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Else Kienle | |
|---|---|
| Born | Else Ida Pauline Kienle 1900 (1900) |
| Died | 1970 (aged 69–70) |
| Occupations | Physician, author |
Else Kienle (1900–1970), later publishing in the United States as Else K. La Roe, was a German physician, author, and sexual-reform advocate.[1] Her 1931 arrest alongside the physician-playwright Friedrich Wolf helped spark a nationwide mass movement for abortion law reform during the late Weimar Republic.[2][3]
Life
Kienle and Friedrich Wolf were arrested on 19 February 1931 for providing abortions.[4] Their arrests led to popular demonstrations against Paragraph 218, which criminalized abortion in Germany.[5][6] While the Communist Party of Germany submitted a motion for her release, it objected to her feminist beliefs and gave her considerably less support than it gave Wolf. The Nazi Party supported the imprisonment of Kienle and Wolf because they were Jewish. During her imprisonment, Kienle participated in a hunger strike that brought her near death. She was released from prison on 28 March 1931.[5] In 1932, Kienle published the book Frauen: Aus dem Tagebuch einer Ärztin (transl. Women: From a Woman Doctor's Diary) to criticize Paragraph 218.[6] Kienle believed that it was immoral to force birth into a society that lacked gender equality and social security.[4] Kienle fled to New York after the Nazi Party seized power in Germany.[1]
See also
References
- ^ a b "Else Kienle (1900-1970)". Museum of Contraception and Abortion. Retrieved 2023-04-11.
- ^ Grossmann, Atina (1978). "Abortion and Economic Crisis: The 1931 Campaign against Paragraph 218 in Germany". Journal of Contemporary History. 13 (2): 211–232. JSTOR 488065.
- ^ "In Weimar Germany, Women Fought for Abortion Justice - In the Media | Institute for Advanced Study". www.ias.edu. 2022-01-14. Retrieved 2025-08-24.
- ^ a b Weindling, Paul (1993-07-22). Health, Race and German Politics Between National Unification and Nazism, 1870-1945. Cambridge University Press. p. 459. ISBN 978-0-521-42397-7.
- ^ a b Sutton, Katie (2003). "Motherhood and party politics: The Nazi and communist press and the late Weimar abortion debate". Lilith: A Feminist History Journal (12): 123–138.
- ^ a b Calvert, Katherine E. (2021). "Making the Case Against Paragraph 218: Narrative and Discursive Strategies in Else Kienle's Frauen: Aus Dem Tagebuch Einer Ärztin". German Life and Letters. 75 (1): 40–58. doi:10.1111/glal.12327. ISSN 0016-8777. S2CID 245525549.
Further reading
- Kienle La Roe, Else (1957). Woman Surgeon: The Autobiography of Else K. La Roe. Dial Press. LCCN 56-12133.
- Casarini, Maddalena (2023). "Gabriele Tergit's Courtroom Reports on §218" (PDF). Literary Journalism Studies. 14 (2): 99–111. Retrieved 24 August 2025.
- Grossmann, Atina (1978). "Abortion and Economic Crisis: The 1931 Campaign against Paragraph 218 in Germany". Journal of Contemporary History. 13 (2): 211–232. JSTOR 488065.
- Calvert, Katherine E. (2022). "Making the Case Against Paragraph 218: Narrative and Discursive Strategies in Else Kienle's Frauen: Aus dem Tagebuch einer Ärztin". German Life and Letters. 75 (1): 40–58. doi:10.1111/glal.12327.
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