Martha Gertrud Eifrig

Martha Gertrud Eifrig was born on March 19, 1908, in Leipzig. How do we know that?

An attentive colleague at the Stadtarchiv Leipzig (Leipzig City Archive) found a passport photo in Martha Eifrig’s personnel file in 2026 that had the photographer’s name “Atelier Mittelmann” printed below it. The young woman had her photo taken there. Using this passport photo, the original photographic negative – the glass plate – was identified at the Museum of City History Leipzig.

So far nothing is known about her childhood and youth. We are able only on the basis of her profession to gain a small glimpse into her life. From 1922 to 1935, Ms. Eifrig worked in different positions within the Leipzig city administration. After she married Alfred Pfau in July 1935, she left municipal service.

Her personnel file in the city archive contains usual documents such as personal forms, letters of application, references and employment contracts. They reconstruct Ms. Eifrig’s professional life in the city administration.

In addition, a less routine incident can be traced in the personnel file: In March 1933, a law office secretary accused Ms. Eifrig of making negative remarks about him and the Nazi Party. The personnel office subsequently intended to dismiss Eifrig. Although the case went through various levels of review, she remained employed by the city. To date, there has been no research on the frequency of similar cases of criticism of National Socialism within the city administration. Martha Eifrig’s case provides us with only a single example of the scope and consequences of such actions in the early days of National Socialism.

Ms. Eifrig passed away on August 10, 2007, in Bad Schmiedeberg.