This page cites numerous studies regarding the Jews of Herborn and the surrounding state of Essen. Primarily the source of this page comes from a work titled “The History of the Jews in Herborn from 1933 to 1943: The Annihilation of a Community” written by historian Stefan Kontra.
Another source document, titled “The Persecution, Emigration, and Annihilation of the Herborn Jews” was created by students of the Klaus Kesselgruber School and the Youth Education Project of the Lahn-Dill District and heavily cites Kontra’s report as well as utilizing many of his same sources.
The exhibition attempts to show, with the aid of documents, the sad journey, the expulsion into exile, and the extermination of the Herborn Jews. It makes plain that beginning on November 30, 1933, the Herborn Jews were exposed, step by step, to an increasing discrimination and persecution by public authorities, the Nazi Party, and also their fellow Herborners, which ended finally in expulsion and for many, in death.
Additionally, click here for a brief summary of the Jewish community of Herborn.
For mathematical reference regarding many of the financial statements in this document: one Reichsmark in 1935 has the approximate value of $5.73 in 2020. Conversion tables courtesy of the University of California at Santa Barbara.
The Jewish Community of Herborn up until 1933
The first documented mention that can pin down Jewish life in Herborn dates from the year 1377. This document referred to a house that found itself in the possession of a Christian and was described as a Jewish School (possibly formerly a synagogue). The Herborn Town Archivist, Ruediger Stoerkel, presumes that at this point in time already,
no more Jews lived in Herborn. Presumably they had fallen victims of the big pogrom from 1348-1350, as in Wetzlar. The wave of pogroms spread on the strength of specific rumors that were spread that the Jews had poisoned the wells during the plague epidemic in the middle of the 14 th century and that this caused the illness. Almost all of the Jewish communities, with the exception of a few towns (as well as areas in Austria and Bohemia), were destroyed.
Only 300 years later (1646) did the history of the Jewish community allow itself to be pursued further with the aid of documents and certificates. It is thanks to the various activities of the Herborn History Association and the Town Archivist that it was pretty well investigated: In the year 1646 the sovereign permitted a Jew from Gladenbach to
settle in Herborn. This met with the approval of the Herborn Council which, in the general settlement ban for Jews exempted by the sovereign himself, refers only 1½ decades later, in the year 1660, to the Jews obtaining the right to sell meat retail, showing that by that date Jews were again resident in Herborn. In the years 1680-1840 the synagogue of the Jewish community was situated in the house at 22 Corn Market. There is still today a Jewish bath house, or Mikva, restored or reconstructed there for visiting. The Jewish cemetery was situated between the town wall and the town cemetery until around 1700. From around 1870 the Jewish community buried their dead in the
cemetery in Au, which can still be seen today. Between 1680 and 1840 the Herborn Jewish community never numbered more than 8 households. The small community admittedly was always led by a community leader, usually a rabbi. In 1889 the community had grown to eleven households with 52 members.
When in 1933 the Nazis came to power, Herborn was the home of 92 Jewish townsmen and townswomen.
Most of Herborn’s Jews were poor. Even though several families belonged to the “middle class” e.g. the Hecht, Hattenbach, Sternberg and Seligman families, most ran small businesses. Because of the trade restrictions imposed on them, altogether they had had only narrow livelihood opportunities until Jewish emancipation. The Herborn trade guilds watched jealously over the colonial goods trade so that no Jew could penetrate it and break the monopoly. Several townsmen of Jewish origin belonged to the volunteer organizations. The cattle merchants David Löwenstein, Louis and Berthold Sternberg belonged to the volunteer fire department around the turn of the century. One of the founders of the volunteer fire department was the watchmaker, Aaron Lucas. There was a member named Löwenstein on the Herborn soccer SV in 1920. A document from the Nazi time gives evidence that at least 2 members of the Social Democratic Party were of Jewish origin.
These association memberships of a few Jewish inhabitants was frequently cited as evidence that the Herborn Jews had become integrated into the life [of the community].
Presumably however, they were also exposed, during their centuries of history in Herborn, to antisemitism and hostility toward Jews, for it is undeniable “…the hostility toward Jews was a more or less latent settled component of Western Christian culture and remains strong in remnants still… the Jews were the minority par excellence in the
Christian West.” (Strauss/Kampe Hrsg. Antisemitismus, Bonn 1985, p.15).
Election Results of the last Free Reichstag Elections for Herborn
Reichstag 1932 I Reichstag 1932 II Reichstag 1933 National Socialist German Worker Party 1663 votes 54.9% 1457 votes 48.7% 1854 votes 57.0% Social Democratic Party 637 votes 21.0% 556 votes 18.6% 551 votes 16.9% Communist KPD Party 171 votes 5.6% 247 votes 8.3% 150 votes 4.6%
The People of Herborn elected the National Socialists and their allied parties with a big majority in 1933. That brought to the Jewish population a time of persecution and expulsion from their home.
On April 31, 1933, the NSDAP called for a boycott of Jewish businesses throughout the country. Obviously the NSDAP in Herborn sought to organize the action locally. The boycott was meant by the Nazis to exclude the German Jews from the economy. After that the Nazis left it at that, this one-time unprecedented action, because even they came to realize that an immediate and radical exclusion of Jewish trade must have considerable negative consequences for the whole economy. The displacement of the Jews from the economy, culture and public life was to be begun later in a planned and organized manner. The source material concerning Herborn in the action is very scanty, so that no evidence could be found relevant to how “successful” the boycott was.
After the 4/1/33 action, boycotting continued extensively but quietly, concerning the part played by different areas of the country, either through participation or turning a blind eye. There continued to be open actions from the ranks of the Party.
A document of February 17, 1934 includes that in a summons from the District Council, the cattle dealer, Louis Suesskind makes a complaint on the record.
I know for sure that in all the rural communities of the Dill Region, the local agricultural leader is instructed to openly give out to have no dealings with Jews. The local agricultural leader (…) In Erdbach said to me, himself, that he had an order regarding this in his pocket. Who gave this order, I don’t know. But I am aware that the local agricultural leader (…) announced this order in Erdbach in the school, to the long established townspeople. Such requests were announced in almost all the rural communities of the Dill Region, in several cases even accompanied by the ringing of the town bell.
This process caused the District to direct the mayors of the area, “ to abstain from any future action that can be considered as forbidden economic intervention.” (StAW410/543)
It refers to a decree of 9/1/33 by the State Economics Minister concerning the particularly powerful boycott action against Jews, defined as an inadmissable intrusion into economic life.
Such “unauthorized” measures produced, as early as the action of April 1 itself, negative reactions abroad, to which the authorities were not indifferent. In addition, according to public and Party authorities, the arbitrariness led to negative consequences in the economy (e.g. unemployment due to reverses in Jewish businesses, and foreign
currency problems) which were unacceptable in view of the continuing economic crisis situation. That was what the exemption, to which the Council referred in its decree, was derived from. However that did not mean that now economic discrimination, sanctions and assaults stopped. It was never a “good time” for the Jewish population. Evidence of this are the occurrences from 1936 to 1939.
On December 27, 1936, The Dillenburg District informed District Leader Scheyer that, “Local Councillor Driedmann Mueller from Münchausen…, who had partnered with Jewish businesses on the occasion of the Martini Market in Herborn, must step down as Councillor. This was requested in accordance with #52 paragraph 2 of the German Community Order enacted during the so-called “Direct Connection” [Gleichschaltung] allowing the appointment of a replacement.” (StAW 483/4171 b)
On April 19, 1937, the Commissioner of the NSDAP of the Dillenburg District wrote,
that the Borough Justice… (from) Münchausen had sold a cow to the Jew, Daly Meir, in Herborn some time before, and through the dealership of one Wilhelm Ciliox, Herborn.
I ask you to have the Borough Justice questioned, to whom was the cow sold? If he sold it to the Jew, Meir, the question must be considered, whether he can remain as Borough Justice. But if he sold it to Wilhelm Ciliox, Herborn, Ciliox must be punished as he has no trading permit for that.
Please send me the result of his testimony.
Heil Hitler!
~Scheyer’(StAW 4834171 b)
On January 6, 1939, the District Officer of the NSDAP wrote to the Mademühlen area group that from the customer book of the Jew, Sternberg, confiscated in Herborn during the “Jew action” (i.e. in the course of the November 9, 1938 pogrom) it emerges that, in all, 5 persons from Mademühlen or Münchhausen had done business with Sternberg. The Business Officer continued:
I request that you order and make clear very energetically to the people concerned from the Office of the District Group, the position of National Socialism. If a Party member is found to be named, it is in accordance with Party regulations to take action against him. Should one of them hold an honorable public office, a recall should immediately be executed.
~ (StAW 483/4171a)
Jews and Jewesses who were politically active or of an activist nature were especially suspiciously spied on.
An undated list, probably drawn up around 1935/36 (StAW 483/4206a) reports the Herborn Jews, Martin Levi and Walter Mayer as previous members of the SPD and as “politically unreliable”.
Boycott Order of the NSDAP to the Rank and File
In each local group and subordinate organization of the NSDAP, Action Committees are to be formed immediately for practical detailed planning for carrying out the boycott of Jewish businesses, doctors and law practices.
The Action Committees must popularize the boycott through explanation and propaganda. Principle: No German is to ever buy from a Jew, or allow himself or his subordinates to recommend [Jewish] merchandise. The boycott must be universal. It will be carried out by the whole populace and is designed to strike at Jewry in its most sensitive spot.
The Action Committees must be sent into the smallest farming village, in order to strike the Jewish dealers especially in the flat country. Essentially, always stress that, for us, it is a matter of self-defense measures that we have been forced into.
Moreover, it is necessary as never before that the whole Party stand as one man behind the leadership. National Socialists! Saturday at 10 o’clock the Jews will know who it is with whom they have picked a fight.
The Pogrom of November 9, 1938
The boycott measure and harassment against Jewish fellow townspeople worsened visibly. On November 30, 1938, Jewish lawyers lost their licenses; beginning October 5, internal passports had to be identified with a “J” and on October 28, 17,000 stateless Jews were driven out of Germany over the border into Poland. This action affected the family of Herschel Grynszpan, who, therefore, shot dead a member of the German Embassy in Paris, to protest this injustice. This incident served the Nazis as a welcome reason to carry on the campaign against the Jews consistently and now carry out the pogrom night.
The occurrences during the pogrom of November 8, 1938 – the Nazis called it National Kristallnacht [broken glass night] – are only comprehensible for Herborn with difficulty. The reports are contradictory and the original sources are worse than poor. It is certain that the Synagogue was ravaged. Whether this took place on November 9 or November 10, or from the 10th to the 11th is hard to reconstruct.
“Without one Jew having one hair twisted” wrote the local newspaper. Admittedly, former Herborners, who as Jews survived the Nazi regime, see it very much differently. In the context of a joint project between the Lahn-Dill District Youth Education and a youth group led by the former Herborn curate, Schmidt, in 1988, Elfriede Klater, Fred
Sternberg and Betty Sternberg described in personal letters the events as seen through the eyes of children in Jewish families.
Elfriede Klater wrote:
On that day, I had religious instruction at the Synagogue. On the way there someone said to me, ‘Elfriede go home; the Synagogue is on fire.’ I went home and told my mother, who then forbade me to leave the house. Being a child, I could not understand why. On the same night, the 8 th-9th of November, 1938, the SS and the Gestapo came to us. We were already in bed and I don’t know what time it was. We heard them come up the stairs and immediately knew that the Nazis were coming because we recognized the sound of the boots. It was several of them. They kicked the door open and asked first for my father, but he was in Siegen, to buy there new guts and skins, and wasn’t expected home until at least the next day. When my Grandpa asked what they wanted, they took the old man, with his 80 years, and pushed him into the next room. They said to him, ‘We don’t need you, old Jew.’
Afterwards they beat him up all over. My mother said to them that my father would report to them immediately at the Town Hall as soon as he returned. One of these men lived in Auf der Muhlbach [Mill Stream Street or neighborhood]; I played with his daughter all the time. Maybe other people were there who used to call themselves our friends. It is also possible that my elders told me their names, but I have forgotten them in the meantime and my dear Mother has been dead for 22 years and my dear Father since March 1987.
When my father came back from Siegen on November 9, 1938, he immediately went to the Town Hall. Toward evening my mother sent me to the Town Hall with something to eat. There a man told me that my father wasn’t there anymore, but rather with the other Jews in a train to be transported away….
Betti Sternberg (Ken’s aunt) reported:
… In the so-called National Kristallnacht all the windows in our house were smashed with big stones. My father was taken into so-called protective custody and was locked up for 2 days in the Herborn Town Hall.
From there he was transported to Frankfurt into the armory and then to Buchenwald concentration camp. Thanks be to God, he came home from there, half starved and sick in body and soul. He was only set free because I sent in his decorations and the Iron Cross from the first World War and then only on condition that he would remain in Germany no longer than 3 weeks.”
Already in 1938, state authorities and Nazi organizations acted together closely. The November terror was organized with German thoroughness.
There is evidence that Max Sternberg and Hugo Löwenstein were abducted into a concentration camp. Hugo Löwenstein was only released from the concentration camp on January 18, 1939, and emigrated in April of the same year to England.
The Herborner Tageblatt [daily paper] wrote in its 11/11/38 edition:
Fierce Indignation and Revulsion
The news of the death of the German Envoy First Class, Herm vom Rath, in Paris, has aroused the deepest pain and grief in the German community and in ourselves. It is completely understandable if the fiercest indignation and deepest revulsion against the Jewish assassin Grünspan [sic] and his racial community makes itself noticed. It
hasn’t in the least come to riots, but the excited crowds in the streets of the city coalesced in a threatening manner. In the course of these days the houses of all the Jewish families have been searched for any weapons, without one Jew having one hair twisted.
Kommandantur
bcss. State Concentration Camps Oranienburg,1/18/1939
Sachsenhausen
RELEASE [unable to read the rest due to old typescript]The Jew Hugo Löwenstein Born on 5/8/99
in Herborn was from 11/12/38 to 1/18/1939 put in a concentration camp
The release took place on 1/18/1939
His conduct was
[can’t read]:
He was [something xxx’d out]
to the local police authority of his home District and so forth
[more xxx’d out]
to report The Camp Commander
[Illegible round stamp with eagle] [Illegible signature]
___________________
[SS lightning symbol] Oberführer[Illegible illegible] Oranienburg
~Herborn files
The Pressure to Emigrate Increases
During the following period the pressure on the Jewish community increased. The N-S regime organized their step-by-step exclusion from all societal fields. Citizenship was denied them; the Nuremburg race laws and the prescribed execution of these laws were defined. Whoever is a Jew loses his occupation and source of livelihood; he becomes locked out from the cultural or social life.
Organized state pressure, combined with an open enmity against Jews on the part of an increasing sector of the population, marked their living situation.
Only a few relevent documents referring to Herborn have been preserved. An impression of how the life of the Herborn Jews changed is portrayed in the memories of Elfriede Klater and the Sternberg brother and sister.
Betti Sternberg writes:
The situation of the Jews became worse almost daily. Gradually almost all my friends joined the various Nazi Party groups. They were so indoctrinated against Jews that they would no longer have any contact with me. Once while taking a walk with my parents, I was hit and stepped on by a young man. He screamed at me: ‘You damned Jewish sow, are you still here?’ It was clear to us that we could no longer live in such a country, where so much hatred prevailed and so much injustice was allowed.
Her brother, Fred Sternberg made up his mind, already in 1936, to emigrate. This decision was very difficult for him and his family.
But I had no choice: almost all my Christian school friends and Aryan professional colleagues with whom I had lived in the most perfect harmony for as long as I could remember, would not acknowledge any acquaintance with me and treated me like a leper. I couldn’t bear that
writes Sternberg. An experience that he could never forget portrays the shocking atmosphere against the Jews already in 1936:
In August 1936, before I went away into exile, I happened to meet a former ‘friend’ and schoolfellow in the Bahnhofstrasse [Rail Station St.] in front of St. Leonard’s Tower. When I wanted to say ‘goodbye’ to him, he refused to shake my hand.
By “emigration” we chiefly mean chasing away into exile, which was tied up with the robbery of all the “emigrant”’s assets. Of course, fleeing protected them from physical destruction. Still the price was high which Jews had to pay for life alone. Many had to leave behind friends and relatives who later came into the extermination system. Many would not or could not pay this price; they wanted to remain in their ancestral homeland. Others repeatedly made emigration applications and nevertheless did not escape death.
The kinds of fates that are hidden behind the term “emigration” can be evidenced with the aid of the thousands of emigration documents of the Foreign Currency Authority which are found in the Hesse Government archives in Wiesbaden.
The Family of Simon Friedemann
Simon Friedemann was born on December 4, 1875 in Katzenfurt near Herborn. His wife Karoline, born on May 19, 1878, came from Laasphe. From their marriage they had two children, Erich and Irma. Erich was born on October 18, 1905 in Katzenfurt, Irma was born on December 26, 1907 in Ehringshausen. Both children survived the Holocaust in exile. The parents remained in Germany and became victims of the deportations to the east. Erich Friedemann married on November 30, 1937 and lived with his wife and her parents until emigration on February 10, 1938. Irma married Beni Grünebaum and moved to Düdelsheim. Her daughter Betti was born on April 17, 1934. The Grünebaum family moved to their parents in Herborn in November 1938. In autumn 1939, the daughter and her family were still able to leave Germany.
The family’s economic base was Simon Friedemann’s cattle shop, which he ran on Burger Landstrasse in Herborn. After finishing elementary school in Katzenfurt in 1891, he went to the advanced training school until 1893 and then began training as a horse dealer. He founded his own cattle shop in Ehringshausen in 1905 and ran it – only interrupted by his participation in the First World War from 1914/15 to 1918 – until 1936. His son Erich later went into it:
The company was absolutely good, we had good things to do, we had visited the markets far and wide, we had subordinates and people and we were known in the area and beyond for the sale of horses and cows. It was a respected company with a good value.
Since August 30, 1926, the family was finally based in Herborn and, due to the good behavior, acquired a house plot in the inner city of a house on Kornmarkt 5. Not much information was available on the company’s income. The following profits are shown from the trade tax documents of the city of Herborn from 1927 to 1932: 600 Reichsmarks in 1931 and 240 Reichsmarks in 1932. The magistrate further notes:
From the fact that F. is no longer listed in the tax documents from 1934 (the lists for 1933 are no longer available), it can be seen that he already ceased trading at the end of 1932 or in 1933. According to the consistent statements of some Herborner citizens, it is not true that F. had employed foreign workers in his business. Only his son Erich worked in the business, which was operated only in a very modest amount …
In this case – as is so often the case – there is a statement against a statement. However, it seems certain that the annual income in normal times must have been more than 600 Reichsmarks if the family was able to buy a house and also maintain the business property in the Burger Landstasse.
For the assets of Simon Friedemann there is a list of July 10, 1939 in the foreign exchange file, in which the total assets of 912 Reichsmarks and 150 Reichsmarks are stated. In the list of assets in form Dev. VI 3 No. 2 of March 5, 1940, the total assets consisted only of 599 Reichsmarks. The rest of the property was used up by 1941 and on May 23, 1941 Simon Friedemann asked the foreign exchange office “S” to open the secured account, “… since I have almost no assets left, the continued existence of this account is pointless. I now receive monthly RM from the Reich Association of Jews in Germany Berzirksstelle Frankfurt, 50 Reichsmarks support”.
In the middle of 1941 the Friedemann family had no wealth. The proverbial expropriation of the property shows how quickly the nation robbed families like the Friedemanns. For the 3-story house at Kornmarkt 5, Simon Friedemann effectively received 800 Reichsmarks. The purchase contract was concluded on December 12, 1938 between the Friedemann couple and the R. couple. From the purchase price, which was only 35,000 Reichsmarks, a mortgage of 2500 Goldmarks was paid, so that in the end only 800 Reichsmarks were paid out.
The Friedemann family was assured that they were allowed to stay in the house until their emigration was approved, but on September 18, 1939 they were forcibly expelled from the house at Kornmarkt 5 and had to leave some furniture there. The city assigned them a small apartment at Chaldäergasse 11, which they lived in until their deportation on August 28, 1942.
The Hattenbach Family
Joseph Hattenbach, born on May 19, 1877 in Hoof near Kassel, owned a large country product store in Hombergstrasse in the Bahnhofsviertel district of Frankfurt. He lived with his wife, Rosa, born on June 15, 1883 in Volkmarsen, and with his two children Fritz and Grete in a large apartment building at Dillstrasse 15, which he acquired in 1923
The Jewish fellow citizens Hattenbach and Seligmann did the same [trade]. Hattenbach, a tall, heavy man with thick horn-rimmed glasses at the time, always saluted on all sides.
The Hattenbachs were regarded as respected businesspeople in Herborn, whose country products dealings were of considerable size. Joseph Hattenbach also built a large modern warehouse on Hombergstrasse, in 1926. His son Fritz, born on December 23, 1908, later helped in the fatherly business. Fritz left Germany at the end of 1935 and had to start a new life in South Africa. He later expressed bitterly about the circumstances of his emigration:
As a result of the forced emigration – which at least saved my bare life – my existence, which was rooted in my father’s business, was also lost. As is known, all Jewish emigrants were only allowed to take the princely sum of 10 Reichsmark over the border. Due to my reputation, which had not been compromised until then, the police administration authorized me to take another 50 Reichsmark, which fact was noted in my passport. These six thousand German Reichspfennige (pennies) represent everything I took from Germany.
Joseph’s daughter Margarethe, born on May 17, 1912, trained as a kindergarten teacher in the neighboring town of Wetzlar until 1933. After the Nazi seizure of power, she was unable to find a job. She later immigrated to Belgium and married there on October 18, 1938.
Fritz stated that the annual income from the business amounted to around 10,000 to 20,000 Reichsmarks. In contrast, the city of Herborn only speaks of a “small to medium-sized business”, the commercial income is given as follows.
Year Trade Income 1930 4,350.00 RM 1931 2,880.00 RM 1932 2,200.00 RM 1933 unknown 1934 0.00 RM 1935 0.00 RM
According to information from the city in the same letter, the business was also discontinued in 1935. This coincides with the other sources. The business also no longer appears in the Dillkreis population register from 1938 and the remark “Pensioner” is added to the Hattenbach entry. The shop also no longer appears in the so-called “Directory of Jewish Companies” from August 1938. It can be assumed that Joseph Hattenbach later lived from his saved fortune. The commercial income stated by the city appears to be of little significance if one does not take the years of the economic crisis into account. The IHK Dillenburg estimated the average annual income before 1933 to be about 6,000 to 8,000 Reichsmarks.
The Hattenbach family also placed a departure request from Herborn. When Joseph Hattenbach gave up his business, he had a total of 47261 Reichsmarks, which he later stated to the foreign exchange office “S”. The family gave all their assets, 45,608.00 Reichsmarks , to the Foreign Currency Authority on October 5, 1938. (StAW JS 728) This consisted of their home, the warehouse with stock and a plot of land, as well as outstanding business debts and (probably) also the business bank account, but only small savings book amounts as well as a little cash. Also the FCA issued a protection order over their possessions. The bank and savings accounted for only 2958 Reichsmarks. When the Hattenbach couple were murdered, the Reich Treasury still confiscated securities worth 17,537.50 Reichsmarks and 1020 Reichsmarks from bank accounts.
Writing on October 12, 1938, Joseph Hattenbach asked permission to send to his daughter, staying in Brussels on a study visit, her trousseau consisting of underwear and used furniture. (StAW JS 728) This occurrence makes vivid in how degrading a manner the regulations of the FCA intervened in the lives of the people.
On March 30, 1939 Hattenbach wrote to the FCA requesting a note
By which I am authorized 8,900.00 Reichsmark to pay the Jewish transfer of assets to the Finance Bureau of Dillenburg.
~(StAW JS 728)
“The Jewish transfer of assets” refers to a decree by the government in the followup to the November pogrom of 1938, stating that a billion Reichsmark were to be squeezed out of the German Jewish community. The Hattenbach family were no longer allowed to withdraw the smallest amounts by themselves. On 10/9/1940 Joseph Hattenbach wrote to the FCA:
Mrs. Emma Hirschland, Brussels, my wife’s aunt, asks me to disperse RM 5.50 to the police headquarters in Frankfurt am Main for a copy of a Certificate of Good Conduct for her grandson, Alfred Herz, who is interned. The document is necessary for his emigration overseas. Mrs. Hirschland has lived for some time in Brussels and has very little money. I’m asking to be granted the specified small amount to pay to the above-mentioned place.
~(StAW JS 728)
When the war broke out, living conditions for the parents in Herborn and for Margarethe in Brussels became worse. Margarethe has a 10 month old child, but her husband has been interned as a German citizen since the outbreak of the war. She is almost destitute. Joseph Hattenbach asks permission to transfer RM 600.00 to her account to help with her support. (StAW JS 728)
Here the trace of the family is lost. It is only known that Joseph and Rosa Hattenbach were taken from Herborn to Frankfurt am Main on August 28, 1942 to the Wholesale Grocer’s Market ‘collection point’. According to information from the Nassau Savings Bank, the remaining credit was withdrawn from the family account in the amount of 1020 Reichsmarks in favor of the German Reich and the securities account was released on September 10 and 11, 1942. Rosa Hattenbach was murdered in Theresienstadt on September 20, 1942.
On October 10, 1942 the Hattenbach file was closed with the standard written form:
Order (based on the Gestapo lists of evacuated Jews)
Subj.: assets of Jews evacuated to the East
and the entire remaining assets were confiscated for the aid of the German state. (StAW 728) Near the end of the war, on February 14, 1944, Joseph Hattenbach was killed in a mass murdering of Jews imprisoned at Theresienstadt. The eventual fate of Margarethe and her family is not known.
The Hecht Family
Very little source material has been preserved about Leopold Hecht and his wife Selma. This is not least due to the fact that the couple remained childless and there were therefore no family members who could have emigrated and who could have applied for compensation after the war. This leaves only the foreign exchange file about the Hecht family, which can provide a glimpse of information about the fate of Leopold and Selma Hecht.
Leopold Hecht was born on November 15, 1862 in Rennerod. His wife Selma, born on December 31, 1876 in Frankfurt am Main, was 14 years younger than him. Leopold Hecht was one of the most respected citizens of Herborn and had owned a men’s clothing store in a central location on Hauptstrasse 80 since 1896. You could regularly read his advertisements in the Herborner Tageblatt (local paper) – especially on the big annual markets such as the Martinimarkt (German market festival). A congratulatory article in the Herborner Tageblatt dated November 14, 1932 shows the high reputation Leopold Hecht enjoyed in Herborn:
Merchant Leopold Hecht turns 70 tomorrow, Tuesday. We would also like to congratulate Mr. Hecht on the good health and happiness he will enjoy on his birthday. The business he founded in 1896 has led to the satisfaction of his entire clientele to this day. Mr. Hecht comes from Rennerod and has been living in Herborn for more than 40 years. He has made a lot of friends here through a straight and sincere manner, which is paired with real physicality, and he is enjoying great esteem in all circles. Mr. Hecht is the cultural leader of the Israelite community for 33 years and he belongs to the relief committee for 13 years. May his beneficial effects last for many more years.
Leopold Hecht remained the leader of the Jewish community in Herborn until its end. The extent to which Leopold was integrated into the urban community is not only reflected in the capacity as cultural leader of the Israelite community, but especially in his membership in the relief committee. The relief committee was particularly involved during the World Economic Church for the needy of the city. In addition to this involvement in the community, another memorable side of Leopold Hecht is expressed in Walter Schwann’s memories:
Leopold Hecht owned a textile shop in the current Beckfeld estate. As far as I know, his business was continued by the S. family [unknown which S. family he refers to]. At the Hecht household, we got “Matzen” on every occasion as children. Frau Hecht had prepared for this and was taking precautions. Leopold has been rumored to have a lot of female customers, that has never been proven. [?]
However that may have been! It becomes clear that Leopold Hecht’s business went well. With the seizure of power by the Nazis, this changed fundamentally. There is no advertisement for his business in the newspaper; now the Herborner Tageblatt completely refrains from even mentioning the existence of the business. Unfortunately, the tax documents in Herborn were destroyed in Herborn after the flood disaster in 1984, so that it is no longer possible to reconstruct the income from the business. But you can get an impression by comparing the store with Max Sternberg’s clothing store. Both shops – located in the same branch – were in a convenient location on the main street and both shops advertised on the large side in the Herborner Tageblatt. If you leave the rental income at Max Sternberg disregarded, you get an annual income of around 6000 Reichsmarks. Leopold Hecht’s income is likely to have been similar.
The business no longer existed at the latest in 1938. For reasons of age, it’s like Leopold had given up the manufactured goods store. In any case, it does not appear in the “Directory of Jewish Enterprises” in Herborn on August 23, 1938. However, Leopold Hecht is still listed as a merchant in the Dillkreis population register for 1938, whereas no business is mentioned in the business directory.
Not much is known about the Hecht’s final fate. They had no real property, and they had probably rented the apartment and the business premises at Hauptstrasse 80. While Leopold Hecht seems to have been spared the concentration camp detention after the Reichspogrom, not much else can be gathered from the foreign exchange file. On February 16, 1939, a provisional security order was left. The couple’s liquid assets amounted to 2,700 Reichsmarks and about 7,000 Reichsmarks in securities. In August 1940 there were only 380 Reichsmarks left of the liquid assets and the monthly allowance was reduced from 500 Reichsmarks to 400. In September 1942, after the deportation of the Hecht family on August 28, 1942, the rest of the property was confiscated by the Nazis.
After their deportation to Theresienstadt in August 1942, Leopold and his sister Lina (now Lina Rosenbaum) were murdered on September 19, 1942. Leopold’s wife, Selma, was taken to Treblinka, where all record of her ends.
Mr. Philipp Katzenstein
Philipp Katzenstein belongs to the group of Jewish residents who only moved to Herborn after the November pogrom. Folks like Philipp probably believed they could better protect themselves from the riots in other communities or were safer in a small country town, or they might have relatives in Herborn where they could find accommodation until emigration.
The latter was the case with Philipp Katzenstein when he arrived in Herborn on November 25, 1938 – coming from Volkmarsen. His daughter Rosa, born on June 15, 1883, had married to the Hattenbach family in Herborn and had made a living there with her husband. Now the 91-year-old Philipp Katzenstein found a home in the house of the Hattenbach couple. From there he planned to emigrate to the USA – together with his son Paul, who lived in Münster in Westphalia, as evidenced by a letter to the foreign exchange office “S” dated January 16, 1939:
I intend to emigrate at the end of February or in the month of March with my son Paul Israel Katzenstein from Münster in Westphalia to Little Fells in North America. I need 1000 Reichsmark to prepare this project and also to make a living for the time being…
But nothing came of the emigration plans, only his son managed to escape from Germany with the help of his father. Phillipp Katzenstein’s foreign exchange file documents how the Nazi authorities harassed a 91-year-old man and robbed him of his fortune. In May, Phillip Katzenstein found a place in the Jewish old people’s home in Bad Nauheim and on May 31, 1939 he left Herborn for Bad Nauheim. Two days earlier he wrote to the foreign exchange agency “S”:
… I am in my 91st year and go to the Jewish retirement home on June 1st. I therefore ask you to approve the following. Remaining amounts for my invoice to the Dresdner Bank Bad Nauheim will be transferred to a free account. All of my children have already emigrated. The last one, my son-in-law, is also shortly leaving. Since I then no longer have any requests to release my small fortune, it is necessary that the above small fortune be transferred to a free account. I will then contest my livelihood from this account as needed.
In December 1939 Philipp Katzenstein died in the Jewish retirement home in Bad Nauheim.
Over the years Philipp Katzenstein achieved modest prosperity in Herborn. Even before the Reich pogrom, he agreed with the city administration of Volkmarsen on August 30, 1938, for a purchase price of 9,200 Reichsmarks for his house plot in Volkmarsen. Excluding this amount from the house sale, he does not seem to have had any other bank deposits. However, there are two more letters of approval from the senior president (State Department of Culture) in Kassel in Philipp’s foreign exchange file: the town of Volksmarsen bought an arable land-hold valued at 380 Reichsmarks, and the married couple ‘S’ bought a garden plot for 1020.60 Reichsmark, approved by the town of Volksmarsen. Philipp Katzenstein’s total assets can therefore be assumed to be at least 10,600.60 Reichsmark.
He paid about 2,000 Reichsmark for the so-called Jewish property tax. He also transferred 2,000 Reichsmarks to his son in Münster as a share of the house’s purchase price. For the emigration projects, the foreign exchange office provided him with a total of 2,491.25 Reichsmarks, with which his son Paul used to emigrate his family.
When Philipp Katzenstein moved to the Jewish retirement home in Bad Nauheim in June 1939, he still had around 3,500 Reichsmarks left. On June 4, 1940, son-in-law Joseph Hattenbach wrote to the foreign exchange office “S”:
I send you the papers regarding the security arrangement for my father-in-law Philipp Israel Katzenstein back again. The man died at the age of 91 in December 1939. His last place of residence was in Bad Nauheim & I received the same documents from the Darmstadt foreign exchange office for the same purpose a long time ago. I also informed the Darmstadt office that Mr. Philipp Israel Katzenstein died in December & then the foreign exchange office reclaimed the forms. The latest tax return and income paperwork was submitted to the tax office of Friedberg / Hessen. The fortune is still a few thousand marks.
The Family of Alexander Korsunsky
The history of the Korsunsky family is unique for Herborn in that Alexander Korsunsky was the only immigrant from Eastern Europe after the First World War. He was born on November 20, 1894 in Tszigirin in Ukraine. He took part in the First World War on the Russian side and in doing so he was taken prisoner by the Germans. In the war prison in Wetzlar, in the Herborn area, he met his later wife Dorothea, last name Kreger. Because they lived in “mixed marriage” – according to Nazi terminology – Alexander Korsunsky was no less exposed to the persecution of the Nazis, but most likely this would protect him from being deported to the East.
On July 14, 1920, they married and moved to Herborn. As a trained watchmaker, he founded a watch and jewelry store in Herborn. In the years of the Weimar Republic, he must have run a good business because it was possible for him to rent a shop in Hauptstrasse 58 soon – in the best business location. The recordings of Walter Schwahn – a Social Democratic Party supporter during the Weimar years and a member of the “Reichsbanner Black-Red-Gold” [a political organization seeking to legitimize the Republic government] – also show that Korsunsky was well integrated into Herborn society:
Franz Korsunsky (the “short fifteen”) was a watch and goldware dealer in the later house of the Thomas family next to the Cafe Orania. He counted himself among a clique that made a lot of talk about itself in the twenties with its pranks. He is said to have carted a load of gold and crystal goods into the Berkenhoff house after a phone call, but nobody knows what happened next…
In 1932 Alexander received German citizenship, which the Nazis were soon to withdraw. Since the Nazis came to power in 1933, Alexander lived more or less off of the sale of his warehouse. However, the business only came to a halt in 1938. In the foreign exchange file there is a letter from August 3, 1938 by the graduate in business Friedrich Würz, in which it says succinctly:
After checking the documents and receipts presented to me by Mr. Korsunsky, Herborn, I can declare that all of the above obligations have been settled by payment on August 3, 1938. The liquidation of the company Alexander Korsunsky, Herborn has ended.
The business only existed formally in the handicraft role, as evidenced by a list from November 28, 1938. In the summer of 1938, however, it was no longer included in the “Directory of Jewish Enterprises” in Herborn, and Alexander and Dorothea Korsunsky began plans to emigrate in August 1938. On November 1, 1938, however, Alexander Korsunsky was among those arrested and taken to the Buchenwald concentration camp. There he was released on December 3, 1938, on condition that he leave Germany by January 31, 1939 at the latest. Therefore, with the help of the St. Rafael Club, he tried to emigrate to Brazil via Holland. On February 1, 1939, he reached Holland, where the occupying German Wehrmacht again exposed him to the Nazis in 1940. Emigration had now become impossible and as a Jew living in intermarriage, Alexander Korsunsky began suffering a number of forced labor camps in Holland:
After the capitulation of Holland, the German police took me to the Horn penitentiary on the Zuiderzee. From there I came to the Westerburg-Trene camp. On July 13, 1942, I was released with the obligation to move to another apartment in Amsterdam that was assigned to me, to accept no employment and to be in the apartment constantly between 8:00PM and 6:00 in the morning. On April 5th, 1943 I was arrested again and taken to the Westerburg camp. Because of illness from pneumonia I was released from here again on July 14th, 1945, but I was obliged to sterilize and return to work after restoring my health. I was able to avoid the sterilization with cunning. After my recovery, I was occupied with heavy, unfamiliar work as an earth-worker and dock-worker until I was taken to the Grote-Kehen [Havelte] camp on the North Sea in early 1944, where I was employed by bunkers and fortifications. From there I came to a RAD [Reich Labor Service, an organization employing poor Germans and forced-laborers] camp after the ice front at Zuiderzee and was busy building the airfield. Because I was almost ruined by the heavy, unfamiliar, physical work – but did not want to break completely just before the end of the war – I made the decision to flee and to hide until the end of the war. On October 13th, 1945 I managed to escape from the Havelte camp and I was able to hide under the wrong name until the arrival of the Allies, I lived under the name Nodrod in Amsterdam.
His wife Dorothea moved to Wiesbaden while her husband emigrated to Holland and worked there as a housekeeper. The Gestapo arrested and interrogated her several times. Due to the physical and mental agony she was unable to work after the war and lived in Herborn for a short time.
There are two sources of income from the business: Alexander Korsunsky states his monthly income before 1933 at around 350 to 400 Reichsmarks. The city council of Herborn wrote the following information on January 8, 1952 to the compensation authority:
Year Trade tax on income 1930 1,450.00 RM 1930 840.00 RM 1931 not assessed 1932 not assessed 1933 2,143.00 RM
However, the city made further interesting statements about the business of Alexander Korsunsky, which reveals much of the city’s attitude towards Nazism:
Mr. Korsunski was so fair to take the boycott on his own and relocated his shop in favor of the house owner, in whose house he stayed with his consent until he emigrated from Germany, to a less inexpensive and respectable shop, which first had to be restored through great effort and his own resources. The extent to which the boycott against Jewish shops and craftsmen affected Korsunski’s existence and income cannot be determined by the local authorities due to a lack of documentation …
Alexander Korsunsky confirms this information from his point of view:
At the instigation of the NSDAP, at the end of 1935 I had to exchange my conveniently located shop in Herborn for a shop that was less suitable for my circumstances. In 1937, because I was forced to liquidate, I had to give up this shop and – in order for my wife to live, and our other obligations, rent payments, etc. -I was forced sell my shop and workshop equipment at bargain prices.
The inventory decreased by about 30 percent, the inventory of tools and inventory by as much as 75 percent. Expressed in absolute terms, the assets decreased by 3,096.30 Reichsmarks, which corresponds to an annual loss of 1,032.10 Reichsmarks and meant a monthly loss of assets of 86 Reichsmarks.
The Korsunskys had been trying to emigrate since mid-August and intended to emigrate to South America via Holland. The wife Dorothea therefore sold the home furnishings, which consisted of a kitchen, living room and bedroom, for a total of 800 Reichsmarks. A list of the goods to be moved was also submitted to the foreign exchange office “S” in Frankfurt am Main, with the request that they be given permission to take them with them. After paying a “Jewish emigration tax” of 300 Reichsmarks, the Korsunsky couple could have emigrated. But with the Kristallnacht in November 1938 everything changed.
The Family of Fritz Levi
Fritz Levi lived in Herborn since his birth on February 18, 1905. He lived in an apartment at Oranienstrasse 3 with his wife Selma, maiden name Hirsch, and ran a feed and country products store. Their son Josef Levi was born on May 20, 1933 and their daughter Charlotte on April 24, 1933. Next door to Fritz was his father Meier Levi, born on October 28, 1872 in Katzenfurt, with his wife Berta, maiden name Dannheisser, in Oranienstrasse 3. They were probably also running the feed and country products store listed on Dillstrasse until at least August 1938.
The family had social democratic traditions. Father Meier Levi was integrated into the Herborner Society and was a member of the city council from 1924 and 1926 to 1929. Fritz Levi’s brother Martin was also one of the SPD members, especially since he was classified as “politically unreliable” in a list that was probably created [by Nazis] in 1935 or 1936. Martin Levi left Herborn relatively early, in 1938 he did not appear in any of the population statistics.
No documents have survived about the business, so any statements about the assets and size of the business are impossible. In the compensation file for Fritz Levi there are general statements that the business went “very well” until 1933 and that an annual income of at least 10,000 Reichsmarks had been achieved. No conclusions can be drawn from this information about the business or the assets. There is also no further information in foreign exchange files 4082/39 and JS 4633.
In 1939 there is an indication that Fritz Levi was employed as an auxiliary worker until shortly before his emigration, which means that the business must have been liquidated after the 1938 pogrom. On August 15, 1939, Fritz Levi was removed as “emigrated” from the statistics of the “Movement of Jewish Residents in the Herborn Community”. In his foreign exchange file 4082/39 there is a precise list of his moving goods, which consisted of 2 suitcases of luggage and a handbag.
Fritz’s children came to England on a children’s transport in May 1939. His wife stayed behind and was transported on June 10, 1942. The last years after the departure of her husband and children, Selma lived with her mother-in-law Berta Levi together with the Hattenbachs in Oranienstrasse 3. By selling her furniture, she was able to earn a few hundred Reichsmarks for living, which were deposited in a blocked account with the Nassau Savings Bank. Meier Levi moved penniless to Frankfurt am Main on November 2, 1940, leaving his wife and daughter-in-law behind. It is only possible to speculate about the reasons for leaving Herborn. Most likely, like many other Jews in the rural communities, he also believed that his family could emigrate better from Frankfurt. According to the property declaration on the security order dated July 31, 1940, his property consisted of only 120 Reichsmarks. On August 6, 1940, the foreign exchange office “S” relieved him of the obligation to open a limited security account. On September 15, 1942, Meier Levi shared the fate of his wife and was deported from Frankfurt am Main to Theresienstadt.
The Löwenstein Family
David and Rosa Löwenstein lived in Herborn since the 19th century. Born on September 25, 1866 in Langendernbach, the son of the cattle dealer Jakob Löwenstein and Bette Strauss, David Löwenstein became a prestigious cattle and horse dealer in Herborn. His wife Rosa was born in Weyer on November 24, 1868. The family had three children. The eldest daughter Betty, born on July 12, 1896 in Herborn, married into the Stern family based in Montabaur in the Westerwald. Her husband Willy Stern ran a good business there and owned a piece of land in Bahnhofstrasse 24. The son Hugo Löwenstein, born on May 8, 1899 in Herborn, later made a career as a decorator – among other roles – in the prestigious Louis Lehr department store. Daughter Herta, born on June 21, 1910, later worked as a seller. Both Hugo and Herta are the only survivors of the family, alongside their nephew Alfred Stern.
The Löwensteins owned a 2 1/2-story house in Hainstrasse 13, later named “Street of the SA (Sturmabteilung)”, of 1.86 ares; this included garden lots totaling 2.78 ares. From there, David Löwenstein must also have run his cattle business. According to the Herborn City Council, the business was “a small business”,
… the aforementioned is not listed in the trade tax leverage lists for the years from 1932. It seems questionable whether the testator, at 70, was still able to carry out the cattle trade himself. At least it must be assumed that he has not been able to operate the trade to the fullest in recent years.
The business is only considered to have been registered in 1932, however, that does not necessarily mean that it did not exist before–especially since the tax-raising lists of the municipality did not refer to hiking trades, which was typically the case for cattle dealers. Nevertheless, from the fact that David Löwenstein was still active in the cattle business at almost 70 years of age, one gets the impression that the living conditions were rather modest.
There are other indications for this. According to information from the Nassau Savings Bank, the property had been burdened on December 22, 1926 with a loan of 3,000/2,790 kg fine gold. In addition – according to the land register entry – a mortgage of 5,000 gold marks in favor of a Berlin banker Jacob Frank was taken up on September 30, 1935 on the property. In addition, a security mortgage of 3,000 Reichsmark was dated January 27, 1929.
Nothing has survived from the business documents, only a statement by the daughter Herta Löwenstein, who stated to the compensation agency that the annual income was estimated to be 3,000 Reichsmarks before the National Socialists seized power.
According to foreign exchange file JS 5762, David and Rosa Löwenstein state their assets at 13,000 Reichsmarks, the value of their property. However, 9,000 Reichsmark debts still go away, which are not detailed on the form. In the last few years after the cattle trading business ceased, the Löwensteins were practically supported by their son-in-law Willy Stern, who fled from Montabaur to Herborn with his wife after the Nazi pogrom night and a subsequent stay in the Buchenwald concentration camp. Except for the house lot, the Löwensteins were penniless. Nevertheless, the property was not auctioned off, but became the property Nazi government after the deportation of the Löwensteins. The district economic consultant Fritz Fischer brought a buyer for the house on the day before the deportation of the Löwensteins on August 28, 1942. There was nothing to prevent the sale of the house:
Since the 1st of August 1942, the State Police Department of Frankfurt am Main has confiscated the entire domestic assets of the Jews evacuated on September 1st, 1942. The administration will be transferred to the tax office, so that in my opinion the Löwenstein house can be sold to the buyer Schill you have proposed. In any case, I have no objections to selling the house at its fixed price.
The house ultimately remained in the hands of the Reich and the German Reich collected the rent for three apartments.
The business must have been liquidated by the autumn of 1938 at the latest; it appears in the list of Jewish businesses of the district administrator from August 23, 1938. Herta Löwenstein remembers that the business was systematically expelled from the cattle markets around 1936/1937 and no later than 1937 no more commercial licenses were distributed to Jews.
None of the children entered their father’s cattle business. Daughter Betty married to Willy Stern in Montabaur. The son, Hugo Löwenstein, trained as a window decorator in Erfort. After the First World War, he worked as a touring decorator in the Herborn area and finally found employment in the renowned department store Louis Lehr in Herborn in 1926. He was able to work there until 1935, after which he found a job with Bros. Hermann in Siegen. Hugo lost this position with his imprisonment on November 9, 1938 after Kristallnacht. He was imprisoned in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp until January 18, 1939. According to his own information, Hugeo Löwenstein had the following income until 1939:
Year Income 1930 1,920.00 RM 1931 1,920.00 RM 1932 2,100.00 RM 1933 2,100.00 RM 1934 2,100.00 RM 1935 2,100.00 RM 1936 2,400.00 RM 1937 2,400.00 RM 1938 2,000.00 RM (until November) 1939 no income
The figures show that his monthly income rose from 160 Reichsmarks in 1930 to 200 Reichsmarks by 1932. With this income plus a few additional incomes from investments, he made a living. A testimony of a former Herborn neighbor describes Hugo’s return from Sachsenhausen:
… I know Mr. Hugo Löwenstein, who lived in Herborn, very well, and I still know, as I do today, that Mr. Hugo Löwenstein came back in January 1939 after being in the concentration camp for about two months. He arrived so early in the morning that I was still in bed. When he rang the bell, I opened the corridor door and was very shocked to see him.
The dismissal certificate from the Sachsenhausen concentration camp is in the Herborner file, as are the twice-weekly reports to the local police department. Current reports go until April 4, 1939; on April 8, 1939 Hugo Löwenstein left Herborn forever.
Hugo Löwenstein’s older sister Betty married Willy Stern, a Montabaur-based dealer in leather and artisan supplies. The company has existed since 1900 and, according to the Koblenz Chamber of Commerce, the basic trade tax amounts fluctuated around 14 Reichsmarks. The Chamber of Commerce estimated the annual turnover at 30,000 Reichsmarks and the income at about 4,000 to 5,000 Reichsmarks. From the documents of the city of Montabaur, the following trade tax amounts paid could also be determined:
Year Trade tax based on income Trade tax by capital 1930 37.50 RM 18.20 RM 1931 40.32 RM 18.20 RM 1932 15.00 RM 18.20 RM 1933 20.10 RM 18.20 RM 1934 35.40 RM 18.20 RM 1935 15.00 RM 18.20 RM 1936 23.10 RM 18.20 RM 1937 39.00 RM 18.20 RM 1938 31.50 RM 18.20 RM
Commercial income up to 1,200 Reichsmarks and commercial capital up to 3,000 Reichsmarks remained tax-free. For the years 1937 and 1938 it must probably be assumed that the business capital had already decreased so far that it was exempt from tax.
After the Reichspogromnacht and the destruction of the family’s home furnishings by the SA, Willy Stern was taken to the Buchenwald concentration camp. His wife was forced to sell the business and residential building at Banhofstrasse 24. Then she had to leave Montabaur “under a certain pressure”.
The loss of wealth of the couple can be reconstructed on the basis of the account statements that have been preserved since 1938/1939. From this it can be seen that three installments towards the Jewish property levy – with a total of 4,050 Reichsmark – were demonstrably paid, furthermore, according to the letter, the Nassau Savings Bank also paid a check for 1,350 Reichsmark as the fifth installment of the Jewish property levy on November 16, 1939. In the account statements there is also an amount of 1314 Reichsmarks which was most likely debited as the 3rd installment on May 14, 1939. This results in the following list:
Installment date Amount December 30, 1938 1,000.00 RM February 16, 1939 1,700.00 RM May 14, 1939 1,314.00 RM August 16, 1939 1,350.00 RM November 16, 1939 1,350.00 RM Sum 6,714.00 RM
This only affects the payment of the so-called Jewish property tax. From it can be calculated that the Sterns must have had this a total fortune of about 33,570 Reichsmarks in 1938. In addition to the compulsory levies, the income from the sales can also be reconstructed using the account statements. The foreign exchange file JS 9473/3 shows, among other things, that Willy Stern was still able to collect 1,002.55 Reichsmarks in foreign currency in January 1939, of which 950 Reichsmarks went to his blocked account. Likewise, 3,223.50 Reichsmarks and 1,860.90 Reichsmarks were transferred by the Hessen Nassau Life Insurance as surrender values for two life insurance policies. In a separate letter to the foreign exchange office “S” dated June 20, 1939, all sales made are listed, which are compared with the account statement for Willy Stern’s account.
Description Retail price Bank Deposit Statement Outstandings, January 1939 1,002.00 RM 200 RM + 300 RM + 450 RM on account Outstandings, February 1939 159.00 RM Outstandings, March 1939 594.00 RM Outstandings, April 1939 115.00 RM Outstandings, May 1939 248.00 RM Outstandings, June 1939 123.00 RM Sale of warehouse 1,658.00 RM 1,658.04 RM on account Life insurance 5,084.00 RM 5,084.04 RM on account Sale of furniture 927.00 RM 927.60 RM on account Sale of house 1,200.00 RM 13,006.32 RM on account
The outstanding amounts cannot be directly proven in the account statements because the amounts have been paid into the accounts in several parts and some parts have been mostly deducted as tax, making identification very difficult. When the security order for Willy Stern’s account was issued, there was a balance of 658 Reichsmark on it. On March 18, 1940 – after the sale of all assets, mind you – there were 16,560.54 Reichsmarks in the account. After the deportation of the Stern couple, 15,548 Reichsmarks and a further amount of 819.64 Reichsmarks were confiscated.
If one adds the compulsory taxes – and considers the money needed for subsistence of the Stern family and the Löwenstein family – to the confiscated property, one obtains only an outline of the extent that Willy Stern and his wife were robbed by the Nazis until they were murdered.
Since February 1939, the monthly allowance had been increased by the foreign exchange office to 500 Reichsmarks–for January 1939 it was only 200 Reichsmarks. From March 1940 there were only 300 Reichsmarks left. For the year 1939: 5,000 Reichsmarks of withdrawals can be proven; for 1940: 1,900 Reichsmarks; for 1941: 2,100 Reichsmarks and for 1942: 1,400 Reichsmarks, since April only 250 Reichsmarks have been allowed as allowances. A total of 10,400 Reichsmarks were used by both families for a living in the years 1939 until their deportation in June 1942.
Except for the outside receivables, the family has had no income since 1939. If one adds up the compulsory levies, the confiscated final amount when the account was closed, and the probable maintenance costs, the result is an amount of 33,481.64 Reichsmarks, which was withdrawn from the family by being forced out of work, by compulsory levies and, finally, by robbery. This is congruent with the calculations based on the Jewish property tax. On March 3, 1942, as European Jews were being overtly murdered by the Nazis, Willy Stern had to report all expenses to the foreign exchange office “S”.
Henriette Lucas and the Rosenberg Family
Henriette Lucas was born on April 26, 1862 in Herborn to Aaron Lucas. Her father was a watchmaker, a respected member of the community, and was later a founding member of the volunteer fire department. With her sister Johanna Lucas, she ran a textile business in Hauptstrasse 72. However, her sister must have died before the seizure of power, because in 1933 only Henriette Lucas was in the register of residents. There is also an advertisement in the Dillkreis 1928/1929 population register. Walter Schwahn wrote about the two:
The Lucas sisters owned a hat shop in the middle main street. Two inconspicuous, old ladies who couldn’t do anything. [Henriette’s] written notice on the door that her father had fallen for the emperor and the empire in the First World War could not protect her.
With the increasing age of the siblings the management of the business became more and more difficult for Henriette Lucas, after all she was more than 60 years old in the years of the Weimar Republic. Her nephew Alfred Rosenberg, born on July 2, 1907 in Grenzhausen, took over the management of the business. He moved into the house of Henriette Lucas with his wife Berta. Over the next few years, two daughters, Johanna in 1934 and Mirjam in 1938, were born.
After the Nazi takeover – according to Alfred Rosenberg – the boycott had a lasting impact on sales. Alfred’s wife earned something from tailoring for Jewish private customers and Alfred also had a certain extra income from outside orders as a hiking decorator. The business’s turnover was soon no longer sufficient for a living. The business, still registered in the name of Johanna Lucas, still existed in August 1938, but after the November pogrom this too – like all Jewish businesses – was liquidated. Alfred Rosenberg came with the other male Herborner Jews to the Buchenwald concentration camp and remained there until December 17, 1938.
Now the Rosenbergs were trying to get out of Germany. The daughters escaped to England on two children’s transports in the summer. Alfred arrived in Great Britain on August 6, 1939. Berta Rosenberg stayed behind and took care of the old aunt. Berta Rosenberg was deported on June 10, 1942, and 80-year-old Henriette Lucas shared her fate in the second wave of deportations on August 28, 1942.
There are only fragments of information relating to the family’s wealth. Henriette Lucas’ annual income from the profit of the business is said to have been about 2,000 Reichsmarks. The trade tax revenues assessed from 1927 have been handed down:
Year Business Tax 1927 56.65 RM 1928 36.20 RM 1929 37.00 RM 1930 39.82 RM 1931 27.50 RM 1932 27.50 RM 1933 unknown 1934 25.50 RM 1935 25.50 RM 1936 7.75 RM 1937 15.00 RM
These figures show the decline in sales and the loss of income, particularly since the Nuremburg Laws of 1936, which dramatically increased the boycotting of trade and traffic with Jews in rural areas. From 1938 Henriette leased the shop to W.D. [unknown, potentially initials of a fellow resident] from Herborn, who acquired the property in late 1939. It is clear from the foreign exchange file that, apart from the property, Henriette had no other assets. In the property declaration of February 1940, she states her credit at 5,137.35 Reichsmarks. She had already sold the house at Hauptstrasse 72. The total purchase price was 7,879.46 Reichsmarks. She gave the cost of living at 120 Reichsmarks, with the share of rent (stated at 80 Reichsmarks) making up the majority after moving to Oranienstrasse 3. The transfer of 299.65 Reichsmarks to the tax office in Dillenburg coincides with the sale of the house, the exact purpose of which is unknown. At the end of 1942, 3,060.97 Reichsmarks remained from the 5,137.35 Reichsmarks listed in 1940, all of which were confiscated from the German Reich after the deportation of Henriette Lucas. This means that an average of 67 Reichsmarks per month was used to make a living, which was still far below the estimated 120 Reichsmark cost of living. According to Alfred Rosenberg, she also paid around 5,000 Reichsmarks Jewish property tax and Reich flight tax, which are said to have been paid for by securities. However, since the account at the Nassau Savings Bank was only set up as a secured account when the house was sold, information from before 1940 is missing.
With Alfred Rosenberg, the documents are even scarcer. In 1929, after a three-month course as a window decorator in Cologne, he joined aunt Henriette’s fashion business. According to his own information, he earned about 400 Reichsmarks per month, while his aunt earned about 167 Reichsmarks per month as the owner of the business. In addition, depending on the orders, 100 to 200 Reichsmarks from the window decorator hiking trade should have been added, so that the monthly earnings should have been around 500 Reichsmarks. A salary of 400 Reichsmarks seems to have been extremely high for the local conditions in those years, so Alfred Rosenberg’s legal representative made the following clear:
Before 1933 – the exact date can be seen from the files – [Alfred] followed a request from his elderly aunt Henriette Lukas to enter her textile goods retail store in Herborn, Hauptstrasse – to run the business and take it over in the foreseeable future. He lived in a household with his aunt and, as a chosen business successor, did not receive a salary, but rather compensation based on the business income.
This sounds plausible when you consider that Henriette Lucas, unmarried and childless, regarded him as the future heir to the business and that she herself did not use that much money. Nevertheless, when Afred Rosenberg reached England in August 1939, he had 10 Reichsmarks with him, which represented his entire fortune.
The Family of Sally Mayer
Sally Mayer, born on June 24, 1880 in Katzenfurt – and his wife Berta, maiden name Joseph, born on August 30, 1885 – lived at Augustastrasse 19. On June 20, 1912, Julius, the first son, was born in Katzenfurt; on February 17, 1914, the second son Walter followed. Between 1924 and 1925 they built a two-story house with an associated stable in the courtyard. In addition to the plot of land with a size of 2.41 ares (0.06 acres), a garden plot was added that was approximately 2.07 (0.05 acres) ares in size.
The family has been in Herborn since 1925 at the latest. A statement by Heinz Sternberg, a friend of the Mayers, shows that they had previously lived in a rented apartment on Hauptstrasse:
I still remember very well their previous apartment on Hauptstrasse and later in my own home: the Mayers initially had a very large living room with two large kitchen buffets, painted white with a black base. The fact that there were two may be attributed to the fact that Mrs. Mayer still ran a strictly ritual household and therefore needed all the dishes twice.
In 1927 a barn with room for approx. 20 heads of cattle and additional floors for animal feed was added. The older son, Julius, studied chemistry at the University of Giessen after the National Front seized power in Switzerland. He finished his studies in April 1937 at the University of Zurich and never returned to Germany. The other son, Walter, ran a manufactured goods store at Augustastrasse 19. This business was only founded after 1933, because in 1933 it was still missing from the city’s register of residents, but appears in the register of residents from 1938.
There are contradictory statements about the family’s income, which led to a legal dispute between the sons Walter and Julius Mayer and the compensation authority after the end of the Second World War. The two sons, who themselves did not work in their father’s business, stated the monthly income before 1933 at around 1,000 Reichsmarks, on the basis that around 30 to 35 cattle were transacted per month. Contradicting this is the statement made by the city council of Herborn on May 7, 1958, which found in its documents only a reference to a low commercial income. According to the register of business registrations, Sally Mayer had registered a “trade in cattle of all kinds, hides and raw meat” on January 1, 1931. For the years 1931 and 1932 documents were found which indicate the trade tax paid in 1931 at 49.72 Reichsmarks and in 1932 at 22.50 Reichsmarks. For 1936, a 25 Reichsmark trade tax was levied. In principle, the trade income would have to be calculated from the trade tax paid. Most likely, however, this information was only a partial trade, especially since the cattle trade was traditionally operated as a traveling trade and was therefore taxed differently. Now there are two competing interpretations in the sources: First, the paid tax amounts given by the city result in a monthly income of 150 Reichsmarks for 1931 and 75 Reichsmarks for 1932. Such an income could not finance both the upkeep of the family home and Julius’ upkeep in Switzerland. According to another conversion of the trade tax, there is a trade income of about 5000 Reichsmarks, which were also confirmed by the hearing of other witnesses in Herborn. The monthly income can therefore be assumed to be around 400 Reichsmarks a month.
All original business documents or documents about the income situation are missing, so only indirect indications for a comparatively high income can be given. This is supported by the new construction of the residential and business building in Augustastrasse, as well as the construction of modern stables for 20 large livestock. In addition, the good education that Sally Mayer gave his son Julius is also included. Concrete figures on wealth can only be found from 1935 onwards. In the foreign exchange records 1684/38, two lists of assets have been preserved, one as of January 1, 1935, the second shows the status prior to emigration on December 12, 1938.
Statement of assets 1/1/1935 12/12/1938 Operation capital 2,973.00 RM 2,050.00 RM cash balance 300.00 RM goldware (2 watches) Land assets 13,000.00 RM Other assets 1,000 RM loan to Walter 2,413.00 RM liquid. of business 62.50 RM Imperial bond 15,000.00 RM sale of land assets 300.00 RM goldware (2 watches) 80.00 RM Real estate loan 7,000.00 RM Mortgage 560.00 RM Friedemann guarantee[?] 2,711.00 RM Dego levy 1029.00 RM Payment to Willi Meckel Debts / Deductions 7,000.00 RM Mortgage 2,446.00 RM Payment to Kuehne & Nagel Co., Hamburg, for lift and freight 560.00 RM Friedemann guarantee 1,250.00 RM Ship ticket Heumann & Schurrmann, Hamburg 447.00 RM Maintenance Total capital 9,775.50 RM 2,050.00 RM
The sale of the property includes an extract from the sales contract between Sally Mayer and the buyer Wilhelm Schaefer dated June 24, 1937–Sally Mayer’s birthday. The purchase price was 15,000 Reichsmarks. Most of it, besides paying bills, was used for emigration. A total of 7,436 Reichsmarks, from the Dego levy to freight costs and tickets, were spent on emigration. The bill to Willi Meckel relates to new purchases that were intended for emigration. 2,711 Reichsmarks had to be paid to the gold discount bank for these new acquisitions.
After the November pogrom, Sally Mayer – like many other Jewish men of Herborn – was sent to the Buchenwald concentration camp as a so-called “action Jew”, with no information available about the time spent in prison, but he was probably back at the latest in early January because his emigration was imminent.
The family was released on 10 January 1939, but the emigration initially failed because Paraguay revoked their immigration permit, and the two sons, who were already in Argentina, had to apply for a new visa in Buenos Aires. The Mayer family had been registered in Cologne since May 11, 1939, and it was not until December 1939 – after the war had started – that they emigrated via Switzerland and Italy. They were only allowed to take 10 Reichsmarks with them across the border. They also had to leave all of their emigration goods, except for hand luggage, in Germany.
The Family of Julius Salomon
Julius Salomon was born on February 26, 1899 in Werdorf, in the immediate vicinity of Herborn. By profession he was a dealer, like most Jews in the rural regions of Hesse. On November 15, 1933, the family had twin children, Lothar and Silvia. Julius lived with his wife Meta and his two children on Austrasse 12, together with his in-laws Moritz and Julchen Stern. The piece of land itself formerly belonged to Heinrich Sternberg, a well-known cattle dealer and butcher, who sold it to the Salomons before his emigration in 1936. In addition to the actual two-story house, this property also included stables.
There is hardly any information about Julius Salomon’s business. Nothing has survived from the business documents. The only information on this can be obtained from Lothar Salomon’s compensation file. It contains affidavits from former business partners and neighbors in Herborn, which put the annual income before 1933 at 9,000 to 10,000 RM. In one of these affidavits, the income is even estimated at 12,000 to 15,000 RM. The city of Herborn, on the other hand, provides information that Julius Salomon’s cattle trade was registered as a traveling trade and ran until 1938. The income was – according to the master butcher L.S. [?] – annually at about 5,000 to 6,000 RM. Another document comes from the Dillenburg Chamber of Commerce and Industry dated April 27, 1960, which “… contacted the person in charge of the local situation, who informed us that the achievement of an annual profit of 10,000 RM in the years from 1930 to 1933 must be described as possible …”
There is also no information about the assets. All business documents have been lost and the Rhein-Main-Bank, with which Julius Salomon had an account, can only provide information on the past few years. Statements on the assets of the Salomon family can be found in the foreign exchange file JS 7876, which begins with the security order of February 17, 1939. In the form to the foreign exchange office “S” in Frankfurt am Main from February 13, 1940, an amount of 10,840.80 RM is stated by Julius Salomon as bank assets. The amount is not surprising, however, when one considers that the proceeds from the sale of the house on August 1, 1939 are already included.
Only from the amount of the contributions to the so-called “Jewish property levy” can indirect conclusions be drawn about the income situation and the wealth of the Salomon family. Already in the letter from the customs investigative office on the security order dated February 17, 1939, all assets, such as land and property holdings, are recorded. According to Julius Salomon’s letter to the foreign exchange office “S” he had to pay 3,600 RM Jewish property tax to the tax office in Dillenburg. The amount of the Jewish property levy was based on the total wealth as a percentage, so that with a paid 3,706 RM one can assume at least 18,350 RM total assets.
Until his arrest after the Reichspogromnacht and the deportation to the Buchenwald concentration camp, there was no question of the Salomon family emigrating. Lothar Salomon’s notes make it clear why:
What would make my parents–any parents–want to send their little children, in our case five-year-olds, to live with strangers in another country? Another country with which one’s own country might soon be at war? Indeed my father was a decorated veteran of Germany’s First World War army; he must have understood that his service record might mean little or nothing. The cosmic wind had changed direction.
…
Somehow my parents decided in 1938 or 1939 to try to send their children out of the country for which my father had fought… Neither they nor anyone else–no German–could have foreseen the ugliest forms that the future would take… or were there incidents where threats or calls to kill children, as had happened to grandmother and us on the bridge over the Dill, had been carried out?
Since his release from the Buchenwald concentration camp – and certainly as a condition of release – Julius Salomon also tried to emigrate his family. The sale of his house, his plots of land in Werdorf, and – eventually – most of his home furnishings are related to this. From a letter to the foreign exchange office “S” dated July 20, 1939, it becomes clear that he was trying to allow emigration for himself and his family:
… At the same time I ask you to allow me to temporarily release 5,000 RM from the above amount, for living expenses and for preparing the emigration for my family.
The foreign exchange office refused on the grounds that the necessary documents for a release in the amount were missing. No further documents can be found on the further progress of the efforts. Julius Salomon also did not submit any further receipts or invoices to the foreign exchange office, which usually document an intensified desire to emigrate. It is only known that Lothar Salomon left Germany for England in one of the last child transports on July 6, 1939.
There was no room for his twin sister Silvia on this transport. She disappears from the statistics in the “Reports on the Movement of the Jewish Population in the Municipality of Herborn” at the beginning of 1940. According to the foreign exchange file, Silvia was housed in a children’s home in Frankfurt, for which the foreign exchange office granted RM 50 a month as a tax-free allowance.
In the summer of 1939 Julius Salomon sold his house, Austrasse 12, to the Nassauische Siedlungsgesellschaft m.b.H. [collective housing organization, it would appear] for 17,000 RM, the unit value of which was given by the customs investigation agency as 18,000 RM. No sales documents have been preserved for the fields in Werdorf in the order of 35 ares (0.86 acres). Their unit value was given as 2,000 RM. The Salomon family could stay in the Austrasse 12 house and had to restrict themselves to a kitchen and two rooms. The apartment rent was 65 RM, whereas the statements of the later owners claim that they let the Salomons live free of charge in the house.
Overview of loss of property of the Salomon family until 1942
Possessed Spent Comment 17,019.14 RM Purchase price by the Nassauische Siedlungsgesellschaft m.b.H. on August 14, 1939 for the property, Austrasse 12 1,295.21 RM Mortgage on house plot, Austrasse 12 due on August 14, 1939 3,600.00 RM Jewish property levy 50 RM x 16 months = 800.00 RM Monthly contribution for the children’s home in Frankfurt am Main, in which Silvia Salomon was accommodated, from February 1941 to at least May 1942 1,261.50 RM To the Reich Association of Jews, District Office Frankfurt am Main 3706.00 RM Tax office of Dillenburg
On June 10, 1942, the Salomons – including their daughter Silvia – were brought to the Wholesale grocer’s market in Frankfurt am Main and from there deported to an extermination camp. For this, RM 1,261.50 was paid to the Reich Association of Jews district office of Frankfurt am Main. A last withdrawal was made from Julius Salomon’s account on July 30, 1942, 3,706.00 RM was taken in favor of the German Empire.
The Family of Siegmund Salomon
Siegmund Salomon – born on May 4, 1877 in Beerfelden – and his wife Lina belonged to the proletariat in Herborn. They had three children. The oldest son Julius, born on July 20, 1907 in Camberg, worked like his father as a worker and day laborer. The only thing we know of his daughter Meta, born on August 18, 1909, was that she went to Frankfurt. The second son, Artur, was born on September 14, 1918 in Herborn. Since then at the latest, the family must have been residing in Herborn.
There are hardly any documents about Siegmund Salomon. Only the foreign exchange file 8061/38 is found in the Hessian main state archive in Wiesbaden, which mainly consists of a list of moving goods from emigration. Walter Schwahn’s memories of Siegmund are also flawed, and he confuses the name with another Salomon family in Herborn:
Sally Salomon, residing in the Schlaudrauff house in Obergasse, was considered a “proletarian” of the Jewish community. He worked as a day laborer and helped his fellow believers with the cattle markets. His son Julius (Jule) lives in Argentina today, he was a schoolmate of mine. He was politically active. I don’t know where the daughter, Meta Salomon, went.
Their home address in Obergasse cannot be confirmed from the foreign exchange files, they probably moved several times to Herborn. Before they emigrated, they lived in Hauptstrasse 27, later called Adolf-Hitler-Strasse. No statements can be made about the income situation, since there are simply no documents available. It is also unknown whether Siegmund Salomon was imprisoned after Kristallnacht. However, it is possible that due to his lack of resources, he was subsequently referred to the Relief Society of Jews in Germany who financed his emigration.
The foreign exchange file shows that the Salomons were destitute at the latest after Kristallnacht:
… I furthermore inform you that I have no assets and am destitute. I am in welfare, and that is R.Mk. 9.17 [potentially reference to bankruptcy ?]. On February 21, 1939, I gave a certificate from the city council of Herborn that I was destitute and had no assets with the lists [of items to emigrate with]. Clearly, I have no assets. Money only for the most necessary purchases. The most necessary thing I bought was only made possible by the support of helpful people. My visas, trips to the consul, as well as a ship card to Argentina and freight were paid for by the Relief Society of Jews in Germany.
It can therefore be assumed that Siegmund Salomon and his family actually had to leave Germany penniless on April 14, 1939. However, a contradicting statement can be found in the list “List of Jewish companies” from August 1938, in which a Siegmund Salomon is listed who ran a trade in small animal skins at 27 Adolf-Hitler-Strasse. There is no other mention of this business, and Siegmund and his son Julius are also listed as workers and day laborers in the 1938 residents’ register. Since it is very likely that Siegmund Salomon would lose his job before the November pogrom, he may have found an emergency solution to keep the family financially afloat by trading in small animal skins.
Whatever happened in the last few months for the family in Herborn, it is known that in April 1939 they left the city with nothing more than their hand luggage. The rest of the things had to be left behind because – despite Siegmund Salomon’s requests – the relocation lists had not yet been approved by the customs investigation agency. The certificates of the city of Herborn were probably not sufficient. The information of the board member of the Israelite cultural community Joseph Hattenbach was also obtained, and it is shown that he would managed the relocation of personal items on behalf of the emigrated Salomon. Joseph also confirmed that:
… there were no assets, jewelry and silverware. The new purchases with regard to emigration are only necessary additions and were bought used.
Their goods were only approved by the customs investigation agency on May 9, 1939, long after the family had arrived in Argentina.
Mrs. Johanna Seligmann
In the study of widow Johanna Seligmann – born on November 23, 1880 in Laubach – not much source material has been preserved other than the foreign exchange file. Her husband, Siegmund Seligmann, died on March 28, 1928, before the National Socialists seized power. They had married on August 16, 1907 in Laubach and had their son Kurt together. Kurt must have emigrated from Herborn to the United States before 1938, because the name does not appear in the statistics on the “movement of the Jewish population in the Herborn community”. Siegmund’s father ran a country products and fertilizers store in Bahnhofstrasse 2, and Walter Schwahn wrote about him:
Mr. Seligmann was small and elegant, had a blond beard on the upper lip and a flashing pinch on the nose. Both [he and Joseph Hattenbach] belonged to the upper classes.
The business brought the couple a decently-prosperous income. After the death of her husband, the widow Johanna Seligmann made a living from the fortune that had been invested primarily in securities. There is no information about her life in the first years under the Nazi regime. The business no longer existed, so she made no business income. Later she changed her residence from Bahnhofstrasse 2 to Hauptstrasse 86. In 1940, she moved in with the Hattenbach couple, with whom she was good friends, to Hindenburgstrasse 57, where she stayed until her emigration to the United States in January 1941.
Until 1939, there are no contemporary documents on Johanna Seligmann in the foreign exchange file. On February 16, 1939, her assets were converted into securities, i.e. as Wertpapieren (physical contracts of security loans), with 48,000 RM. There were only 12.85 RM in her secured account. She was granted a total of 3,000 RM to manage her planned emigration.
A list of assets from the foreign exchange file was dated April 1940, which shows how rapid the loss of assets due to the compulsory levies in 1939 must have been. Of the 48,000 RM securities assets from February 1939, only 11,175 RM assets were still available by April 1940. The total assets were still 12,196 RM. In 1939, Johanna Seligmann still had income of 1,555 RM from interest, in 1940 she estimated this at 500 RM. Her monthly expenses were 228 RM, of which 38 RM were rent for the room at the Hattenbachs and 110 RM were earmarked for other living expenses.
On September 4, 1942–long after her emigration to the United States–the remaining securities (with a total value of 7,293.68 RM) were confiscated. It is no longer possible to determine exactly what compulsory levies were paid–and in what amount–between 1939 and 1942. There is only a reference that the Jewish property levy was paid for by securities. According to her own statements, Johanna Seligmann also withdrew 2,678 RM from her blocked account and she stated that, combined with the Reich flight tax, a total of 10,161 RM was withdrawn. Furthermore, she states that she had to hand in gold and jewelry, which were estimated at 800 RM to 1000 RM, at the pawnshop in Frankfurt am Main. Johanna Seligmann’s foreign exchange file, created in February 1939, was kept until September 1941. The emigration was very late and therefore the foreign exchange file is full of letters with requests for release of amounts related to her emigration or for the support of relatives and friends. In December 1940 she wanted to support her friends, the Hattenbach couple, with RM 800, and Ms. Levi with RM 200. To justify this, she briefly stated at the foreign exchange office “S”:
The one named 1 [presumably, the serial number of Ms. Levi in the document] has been with me for many years and was in good pecuniary circumstances in earlier times. Today the wealth is only small and I would like to support her a little.
She lived with the Hattenbachs and Ms. Levi at Hindenburgstrasse 57 and therefore knew their living conditions. In addition to these last gifts before her emigration, Ms. Seligmann took care of her relatives. In March 1939 she sent 1,000 RM to her nephew Paul Mayer in Berlin-Wilmersdorf for his emigration. In July she transferred 600 RM to her mother-in-law, who lived in a Jewish retirement home in Bad Nauheim, for living expenses. In addition to these expenses for her family members, her planned emigration incurred high costs: on May 15, 1939, the foreign exchange office “S” approved the payment of 2,190 RM to the Kosmos Transport and Warehouse Company. However, she was granted only 500 RM by the foreign exchange office to cover all of her expenses for emigration and living expenses.
The emigration had to be postponed several times, and again and again Johanna Seligmann had to contact the foreign exchange office for the smallest amounts of money to be able to finance her emigration. A first attempt to emigrate to North America via the Soviet Union failed in August 1940. Her loss of wealth can be summarized as follows:
Possessed Estimated expenses Remarks Fortune on February 16, 1939: 48,012.85 RM Combined account and securities in the custody account 10,161 RM Reich flight tax, total approx. 15,000 RM Jewish property tax 1,555 RM Annual income from interest 2,190 RM Invoice to the shipping company Kosmos Transport-and-Warehouse, Frankfurt am Main 1,000 RM Donation to Paul Mayer in Berlin for his emigration 3,000 RM Securities released to manage emigration 500 RM monthly x 7 months = 3500 RM Monthly allowance since June 1939 600 RM Donation to Berta Seligmann in Jewish retirement home in Bad Nauheim 500 RM monthly x 3 months = 1500 RM Monthly allowance since January 1940 Fortune on April 9, 1940: 12,196 RM 500 RM Estimated annual income from interest 230 RM Emigration costs from June 30, 1940 150 RM Emigration costs from November 26, 1940 800 RM Donation to Leopold Hecht 200 RM Donation to Selma Levi 500 RM Donation to Siegmund Seligmann 300 RM x 4 months = 1200 RM Monthly allowance from April to July 1940 230 RM x 5 months = 1150 RM Monthly allowance from August to December 1940 800 RM Gift to Sally Seligmann on January 9, 1941 200 RM Gift to Bertha S. Rotschild of Kassel on January 20, 1941 Fortune on September 24, 1942: 2,678 RM 2,678 RM Fortune confiscated by the Reich on September 24, 1942
Indeed, expenditure seems to coincide more or less with the loss of wealth. The shortfall contained in the end can be explained by the fact that not all expenses, such as the Dego levy, have been recorded. It can be seen, however, that the expenditure for 1939 – especially the estimated Jewish property tax and Reich flight tax – coincides with the loss of wealth, as reflected in the list of April 9, 1940.
The Simon Family
The Simon family lived at Mühlbach 16 in Herborn. The father Abraham, born on May 5, 1868 in Kölschhausen, operated a bowel operation (a butcher specializing in intestinal casings for wursts) there. His wife Karoline ran a commercial job agency from 1908 to 1933. The only child, Moritz, was born on January 24, 1901. Since 1924, he also worked at the gut, skin and fur store like his father. Moritz Simon married Nelli Reichenberg and with her he had a daughter, Elfriede, who was born on February 4, 1930. He stayed in his parents’ house, where he lived and worked for rent. Walter Schwahn’s recalled that Moritz was active in the Herborner football club:
Before Easter, Abraham Simon came from the Mühlbach to the poorer people and asked: “Need lamb?” Every year we received a carefully skinned and gutted lamb from him. Ms. Simon was a fine, very well mannered woman. She often went to see the sick and was greatly appreciated. Their son, I forget his first name, was generally called “Simon’s arm” in Herborn because of his shortened arm. He made a name for himself as an active footballer.
As vague and inaccurate memories may be after 50 years, they still give a rough impression of the Simons’ life in Herborn. Both father and son seem to have run their businesses until Kristallnacht in 1938, because both businesses appear in the “Directory of Jewish Companies” on August 23, 1938. It is also reported that on the evening of the pogrom night when Moritz Simon was to be arrested, he was in Siegen “… to buy new skin and fur.” In June 1939 Moritz Simon and his family managed to emigrate to Chile, but the parents stayed behind and fell victim to the Nazi apparatus of murder.
Hardly any statements can be made about Abraham Simon’s trade, since all documents are simply missing. His wife’s private placement service had to be closed in 1931, according to the Reichstag decision. For this she received a pension of around 60 to 70 Reichsmarks per month as compensation.
Abraham Simon is said to have worked full-time in his company in 1933 at the age of 65. On the other hand, according to a letter from the city council of Herborn, he was trading small cattle until 1929 and the income on which the taxation was based was:
Jahr Amount 1927 300 RM 1928 500 RM 1929 240 RM
This information appears to be extremely small, but it seems to be a comparatively small business. Moritz Simon’s lawyer also corroborates the business was not large, but that it always went well and was completely sufficient to feed the couple Abraham and Karoline Simon. In addition, age also affected the business, as Moritz Simon’s lawyer writes:
He believes, however, to remember that the business declined slightly after his father was hit by a car on the street in late 1928, causing an arm fracture that resulted in stiffening. The injured man was already 60 years old at the time. At that time and in the period that followed, sales may have dropped to such an extent that the persecuted Simon family was exempt from paying trade tax. Such small businesses have always existed.
By 1933 at the latest, however, the retail trade must have reduced to insignificance. However, all documents are missing. It can only be ascertained that the couple were completely destitute in 1940. In a letter to the foreign exchange office “S” dated May 20, 1940, Karoline Simon described the financial situation:
I hereby request that the blocked account existing at Nassauische Landesbank Herborn amounting to 103.22 RM be released, along with interest. I need the amount to make a living. I have no other assets.
Abraham Simon gave the cost of renting the apartment at 30 Reichsmarks and the cost of living at 50 Reichsmarks. They only had 20 Reichsmarks in monthly income for his wife and 36 Reichsmarks from the Jewish welfare service. On August 28, 1942, 74-year-old Abraham Simon and 77-year-old Karoline Simon were transferred from Herborn to Frankfurt am Main and from there deported to Theresienstadt. The couple gave their last sign of life to their son on March 18, 1942 via the German Red Cross in Chile:
We hope you healthy as well, hopefully Manfred is developing well, Elfriede will be a great support for you. All good news from our relatives. Kind regards, father & mother
The son Moritz’s business had been running since 1924. His annual turnover was around 80,000 Reichsmarks, which corresponds to an annual profit of 6,000 to 7,000 Reichsmarks. The city administration in Herborn, however, estimated the annual income at 1500 Reichsmarks. Although documents on the determination of trade tax from 1931 are missing, in a further letter dated November 6, 1956, the city of Herborn stated the trade tax with the following figures:
Year Business tax paid 1924 1.83 RM 1925 18.10 RM 1926 27.90 RM 1927 28.40 RM 1928 15.00 RM 1929 0.25 RM 1930 34.00 RM 1931 21.00 RM 1932 – 1933 13.75 RM 1934 20.00 RM 1935 – 1936 – 1937 – 1938 8.00 RM 1939 –
From his memory, Moritz Simon also provided a list of his suppliers and customers, which extends to the entire Dill district and beyond. 145 customers were noted on this list, butchers in particular being among the long-term buyers and therefore the customer base must have been relatively stable. After 1933, sales must have decreased significantly, which is not only reflected in the trade tax figures. Some customers simply stopped paying or stopped doing business entirely. Some suppliers, such as O. Allgayer in Frankfurt am Main, also terminated their delivery contracts.
Nevertheless, the business continued and shortly before the end of the company in 1938, Moritz Simon bought a new machine for processing intestines in Hamburg. Kristallnacht had a particularly drastic effect on the family. Not only was Moritz Simon arrested, like most of the male Herborner Jews, but the family apartment was almost completely demolished.
… They told my mother that my father had to report to the town hall as soon as he came. One of these men lived on the Mühlbach, I always played with his daughter. … When my father came back from Siegen on November 9, 1938, he immediately went to the town hall. Towards evening my mother sent me to the town hall with some food. There a man told me that my father was no longer there, but was taken away with the other Jews on a train …
In contrast to the report in the “Herborner Tageblatt” (local paper) of November 11, 1938 about so-called “house searches for weapons”, in which no “Jew’s hair was pulled”, the Simon family was treated violently. Moritz Simon was imprisoned in Buchenwald until December 6, 1938, on condition that he leave Germany by June 17, 1939. On June 15, 1939, Moritz Simon, Nelli Simon and Elfriede Simon left for Chile.
The Family of Berthold Sternberg
Louis Sternberg’s older brother, Berthold, was born on December 13, 1881, the son of cattle dealer Baer Sternberg and Sette, née Grünebaum. After completing elementary school in 1895, he entered the parental cattle business and began living in Herborn. On January 16, 1907 he married Frieda Sternberg and, like his brother Louis, was integrated into the community of Herborn. He was also a member of the volunteer fire department.
He fought on the German side in World War I and was taken prisoner in England, from which he was released two and a half years after the end of the war. He continued his cattle business, which was located at Rother Strasse 6. He operated this as a hiking trade and earned a secure income:
… Until the National Socialists seized power, the applicant placed 6 to 7 pieces a week in this company. Large cattle around, earning between 40 and 60 RM per piece. On the basis of an approximately 50% contribution towards expenses, the applicant’s annual net income was between 6,000 and 7,000 RM.
The city of Herborn was apparently unable to provide any information on Berthold Sternberg’s income because there are no notices in the compensation files. From 1933 the income situation changed fundamentally, indicated by a percentage decrease in income Berthold Sternberg reported to the compensation authority.
Overview of the estimated business damage since the National Socialists seized power
Year Percent damage Calculated income 1933 30% 4200 RM 1934 50% 3000 RM 1935 70% 1800 RM 1936 80% 1200 RM 1937 100% 0 RM
The 6000 RM net annual income from before 1933 was taken as the basis for the calculation, although the lower income as a result of the global economic crisis was not taken into account. Nothing further has been preserved regarding the general financial situation. The compensation files lack information about the loss of real estate, life insurance and other capital investments, so that it can be assumed that Berthold Sternberg did not own hard assets by this time.
On May 21, 1937, Berthold Sternberg and his wife left Germany with the families of his brother Louis and his brother-in-law Gustav Sternberg. The cost of the crossing was 1510 RM, previously they pawned their entire home furnishings for only 600 RM. In Argentina they had to start a new life in agriculture, in which they had neither experience nor training.
The Family of Gustav Sternberg
Gustav Sternberg was born on May 26, 1885 in Werdorf, the son of Aron and Karoline Sternberg. His wife Jenny, already a Sternberg, was born on October 6, 1889. They married on August 2, 1920 in Herborn. The couple’s marriage remained childless. Gustav Sternberg ran a cattle shop in Herborn, the most widespread occupation in this region for Jews. He had been living in Herborn since July 10, 1920, and his cattle business at Hauptstrasse 105a seemed to have been quite successful. According to his own statements, he sold 40 to 50 livestock per month, which meant a net profit of 10,000 RM per year. He must have run the business at least until 1936, then on October 24, 1936 his trading license was withdrawn and the business was shut down. After deprivation of income, Gustav Sternberg emigrated and on May 21, 1937 the couple, together with brother-in-law Louis Sternberg and his wife Selma, embarked on the “Antonie Delfino” from Hamburg to Argentina.
The property on Hauptstrasse 105 was his property. The company must have been so large that it was still profitable until at least 1936. The abrupt way in which Gustav Sternberg’s business came to a standstill can be seen from the files relating to the withdrawal of his trading license.
Due to the fact that Gustav Sternberg left the German Reich in 1937, records of the theft of his wealth are sparse, especially since there is also no foreign exchange file. No records of the sale of his property are available in the files. According to Gustav Sternberg, his annual income – with a livestock turnover of 40 to 50 pieces per month – was about 10,000 RM. This information cannot be contradicted by the city administration, since documents are simply missing. According to the questioning of a longtime neighbor of Gustav Sternberg–the master butcher F.L.–Gustav seems to have actually moved at least 30 cattle a month, but it is pointed out that he had no license to slaughter. If you calculate a profit of 20 RM per piece of cattle, you get a monthly income of about 600 RM, which appears valid.
The security of his finances is also evident from the fact that Gustav Sternberg had two life insurance policies, which he had taken out on March 1, 1927 and on June 1, 1928 with the Hessen-Nassauische Life Insurance Company. Both insurances included insurance in the amount of 5,000 RM and had a term until 1935. Due to the planned emigration Gustav Sternberg had to terminate this prematurely, and surrender values of 2526.70 RM and 2215.60 RM were paid to him.
Finally, the emigration costs themselves give an insight into the wealth of Gustav Sternberg. The file also contains the photocopy of the ticket for the Hamburg-South American steamship company for two adults and two children aged 1 to 5 years. The price was 810 Reichsmarks. The total cost of the passage for himself and the family of his brother-in-law Louis Sternberg totaled RM 2025. The moving goods were handled and shipped by Danzas & Cie. GmbH., and thus the exact the transport costs were no longer ascertainable.
After his arrival in Argentina he was allowed by the “Altreu” (General Trust Agency for Jewish Immigration) to exchange 2635 paper pesos at the exchange rate of 0.759, whereby a surcharge of 100% and a private fee of 40 RMs was charged, so Gustav Sternberg paid 4004 RM for this paper money. When they arrived in Argentina, the Sternbergs had to start a new life. In the first years they lived from selling things they had brought with them, and later became farmers in the “Colonia Avigdor”.
The Family of Louis Sternberg
Louis Sternberg – the brother of Jenny Sternberg, who was married to Gustav Sternberg -was born in Herborn in 1883. After attending elementary school in Herborn, he began an apprenticeship as a butcher in 1897 and entered his father’s cattle business. Louis Sternberg served in the 81st Infantry Regiment based in Frankfurt am Main, took part in the First World War, and acquired the Iron Cross. A team picture of the Herborn volunteer fire department shows him as well as Berthold Sternberg and David Löwenstein. After the First World War, he continued the retail business. His business was at Kaiserstrasse 22. He married Selma Sternberg and with her he had a daughter Margot. Louis Sternberg commented on the cattle business in the compensation procedure:
The undersigned, Louis Sternberg, had been active in the cattle trade since his youth. A large customer base, which he partly took over from his father and father-in-law, enabled him and his family to make a very good living. The persecution of the National Socialist government and its officials, the pressure exerted on the farmers to stop trade with Jewish traders, and finally the withdrawal of the business license brought the business to a standstill. After all the above, the undersigned had no choice but to emigrate.
He also stated the income from the business:
I sold about 6 pieces of large cattle a week and earned between 40 and 60 RM on each piece of cattle. My monthly income was about 1,000 RM, of which about 40% was to be deducted for expenses, so that my annual income was around 6,000 to 7,000 RM. After the National Socialists seized power, my business slowed down and finally, as far as I can remember, completely paralyzed in 1935. It is apparent from the history that cattle trading permits were taken away from Jews.
No material evidence has survived on the withdrawal of the trade permit, but it seems plausible that the business was discontinued around 1935. One can assume that – given the boycott situation for Jewish cattle dealers – Louis Sternberg got into the probably-larger business of his brother-in-law and helped there. There is also a reference to this in the files on the revocation of Gustav Sternberg’s commercial license [unsure how this differs from the withdrawal of the trade permit]. The mayor of Wissenbach wrote on June 6, 1936 to the district Bureau of Peasantry regarding allegedly fraudulent actions by Gustav Sternberg when he acquired a cow from party member “L.”, who refused to do business with Jews:
… The next day the farmer and invalid G.K. [?] came to L. and, supposedly for his sister, bought the cow, picked it up the week before Pentecost and led her out. Taking a path that few would see. The money was paid promptly. Apparently the cow was bought on Sternberg’s behalf, because Sternberg’s brother-in-law led it through Dillenburg.
Without their own financial resources and without professional prospects, the Sternbergs decided to leave Germany. Gustav Sternberg had to pay for the emigration, and on May 14, 1937 Louis Sternberg, his wife and daughter left Herborn, and on May 21 left Hamburg for Argentina.
The Family of Max Sternberg
The history of the Sternberg family from Herborn makes clear the kind of abuse that was attached to emigration. Max Sternberg was born on May 17, 1880 in Katzenfurt, a small town in the Dill district. At the age of 15 he had to support his parents financially, but he still managed to attend a commercial school in Nuremberg, where he trained as an accountant and correspondent.
He then worked for the wholesale company H.L. Heinau in Nuremberg. After the First World War, Max Sternberg, along with his wife Ida, née Fuchs from Duisburg, and his two children Betti and Fred built up a life in Herborn. In 1920 he acquired a residential and business building in the central Hauptstrasse 42 and founded a well-established men’s clothing shop. Max Sternberg’s business was quite successful, including large-scale advertisements in the local newspaper “Herborner Tageblatt”. His two children received a good education. He had his daughter studied at a sports school in Stuttgart. She worked and later lived in Stuttgart as a sports teacher. His son Fred graduated from high school in Giessen and then worked in the renowned clothing store Ramberger & Hertz in Frankfurt am Main until he emigrated in 1936.
The history of the Sternberg family from Herborn makes clear the kind of abuse that was attached to emigration. Max Sternberg was born on May 17, 1880 in Katzenfurt, a small town in the Dill district. At the age of 15 he had to support his parents financially, but he still managed to attend a commercial school in Nuremberg, where he trained as an accountant and correspondent. He then worked for the wholesale company H.L. Heinau in Nuremberg. After the First World War, Max Sternberg, along with his wife Ida, née Fuchs from Duisburg, and his two children Betti and Fred built up a life in Herborn. In 1920 he acquired a residential and business building in the central Hauptstrasse 42 and founded a well-established men’s clothing shop. Max Sternberg’s business was quite successful, including large-scale advertisements in the local newspaper “Herborner Tageblatt”. His two children received a good education. He had his daughter studied at a sports school in Stuttgart. She worked and later lived in Stuttgart as a sports teacher. His son Fred graduated from high school in Giessen and then worked in the renowned clothing store Ramberger & Hertz in Frankfurt am Main until he emigrated in 1936.
Solely from the good education of the children, one can draw conclusions about the relative wealth of the Sternberg family. But the acquisition of a second, larger business building in 1928 in the excellently located Hauptstrasse 44 speaks even more for the family’s income situation:
In the spring of 1928 I bought a larger business, from the bankrupt neighbor. In the second half of 1928 I rebuilt it by lowering the shop windows. This conversion – including hot water heating for both houses – cost 25,000 RM, so the house I bought for 28,000 RM was 53,000 RM. While buying a house from Nassauische Landesbank, I had a mortgage of 25,000 RM, which I had to pay immediately, I paid for the renovation in full from the business income of the years 1929-32, I believe by the end of 1930. The beautiful business premises, of course, gave the business a strong boost.
In the face of the increased pressures on the Jewish population, Fred, the eldest Sternberg son, had already gone into exile in 1936 (see above). The events during the November pogrom of 1938, the arrest of the father, Max Sternberg, the many personal harassments experienced from the authorities and humiliations from their fellow men,
prompted the remaining family to take the difficult route into exile.
There are no documents from the period up to 1936 on the income from the business. Most of the documents were destroyed during the pogrom night in 1938, when the customer’s logbook for the store was also confiscated. This leaves only the information from Max Sternberg himself. In the letters above he states his annual income between 1929 and 1932, after moving to the larger business, as RM 12,000 to RM 16,000. That seems extraordinarily high for the years of the global economic crisis. However, it has to be taken into account that after the renovation additional rental income from the old house was added. The old house at 42 Hauptstrasse was also a residential and business building, with a shop that could be rented out after the move to the new business. At least 250 RM from renting the smaller shop has probably been added to the monthly profit from the men’s clothing store. In total, the monthly income before the National Socialists seized power was given between 800 and 900 Reichsmarks. This would result in annual earnings of around RM 9,600.
How much the income decreased after the seizure of power by the National Socialists and the boycott of Jewish businesses is clear from the foreign exchange file 7580/38. Here you can find information on income taxed in the final three years:
Year Income tax 1929-1932 approx. 9600 RM 1936 3209 RM 1937 4921 RM 1938 2695 RM
This means that by 1936 business had dropped by over 62 percent to 3209 RM of taxed income. A decline in profit for Jewish businesses on this scale seems to have corresponded to the circumstances prevailing in the region. Nevertheless, the fact that the business existed until the pogrom days–and the subsequent ousting of the Jews from the German economy–speaks to the size and success of the business. In December 1938, when Max Sternberg was imprisoned in Buchenwald in the concentration camp, the Sternberg business was liquidated and the two properties were auctioned off on December 5, 1938.
Mr. Fred Sternberg enclosed a copy of the “invitation” to the auction of their belongings with his letter to the project group in 1988. It read:
Mayor Herborn, Dec.1,1938
Subject: Transfer of Jewish Possessions
On Monday on the 5th of the month the cultivated and uncultivated Jewish plots of land in the Herborn District shall be transferred into Aryan possession by means of an open auction. You are invited to this function which will take place in the central room of the Town Hall.
Description of the plot of land:(…)
~Private possession of Fred Sternberg
The sales proceeds are mentioned in a letter from the customs investigation agency. The property at Hauptstrasse 44 was sold to the owner of the dyeing mill F. T. for 38,000 RM, the neighboring property at Hauptstrasse 42 was sold to R. leather goods business for 18,000 RM. In addition, Max Sternberg was also forced to terminate various life insurance policies and also transfer the surrender values to a blocked account. Due to the cancellation of a life insurance policy, 892.70 RM was returned to the blocked account at the Nassauische Landesbank by the Concordia life insurance company. The buyback value of at least two other life insurance policies was estimated by the customs investigation agency, from the Iduna-Germania in Berlin and the Hessen-Nassauische Life Insurance Institute in Wiesbaden, at 600 RM and 1900 RM, respectively. On May 13, 1939, 890.45 RM were credited by Iduna-Germania to Max Sternberg’s blocked account. The Hessen-Nassauische insurance office announced in a letter of information dated October 9, 1954 that 1,553.80 RM had been paid back to Max Sternberg as a surrender value, but these cannot be confirmed by the account statements.
Max Sternberg made a departure application for himself and his family and sold his house and his plot of land. As a result, the Foreign Currency Authority suddenly issued a “security order” over everything possessed by the family.
This information was put in writing by the Foreign Currency Authority S in Frankfurt on February 17, 1939 (StAW 7580/38):
I have, on the 9th inst, the verbal assurance from Max Sternberg that all the receipts from house sale, life insurance, whatever, are deposited in the Nassau Savings Bank in Herborn. I have delivered a temporary security order to the above named bank, of which I enclose a copy.
This amounts to the confiscation of all assets. A “security order” over an account meant that the account holder could no longer have his money freely at his disposal. Each withdrawal requires an individual authorization through the Foreign Currency Authority. There were rather small withdrawals for the immediate living expenses of the family and the payment of bills, or -naturally larger amounts- to the state for fees, compulsory levies, special taxes for Jews, and the cynically-named ‘flight from the country tax’.
Writing on 4/19/39, Max Sternberg asks the Foreign Currency Authority S to reduce the gold customs duty for him at his immediately approaching departure, since he had been on the front lines in World War I.
Having been on the front lines is no grounds for reduction in Dego tax
reads a short handwritten note from a clerk of the Currency Authority, replying to Sternberg’s request. (StAW 7580/38) For reference, “Dego” was the official name given to the emigration tax.
Mrs. Betti Sternberg shielded her family from the situation during this time:
Our financial situation also became ever worse. One day we got the invitation to the auction of our property, as Jews were no longer permitted to own real estate. (Based on the emigration application, [d. Verf.]). Beforehand a heavy truck had come and had cleared out and taken away everything from our stock cellar.
When the Sternbergs finally emigrated in June 1939, 7,799 of the original 67,870.64 RM assets were left. The account statements from 1939 show that:
Income Debit Remarks 38,000 RM Purchase price for the house lot Hauptstrasse 44 18,000 RM Purchase price for the house lot Hauptstrasse 42, actually paid 5559.57 RM 892.70 RM Surrender value of Concordia life insurance 890.45 RM Surrender value of Induna-Germania life insurance approx. 8000 RM Sale of warehouse 5,638 RM Reich flight tax
If one adds the loss of the moving goods–which never left the port of Hamburg–to the destruction of the business and the robbery of the property, one arrives at a total loss of 67,870.64 RM plus the home furnishings of a 6-room apartment with which the Sternbergs wanted to run a guest house in America–estimated at an additional 30,000 to 40,000 RM. Securities were also stored at Nassauische Landesbank, but no further information is available on them. The Sternbergs first reached England without any means and without work. They later emigrated to the United States. Max Sternberg was forced to borrow furniture from friends and took out two loans to survive the early years.
Mrs. Rosa Wallenstein
Rosa Wallenstein, born on January 13, 1867 in Rennerod, came to Herborn in December 1939 to help care for her brother, Leopold Hecht. She herself was already widowed and lived in Nidda in Upper Hesse. She operated a business there until 1937 and owned a large apartment building. When she came to Herborn temporarily, she had problems with the city administration to justify her temporary residence:
On the letter v. 5./8.40 I informed you that my permanent residence is still in Nidda in Oberhessen & I am subordinate to the regional finance office in Darmstadt. Moreover, I have had a limited account at the district savings bank in Nidda for some time, from which I was allowed to withdraw 300 RM per month. I am only registered for visits in Herborn & live with my brother, who is 78 years old & suffering & I support my sister-in-law in caring for him. I only requested my grocery cards & the mayor sent me a provisional form to alter my address. I am only registered for visits. I still have my own house in Nassa with a two room apartment.
According to the Herborner file, she moved to Frankfurt am Main on October 15, 1940, likely in order to emigrate from there. In August 1940, she was instructed to submit a precise list of assets.
Outstanding Assets as of September 7 1940 Worth Deposit book number 9708 1000.00 RM Postal check credit 34.03 RM Securities in the Dresdner Bank deposit 8000.00 RM Account with the Nidda Savings Bank 1775.00 RM Checking account with the Nidda Savings Bank 166.33 RM Outside of business[?] 400.00 RM Real estate 11900.00 RM Total 23275.36 RM Debts from the Jewish wealth tax 306.00 RM Net total 22969.36 RM
Mrs. Wallenstein she stated 1200 Reichsmarks as the annual income for the tax year 1940, and for 1941 she estimated it at 800 Reichsmarks. In a compilation dated August 29, 1940, she stated:
My monthly income was 75 RM per month, since June 1940 I have received 78 RM monthly rent from my house, further interest income monthly about 35 RM. I receive no other support…
The annual income is 1,320 RM in 1939. However, she estimates her monthly expenses at 200 Reichsmarks. So the income was far from sufficient.
On October 15, 1940, Rosa Wallenstein left Frankfurt am Main. In early 1941 she tried to expand her financial budget by selling real estate. The house plot in Nidda had to be sold to Dr. Ludwig Braun for 9,000 RM, while the unit value was at 11,900 RM. The permit was finally granted on June 18, 1941.
In November 1941 Rosa Wallenstein finally came to the Jewish retirement home in Frankfurt am Main, at Feuerbachstasse 14. To do this, she had to pay 4,000 RM into the Jewish cultural association. That did not save her from deportation. In September 1942 the foreign exchange file was closed and the remaining balance of at least 2,211 RM was transferred to a special account of the Reich Association of Jews in Germany on April 9, 1943.
Other Families and People
Of course there are many more people worth of inclusion in this document. Foreign exchange, compensation and reimbursement files were available for the persons mentioned so far, which made it possible to sketch a more precise picture of the specific circumstances of life. There are only fragmentary records [from our source documents] of the following people and families.
Heinrich Sternberg, born on April 6, 1883 in Neunkirchen, worked as a butcher and cattle dealer in Austrasse 12. His wife Emma came from Vilmar an der Lahn and together they had three children. His son Bernhard was born on May 31, 1907 and later joined his father’s cattle business. Nothing is known about the second son Leo. Daughter Betty Sternberg [Ken’s mother] later studied music and emigrated to St. Louis in 1934. In 1934 the father’s cattle trading license was withdrawn because of an alleged fraudulent trade, which also affected his son Bernhard. In September 1936 the family emigrated to New York and sold the property to Julius Salomon.
Lina Rosenbaum, the widow of the Jewish religion teacher Meier Rosenbaum, was born on December 9, 1873 in Oberzell. Her husband Meier died in May 1934, and from then on she lived on the modest widow’s pension of 150 RM a month as well as their savings. When the customs investigation agency blocked Lina Rosenbaum’s account on July 27, 1940 through a security order, 6100 RM and securities worth 1700 RM were still in her possession. The bank statements from 1941 are still available, which show that she lived off 70 RM a month. Later she received 50 RM monthly support from the Reich Association of Jews. Afterwards she lived with the Löwensteins for sublet and had a room in the far corner until her deportation on August 28, 1942.
Selma Witzell, born on May 21, 1909 in Frankfurt am Main, was the only Jewish woman living in “mixed marriage” in Herborn. Her husband Ernst was an elementary school teacher. She herself had no wealth and was entirely dependent on her husband. In a letter from the district administrator, the couple were again allowed to own a radio device, which they had probably been deprived of with the ban on Jews from owning radio devices. No more is known about the everyday life of the Witzell family. In a letter dated August 30, 1940, Ernst Witzell asked “whether, under the above circumstances, my wife had to set up a ‘limited security account’ with a foreign exchange bank, since there would be no amounts in this account.” She herself was not a victim of the large deportations to Auschwitz in 1942, as she was protected by mixed German-Jewish marriage. However, in 1943 she was arrested by the Gestapo and, like many other Jews living in mixed marriages, deported to Auschwitz.
The Weiler family was affected by a particularly terrible fate. Hermann Weiler was born on June 26, 1887 in Sachsenhausen, his wife Rosa on April 3, 1897 in Papenburg. Together the two had four children. Rita Weiler, born on August 31, 1926, escaped to Chile in December 1938. Son Heinz, born on September 17, 1928 as well. The youngest son Bela was only on August 25, 1938 and emigrated to Chile with her parents in the summer of 1939. The oldest son, Ludwig, was born on January 16, 1920 in Katzenfurt. He did an apprenticeship as a baker in Echzell, which he had to abandon in 1936 due to the bankruptcy of the company. He described himself as emotionally unstable, which he and his mother suffered in phases, but otherwise did not affect any of his relatives. On September 14, 1936, he was admitted to the Herborn State Medical Center as a “publicly insane”, allegedly on the basis of a statement he made that it would be best to shoot the “anti-Semites and Jewish butchers would shoot strings [?]”, which he made when he was 16 . In 1937 Ludwig Weiler – classified as a mentally ill – was sterilized, which damaged him mentally and physically forever. When the Weiler family was about to emigrate, the mayor wrote to Hermann Weiler. They told him,
… that it does not seem appropriate to leave your underage son Ludwig here or in an institution for Jewish feeble-minded people in the event of your emigration. Your son is not idiotic, since he was released from the local health center as ‘healthy’.
Ludwig was not incarcerated in the state medical center because of mental illness, but for political and police reasons–and the National Socialist authorities knew this. Nevertheless, the sterilization was carried out on him. Ludwig Weiler later emigrated to Shanghai and fought in Asia on the French and British side during the Second World War.
Hermann Süsskind and his wife Wilhelmine found their livelihood in their butcher shop and in the part-time horse trade. They had two sons, Walter and Kurt. Only Walter survived the Holocaust because he was able to emigrate. Kurt attended elementary school in Herborn in 1930 and then switched to a high school. Father Hermann, too, enjoyed an exceptionally good education for Herborn Jews, he attended high school in Dillenburg. Because of the Nazi regime, Kurt was forced to drop out of school and apprenticeship afterwards. He tried to find work in the area around Herborn, as can be seen from the registrations and de-registrations in Herborn, but without much success. The business had originally gone very well with an annual income of around 15,000 RM until it slowly fell into decline as a result of the Nazi boycott of Jewish businesses. As early as June 1933, Hermann Süsskind learned firsthand how the new regime intended to deal with Jews. He wrote to the police administration in Dillenburg:
On the 17th of February. Police officer Bartz confiscated a basket of meat products from Dillenburg station; the meat and the sausages were sold below market price, which caused me a damage of about 25, -RM. In addition, I could not supply my customers with the meat I had previously ordered. I run a butcher shop in Herborn. Registration for the trade was made two years ago. In Dillenburg I have a number of regular customers and the business relationship is such that I always complete the orders placed with me – they are almost exclusively the same customers and the same goods deliveries from week to week. … In order to be able to live and exist, I rely on the supply of external customers. Proof that I am actually delivering on order can be seen from the fact that the name of the recipient is recorded on each sausage and meat package that is packaged. In appreciation of what has been said, I request that the order made to the police administration be revoked and the relevant notification sent to me by Thursday, 22nd March at the latest so that I know about the delivery to my customers on Saturday and can make further arrangements for the slaughter, or so that I can take further steps if rejected.
He was still fighting confidently for his civil rights, but soon he also had to realize that the state of Hitler did not care about them. Disillusioned and as a broken man, Hermann Süsskind emigrated to Frankfurt am Main in 1939, where he died on October 31, 1940. The mother Wilhelmine and son Kurt were among the first to be deported from Frankfurt to Lodz on October 19, 1941. Both died there, although it is likely that they were murdered in Chelmno, like many other Jews locked up in the Lodz ghetto.
The Deportation
Whoever could or would no longer turn their back on Germany shared the fate of the Hattenbachs. When in June and August 1942 the Secret National Police in Frankfurt ordered Evacuation of Jews to the East, the deportation of Jews from the area of their administrative district of Wiesbaden, Herborners in both situations were affected by the official designation. In all, 22 persons were first deported to Frankfurt am Main and from there to Theresienstadt and other concentration camps.
The choreography of the deportation was meticulously planned: first police obtained admittance to the homes of those persons who were to be deported. Then they read a so-called National Police order which began with the words: “You are hereby informed that you are to leave your dwelling within 2 hours.”
The policeman had been given for this task a special leaflet which could be consulted to aid the deportation preparations, which laid down, among other things, that this decree was to be read in each case by an officer and never by SS or SA members.
Under supervision, the householders must now pack their bags, however “only the essential hand luggage.” Valuables of any kind and savings books and also the house keys were to be left behind accompanied by a statement of the name and address. As “property of enemies of the state and people,” all Jewish possessions are to be confiscated and given over to the Finance Administration to be “managed and used”.
The fact that, and the extent to which, the Nazi government enriched itself from the people they intended to exterminate in a manner that was unlawful according to the prevailing legal opinion of the time, here becomes horribly plain.
Moreover private citizens also knew how to profit from this process, which becomes visible in a highly interesting written exchange in the Herborn documents.
On August 28th, 1942, Mr. David Löwenstein was deported along with 11 other Herborners. The “Area Economic Advisor” F. from Biedenkopf, showed already on August 27–one day before the deportation–in a letter to District Office,
his interest in the sale of David L.’s house to a Mr. S. On September 1 he obtained a positive answer from the District Office: “In any case I have no objections to levying on the fixed price at the time of the surrender of the house.”
“WE DIDN’T KNOW ANYTHING”
This frequent reply from relatives of the so-called ‘first generation’ in response to critical inquiries from their grandchildren about the National Socialist past are once more unmasked here through historical fact–they are a means of projecting blame on others.
Concerning the Jews evacuated from the Herborn Police District June 10, 1942
Serial No. Name: Birth date: Birth place: Street address: 1. Salomon, Julius Israel* 2/26/1899 Werdorf 12 Austrasse 1. Salomon, nee Stern, Meta Sara* 1/22/1909 Niederweidbach 12 Austrasse 2. Stern, Moritz Israel* 8/29/1827 Niederweidbach 12 Austrasse 3. Stern, nee Hammerschlag, Julchen Sara* 12/12/1882 Treis b. Giessen 12 Austrasse 1. Stern, Willi Israel* 10/9/1885 Maudt b. Montabaur 11 d.S.A. Street 2. Stern, nee Löwenstein, Betty Sara* 7/12/1896 Herborn 11 d.S.A. Street 1. Rosenberg, nee Hirsch, Berta Sara* 4/7/1905 Haiger 3 Oranien Street 1. Levi, nee Hirsch, Selma Sara* 4/17/1904 Haiger/Dill 3 Oranien Street 2. Salomon, Silvia Sara* 11/15/1933 Herborn 12 Austrasse [Seal of the City of Herborn]
__________________________________________________________________________________
~Herborn files
[*middle names, the same was assigned to all Jews by the Nazis]
Jews transferred from Herborn/Dill District via Frankfurt am Main August 28, 1942
Serial No. Name: Birth date: Birth place: Street address: 1. Friedemann, Simon Israel* 12/4/1875 Werdorf 12 Austrasse 1. Friedemann, Karoline Sara* 5/19/1878 Lassphe 12 Austrasse 2. Hattenbach, Rosa Sara* 6/15/1883 Volkmarsen 3 Oranien Street 3. Hecht, Leopold Israel* 11/15/1862 Rennerod 80 Adolph Hitler Street 1. Hecht, Jara 12/31/1876 Frankfurt 80 Adolph Hitler Street 2. Levi, Berta Sara* 6/24/1873 Kasigen 3 Oranien Street 3. Löwenstein, David Israel* 9/25/1866 Langendernbach 11 d. S.A. Street 1. Löwenstein, Rosa Sara* 11/24/1868 Kayer 11 d. S.A. Street 2. Lucas, Henriette Sara* 4/6/1863 Herborn 3 Oranien Street 3. Rosenbaum, Lina Sara* 12/9/1873 Oberzell 11 d. S.A. Street 4. Simon, Abraham Israel* 5/5/1868 Kölschhausen 16 Muhlbach Street 5. Simon, Karoline Sara* 7/4/1865 Lindholm 16 Muhlbach Street (illegible signature)
[Seal of the City of Herborn]
__________________________________________________________________________________
~Herborn files
[*middle names, the same was assigned to all Jews by the Nazis]
Dillenburg, June, 1942
The County Office of the Dill District RUSH DELIVERYTo the Mayor of Herborn
Concerning: The evacuation of the Jews to the East
Enclosed I am sending a copy of the decree from the Secret National Police Authority detailing the previous and further immediate arrangements. As seen in the order, a further transport of Jews away to the East is intended. The transport is settled for Wednesday June 10, 1942 from Frankfurt. The request is therefore to be dealt with in an expedited manner. The matter is for this reason to be dealt with as a priority. For the evacuation, all Jews under 65 with German nationality ([illegible with hand-written corrections] and Polish and Luxemburger nationality) as well as stateless Jews are affected. Regarding exceptions, I refer you to # 1-7 of the attached order. If Jews are in a war critical position in a workplace, it is desirable that the Jews be released from their employers. It is the urgent wish of the Gauleiter [translation unknown] that this particular district become free of Jews. The Jewish Trust Authority has not yet shared with me the Jews in question for the transport. The assets submitted from the district also has not yet come to me. I assume that the Jews in question have received notice of the evacuation in the meantime. It is [g.F.] the responsibility of the Jewish trustees to find out and let me know, by Monday, 6/8/42,11 AM at the latest, numerically, the Jews in question for the evacuation.
The Jews to be evacuated are in the custody of a police officer in order to set off punctually on the march so as to arrive at the latest on Wednesday, June 10, 1942, 7PM at the Frankfurt am Main Grand Market Hall. Concerning the route and the means of transport, I refer you to the attached order. The necessary food is to be paid for in advance and the refund requests sent to me at the conclusion of the action. The receipts will be needed in duplicate. The travel food for the police will also be refunded and is to be presented to me with the enclosed travel food bills. Everything else is in the enclosed order. The police official will familiarize himself with the leaflet that is coming. The date is to be adhered to under all circumstances. The persons in question are to be communicated to me by name. The orders to be treated as confidential until carried out.
Signed, sealed, stamped: City Council of Dillenburg, Dill County
~(Herborn files)
The Transport
From the so-called collection points, such as the Wholesale Grocer’s Market in Frankfurt, people often spent days in extermination camps. The survivor Heinz Rosenberg describes this traumatic experience as an example:
The wagons were not heated, the compartments were overcrowded with people and luggage. Some of the families and friends had been separated. As a result, the restlessness and nervousness of the people became so great that quarrels arose out of the smallest details. My sister and I sat on one side of our compartment, my mother and father opposite us for the whole transport. I was able to help her with her work. Every time the train stopped – about every eight hours – Gabi and I were allowed to get out of the car to go to another car and help sick and very old people. At each stop, the SS guards surrounded the whole train with pistols drawn.
Erika and her foster parents were in car No. 8. I could see and speak to them there, but I could not bring them over to our car. After all, we knew we were on the same train. The train went through Berlin, through Poland to the Russian border and from there to Minsk, where we arrived on the evening of November 11th. We had been out for three days and nights. Since it was late in the evening [when we arrived], the SS decided not to unload the train before morning. So we had to spend another night on the cold train. Water and food had become scarce.
That night we got a first impression of what was waiting for us: Opposite us was a train with Russian prisoners of war, open wagons, completely overcrowded, the prisoners were almost all without clothes, and it was very cold outside. A sentry shouted at the prisoners that they would be given food, but if they fought, the guard would have to use the firearm. An interpreter translated it, and then it started.
The sentry threw two or three loaves of bread into each wagon, and it was natural that the starved prisoners would fight for it. The guard hardly saw that whenhe immediately shot at them with machine guns, and we only heard the prisoners screaming. Later, a large number of dead people were thrown out of the wagons, but purportedly the guard had only acted “on command”, since turmoil and unrest had broken out between the prisoners.
During the night we saw more and more SS troops and other soldiers in various uniforms who came to watch our train. We didn’t understand this curiosity; was it a good or bad sign? We didn’t know then that we were the first transport of German Jews to Minsk.
At five in the morning we were finally able to get out. An SS officer gave the orders. Everyone had to take their hand luggage and line up at the wagon. We were counted and had to wait. Suddenly the SS officer called for the Jewish transport manager. Dr. Frank immediately went to him, took a stand and said: ‘I am reporting 971 men, women and children from Hamburg.’ The officer looked in and said: ‘Dirty Jew, if you speak to an officer or to any other German, take off your hat and wait until you are spoken to!’ At this, he took his leather whip and slapped Dr. Frank with such force in the face that he fell on the floor and had to be helped to get up.
That was just the beginning. Next came the command: ‘You will now march into the Minsk ghetto under the guard of my troops. If anyone tries to escape or does not obey the orders, they will be shot. We shoot a hundred of you for anyone who tries to escape. There is enough space in the ghetto for all of you. The clean-up work must start immediately. No one is allowed to be in the ghetto on the streets from eight in the evening until six in the morning. ‘
Dr. Frank and the [group of] twenty wagon-drivers I belonged to were brought to the ghetto. It was above a very old part of the city, with houses from the tsarist era. It was fenced with barbed wire all around and had only one exit. In the middle was an unfinished school building made of red bricks and opposite a white building, which was possibly also a school. We were ordered to immediately clear the red building. When we entered the house, a second appalling impression of Minsk awaited us: hundreds of corpses covered the floor. There was blood everywhere and there was still food on the ovens and tables. All rooms were in a mess. It was not possible to find a living soul.
We left the Dread House and little by little our people came from the train station. It was a long way, and the old ones hadn’t been able to make it and had been loaded onto trucks. No people were seen on the streets. There seemed to be only burned-out buildings in this ruined city.
The Path to Murder
The traces of the millions of people who were factory-wiped out in the large extermination camps such as Auschwitz, Majdanek, Sobibor–who died miserably in the large ghettos of the east, who became victims of the massacres of German police battalions, the deployment groups and the Wehrmacht–are mostly blurred. Many of the people exist only in “event reports” of the SS troops, they appear in columns of reports from the civil administration as figures in columns and tables, transport lists of the German National Railway appear as “success reports” of the concentration camp administration. These reports include terms such as “piece” or “freight”. The murder was called “to be given special treatment”, shooting referred to as “done”. “Region XY is free of Jews” and other such vile language such was common in official documentation.
The Jews still living in Herborn in 1942 were brought to murder by means of two deportations on June 10 and August 28, 1942.
Herborner police officers took them out of their apartments with the support of the local government. What little remained of their personal possessions were taken away and handed over to the National Social Welfare, which distributed food and goods to “needy Germans”.
The police took the small group by train to Frankfurt to the Wholesale Grocer’s Market and handed them over to the SS. When they returned to Herborn, the officials settled their travel expenses using funds stolen from Jewish families.
In Frankfurt, the SS arranged transports to Theresienstadt. Shamefully, it was advantageous for the SS to fill the trains with as many people as possible, because then there was a discount on the train. Although people were often transported in goods wagons, the railroad settled with the SS the corresponding tariff for passenger transport. For children like Silvia Salomon, born on November 15, 1933 [only 9 years old at the time] in Herborn, the German National Railway asked for half the fare.
Although the Wehrmacht had considerable supply problems in the east and the corresponding transport capacities of the German National Railway were lacking for a smooth supply, the deportation trains had high priority. The National Railway always provided the SS with the necessary trains, but the victims had to pay their own way to their murder. The Railway’s bills were paid out of stolen Jewish property. This was sometimes difficult, e.g. when Jews were deported from the occupied territories and only foreign currency from the occupied countries was available, but that was also managed.
From Frankfurt, the suffering Herborn Jews initially went to Theresienstadt ghetto-camp. Shortly after their arrival, many died there due to the inhumane conditions or in planned murder campaigns:
Leopold Kneip from Burg, was murdered on September 1st, 1942. Lina Rosenbaum (born Hecht) was murdered on September 19th, 1942 and her brother Leopold Hecht on September 20th, 1942. Joseph Hattenbach survived his wife Rosa until February 14, 1944, when he was starved in Theresienstadt. A short time later Friedemann Simon was murdered in Theresienstadt on April 17, 1944. Berta Rosenberg is officially deemed “lost” in Theresienstadt.
Selma Levi, Meta Salomon, Silvia Salomon, Betty Stern, and Moritz Stern were further deported to the “East”. Any further trace of them is lost there. It is likely they were murdered there by German police officers or the SS.
Selma Hecht, Berta Levi, Abraham Simon and Karoline Simon were deported to the Minsk ghetto and the Trostenets extermination site.
From November 1941, 6,963 Jews from the “Reich” (including Frankfurt) arrived in the Minsk ghetto on November 11, 1941. Before that, the SS made room and shot about 6,000 Russian Jews from November 7th. until 11.11.1941 in the middle of the ghetto.
In 1942, another 15,000 people were deported from the Reich to Minsk, at least 13,500 of whom were shot immediately. On July 18, 1942, a train with 1,000 Jews from Theresienstadt reached the Minsk ghetto. In August and September 1942, a total of four further transports, each with 1,000 people, arrived from Theresienstadt in the extermination site Trostenez at the gates of the city of Minsk. The people are driven out of the trains and immediately shot.
The Trostenez camp was subject to the stationary management of the mobile task forces and special commands of task forces A and B.
The personnel of these commandos consisted of members of the SD, officers of the criminal police and secret state police, members of the General SS and the Waffen-SS, as well as units of the order police, i.e. the protective police and gendarmerie.
~Paul Kohl, “I am surprised that I am still alive,” Gütersloh 1990, page 92
The place of execution was called Blagovshchina by the members of the task forces.
Depending on the length of the grounds, around 20 shooters were set up. Guns were always used, killing by neck shot. If victims were still suspected, the shooters simply fired into the pit with submachine guns until everything remained motionless.
~Paul Kohl, “I am surprised that I am still alive,” Gütersloh 1990, page 92
The paths of Lily Hirsch and Karoline Friedemann can be traced using documents from the Auschwitz camp archive and the calendar. Both were deported to Theresienstadt with the aforementioned transports via Frankfurt. The SS sent them to Auschwitz from there in 1944.
Lily Hirsch came with the Transport Em from October 1st, 1944 from Theresienstadt to Auschwitz. The entry on the transport list reads: “1479 Hirsch Lily June 15, 1900 Household 274-XXIV / 1” (Auschwitz storage archive D-RF-3 / 101, inventory no. 107 406, Vol.16, p.78). The calendar (page 894) records the arrival of a transport with 1,500 Jewish men, women and children from Theresienstadt on October 3rd, 1944. After the selection, the young and healthy are instructed in the transit camp and the rest of the people are killed in the gas chambers. This transport is connected with the extensive evacuation of the Theresienstadt concentration camp from the end of September 1944. Whether Lily Hirsch was with the above arrival is likely, but not certain. What is certain is that she was murdered in Auschwitz.
A few months earlier, Karoline Friedemann was deported from Theresienstadt to Auschwitz with the transport Dz on May 15, 1944. The transport comprises 2,503 people, including Hermann and Frieda Seligmann from Oberndorf, Meyer and Selma Seligmann from Münchholzhausen and Bertha Eisner from Wetzlar. “1693 Friedemann, Karoline S. 20.6.1878 Household 977-XII / 2” (Auschwitz storage archive D-RF-3 / 96a, inventory no. 107 401, Vol.11a, p.83). The transport arrives in Auschwitz on May 16, 1944. 707 men and boys are numbered A-76 to A-842, 1,736 women and girls are numbered A-15 to A-999 and A-2000 to A-2750. All ‘accommodations’ were made in the “family camp” BIIb in Birkenau. The same happens with a transport arriving on May 17, 44 from Theresienstadt (2,447 people). On July 7th and July 9th selections take place in camp BIIb. The SS camp doctor Mengele mainly looks for young and healthy Jews, some of which were sent to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp, while others were transported to other concentration camps. On July 10th a camp lock-down is arranged in camp section BIIb, in the course of which 3,000 women and children are transferred to the crematorium and killed in the gas chambers. On July 11th another camp lock-down is ordered, in the course of which all surviving inmates of the camp, approximately 4,000 Jewish women and men, are led into the gas chambers. Karoline Friedemann was murdered on one of these days. (all data from: Auschwitz calendar, p.776,815,817,820)
When the NSDAP and its allies gained power in Germany in 1933, 92 Jewish citizens lived in Herborn. Less than ten years later there were no more Jewish communities. We know from 26 people that they were certainly deported from Herborn and murdered. The memorial book lists 23 people (two of them from Burg) who were victims of the Shoah. The deportations dated June 10, 1942. and September 28, 1942. would bring death for three other people who are not recorded in the memorial book.
After completing the project, we are unable to trace the fates of all 92 Jews from Herborn.
For example, we were able to document the way into exile in the case of the Sternberg family. Elfriede Klater also escaped the threat of destruction together with her parents. However, not all of them did. As the fate of the Hattenbach family shows, it was not possible for many German Jews to leave the country in good time despite the application to emigrate. One can only hope that the 60 or so people were able to flee into exile. We do not know whether — and how many of — the refugees were murdered by the Nazis.
This page cites numerous studies regarding the Jews of Herborn and the surrounding state of Essen. Primarily the source of this page comes from a work titled “The History of the Jews in Herborn from 1933 to 1943: The Annihilation of a Community” written by historian Stefan Kontra.
Another source document, titled “The Persecution, Emigration, and Annihilation of the Herborn Jews” was created by students of the Klaus Kesselgruber School and the Youth Education Project of the Lahn-Dill District and heavily cites Kontra’s report as well as utilizing many of his same sources.
Schoen Books 