Ottilie Metzger-Lattermann

Ottilie Metzger, also known by her married names Ottilie Metzger-Froitzheim and Ottilie Metzger-Lattermann, was a German contralto who had an active international career in operas, oratorios, and concerts from 1898 until her retirement from the stage in 1925. She sang a wide repertoire that encompasses German, French, and Italian opera. She was celebrated for her portrayal of the title heroine in Georges Bizet's Carmen, and for her performances in the operas of Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss. She was active as a voice teacher in Berlin at the Stern Conservatory, her alma mater, until the rise of Nazi Germany in the 1930s. Due to her Jewish heritage, she fled to Brussels in 1939 and remained there until 1942 when she was arrested during the German occupation of Belgium during World War II. A victim of the Holocaust, She was interned in Auschwitz and sentenced to death in October 1942. While the exact date and circumstances of her death are unknown, there is some speculation that her death may have occurred in or near February 1943.