A member of the banned German Catholic Peace Movement, she organised food packages for Jews deported to Poland, and travelled Germany giving assistance to Jewish families.

[2] Born Jane Hartmann in Liverpool, England, on 26 September 1900 to Robert Hartman, a marine engineer, and his wife Gertrude (née Miller).

[2] Her dissertation was on “Self-help Among the Unemployed in England and in Wales Based on English History of Ideas and Economics.”[3] Upon the death of her adoptive parents, Gertrud moved to Freiburg im Breisgau.

Each week she collected the foreign newspapers discarded by the university library in order to read the news that was not being reported in German papers.

[5] Luckner began to work full-time at the head office of the German Association of Catholic Charitable Organizations, “Caritas.” Using international contacts, she secured safe passage abroad for many refugees.

[3] In December 1941, Luckner was given a special power of attorney from Freiburg Archbishop Conrad Grober, who entrusted with tasks in the extraordinary pastoral care for so-called 'non-Aryan Catholics'.

[4] Travelling constantly, Luckner attempted to establish a national underground network through Caritas cells,[6] providing financial support to individuals and Jewish religious communities.

The German Caritas Association established the Gertrud Luckner Prize to promote social work and scientific examination of tasks and activities of voluntary welfare organizations.