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Johanna Schmidt (née Frank) * 1870

Schurzallee-Nord 4 (Hamburg-Mitte, Hamm)

1942 Theresienstadt
ermordet 08.11.1942

further stumbling stones in Schurzallee-Nord 4:
Conrad August Schmidt

Conrad August Schmidt, born 7/17/1875, deported to Theresienstadt on 7/15/1942, died there on 10/24/1942
Johanna Schmidt, née Frank, born 1/2/1870, deported to Theresienstadt on 7/15/1942, died there on 11/8/1942

Schurzallee 4

On May 25th, 1936, Conrad August Schmidt wrote to the German-Israelitic Community in Hamburg 13, also on behalf of his wife: "…I am unable to pay more community tax than RM 21.00 because I work in an Aryan company, where I am also obliged to participate in collections, etc., which you will understand. I have always paid my dues to Jewish collections, soup funds, etc.; nonetheless, I also contributed to the other collections, on account of my position.”

Conrad August Schmidt was born in Altona on July 17th, 1975. His mother Auguste, née Salomon, was Jewish; his father Conrad Schmidt was not Jewish. His wife Johanna, née Frank, born on January 3rd, 1870, came from Lathen on the River Ems; both of her parents were Jewish. Conrad and Johanna Schmidt had two daughters, Anni, born March 28th, 1904, and Käthe, born April 22nd, 1906.

In 1913, Conrad Schmidt joined the German-Israelitic Community of Hamburg. In World War I, he fought for the Kaiser; after the war, he returned to his employer 1913 Hacifa, a Hamburg cigar manufacturer, taking over their tobacco shop in Schurzallee; his position assured a modest living for the family. Later, the daughters Anni and Käthe contributed to the family income with their salaries.

Financial troubles began in 1935, when August Schmidt had to pay substantial medical bills. His salary was only RM 195.00 per month plus commission, which was very small, as he was often unable to work. Käthe, likewise employed by an "Aryan” company, also had to pay tribute to the Nazi collections. Hacifa tolerated their "half-Jewish” branch manager until February 1938, when he was dismissed with a settlement of RM 3,000.00. Anni Schmidt had lost her job at "Telefonbau und Normalzeit” in 1936, but had found new work in a Jewish bank, and after that in a lawyer’s office up to her deportation to Riga on December 6th, 1941. Anni Schmidt is among the few survivors of that transport. She died in 1995 in Montevideo, Uruguay.

The Jewish Community admitted Conrad August and Johanna Schmidt to the Martin Brunn-Stift in 24 Frickestrasse, a retirement home. From there, the couple was deported to Theresienstadt ghetto, where Conrad August Schmidt died of pneumonia at 7:00 am on October 24th, 1942, his wife Johanna on November 8th, 1942, of enteritis.


Translation by Peter Hubschmid 2018
Kindly supported by the Hermann Reemtsma Stiftung, Hamburg.


Stand: January 2019
© Hildegard Thevs

Quellen: 1; 3; 4; 5; 6; 7; StaH, 522-1, Jüdische Gemeinden, o. Sign. Mitgliederzählung der DIGH 1928; 390 Wählerverzeichnis 1930; 391 Mitgliederliste 1935; 992 d Steuerakten; 992 e 2 Deportationslisten Band 4; BA Bln., Volkszählung 1939; AfW 280304; Archivum Panstwowe, Lodz; Jüdische Stätten in Hamburg. Hrsg. vom Institut für die Geschichte der deutschen Juden und der Landeszentrale für politische Bildung. Hamburg 1995, Nr. 73.
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