Susanne Ledermann

Who was Susanne Ledermann?

Susanne Ledermann (October 7, 1928-November 19, 1943) was a German Jewish girl who was gassed to death by the Nazis in the Auschwitz concentration camp. Susanne, simply known as Sanne, is best known for her friendship with the famous diarist Anne Frank.

Sanne was born in Berlin, the younger of two daughters of Franz Ledermann, a lawyer and musician, and Ilse Ciotren-Ledermann, a pianist. In 1933, Adolf Hitler's Nazi party came to power. The Ledermanns, faced with the threat of death because they were Jews, emigrated to Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Sanne was admitted to a Montessori School, where she befriended Anne Frank and Hanneli Goslar. In 1940, the Nazis invaded the Netherlands, and Sanne had to shift to a Jewish school. Sanne moved to a Jewish school, but Hanneli and Anne moved to a different Jewish school. However, Sanne still kept good contacts with both Anne and Hanneli, and was a member of the pingpong club Little Bear Minus Two, which was formed by her friends. In July 1942, Anne and her family went to hiding, although Sanne didn't know about this.

In June 20, 1943, the Ledermanns were arrested by the Nazis. They were transported to the Westerbork transit camp, and then deported to the Auschwitz death camp in November 1943. Immediately upon arriving in the camp, Sanne and her parents were killed in the gas chambers of the camp.

Sanne's sister, Barbara, was able to escape the Nazis through her contacts with the Dutch Underground. Barbara emigrated to the United States and later married the Nobel prize winning biochemist Martin Rodbell.