Else Ury Else Ury ( November 1 , 1877 in Berlin ; January 13 , 1943 in the Auschwitz concentration camp ) was a German writer and children ' s book author . Her best - known character is the blonde doctor ' s daughter Annemarie Braun , whose life from childhood to old age is told in the ten volumes of the highly successful " Nesthäkchen " series . The books , the six - part TV series Nesthäkchen ( 1983 ) , based on the first three volumes , as well as the new DVD edition ( 2005 ) caught the attention of millions of readers and viewers . During Ury ' s lifetime " Nesthäkchen und der Weltkrieg " ( " Nesthäkchen and the World War " ) , the fourth volume , was the most popular . Else Ury was a member of the German " Bürgertum " ( middle class ) . She was pulled between patriotic German citizenship and Jewish cultural heritage . This situation is reflected in her writings , although the " Nesthäkchen " books make no references to Judaism . Life . Else Ury was born in Berlin on 1 November 1877 , into a family of Jewish merchants . Her happy childhood and her life with the extended families Ury and Heymann provided the loving environment and inspiration to write her books . The prosperous bourgeois household with cook , governess , housemaid , doorman and impressive furniture which is described by Else Ury in her Nesthäkchen series or in Studierte Mädel ( 1906 ) is a direct reflection of her life in Berlin , particularly after moving to the Kantstraße in Charlottenburg , and later on to Kaiserdamm . While her father Emil ( 1835 – 1920 ) became a successful merchant , her mother Franziska Ury ( 1847 - 1840 ) represented the German Bildungsbürgertum ( educated middle class ) . Franziska passed her interest in classic and modern literature , the arts and music on to her children . Sustained by these concepts of Bildung ( education ) , Else Ury ’ s siblings started successful middle class careers : Ludwig ( 1870 – 1963 ) became a lawyer , Hans ( 1873 – 1937 ) a medical doctor and Käthe ( 1881 – 1944 ) , before getting married and starting a family , planned to train as a teacher . Else , however , despite attending the Lyzeum Königliche Luisenschule , chose not to pursue a profession . She started writing , under a pen name , for the Vossische Zeitung . In 1905 her first book , " Was das Sonntagskind Erlauscht " ( What the Lucky Child Heard ) , was published by the Globus Verlag . This collection of thirty - eight moral tales promotes pedagogical ideals such as loyalty , honesty and faithfulness . Ury ’ s subsequent book Goldblondchen ( 1908 ) earned her an honorary remark by the influential Jugendschriftenwarte and a further five publications built on this success , until eventually the Nesthäkchen series was published between 1918 and 1925 and made her a famous author . With over thirty - nine books Else Ury was not only one of the most productive female writers of her time , she was also one of the most successful . The combination of an educated mind , humour and compassionate femininity made her books into bestsellers and she was highly celebrated . On her fiftieth birthday , on 1 November 1927 , for instance , her publisher , Meidigers Jugendschriftenverlag , honoured her with a large reception at the famous Hotel Adlon . As a Jew during the Holocaust , Ury was barred from publishing , stripped of her possessions , deported to Auschwitz and gassed the day after she arrived . A cenotaph in Berlin ' s Weissensee Jewish Cemetery ( Jüdischer Friedhof Weißensee ) memorializes her . Nesthäkchen and the World War . Else Ury describes in " Nesthäkchen and the World War " the experiences of Annemarie Braun , who is eleven years old when the story begins and thirteen when it ends . Annemarie ' s father serves as an army surgeon in France . Annemarie ’ s mother is in England with relatives and is not able to return to Germany due to the outbreak of war . Annemarie and her two older brothers , Hans and Klaus , are cared for by a grandmother . Much of Ury ’ s narrative deals with Annemarie ’ s experiences with a new classmate , the German - Polish Vera , who does not speak German at the beginning of the story . The popular , headstrong Annmarie coldly excludes Vera from her circle of friends as a foreigner and an alleged spy , making the beautiful , friendly Vera into a class pariah . The resolution of this painful situation builds to a shocking , ringing climax , which has enthralled readers since the book ’ s publication . Moreover , the ominously unfolding war in the background gives " Nesthäkchen and the World War " poignancy and depth , a timeless commentary on the brutal nature of war . After 1945 the new publisher removed " Nesthäkchen and the World War " from the Nesthäkachen series , because the book was on the censorship list of the allied control boards . Ury was , like most German Jew s , fiercely patriotic , and her descriptions of the events in and around the First World War were classified as glorifying war . Since 1945 the Nesthäkchen series has consisted of only 9 volumes . Steven Lehrer translated " Nesthäkchen and the World War " into English in 2006 . Ury also wrote other books and stories , primarily for girls and young women . German women still buy and read Ury ' s books , almost all of which are in print . Frankfurt / Main : dipa 1983 . ( = Jugend und Medien . 4 . ) ISBN 3 - 7638 - 0117 - 0 . S . 263 - 336 .