Nazi "Blond Poison" – The Jewish Collaborator Who Caught Thousands of Jews and Betrayed Them to the Nazis

In the darkest chapters of World War II, stories of survival, resistance, and betrayal intertwine in complex and often heartbreaking ways. One such story is that of Stella Goldschlag, a Jewish woman from Berlin whose life took a tragic and controversial path as she became one of the most notorious collaborators with the Nazi regime. Known as the "blond poison" for her striking appearance and ruthless actions, Stella’s tale is a disturbing reminder of the moral ambiguities and human tragedies during the Holocaust.

This article draws from a detailed historical account presented by World History CZ, a respected channel dedicated to unraveling the lesser-known facets of history. Through this narrative, I will share Stella Goldschlag’s life story, exploring her early years, her forced transformation into a Gestapo informant, and the lasting consequences of her choices for herself and the Jewish community she betrayed.

🌟 Early Life and Background: A Childhood in Weimar Berlin

Stella Goldschlag was born on July 10, 1922, in Berlin during the Weimar Republic era, a period marked by democratic governance in Germany between 1918 and 1933. Her upbringing was typical of a middle-class Jewish family integrated into German society. Her parents, Gerhart and Antonie Goldschlag, were culturally inclined—Gerhart a World War I veteran who worked as a conductor, composer, and journalist, and Antonie a former singer.

Despite economic hardships that sometimes forced the family to rely on social welfare, Stella experienced a childhood filled with love and care. Her parents affectionately nicknamed her "Puntchen," meaning "little dot," reflecting the central place she held in their lives. Although the family celebrated Jewish festivals, they identified strongly as Germans, embodying the complex identity many German Jews held before the rise of Nazism.

Stella attended a girls' secondary school in Hohensolernstraße, but as Nazi policies took hold, Jewish children were increasingly excluded from public education. By 1935, after the enactment of racial laws that barred Jewish children from attending state schools, Stella enrolled in the prestigious Goldschmidt School, a private institution in Berlin that catered mainly to the children of wealthy Jewish families.

It was here that Stella’s striking appearance stood out—tall, slim, with light blue eyes, blonde hair, and flawless skin—often compared to Hollywood stars of the time. Her charisma and beauty made her popular, especially among boys, but her scholarship status also marked her as different from many of her affluent classmates.

🔴 The Nazi Rise to Power and Increasing Persecution

The political climate in Germany changed drastically after Adolf Hitler was appointed Chancellor in January 1933. The Nazi regime swiftly implemented anti-Jewish laws that progressively ostracized Jewish citizens from public life. The Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service in April 1933 resulted in the dismissal of Jews from government jobs, impacting families like the Goldschlags. Gerhart Goldschlag struggled to find steady employment, and the family faced growing financial and social pressures.

By 1938, the situation had deteriorated severely. The infamous Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass) on November 9–10, 1938, marked a violent pogrom against Jews throughout Nazi Germany, including Berlin. Jewish homes, businesses, and synagogues were destroyed, and thousands of Jewish men were arrested and sent to concentration camps. Stella experienced this terror firsthand when she was sent home early from school and found her father in hiding to avoid arrest.

Following Kristallnacht, the Goldschlag family, like many others, sought to escape Germany. However, immigration restrictions worldwide, including strict quotas in the United States, made legal emigration nearly impossible. Gerhart Goldschlag was informed that obtaining permission to enter the U.S. could take up to two years. Despite persistent efforts, the family's attempts to flee failed, leaving them trapped in Nazi Germany.

🎨 Youth and Early Adulthood Amidst War

When World War II began in 1939 with the invasion of Poland, Stella was a young woman caught in an increasingly hostile environment. She enrolled in an art school to study fashion design and even posed as a nude model for a time. In her free moments, she sang in a Jewish jazz band, a rare glimmer of normalcy in tumultuous times. In 1941, she briefly found happiness by marrying Fred Cubler, the leader of the jazz band.

But the war’s harsh realities soon caught up with her. As anti-Semitic laws intensified, Stella was forced to wear the yellow Star of David and was compelled to work in the war industry, which initially saved her from deportation. She worked in factories producing electrical motors, but her fate changed dramatically on February 27, 1943, during a large-scale Nazi roundup in Berlin known as the Fabrikaktion.

⚠️ The Fabrikaktion and the Turning Point

The Fabrikaktion was a brutal operation targeting the last Jews in Berlin, especially those in forced labor. Thousands were arrested and deported to concentration camps, most notably Auschwitz, where they faced almost certain death. Stella and her mother narrowly escaped capture by hiding in a makeshift shelter within the factory and later slipping out through a back entrance. Their light hair and Aryan appearance helped them avoid suspicion.

Tragically, Stella’s husband, Fred Cubler, was arrested during the roundup and sent to Auschwitz, where he perished. After this traumatic event, Stella and her parents went into hiding. It was during this time that she was introduced to Zamson Shhouse, a former art school acquaintance and member of a resistance network comprising Jewish and Catholic Poles. Shhouse, operating under the alias Gint Rogov, provided Stella with forged documents that allowed her to move freely without wearing the yellow star—a critical advantage in Nazi-occupied Berlin.

👁️‍🗨️ Betrayal and Becoming a Gestapo Informant

Despite her efforts to survive, Stella’s story took a dark turn in July 1943. She was recognized and arrested by the Gestapo, betrayed by a Jewish collaborator known as Inge, who worked as a "catcher" (German: Greiferin) for the Nazis—individuals who hunted hidden Jews in exchange for temporary safety. Stella endured brutal torture at the Gestapo headquarters but refused to reveal information about her friend Rogov, who was part of the resistance.

After a daring but short-lived escape during a dental examination, Stella was recaptured and subjected to further torture. In August 1943, she survived a British bombing raid on the prison, which killed many inmates, but instead of fleeing to safety, she voluntarily surrendered herself at a transit camp where her parents were held, choosing to remain with them despite the impending deportation to Auschwitz.

Faced with the unbearable prospect of losing her family, Stella made a fateful decision: to become a Gestapo informant herself. Her first task was to track down Gint Rogov, but without real information, she was accused of fabricating leads and imprisoned again. However, the SS officer Felix Lhmut recognized her Aryan appearance and intelligence and recruited her permanently as a "catcher."

🔫 Life as the "Blond Poison" – Hunting Her Own People

Stella was trained and integrated into a Gestapo unit of about twenty young men and women tasked with hunting hidden Jews in Berlin. They operated initially from a transit camp and later from the Jewish hospital’s pathology department. These informants lived relatively comfortably, with better food and living conditions than most prisoners, and received payments of 300 Reichsmarks (equivalent to roughly $200 today) for every Jew they betrayed.

Armed with forged documents and a pistol, Stella was free to move around Berlin without wearing the yellow star. Her knowledge of the local Jewish community, including former classmates and families from her school, made her an effective and feared hunter. She often searched the belongings of arrested Jews, finding diaries and addresses that led to further arrests. The Nazis dubbed her the "blond poison" due to her deceptive appearance and deadly efficiency.

One survivor recalled an encounter where Stella pretended to be starving and in need of help, only to lure him into a trap where he was captured by the Gestapo. Stella’s activities extended even to cemeteries, where she betrayed hidden Jews married to non-Jewish spouses, as their marriages no longer protected them under Nazi law.

📉 Isolation and the Decline of Stella’s Influence

While Stella initially gained some protection due to her collaboration, her reputation in the Jewish community became one of hatred and fear. Estimates suggest that between 600 and 3,000 Jews were arrested with her assistance. Survivors like Inge Deutschkron described her as the person who could unmask hidden Jews and defectors. By the last years of the war, even her former allies despised her, and threats against her life were common.

In February 1944, the Nazis broke their promise to spare Stella’s parents and deported them to the Theresienstadt ghetto in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. Despite Stella’s pleas, her parents were later sent to Auschwitz, where they were murdered. This betrayal marked a turning point in Stella’s life and collaboration.

💔 Personal Life and Final Years of the War

In October 1944, Stella remarried, this time to Rolf Isaakson, another Jewish "catcher." Their marriage was unhappy, and both had extramarital affairs. By this time, Stella’s activities as a Gestapo informant had diminished because she was too well-known to be effective. The Jewish population in Berlin was drastically reduced due to deportations and killings.

In February 1945, Stella was pregnant, likely by a fellow collaborator named Heino Meisl, who abandoned her despite her expectations that he would support her and their unborn child. With the Allies advancing and Berlin under siege, Stella’s protection evaporated. In April 1945, she went into hiding, and in the same month, she gave birth to a daughter, Yvonne, in the village of Liebenwalde north of Berlin.

Berlin fell to Soviet forces on May 2, 1945, and the war in Europe ended six days later. Only 1,400 to 1,700 Jews remained in Berlin, down from an estimated 160,000 in 1933. Most survived by hiding, unlike Stella, who had collaborated with the enemy.

🚔 Arrest, Trial, and Imprisonment

Stella was arrested by local police after the war. Her daughter was taken from her and placed in foster care. Initially, Stella convinced the police that she was a victim of the Nazis, but when the Jewish community in Berlin identified her as a collaborator, her cover was blown. She was violently confronted by members of the Jewish community, who shaved her head in humiliation.

Stella was taken to a police station controlled by Soviet authorities and subsequently brought before a Soviet tribunal. The judges quickly sentenced her to ten years of forced labor. After serving her sentence, she moved to West Berlin to live near her daughter, who, due to Stella’s past, refused to maintain contact.

In 1957, Stella faced a second trial in West Berlin. The media sensationalized the case, dubbing her the "blond witch" and "blond poison." She was charged with complicity in the murder of an unknown number of people, likely several hundred. The four-day trial included testimony portraying her as a ruthless criminal. A psychiatrist diagnosed her with schizophrenic psychopathy, but Stella denied all charges, claiming victimhood and alleging a Jewish conspiracy against her.

The court acknowledged that her initial collaboration might have been motivated by a desperate attempt to save her parents but condemned the extent and zeal of her activities, which continued after their deportation. Although prosecutors sought a 15-year sentence, Stella was sentenced to ten years but did not return to prison because she had already served a decade in Soviet custody.

🙏 Later Life and Legacy

After the trials, Stella converted to Christianity and married three more times. She became an open anti-Semite and lived a solitary life, increasingly affected by declining mental and physical health. On October 26, 1994, at the age of 72, Stella Goldschlag committed suicide by drowning herself in a pond near Freiburg.

Her story remains a haunting example of the moral complexities and human tragedies of the Holocaust. Stella Goldschlag’s life forces us to confront uncomfortable questions about survival, betrayal, and the devastating impact of totalitarian regimes on individual choices and community bonds.

📚 Reflections on History and the Human Condition

Stella Goldschlag’s life is not just a tale of wartime collaboration but a window into the impossible dilemmas faced by Jews under Nazi persecution. Her initial attempts to protect her family, the brutal choices imposed by circumstances, and the eventual consequences of her actions illustrate the harrowing realities of the Holocaust beyond the binary of victims and perpetrators.

Understanding her story helps deepen our comprehension of history’s darkest moments, reminding us of the importance of empathy, ethical reflection, and vigilance against hatred and totalitarianism in all its forms.

If you found this exploration insightful, I encourage you to delve deeper into the complex histories of World War II and the Holocaust, to honor the memories of all affected and to learn lessons that remain relevant today.