Stumbling block for Anni Bretsch

Anna Karoline Bretsch was born in Offenbach on May 29, 1922, the youngest of four children of Michael and Dorothea Bretsch, née Vierheller. Her parents divorced in 1926. Her mother Dorothea Bretsch was already a member of the Communist Party before 1933 and her children were members of the Communist Youth League.

Nothing is known about Anni Bretsch's education; she probably attended elementary school and left in 1936/37 to help support the family as an unskilled worker. It is not certain whether she was already working at GEKA in the spring of 1941 (or only after her first prison sentence). Geka-Werke Dr. Gottlieb Krebs GmbH specialized in photochemical products such as flash powder for photography and produced smoke-visible signs for the Wehrmacht during the war. It was a risky occupation, as handling the chemical components of the products could damage skin, hair and skin.

Anni Bretsch was first convicted in the spring of 1941 for refusing to work or breaking her employment contract. During the Nazi era, this was considered to be subversive to the military during the war and was classified as treasonous to the fatherland in the same way as desertion by soldiers. She was sent to prison in Preungesheim and Höchst for five months. On her second conviction in May 1942, she was imprisoned for a whole year for the same offense, this time in the women's prison in Schwäbisch-Gmünd.
Why she was not released after her sentence but transferred to Auschwitz concentration camp remains to be investigated. Only her urn was returned to Offenbach. Her surviving brother Willi was informed of her death on January 17, 1944.