And her Jewish husband died never knowing

US widow deported over Nazi past

Elfried Rinkel was a guard at the Ravensbruck labour camp in Germany for just under a year. Although she was never a member of the Nazi party, she worked with an SS-trained attack dog to shepherd inmates back and forth from slave labour each day. An estimated 90,000 people died at that camp.

After leaving Germany for America in 1959, she married her husband, a German Jew who had himself escaped the Holocaust. He died in 2004, never knowing his wife's secret. She also gave to Jewish charities, perhaps in way of atonement. She was deported September 1st, presumably back to Germany, since she maintained her citizenship there.

Can you imagine how her relatives must feel? There must be a good deal of shock. They don't say whether the couple had children or whether she herself converted to Judaism. Many commented on what a sweet little old lady she was, and what a loving relationship the two shared. I wonder what would have happened had he known? Surely it would have changed the relationship forever.

We live in a complex world, where people make decisions which will haunt them their entire lives. Mrs. Rinkel made a terrible decision when she took that job as a guard, and another when she chose to hide it. Granted, it was a little less than a year compared to 47 years of no doubt doing good things. But for 90,000 people--and millions more--those years were stolen. I can't imagine having this sort of secret in the family.