Editing Edith Stein (section)

==Discalced Carmelite nun and martyr==
Stein entered the [[Discalced Carmelite]] monastery St. Maria vom Frieden (Our Lady of Peace) in [[Lindenthal, Cologne|Cologne-Lindenthal]] in October 1933 and took the [[religious name]] ''Teresia Benedicta a Cruce'' (Teresa Benedicta of the Cross). In Cologne she wrote her [[metaphysical]] book ''Endliches und ewiges Sein'' (''Finite and Eternal Being''), which attempted to combine the philosophies of [[Thomas Aquinas]], [[Duns Scotus]] and Husserl.

To avoid the growing [[Nazism|Nazi]] threat, the order transferred Edith and her sister, Rosa, who was also a convert and an extern sister of the Carmel, to the Discalced Carmelite monastery in [[Echt, Limburg|Echt]], [[Netherlands]]. There she wrote ''Studie über Joannes a Cruce: Kreuzeswissenschaft'' ("Studies on [[John of the Cross]]: The Science of the Cross"). In her testament of 9 June 1939<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.haaretz.com/.premium-this-day-jewish-convert-beatified-1.5246811|title = This Day in Jewish History / Pope announces beatification of Jewish convert|newspaper = Haaretz}}</ref> she wrote: {{blockquote|I beg the Lord to take my life and my death … for all concerns of the sacred hearts of Jesus and Mary and the holy church, especially for the preservation of our holy order, in particular the Carmelite monasteries of Cologne and Echt, as atonement for the unbelief of the Jewish People, and that the Lord will be received by his own people and his kingdom shall come in glory, for the salvation of Germany and the peace of the world, at last for my loved ones, living or dead, and for all God gave to me: that none of them shall go astray.}}

Stein's move to Echt prompted her to be more devout and even more observant of the Carmelite rule. After having her teaching position revoked by the implementation of the [[Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service]], Stein quickly eased back into the role of instructor at the convent in Echt, teaching both fellow sisters and students within the community Latin and philosophy.<ref name="Mosley, J. 2006 pp. 43-52">Mosley, J. (2006). The Ultimate Sacrifice. In Edith Stein: Modern Saint and Martyr (pp. 43–52). Mahwah, N.J.: HiddenSpring.</ref>

Even prior to the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands, Stein believed she would not survive the war, going so far as to write to the [[prior (ecclesiastical)|prioress]] to request her permission to "allow [Stein] to offer [her]self to the heart of Jesus as a sacrifice of atonement for true peace" and made a will. Her fellow sisters would later recount how Stein began "quietly training herself for life in a concentration camp, by enduring cold and hunger" after the Nazi invasion of the Netherlands in May 1940.<ref name="Mosley, J. 2006 pp. 43-52"/>

Ultimately, she would not be safe in the [[Netherlands]]. The [[Catholic Church and Nazi Germany|Dutch Bishops' Conference]] had a public statement read in all churches across the nation on 20 July 1942 condemning Nazi [[racism]]. In a retaliatory response on 26 July 1942 the [[Reichskommissar]] of the Netherlands, [[Arthur Seyss-Inquart]], ordered the arrest of all Jewish converts who had previously been spared. Along with two hundred and forty-three baptized Jews living in the Netherlands Teresa Benedicta a Cruce was arrested by the [[SS]] on 2 August 1942. She and her sister Rosa were imprisoned at the concentration camps of [[Amersfoort concentration camp|Amersfoort]] and [[Westerbork transit camp|Westerbork]] before being deported to Auschwitz. A Dutch official at Westerbork was so impressed by her sense of faith and calm<ref>{{cite web |title=Edith Stein Convert, Nun, Martyr |last1=Garcia |first1=Laura |date=6 June 1997 |publisher=Catholic Education Resource Center |access-date=3 December 2014 |url=http://www.catholiceducation.org/en/culture/catholic-contributions/edith-stein-convert-nun-martyr.html |archive-date=12 March 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150312145518/http://www.catholiceducation.org/en/culture/catholic-contributions/edith-stein-convert-nun-martyr.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> he offered her an escape plan. Stein vehemently refused his assistance, stating: "If somebody intervened at this point and took away [her] chance to share in the fate of [her] brothers and sisters, that would be utter annihilation."<ref name="Mosley, J. 2006 pp. 43-52"/>

On 7 August 1942, early in the morning, 987 Jews were deported to the [[Auschwitz concentration camp]]. It was probably on 9 August that Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, her sister Rosa, and many more Jewish people were killed in a [[gas chamber]] at Birkenau.<ref name=VNS /><ref>{{cite book |first=María Ruiz |last=Scaperlanda |title=Edith Stein: St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross |place=Huntington, Indiana |publisher=Our Sunday Visitor Press |year=2001 |page=154}}</ref>