Conducts research and collects data on the global history of labour, workers, and labour relations

Hazel Elfriede Rosenstrauch

In January 2010, the IISH received a small but interesting archive from Hazel Elfriede Rosenstrauch. Rosenstrauch (born in London in 1945) grew up in Vienna. As a student in Berlin, she was involved in the student movement. In 1967, during a demonstration against a visit by shah of Persia, the student Benno Ohnesorg was killed by a policeman. Many years later it was discovered that this police officer from West Berlin was a member of the East Berlin secret police service Stasi. Rosenstrauch initiated a lawsuit that contested the right to bear arms for the West Berlin police force without explicit permission from the Allied forces. She also claimed compensation for the cost of medical help, damages, and legal action against the policeman who had hit her with his baton. The judicial battle dragged on for some years.

Posted: 
1 June 2010