Princess Maria Karoline of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

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Princess Maria Karoline
Born	(1899-01-10)10 January 1899 Pula, Austria-Hungary
Died	6 June 1941(1941-06-06) (aged 42) Hartheim killing centre, Alkoven, Reichsgau Oberdonau
Burial	St Augustin's Church, Coburg
Names German: Maria Karoline Philomena Ignatia Pauline Josepha Michaela Gabriela Raphaela Gonzaga
House	Saxe-Coburg and Gotha-Koháry
Father	Prince August Leopold of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Mother	Archduchess Karoline Marie of Austria

Princess Maria Karoline of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (German: Maria Karoline Philomena Ignatia Pauline Josepha Michaela Gabriela Raphaela Gonzaga Prinzessin von Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha; 10 January 1899 – 6 June 1941) was a German princess from the Brazilian branch of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha-Koháry. She was killed at the Hartheim killing centre as part of the Nazi Aktion T4 program.^[1][2]

Princess Maria Karoline born on 10 January 1899 in Pula, Austria-Hungary (modern day Croatia), a popular vacation site for the Austro-Hungarian imperial and royal family. She was the second daughter of Prince August Leopold of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Archduchess Karoline Marie of Austria. She was a great-granddaughter of Pedro II of Brazil and a fourth cousin of George VI of the United Kingdom. Her family formed what was known as the Brazilian line of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha-Koháry^[3]

After the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian and German Empires, the family was able to retain some of their wealth thanks to the Koháry estates. They resided throughout Hungary and in Schladming, Austria.^[4]

Maria Karoline had learning difficulties. In 1938, her family placed her in a religious institution.^[5] In 1941, she was forcibly removed from the institution by the Nazis and taken to the killing centre at Hartheim Castle where she was killed as part of the Aktion T4 program.^[6][7]

There are questions about whether her relatives, including her brother Prince Rainer of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and head of the family, Charles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, did anything to protect her.^[8]

Her ashes were returned to her family and interred in the crypt of St Augustine's Church in Coburg.^[9]

• Alan R. Rushton Charles Edward of Saxe-Coburg : The German Red Cross and the Plan to Kill “Unfit” Citizens 1933-1945, Cambridge, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2018, 225 p. (ISBN 978-1-5275-1340-2).
• Olivier Defrance and Joseph van Loon, The Last Kohary - The life of Philipp Josias of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Royalty Digest Quarterly, no 4, 2017, p. 1-12 (ISSN 1653-5219)