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© Privatbesitz
Oskar Rosenkranz * 1876
Isestraße 54 (Eimsbüttel, Harvestehude)
1941 Lodz
1942 ermordet in Chelmno
further stumbling stones in Isestraße 54:
Else Rosenkranz, Erna Rosenkranz
Oskar Rosenkranz, born on 1 Mar. 1876 in Goslar, deported on 25 Oct. 1941 to Lodz, murdered on 12 May 1942 in Chelmno
Else Rosenkranz, née Levy, born on 1 June 1879 in Coppenbrügge near Hameln, deported on 25 Oct. 1941 to Lodz, murdered on 12 May 1942 in Chelmno
Erna Rosenkranz, born on 20 Oct. 1902 in Goslar, deported on 25 Oct. 1941 to Lodz, murdered on 12 May 1942 in Chelmno
Oskar Rosenkranz, born on 1 Mar. 1876 in Goslar, was the second son of Bertha and Nathan Rosenkranz; his brother Siegmund had been born five years earlier, also in Goslar.
The family lived on the income that Nathan earned as a cloth and yard goods trader. The flourishing business enabled him to buy two houses, in 1881 the building at Vititorwall 4 and in 1884 the house on the corner of Schilderstrasse and Bahnhofstrasse. In the Jewish Community, he gained respect as the head of the Synagogue Community (Synagogengemeinde) – an office he held from 1881 until 1884.
When Nathan Rosenkranz passed away in 1908, his property was divided up among his sons. Siegmund received the house on Vititorwall, Oskar the one on Schilderstrasse. Since Siegmund already lived in Hamburg by this time, his mother Bertha moved into the house and lived there until her death in 1925. Oskar took on the task of attending to business in Goslar.
While the younger brother stayed in his hometown, Siegmund married in Hamburg Nelly Angelina Isaacs, the daughter of the British consul. He had two children with her, Walter, who became a jurist, and Katie, who married a Danish man.
Siegmund passed away in 1930, and after Hitler’s "seizure of power,” his wife and son Walter got Katie to come to Britain, where Walter had to change professions, earning his income as a merchant from then on, since his legal expertise did not help him much abroad.
In Goslar, Bertha and Oskar lived together on Vititorwall. Stories have it that Bertha was a very headstrong character. The municipal surgeon at the time, Dr. Nieper, said about his long-standing patient, "[…] she was all skin and bones and a tough cookie […] next to this dominant mother, the son will not have had an easy time.” To their neighbors, she appeared as an old woman who, with her black lace bonnet, spent most of her time at the window, rarely to be seen out of the house. However, Oskar stayed with the mother even after his marriage with Else Levy from Coppenbrügge, Bertha’s hometown, and the newlywed couple set up house at Vititorwall 4.
Else came from a well-to-do family that had been residing in Coppenbrügge since the 1870s. Father Arnold was the head of the local Jewish Community from 1901 until 1909, operating a flourishing yard goods store and owning a plant manufacturing wood staves. After his death in 1911, sons Oskar and William as well as daughter-in-law Selma took over the operation, having to give it up in the 1920s, however, due to financial difficulties.
On 20 Oct. 1902, Else and Oskar’s only daughter, Erna, was born in Goslar. A former neighbor tells the following story: "Since we liked to play on the street with the neighborhood kids, we also got Erna […] to come with us from time to time. However, when Marta K., who lived across the street from us, wanted to join our circle, she said to Erna, ‘No, I am not going to play with you, you people nailed our Lord Jesus to the cross, after all.’ – To which little Erna, who had a speech impediment and stutter, especially when excited, responded, ‘It wwwasn’t mmme, my parents neither, thththen it must have been our oooldster.’” With oldster ("Oltsche”), she meant grandmother Bertha.
Initially, the family lived on the revenues from the business that Oskar continued to manage after the father’s death; subsequently, work as a commercial agent and renting out real estate were added as sources of income. One of his former tenants said about him, "Oskar Rosenkranz was my landlord. In 1932, my father and I had rental negotiations with him aimed at renting the premises of the photo retailer Matt. […] In those days, it was difficult for me, almost penniless, to set up a photo store, […] Mr. Rosenkranz first specified a sum that we could not pay. And that’s when I got to know a fair, accommodating businessman. When we mentioned the price as too high, he said, ‘I will reduce my price by 50 percent. That will allow you to start out for now. When the business thrives eventually, we can negotiate new rental charges, after all.’ – Mr. Rosenkranz never increased the rent.”
The description by a female neighbor of Oskar Rosenkranz suggests that he had a rather reserved character, maintaining only few social contacts. "He was short, about 1.6 meters (5 ft 3 in), wearing glasses and very modest in his conduct. I saw that he had a kind of hump, a hunched back. You could tell his grief about this permanent disability just by looking at him; it did not exactly encourage you to maintain contact. He "shuffled along” sideways, always struggling somewhat as he walked.”
After Hitler’s assumption of power, the atmosphere for Jewish residents in Goslar became harsher as well. The boycott campaigns against Jewish businesses and the call on the population to avoid Jewish commercial agents got the Rosenkranz family in financial difficulties. In connection with the night of the November Pogrom of 9 Nov. 1938, Goslar, too, saw mass arrests of Jews, affecting Oskar Rosenkranz as well. He was committed to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp, where he was detained as prisoner no. 010888 in Block 16 until his release on 23 Nov. 1938.
In 1939, the family decided to leave Goslar and go to Hamburg, which offered more anonymity and, with the local family connections, held out the hope of being able to emigrate to Britain. In Hamburg, Oskar and Else as well as their daughter Erna moved into an apartment at Isestrasse 54.
Due to the loss of the businesses and the forced resignation from work as a commercial agent, the family assets had dwindled significantly. Apart from 2,400 RM in capital, the only source of income was revenues from the real estate in Goslar, 319 RM a month.
Probably in the hopes of imminent emigration, Oskar decided to manage without this regular income, selling the house in Goslar, assisted by his nephew Walter with his legal expertise. Even though they reckoned with a losing bargain anyway, the sale failed eventually because the only interested party backed out shortly before closing the deal. The hope of emigrating was shattered as well.
Of necessity, Oskar, Else, and Erna had no choice but to wait until they were put on the deportation list for the transport to Lodz, with their names noted on a supplemental list containing 200 names aimed at making up for potential "no shows.” Numbers 910, 911, and 912, the family was deported with another 1,034 persons on 25 Oct. 1941. In the Lodz Ghetto, they lived together in the house at Kranichweg 13, until they were murdered in the Chelmno extermination camp on 12 May 1942.
Today, the house of the Rosenkranz family on Schilderstrasse in Goslar no longer exists because it was replaced by a new building in the 1950s. The owner was still a Rosenkranz, since the property was not "Aryanized” but instead held in trust by the city, as a result of which Oskar’s nephew Walter in Britain inherited it.
In 1956, Walter visited Goslar and attended a hearing concerning the planned demolition. A civil servant from the planning authority present as well at the time reported, "Mr. Roxton (formerly Rosenkranz), who was otherwise a quiet participant in the discussion […] commented on this occasion that in case of a new building being constructed, the house should be named ‘Güldensternhaus‘ [‘golden star house’]. He requested this as a commemoration of the occupants forced to wear the yellow Jews’ star during the Nazi period.” In order to fulfill this wish, a sign featuring two small stars was attached to the newly constructed office building.
Translator: Erwin Fink
Kindly supported by the Hermann Reemtsma Stiftung, Hamburg.
Stand: October 2018
© Eva Decker
Quellen: 1; 2; 4; 8; StaH, 552-1 Jüd. Gemeinden, 992 e 2, Bd. 1; StaH, 732-5 Adressbücher LS 19629/126; Archiv Sachsenhausen, Anweisung der Politischen Abteilung in Oranienburg. Sign. D 1 A/1015, Bl. 056; Hans Donald Cramer, Das Schicksal der Goslarer Juden 1933–45. Eine Dokumentation, Goslar 1986; Bernhard Gelderblom, Die jüdische Gemeinde Coppenbrügge, in: Bernhard Gelderblom: Hamelns Geschichte – abseits vom Rattenfänger, www.gelderblom-hameln.de.
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