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Rosalie Herz (née Preiss) * 1901

Wandsbeker Chaussee 62 (Wandsbek, Eilbek)

HIER WOHNTE
ROSALIE HERZ
GEB. PREISS
JG. 1901
DEPORTIERT 1941
RIGA
ERMORDET

further stumbling stones in Wandsbeker Chaussee 62:
Manfred Herz, Ruth Herz, Herbert Herz

Manfred Herz, born on 25 Nov. 1897 in Hamburg, deported on 6 Dec. 1941 to Riga
Rosalie Herz, née Preiss, born on 24 Feb. 1901 in Essen, deported on 6 Dec. 1941 to Riga
Ruth Herz, born on 28 July 1931 in Hamburg, deported on 6 Dec. 1941 to Riga
Herbert Herz, born on 3 Dec. 1933 in Hamburg, deported on 6 Dec. 1941 to Riga

Wandsbeker Chaussee 62

"The application for the certificate of inheritance has already been submitted, and concerning all required documentation, the only item missing now is proof of death of all three of the testator’s siblings, who are all missing as mentally ill Jews. Since the Hamburg Probate Court is not willing to work on the assumption of death specified in the German Restitution Laws [Bundesentschädigungsgesetz – BEG], proceedings to clarify the deaths have become necessary with respect to the siblings of the testator Manfred Herz; these proceedings … are underway before the Hamburg District Court [Amtsgericht].”

This passage in Manfred Herz’ restitution file dated 1959 provides insight into the general problem at the time of determining the whereabouts of "missing persons,” particularly of Jews with a mental handicap. Manfred Herz’ unmarried sister Berta and his brother Walter had been accommodated in the Langenhorn "sanatorium and nursing home” ("Heil- und Pflegeanstalt” Langenhorn), and so had his brother-in-law, Hans Fabian, who had been married to Manfred’s sister Herta and committed to the institution in Feb. 1940. On 23 Sept. 1940, all three of them were transported from Langenhorn to the euthanasia killing center in Brandenburg and murdered in connection with the "euthanasia” program.

Several relatives of Manfred Herz with varying degrees of relationship applied for restitution payments. However, 14 years after the end of Nazi rule, they still faced the problem of proving that there were no longer any direct descendants alive. They had perished in the Shoah, their files destroyed, and their deaths not officially determined and registered. They were declared dead as of 12 Oct. 1959. The surviving relatives were entitled to substantial sums collected by the Nazi empire.

Manfred and Rosalie Herz’ prosperity was based on the revenues from Manfred’s watch wholesale and the share in an inherited property in Memel assigned to Rosalie.

The history of the Norddeutsche Uhrengrosshandlung at Mönckebergstrasse 7 (Levantehaus) dates back to the watch and gold articles storehouse at Amelungstrasse 13/14 in Hamburg-Neustadt founded by Manfred Herz’ uncle, Neumann Nathan, in the year 1895, a business also located for a while at Kaiser-Wilhelm-Strasse 64 under the name of "Neumann Nathan Uhren & Goldwaren en gros.”

Manfred and Rosalie Herz came from Jewish families with many branches and long-standing traditions of artisanal and medium-sized business enterprises.

Rosalie Herz, née Preiss, was born in Essen on 24 Feb. 1901 as the daughter of Adolf Preiss and his wife Melanie, née Bohrmann, born on 28 Aug. 1874 in Speyer. Rosalie’s younger brother Arthur was born in Barmen (today: Wuppertal) on 26 July 1902. Melanie Preiss had Lithuanian roots. Adolf Preiss moved to Memel with his family and succeeded in building a living based on a commercial enterprise, including landed property.

Manfred Herz’ parents were Henri/Henry Herz, born on 13 July 1870 in Hamburg, and his wife, the master tailor’s daughter Helene, née Nathan, born on 1 Dec. 1870, also in Hamburg. He had two sisters (Herta, born on 17 Nov. 1895, and Berta, born on 26 Oct. 1900), and a brother (Walter, born on 19 May 1899).

Manfred Herz initially continued his grandfather and father’s artisanal tradition. The grandfather, Sander Levy Herz, operated a decoration and furniture store in Hamburg-Altstadt. The father ran an upholstering and decorating business in the Grindel quarter. Manfred Herz completed training as a cabinetmaker. In the early 1920s, he changed his occupational orientation, joining the company of his uncle, Neumann Nathan, together with his brother Walter. Apparently, it became obvious already by around 1920 that Neumann Nathan would not have a natural male successor for his business. His marriage with Helene, née Gumpel, had ended in divorce in 1918. The only [surviving] child from this marriage was daughter Lilly. Neumann Nathan’s brothers, Julius and Marcus Nathan, were also not available as successors, as they ran businesses of their own.

Until his marriage, Manfred Herz lived at Kuhmühle 6 in Hamburg-Hohenfelde and then moved to Wandsbeker Strasse 62 in Eilbek. On 18 June 1928, he got married to Rosalie Preiss, called Rosi. Rosalie Preiss brought into the marriage a dowry worth 10,000 RM (reichsmark) in the form of furniture, silverware, linens, physical assets, as well as an investment in the company. On 28 July 1931, Manfred and Rosalie Herz’ first child, daughter Ruth, was born, and on 3 Dec. 1933, son Herbert.

Manfred and Walter Herz managed the watch and gold articles store together with their uncle Neumann Nathan through the period of inflation in the early 1920s, at the end of which the business no longer earned any taxable profit. Walter Herz left the company and went to sea. Manfred Herz became a partner in the business, then, in 1926, the sole proprietor. By the time the world economic crisis came in 1929/30, he had managed to consolidate the family business.

Berta Herz, Manfred and Walter’s younger sister, had initially worked as an employee in the family watch shop. She became unfit for gainful employment as early as 1925, subsequently receiving a monthly pension of 39 RM. For a while, she lived together with her brother Walter at Schlüterweg 3, later renamed Rothenbaumchaussee 101/103, in house no. 3.

Manfred Herz joined the [moderate Orthodox] Neue Dammtor Synagoge, while his father and his uncles Neumann and Julius Nathan belonged to the [Orthodox] Synagogue Association (Synagogenverband). Manfred Herz’ mother Helene left the Jewish Community entirely. She turned to the Christian Science Church.

The marriage of Manfred Herz’ parents ended in divorce. Afterward, his father married the widow Elisabeth Apel, née Lenz. This union remained childless. Manfred Herz’ mother started her own business, a summer guesthouse in Niendorf on the Baltic Sea. She remained very close to her children.

Manfred Herz relocated the watch store into the Levantehaus at Mönckebergstrasse 7, renaming it "Norddeutsche Uhrengrosshandlung.” During the world economic crisis, the enterprise suffered a serious slump, as it had eight years before in the period of inflation. However, Manfred Herz managed to rebuild it a second time. Sales and earnings rose steadily up until the "Aryanization” in 1938/39.

Rosalie Herz’ mother, Melanie Preiss, moved from Memel to join her daughter in Hamburg in 1932, after her husband Adolf, Rosalie’s father, had died in 1931. In Hamburg, Melanie Preiss experienced the infant and toddler years of her two grandchildren before returning to Memel in 1935. That same year, Manfred and Rosalie Herz relocated their place of residence to Klosterallee 26. Henry Herz, Manfred’s father, passed away on 11 May 1938.

Eleven days after the Pogrom night of 9/10 Nov. 1938, during which Manfred Herz’ store had been plundered, the Chief Finance Administrator (Oberfinanzpräsident) appointed, with "the purpose of preparing the transfer of the ‘Norddeutsche Uhrengrosshandlung’ into Aryan hands,” the certified teacher of business studies and owner of a business school, Erich Grundmann, as a trustee with sole power of representation on condition that the business be continued to operate along existing lines. The only company refusing any further deliveries in the aftermath was the renowned Junghans watch factory. Neumann Nathan, the company founder, did not live to see how the enterprise established by him was taken away from his family. He had already died in Hamburg on 24 Mar. 1932.

The continued operation of the watch store, initially in trust, was changed into liquidation. As of 1 Feb. 1939, Reich Governor (Reichsstatthalter) Kaufmann appointed Erich Grundmann as the liquidator. He had already arranged the sale of the company to a man named Julius Schmitt as per mid-March 1939. Schmitt continued to run the enterprise with the experienced personnel and in the same premises, though employment of all Jewish staff members was discontinued. Manfred Herz then asked to be appointed himself as the liquidator, which was granted to him. His most important task was coming up with the accounts receivable of his customers, amounting to about 30,000 RM, and their monthly settlement. When the outstanding amounts of the "Norddeutsche Uhrengrosshandlung in Liquidation,” as it was now called, further decreased all the time, Manfred Herz applied for quarterly reporting – probably settlement of accounts – which was granted to him.

On 29 June 1939, the Chief Finance Administrator issued a "security order” ("Sicherungsanordnung”) against Manfred Herz, permitting him to claim an allowance of 1,000 RM a month. On 1 Sept. 1939, this amount was cut to 550 RM, despite documented continuous monthly expenses of 843 RM. Anything going beyond the bare necessities now required separate applications. Some of the first separate applications were for the unblocking of 120 RM toward the emigration of his nephew Hans Gerd Nathan, Neumann’s son, and of 141.40 RM for his father’s gravestone, which were granted without any objections. Manfred Herz’ daughter Ruth reached compulsory school age and became subject to school fees, and the Chief Finance Administrator consented to the application for unblocking of 48 RM in order to cover school fees to the Talmud Tora School as of 9 Dec. 1939.

For the celebration of his mother Helene’s seventieth birthday on 1 Dec. 1940 and of Christmas, 150 RM were unblocked in response to Manfred Herz’ application.

By that time, apparently Manfred Herz no longer saw any way for himself and his family to make a living in Germany. He made efforts to emigrate. However, his plans failed due to missing entry permits from possible host countries.

In 1940, Herbert Herz, Manfred Herz’ son, had begun his school education as well. However, he suffered from learning difficulties from the very outset, consequently receiving private tutoring. On 18 Oct. 1941, the Chief Finance Administrator once more approved funds to this end for another six months. Like his parents, Herbert required glasses. In Nov. 1941, all three received new glasses and cases worth 101.45 RM from W. Campbell & Co. opticians. At this time, the family was ordered to "evacuate” to Minsk on 18 Nov. 1941 but their deportation was then deferred because the company had still not been liquidated yet.

When Manfred Herz received a new order for "evacuation” by the Gestapo on 1 Dec. 1941, he immediately applied for the unblocking of 1,200 RM for necessary purchases, the approval for which was handed over to him that same day. Erich Grundmann was commissioned in place of Manfred Herz with collecting the last accounts receivable of the company.

The deportation, scheduled for 4 Dec. 1941 to Minsk, was delayed. Eventually, on 6 Dec., the Herz family left Hamburg on the deportation train with destination Riga, where no provisions had been made to accommodate the deportees. The people were quartered in extremely cold conditions on the Jungfernhof, an abandoned farming estate.

The traces of Manfred, Rosalie, Ruth, and Herbert Herz, as well as Herta Fabian, née Herz, Manfred’s sister deported along with them, disappear after the deportation to Riga.

On 18 Dec. 1941, the Chief Finance Administrator commissioned Schlüter auctioneers with auctioning off the home furnishings, to be picked up at Klosterallee 26. The auctioning yielded approx. 20,000 RM that went to the German Reich. The Herz couple’s remaining assets, left after subtraction of the compulsory dues and taxes, were also confiscated by the German Reich.

The Hamburger Gaswerke, the local gas utility company, sent the Chief Finance Administrator a letter dated 8 Jan. 1942 with a list of "the closing statements to be settled due to liquidation of households.” For Manfred Herz, the outstanding amount claimed was 1.28 RM.

On 14 Feb. 1942, Manfred Herz’ cousin, Beate Nathan, Neumann Nathan’s youngest daughter from his second marriage with Chaja/Clara Wegsmann, was imprisoned in the Ravensbrück concentration camp. On 27 Apr. 1942, she was transferred from there to the euthanasia killing center in Bernburg in connection with the "special treatment 14 f 13” ("Sonderbehandlung 14 f 13”) and killed there that same day. Manfred Herz’ uncle, Marcus Nathan, and his wife Henriette were deported to Auschwitz on 11 July 1942 and murdered in the newly constructed gas chambers.

Manfred Herz’ mother Helene, deported to Theresienstadt on 15 July 1942, died there on 14 Sept. 1942. Manfred Herz’ cousin, Lilly Nathan, Neumann Nathan’s daughter from his first marriage, was deported, also to Theresienstadt, on 19 July 1942. She perished there on 1 May 1943.

Melanie Preiss, Rosalie Herz’ mother, was deported to Theresienstadt from Tilsit (today Sovetsk in Russia) via Königsberg (today Kaliningrad in Russia) on 24/25 Aug. 1942. She died there on 9 Feb. 1943. Her younger son Arthur survived the Shoah.

Translator: Erwin Fink

Kindly supported by the Hermann Reemtsma Stiftung, Hamburg.

Stand: October 2016
© Hildegard Thevs

Quellen: 1; 4; 5; 6; 7; 9; AB; StaH 314-15 OFP Oberfinanzpräsident F 1004 (Manfred und Rosi), R 1938/3214 (Manfred), R 1941/53 (Helene), 28 (Gaswerke); 332-7 Staatsangehörigkeitsaufsicht, Einbürgerung 24.11.1887, Nr. 28883 (Gerson Nathan); 332-8 Meldewesen 1892 – 1925 (Sander Herz, Gerson Nathan); 332-5 Standesämter 687 u. 19/1913, 870 u. 275/1923, 1904 u. 857/1877, 1912 u. 4790/1877, 2846 u. 49/1895, 2890 u. 1189/1897, 670 u. 290/1928, 8164 u. 384/1939, 8723 u. 297/1918, 8770 u. 506/1922, 9112 u. 2055/1895, 9134 u. 2359/1897, 13404 u. 1946/1906; 351-11 Amt für Wiedergutmachung 20158 (Manfred Herz); 26392 (Arthur Price); 552-1 Jüdische Gemeinden, 992 e Bände 3 und 4 Deportationslisten.
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