Throwback
Thursday and Franziska Mann
Born in
1917, Franziska Mann was a dancer, and some sources say that she was one of the
best dancers of her generation in Poland.
Her stage name was Lola Horovitz. She began her career in Warsaw before
the war.
When the war
began she was imprisoned in the Warsaw Ghetto, and later in the Hotel Polski
along with other prominent Jews. Later she was moved to Bergen-Belsen.
When she was
taken to Auschwitz, she killed an SS officer named Schilinger. This incident
was described by another Jewish prisoner who survived, Filip Müller.
An account
from the Find A Grave website (https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=55229207
) described what happened:
“Suddenly she threw an article of
clothing at Schillinger, hitting him in the head. As he opened his holster,
Franceska Mann grabbed his pistol and shot twice mortally wounding him; the
third shot wounded a second SS man, Emmerich, who later recovered, but was
disabled.
Inspired by her courage the fellow prisoners
attacked the SS guards and severely injured two of them, but could not do
anything against the machine guns and were within minutes shot or driven into
the gas chamber.”
Her death
date is listed as Oct. 23, 1943, in Poland.
From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets
Dance History Secret #: 182
“Franziska Mann was a dancer and a resistance
heroine from Auschwitz.”
Link of the Day:
Quote of the Day:
“Courage is
found in unlikely places.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien
― J.R.R. Tolkien
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