[1][2] After the end of the First World War, Elsa Conrad, nicknamed "Igel" ("hedgehog"), on account of her spiky haircut, managed several businesses that became meeting places for lesbian women.

The club was exclusive and catered for Berlin's lesbian, intellectual elite; one famous guest was the actress Marlene Dietrich.

[3] When the Nazis came to power, a campaign against homosexual bars began, which in March 1933 led to the closure of the Mali und Igel and so the Monbijou.

[5] However, the authorities delayed the provision of a passport, so that the passage on the ship to East Africa that had already been booked for Conrad by her former lover, Berta Stenzel (1892–1979) expired.

[6] The book was adapted into a film Nowhere in Africa and Mechthild Grossmann (de) played a character named “Elsa Konrad”.

[7] Historian Laurie Marhoefer used the example of Conrad's life to illustrate how lesbian lives are an under-researched theme of Holocaust Studies.