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Erich Siegbert Redlich * 1887

Schedestraße 18 (Hamburg-Nord, Eppendorf)

HIER WOHNTE
ERICH SIEGBERT
REDLICH
JG. 1887
DEPORTIERT 1941
LODZ
ERMORDET 22.2.1942

Siegbert Erich Redlich, born 5.9.1887 in Breslau, deported to Lodz on 25.10.1941, died there on 22.2.1942

Schedestraße 18

Siegbert Erich Redlich was born in 1887 in Breslau/Silesia as the son of the merchant Hugo Redlich and his wife Minna, née Schwarz. He had been living in Hamburg since 1911, but his name and address did not appear in the Hamburg address books until 1923, i.e. from 1911 to 1922 he probably lived as a subtenant. The first mention in the Hamburg address book in 1923 is probably also an indication of the changes in Siegbert Erich Redlich's private life: After marrying Elfriede Windmüller (born 11.5.1893 in Beckum/Westphalia) in December 1922 in Hamburg, the couple moved into a shared apartment, to which Elfriede Redlich devoted herself as a housewife.

Siegbert Erich Redlich opened the store "S. E. Redlich, Kraftwagen u. Zubehör, Kleinkrafträder" (S. E. Redlich, motor vehicles and accessories, mopeds) in the Hoheluft-Ost district at Klosterallee 104. From 1929 he was a member of the Jewish Community. He worked as a car mechanic and later as a self-employed driving instructor. The Hamburg address books of 1926 and 1928 contain the entry "S. E. Redlich, Kraftwagen, Winterhuder Marktplatz 18" (Winterhude). The letterhead of the Erich Redlich company referred to the services "Driving school for all classes - motor vehicles - expert purchasing advice" under the name. Until the dissolution of the company at the end of 1938, Siegbert Erich Redlich owned a vehicle of the make DKW (German small car) year of manufacture 1933, i.e. he had still purchased a car in 1933 or in the two years thereafter.

From 1929 to 1936, the residential address of Mr. and Mrs. Redlich was Schedestraße 18. In 1937, they were registered at Lenhartzstraße 1. The income of the childless couple reached such a low level in 1936, with an annual total of 1100 Reichmark (RM), that a professional perspective in Germany was out of the question. Although the annual income rose to 2100 RM in 1937 and 2400 RM in 1938, this figure probably already included income from the liquidation of the company and possibly also from the sale of the apartment furnishings.

The dissolution of the business and the apartment was followed by emigration efforts by Siegbert Erich and Elfriede Redlich - but no longer together, because the couple had been separated since October 1938; in December 1939 they were legally divorced. Until their emigration, they each lived in a room as subtenants.

In November 1938, Siegbert Erich Redlich applied for the "re-issuance" of his passport, as he wanted to undertake an "information trip" to Latvia. However, this did not happen for unknown reasons. The dissolution of the company, presumably due to political pressure, was followed by economic problems and several changes of residence. From December 1938, Redlich lived as a subtenant on the first floor of Loogestieg 6 with the insurance broker Paul Wolfers and his wife, who both emigrated in 1939. Elfriede Redlich occupied a room at Lenhartzstraße 1 on the 3rd floor with Meyer.

Siegbert Erich Redlich was still hoping to emigrate. For the separated wife, the handwritten note "England U. B. May 39 granted, 18.4.39" can be found on the tax card of the Jewish community, the Kultussteuerkartei card. The temporary clearance certificate was issued only for 46-year-old Elfriede Redlich.

Before her departure, the Hamburg customs investigation office checked the luggage and the "removal goods". In his "Investigation Report" of May 11, 1939, the customs secretary stated: "In accordance with the order, I have today subjected the removal goods of the Jewess Elfriede Redlich, Hamburg, Lenhartzstr. 1, to an inspection. (...) A number of silver-plated eating utensils, which are also listed in the removal list, were shown. Ms. R. was instructed to have these cutlery items checked by a specialist and to report the result to the foreign exchange office. Clothing items and linens are supplemented only to the extent necessary. There are no objections to the removal goods being taken along." Elfriede Redlich left Germany in May 1939 and intended to work in London as a domestic servant. To prevent her return, the German authorities blocked her passport as of June 1, 1939, and by December 1939 she was living in Ireland.

Whether her passage by ship was paid for by relatives or friends is not known. Her cash assets amounted to RM 500 in April 1938. This was probably not enough for the trip from Hamburg to London. Her brother, the bank procurator Julius Windmüller, had already emigrated from Berlin-Charlottenburg (Fritschestraße 76) to Holland by this time.

Other members of the Windmüller family had fled to the Netherlands; their birthplace Beckum indicates that they were related to Elfriede Redlich, née Windmüller. In Beckum/Westphalia the Windmüllers can be proved as members of the local Jewish community already for 1853. The family members who fled to the Netherlands all died in the Holocaust: Abraham Windmüller (born 1886, died Sept. 10, 1943 in Auschwitz), Rosalia Oster, née Windmüller (born 1866, died May 21, 1943 in Sobibor), and Pauline Horn, née Windmüller (born 1902, died June 11, 1943 in Sobibor).

From January 23, 1940, Siegbert Erich Redlich still lived as a subtenant in Hamburg at Eichenstraße 77 III. floor (Eimsbüttel) with Mrs. Ina Dähling (b. 1881), who a few years earlier had been the owner of a paper shop at Dorotheenstraße 100 (Winterhude) and in 1940 had depended on the support of the Wohlfahrt. (She was deported to Lodz on October 25, 1941).

In April 1940, Siegbert Erich Redlich initiated the formalities for his emigration to Ecuador. It was noted on his "application to take along removal goods" that the lists of items would follow. We can only speculate about the reason for the lists not being forthcoming. However, Redlich's financial situation was probably so critical by now that it created problems for his emigration. Without cash or real estate, securities or jewelry, which could still be turned into money with great losses, it was not possible to acquire a ship passage.

He may also have found it difficult to finance the visa and to obtain the cash he needed to prove he had in the host country. Eighteen months later he received the "evacuation order." He was deported on the first Hamburg deportation transport to the already overcrowded Lodz ghetto on October 25, 1941. There the mortality rate was high. He died four months later, on February 22, 1942.

Whether the victims noted in the Koblenz memorial book: Paul Redlich (born Jan. 24, 1877 in Breslau), Siegfried Redlich (born July 1, 1880 in Breslau) and Walter Redlich (born Jan. 30, 1889 in Breslau) were related to Siegbert Erich Redlich could not be determined.

Translation by Beate Meyer
Stand: January 2022
© Björn Eggert

Quellen: 1; 2; 4; 5; StaH, 314-15 (Oberfinanzpräsident), Fvg 5756 (Siegbert Redlich); StaH, 314-15 (Oberfinanzpräsident), Fvg 4738 (Elfriede Redlich); AB 1923, 1926, 1928, 1932, 1936; AB Berlin 1933; AB Breslau 1887; www.joodsmonument.nl (eingesehen am 1.10.2008); Kreisarchiv Warendorf, Synagogengemeinde; Landgericht Hamburg, Scheidungsurteil 9b R 295/39.
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