Aino Rockler

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Rockler, Aino Of Bethesda Maryland, died December 23rd, 2013, of lung cancer, at the age of 88. She was the widow of Nuremburg prosecutor Walter J. Rockler, and had lived the last 47 years in Bethesda, MD. Born Aino Allekand in Estonia, she attempted to flee her homeland after it was occupied by German forces during World War II. She was caught at sea by the Nazis, and sent to a prison camp near Chemnitz, Germany in 1944. There, she performed forced labor at a munitions factory in Sigmar-Schönau, occasionally sabotaging the weapons parts on the assembly line. After the prison camp was liberated, she worked at the U.S. Army Post Exchange in Nuremburg. There, she met her future husband, a prosecutor at the War Crimes Tribunal. Walter Rockler and Aino Allekand were married in 1949, and moved to New York, later living in Alexandria, VA, Chicago, IL and Winnetka, IL before moving to Bethesda in 1966. Her husband died in 2002. They had four children, who survive them: Elliot, James, Nicolas and Julia, as well as 9 grandchildren, and 3 great-grandchildren. A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Wednesday, January 15th, at the Mansion at Strathmore, in Bethesda, Maryland. Mrs. Rockler will be laid to rest with her late husband at Arlington National Cemetery, at a time to be determined by officials there.

Published on January 12, 2014