Austrian Holocaust survivor "Mrs. Gertrude" dies at 94
ABC News
The Holocaust survivor Gertrude Pressburger, who became famous during Austria's 2016 presidential campaign, when in a video message as “Mrs. Gertrude” she warned of hatred and exclusion triggered by the far right, has died at 94
BERLIN -- The Holocaust survivor Gertrude Pressburger, who became famous during Austria's 2016 presidential campaign with a video message in which “Mrs. Gertrude” warned of hatred and exclusion triggered by the far right, has died at 94.
Pressburger died Friday after a long illness, her family told the Austrian press agency APA on Saturday.
Pressburger was born and raised in Vienna, the daughter of a carpenter. Her Jewish family converted to Catholicism in the early 1930s, but that did not keep them from being prosecuted by the Nazis after Austria was annexed by Germany in 1938.
After her father was arrested and tortured by the Nazis' Gestapo secret police for alleged political activity, the family was able to escape to Yugoslavia and later to Italy, APA reported.