und Überleben: Lebensgeschichten (in German). Promedia. p. 265. ISBN 978-3-85371-176-7.
  18. ^ Briefe in den Himmel (in German). Verein Lernen aus der Zeitgeschichte c/o Regus. 2003. p. 154. ISBN 978-3-9501836-9-6.
  19. ^ Goldmann, Wilhelmine (27 September 2023). "Rote Banditen": Geschichte einer sozialdemokratischen Familie (in German). Promedia Verlag. p. 113. ISBN 978-3-85371-913-8.
  20. ^ Abraham, Hedwig. "Kunke Hietzinger Friedhof". Vienna Tourist Guide. Archived from the original on 14 November 2024. Retrieved 20 January 2026.
  21. ^ Peter Autengruber (1 October 2012). Lexikon der Wiener Straßennamen (in German). Pichler Verlag. p. 143. ISBN 978-3-85431-599-5.
  22. ^ "Kunkegasse". Geschichtewiki.wien.gv.at (in German). Archived from the original on 15 October 2025. Retrieved 20 January 2026.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.