Ilse Schwersensky lived in Berlin with her husband Gerhard and their three children. They were devout Christians and members of the Quaker community. In 1933 Gerhard Schwersensky lost his job as a trained social worker. He was classified as a “1st-class Mischling (half-breed).”
In early January 1943, Charlotte Hopp came into contact with the Schwersenskys through Anna von Gierke. She was living underground and seeking a place to hide. The Schwersensky family took Hopp and her son Wolfgang into their one-and-a-half-room apartment for a time.
The persecuted Jews Hannelore Jacoby and Lotte Katz also found refuge with Ilse and Gerhard Schwersensky. They hid in the small apartment for several months and were also provided with food. The two women then found new accommodation with the hotel owner Egon Ziesche in Berlin-Zehlendorf. The Schwersenskys continued to support them until the end of the war.
Lotte Katz and Hannelore Jacoby emigrated to the United States in 1946. They worked to have their helpers honored. Ilse Schwersensky received the Federal Cross of Merit in 1984 and was honored as Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem in 1985.
Ilse and Gerhard Schwersensky with their children Uwe, Reiner, and Roswitha, Berlin, 1942. Source: Privatbesitz/Private
Article in “Die Mahnung” magazine about the Schwersenskys’ receipt of the Federal Cross of Merit, Berlin, 1984. Source: Privatbesitz/Private
Ilse and Gerhard Schwersensky, November 15, 1985. Source: Privatbesitz/Private
