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Who was the Carmelite nun who had to give up teaching because she could not get the "Aryan certificate" which was a required certificate for educators by the Nazi German government? In 1942, she died in the Auschwitz concentration camp gas chamber.

   Alicja Maria Jadwiga Kotowska
   Julia Rodzińska
   Maria Antonina Kratochwil
   Edith Stein

Your answer was: Edith Stein.
You are correct!!


Answer: In Nazi Germany, the "Aryan certificate" was a document that certified a person as a member of the presumed Aryan race. Beginning in April 1933, it was required from all employees and officials in the public sector, including education.

In 1891 Edith Stein was born into an observant Jewish family and therefore could not qualify for the "Aryan certificate". She had taught at a Catholic school but was forced to quit as the Nazi government came to power. She attempted to evade persecution by moving to the Netherlands but was arrested when the Nazi army invaded. Sent to Auschwitz concentration camp, she died in the gas chamber on August 9th,1942. Death camp survivors testified that she assisted other sufferers with great compassion.

On 1 May 1987, Pope John Paul II beatified Edith Stein and canonized her in 1998. In 1996, the Vatican Post Office issued a stamp in her honor as part of the famous women series.

See:
 • 1996 UFN Bulletin Europe 1996 - Famous Women


Edith Stein
Scott # 1010 (1996)