Carolina Bunjes facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Carolina Bunjes
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Carolina Bunjes (1936)
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| Native name |
קאראליינע בונדזשעס
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| Nickname(s) | Lini Bunjes |
| Born | 13 February 1918 Utrecht, Netherlands |
| Died | 25 May 2016 (aged 98) Pontassieve, Tuscany, Italy |
| Allegiance |  Spanish Republic (1936–1939) Netherlands (1941–1945) |
| Service |  International Brigades (1936–1939) Dutch resistance (1941–1945) |
| Years of service | 1936-1945 |
| Rank | Ensign |
| Battles/wars | Spanish Civil War World War II |
| Spouse(s) |
Antonio Blas García
(m. 1936–1938)Edouard Rosenthal
(m. 1947–1957) |
| Children | Antonio Blas (b. 1938) Catherine Rosenthal (b. 1949) |
Carolina Bunjes (1918-2016) was a brave Dutch Jewish photographer. She fought as a soldier in the Spanish Civil War. Later, she joined the Resistance in the Netherlands during World War II.
From a young age, Carolina was against fascism. She traveled to Spain to fight against the Spanish nationalists. She was part of the International Brigades. She fought in many battles. However, she became unhappy with some of her allies. She was even held for a short time, accused of being a spy. After the war ended, she returned to the Netherlands. It was then under Nazi occupation.
In the Netherlands, she joined the Dutch Resistance. She helped hide Jewish people from the Gestapo. She also hid weapons for those fighting the Nazis. After the Netherlands was freed, she moved to Luxembourg. There, she started a family with another person who had survived the Holocaust. After her husband passed away, she moved to Italy. She opened a hotel and ran it until she was 70. She received a special pension for her resistance work. Carolina spent her last years between Amsterdam and Pontassieve, Italy. She passed away in 2016.
Contents
Biography
Early Life and Activism
Carolina Bunjes was born in Utrecht, Netherlands, on February 13, 1918. Her mother, Rebecca Jacobs, came from a Jewish family. Her father, Wilhelm Rudolf Bunjes, was German. He had left the army during World War I. When Carolina was very young, her family moved to Berlin, Germany. They lived there as Adolf Hitler came to power.
At 16, she moved back to the Netherlands. She lived in Amsterdam with her older sister, Cato. Cato had strong left-wing political ideas. She greatly influenced Carolina. As a teenager, Carolina became interested in anarchism and communism. She met Franz Lövenstein, a young German Jewish communist. They took part in many protests together. She was held for giving out communist leaflets. Lövenstein was sent out of the country. After her release, they decided to live in Paris.
At that time, many Jewish people were leaving Germany for France. They could only get temporary permits to stay. So, when Carolina was 18, they went to Spain. They both wanted to volunteer to fight against fascism. They saw the Spanish Civil War as the start of a bigger world war.
Fighting in the Spanish Civil War
Carolina and Franz arrived in Spain in the summer of 1936. They lived in El Raval. To earn money, Carolina delivered newspapers. She also took photos for sports papers. She photographed port activities and took portraits. Her photos were in newspapers like Última Hora. Franz Lövenstein joined the fight right away. On July 19, he fought in the street battles in Barcelona. He later helped start the Thälmann Battalion. This was part of the 11th International Brigade. Franz left Carolina to fight on the Aragon front. He died in the battle of the Ebro in 1938.
Carolina was registered as a photographer at the Communist Party of Spain (PCE) office. She worked for newspapers Juventud and Ahora: Diario Gráfico. In September 1936, she was in Madrid. She covered a protest by the International Brigades. Carolina remembered the worst part in Madrid was the heavy bombing. The Nazi Condor Legion and Italian Air Force bombed the city. She took pictures and sent them to her sister in Paris. Her sister's office shared these photos.
In November 1936, Madrid was under siege. Carolina helped defend the city against Francisco Franco's army. There, she met and married Antonio Blas García. He was a Spanish commander in the Republican army. Carolina, also called Lini, was an ensign in the Joven Guardia battalion. In December, she was wounded in the hand. A photo of her with her bandaged hand appeared in many papers. One famous photo was taken by Hans Gutmann.
Carolina fought in the battle of Jarama. She was a photographer for the 5th Spanish Republican Brigade. She met Dolores Ibárruri, a famous leader. Carolina said Ibárruri offered to take her to Moscow if they lost. But Carolina did not accept. She also met famous writers like Ernest Hemingway in Madrid.
Later, Carolina was suspected of being a German spy. The Military Information Service (SIM) investigated her. They found nothing. They sent her away from the front to Valencia. In Valencia, she was held on December 19, 1937. She was accused of being a spy. They suggested she be sent out of the country. In January 1938, she went to the hospital due to health complications. She was in the hospital for two months. Then she returned to Madrid. There, she was held again with others suspected of being right-wing. Her husband, Blas, asked the Communist Party to free her. Franz Lövenstein helped her. He told the PCE office that she was always against fascism. They offered her back her membership card, but Carolina refused.
She traveled to Extremadura to be near Antonio Blas. In July 1938, he was captured. He was never heard from again. Carolina was pregnant again. She gave birth to her son, Antonio, in Madrid. Soon after, she went back near the Extremadura front. She went to Herrera del Duque. This area was still held by the Republic. In January 1939, the area fell to the Nationalists. A neighbor told the new authorities about Carolina. She was held again. She was accused of being a photographer for left-wing groups. The Dutch consul helped her get released. He gave her papers and money to return home.
Carolina first went to Madrid. She stayed with her mother-in-law for a few months. Then she went to Barcelona. From there, she started her journey back to the Netherlands with her son. She tried to cross the border through the Pyrenees. She was arrested and held in Figueres. In January 1941, she was released. The German consul in Barcelona helped her get papers and money. She left Spain with her three-year-old son.
Joining the Dutch Resistance
When Carolina arrived in the Netherlands in 1941, she lived with her mother. They lived in Scheveningen. She quickly joined the Resistance. Both her Jewish mother and she survived World War II. They refused to register as Jews. They did not follow the Jewish Council's orders. Many who did ended up in concentration camps.
Carolina's job in the Resistance was to find safe places. She hid Jewish children and people running from the Nazis. She helped her friend, photographer Pim van Os. In 1944, the Gestapo arrested her. They took her to Amsterdam. They questioned her about her actions in the Spanish Civil War. But they found nothing against her and let her go. After this, she went into hiding. A farmer in Friesland offered her a job. She quickly rejoined the resistance. She kept hiding and helping Jews and others escape. This farm also hid weapons for the Binnenlandse Strijdkrachten. This group brought together those fighting the Nazis. Thirty-six members of Carolina's family died in concentration camps.
Life After the War
After the war, Carolina settled in Amsterdam. In February 1947, she married Edouard Rosenthal. He was a manager who had survived Auschwitz. When she married him, she got her Dutch nationality back. She had lost it when she married a Spaniard. In 1949, they had a daughter, Catherine. Soon after, they moved to Luxembourg. They lived there until Edouard died in 1957.
Carolina was a widow again. She had to care for three children, including Edouard's son. She met an Italian anarchist named Carlo Alvisi. He had also fought in Spain. She sold her business in Luxembourg. Then she traveled with Carlo to northern Italy. She opened the Mimosa Hotel in Sestri Levante. This town is on the Italian Riviera. The hotel might have been named Mimosa after a hotel in Madrid. She had lived there with Antonio Blas. Or it could be a tribute to the anarchist Georgette Kokoczynski.
Her son Antonio was supposed to take over the hotel. But he died of cancer at 49. Carolina was over 70 when her son died. So, she decided to turn the hotel into small apartments. She returned to Amsterdam. She lived in a social services flat. She also received a pension for her Resistance work. She spent her summers in Pontassieve. This village is near Florence. She wanted to be close to her children and grandchildren.
Carolina Bunjes passed away on May 25, 2016. She was 98 years old.
See also
In Spanish: Carolina Bunjes-Rosenthal para niños
