Elsa Conrad

Elsa Conrad was born on May 9, 1887. Elsa is one of the rare documented cases of someone being arrested and sent to a concentration camp specifically for being a lesbian. Though she was also Jewish, her lesbian identity was repeatedly emphasized in Gestapo records.

Elsa was briefly married to a man, but it is widely believed this was a sham marriage, as both were gay. She later became a successful business owner, opening several establishments that catered to lesbians. Her first was a bar called Verona-Diele. Later, with her partner Amalie “Mali” Rothaug, she ran Mali und Igel (named after their nicknames), a Berlin club known as a gathering place for intellectuals and lesbians. At its peak, the club even hosted Marlene Dietrich.

In 1933, the Nazis seized Elsa and Mali’s bar, and in 1935, Elsa was arrested. The Gestapo’s report explicitly stated that she “is lesbian disposed and maintains relationships with lesbians.” Defiant and outspoken, Elsa had no qualms about mocking Hitler, Hermann Göring, and Joseph Goebbels, despite warnings that speaking against the regime was illegal. When forced to listen to the Nazi anthem Horst-Wessel-Lied, she remarked that it made her “start to vomit.”

Just ten days after being released from her first sentence, Elsa was re-arrested and sent to Moringen concentration camp. Her ex-girlfriend, Berta Stenzel, arranged for her escape by purchasing a ticket on a ship to Africa. The camp commander initially agreed to release her, but then reneged, keeping her imprisoned for another year.

Eventually, Elsa was freed and successfully escaped to Africa, where she opened a milk bar. She lived out the rest of her life there, passing away on February 19, 1963.