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Ilonka Hofmann * 1937

Hohe Reihe 25 (Wandsbek, Sasel)

1942 Auschwitz
HIER WOHNTE
ILONKA HOFMANN
JG. 1937
DEPORTIERT 1942
ERMORDET IN
AUSCHWITZ

further stumbling stones in Hohe Reihe 25:
Arnold Hofmann, Anna Hofmann, Charlotte Hofmann

Arnold Hofmann, born on 9 Nov. 1875 in Skalitz/Szakolcza, deported on 11 July 1942 to Auschwitz
Charlotte Hofmann, née Brüll, born on 30 Apr. 1874 in Sobotiste/Szobotist, deported on 11 July 1942 to Auschwitz
Anna Hofmann, born on 4 Nov. 1905 in Hamburg, deported on 11 July 1942 to Auschwitz
Ilonka Hofmann, born on 11 Oct. 1937 in Hamburg, deported on 11 July 1942 to Auschwitz

Hohe Reihe 25

Arnold Hofmann was born in the multinational Austro-Hungarian Monarchy in 1875 as the son of the temple servant Salomon Hof(f)mann and his wife Jeanette, née Schlesinger. His birthplace Szakolcza (Hungarian) or, respectively, Skalitz (Austrian) belonged to the Kingdom of Hungary at the time and was located only one or two kilometers from the border of the Austrian Empire. A railroad line went from there via Pressburg to Vienna. Pressburg (Slovakian: Bratislava; Hungarian: Poszony) was also the city to which he moved later on. Arnold Hofmann was a trained machine fitter.

Charlotte Brüll, sometimes also called by her Hungarian first name "Sarolta,” was born in the town of Sobotiste (Slovakian), located approx. 15 kilometers (nearly 10 miles) southeast of Skalitz, and Arnold Hofmann and Charlotte "Lotti” Brüll were married in Sobotiste in 1902.

In the multilingual imperial and royal Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, the Hofmann couple belonged to the German-speaking population group. Though they lived on the territory of the Kingdom of Hungary, and here specifically in a Slovakian area of settlement, the questions posed and explanations given by the Hungarian registrar in the course of their wedding in 1902 had to be translated to them into German. After the end of the First World War, the birthplaces of the Hofmann couple were ceded to the newly founded Czechoslovakia. Since the Hofmann couple had left the territory of the new state even before its establishment, however, they were not registered as Czechoslovakian citizens. From then on, they were deemed "stateless,” and their children were born into this status as well.

In 1905, the Hofmann couple along with three small children moved to the capital of the Dual Monarchy, Vienna, and from there to the Hanseatic city of Hamburg that same year. In Nov. 1905, daughter Anna was born there, two years later son Gottlieb. From 1910 to 1913, the family lived in Hamburg-Eilbek at Kiebitzstrasse 34, house no. 1. The neighboring houses in Kiebitzstrasse, nos. 26, 28, and 32, were the property of the Hamburg Jewish Community.

From Oct. 1922 until Aug. 1929, the family was listed as belonging to the German-Israelitic Community and the Orthodox Synagogue Association (Synagogenverband). At the time, Arnold Hofmann worked as a fitter. Even though the Hofmann family left the German-Israelitic Community in 1929, their home continued to feature the silver Sabbath candlestick, the gold-plated Hanukkah menorah, and a large silver Passover plate. The family lived in Barmbek-Süd at Stieglitzstrasse 8a (1921–1927) and afterward at Gluckstrasse 38 (1927–1928), a street running parallel to their previous home. From about 1929 onward, they lived as homeowners at Hohe Reihe 25 in the Sasel quarter.

The oldest daughter Olga (born on 13 Sept. 1904 in Vienna) worked as a sales assistant and married the lathe operator Heinrich Berlinghoff (1894–1949) in 1931. In 1932, their son was born. Since her husband was not Jewish, she lived in a "privileged mixed marriage” according to the Nazi racial criteria. She died on 18 Jan. 1944. There are some indications that at least during the Nazi period, her marriage was not a happy one. At the Yad Vashem memorial site, the following is noted for her on a Page of Testimony in English: "She was mistreated by her non-jewish [sic] husband, starved, felt ill and was likely given an overdose pills by her resenting husband, who was unhappy being married to a jewess [sic].” This constitutes conjecture; no evidence could be found to substantiate such conduct by the husband.

Anna, the second oldest daughter (born in 1905), had obtained the registration of a trade as a "merchant in white, woolen, and Dutch goods [i.e. fine linens, textiles, cloth] for Hamburg, Gluckstrasse 38 on the ground floor.” From 1930, she was listed in the directory as owner of a white goods store. However, the store generated such modest sales that no income tax was due. In 1938, the repressive measures toward economic elimination of companies owned by Jews were further escalated. At the beginning of Sept. 1938, Anna Hofmann applied with the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce for "permission for a closing-down sale due to termination of the business.” Deprived of her economic basis, in 1938 she and her illegitimate daughter Ilonka (born on 11 Oct. 1937) sought shelter with her parents. Starting in June 1939, she found a low-paying job earning her about 20 RM (reichsmark) a week. Since Dec. 1940, the 65-year-old Arnold Hofmann received a disability pension, which did not suffice to make ends meet, however. In Jan. 1940, the family depended on support by the welfare authority.

Arnold Hoffmann was arrested by the Hamburg Secret State Police on 20 May 1942 and committed to the Hamburg-Fuhlsbüttel police prison; the reasons for the arrest are not known. On 12 June 1942, he was transported to the Stadthaus, the headquarters of the Gestapo in Hamburg, and released that same day. Three days after his release, he wrote to a couple on close terms from the Sasel quarter:

"Dear Mr. and Mrs. Beyer!
On Friday, 12 June at noon, I was very fortunate to regain my freedom. Twenty-four days and nights, hour after hour until a day was over, and tormenting, sleepless nights – I had to endure much, very much, and several times, I was overcome by a feeling as if my nerves would fail me, in terror close to mental derangement, (…) but quickly I grasped at the saving straw, life, well, it is not really a life, existence. With iron will (…) I shall exempt myself from still writing about it (…), as that can be done only verbally, and therefore I ask you, you two dear ones, it would be a great joy to us if both of you were to visit us, a heartfelt longed-for reunion, so please grant me this wish, you will be fully reimbursed for the journey by fast train, yes, once again I repeat our great wish, make it happen as something very urgent (…).”

Apparently, Arnold Hofmann knew about his imminent deportation, for on 20 June 1942, he sold the house in Sasel for 5,000 RM. The Nazi state seized both the purchase price for the house and the household effects, which were auctioned off, yielding 703 RM.

The Hofmann couple was quartered by force in a so-called "Jews’ house” ("Judenhaus”) at Schlachterstrasse 47 in Hamburg-Neustadt. On 17 Jan. 1940, Anna Hofmann had already been committed to the former Israelitic Altona Community School at Grünestrasse 5 and from there to another "Jews’ house” at Schlachterstrasse 46, house no. 6 (Hamburg-Neustadt) on 6 May 1942. Perhaps due to these forced relocations, she had also handed over her daughter Ilonka to the Jewish girls’ orphanage of the Paulinenstift at a time unknown. Four weeks after his release from prison, Arnold Hofmann, his wife Charlotte, and their younger daughter Anna were deported from Hamburg to the Auschwitz extermination camp. In reasons given for a judgment dating from 1953, the course of deportations in Hamburg was described as follows: "As apparent from the evacuation orders still extant, the evacuation of Jews carried out by the Secret State Police took place in such a way that those affected received an order saying that their transport was to be executed immediately and that their assets and those of their relatives were deemed confiscated. The persons concerned were instructed to lock their homes after leaving them and to surrender the keys to the apartment to the appropriate police station. Those affected were held responsible for the proper condition of their homes and the appearance of their relatives at the reporting center. They were informed that damage to property or flight would be punished with special measures.”

Granddaughter Ilonka, too, was committed to this transport along with 13 other charges of the orphanage and their wardens. The dates of death of the Hofmann family and their fellow sufferers are not known. One must assume that all of them were killed using poison gas immediately upon or shortly after arriving at the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp.

Arnold, Charlotte, and Anna Hofmann were later declared dead as of 8 May 1945.
Son Siegfried Hofmann (born in Vienna in 1903) emigrated with his two sons to Palestine, where he died in 1946. Son Eduard Hofmann (born in Hamburg in 1907) emigrated to California, USA.

Translator: Erwin Fink

Kindly supported by the Hermann Reemtsma Stiftung, Hamburg.

Stand: October 2016
© Björn Eggert, Ulrike Sparr

Quellen: 1; 4; 8; StaH 213-13 (Wiedergutmachungsamt beim Landgericht Hamburg), Z 506 und Z 20703 ; StaH 314-15 (OFP), R 1938/2145 (Anna Hofmann); StaH 351-11 (AfW), Eg 091175 (Arnold Hofmann); StaH 351-11 (AfW), Eg 041105 (Anna Hofmann); StaH 332-5 4157 7/1944; AB 1910, 1913, 1918, 1921 (A. Hofmann); Honorarkonsulat Slowakei (Hamburg), Auskunft zu Staatsangehörigkeitsregelungen und Vorname, Januar 2010; Ortsamt Sobotiste/Slowakei, Familienbuch u. Heiratsurkunde 1902; Wamser, Weinke, Ehemals in Hamburg zu Haus: Jüdisches Leben am Grindel, Hamburg 1991, S. 63.
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