 In 1932 she was elected the deputy chairperson of the city council and was granted honorary citizenship of Jena, "in honour of her services to the common good, especially in the field of social welfare, on her 60th birthday".As a gesture of protest, she refused along with her fellow councillors from the SPD and the Communist Party to participate in the city council meeting of 9 March 1933, when the Nazi Party seized control of the Jena city administration.During the Nazi era she often had to endure political and personal persecution.