Karoline Scherf lived in Leipzig and was married to a non-Jewish teacher. Her Jewish parents were able to leave Germany on one of the last ships bound for the United States, on July 12, 1939. Karoline Scherf eventually had to perform forced labor at the Theuerkauf & Scheibner drugstore. She was exempted from wearing a yellow star due to her “privileged mixed marriage.” Since her husband Paul refused to divorce her, he was no longer allowed to work as a teacher and was drafted into the Organization Todt in November 1944. He was forced to build military installations in Osterode am Harz.
On February 10, 1945, Karoline Scherf received a summons for deportation to Theresienstadt, which was to take place three days later. She turned to Father Theodor Gunkel, with whom she had been in contact since her husband sought his help. Gunkel took her to the Catholic sisters Helene and Ottilie Spitzer, who lived very close to his church. Karoline Scherf survived the last weeks of the war in their home. Her husband eventually returned from Osterode severely ill.