Search for Names, Places and Biographies

Gertrud Pardo * 1883

Rainweg 9 (Hamburg-Nord, Eppendorf)

HIER WOHNTE
GERTRUD PARDO
JG. 1883
DEPORTIERT 1941
LODZ
ERMORDET

further stumbling stones in Rainweg 9:
Angela Pardo

Gertrud Pardo, born 10.7.1883 in Hamburg, deported to the Lodz Ghetto on 25.10.1941, further deported to the Chelmno extermination camp in May/June 1942.

Rainweg 9 (Eppendorf) and
Kellinghusenstraße 11 (school)

Gertrud Henriette Pardo was born in 1883 into the Portuguese-Jewish family of the Hamburg merchant Isaac David Pardo (1858-1938) and Sophie Pardo, née Frän(c)kel (1853-1931), who was born in Nästved/Seeland (Denmark). Gertrud had four siblings: David Manfred Pardo (1882-1948), Richard Jakob Pardo (1884-1961), Angela Rosette (Anne) Pardo (1885-1942) and Dr. jur. Herbert Joseph Pardo (1887-1974). The parents were later buried in the New Portuguese Cemetery at Ilandkoppel (Hamburg-Ohlsdorf).

Her father had married at the age of 22, unusually young for the time, because a man had to be able to support a family. After graduating from school in 1876, completing his apprenticeship and military service, Isaac Pardo had worked for a maximum of three years until he married in 1881 - too little for an upper position or his own business. On the Hamburg marriage certificate, he was described as a "commis" (commercial clerk). It was also unusual that his wife was five years older; her job title was "Directrice" (1st saleswoman). And also not in accordance with the usual customs was the fact that the wedding took place only five weeks after the death of his father David Pardo (1826-1881). The bride lived with her mother "Witwe B. S. Fraenckel" in the street An der Koppel 97 in St. Georg. Since both fathers were deceased, the groom's uncle, Benjamin Luria (1830-1895), and the 63-year-old private Alexander Sonnenberg were chosen as witnesses.

The father had founded his own umbrella and cane factory, J. Pardo, in 1882 and ran it in the city district at Neuer Wall until April 1924. From January 1918 to July 1922, his son Richard Pardo was co-owner of the company, which was then renamed J. Pardo & Sohn oHG. Richard Pardo did not continue his father's company; in March 1924 he took over the company Walter Hirsch & Co. oHG (textile goods, export agencies, wholesale) and changed its company name to Richard Pardo & Co. oHG (import of "Shawls" from Russia). In addition, he worked as a "traveling salesman", first for Schönfeld & Wolfers in Hamburg (import and export of various textiles) and from 1911 for J. Merfeld & Herz in Cologne (lace and fashion goods). He emigrated to Palestine in February 1934.

Isaac Pardo distinguished himself not only by his business activities, but also by his many other commitments. Since 1904, for example, he had been a member of the Association of Honorable Merchants (Vereinigung des Ehrbaren Kaufmannes), an old-established trade association in which Jews had only been admitted since 1849. Since 1908 he had also been active in an honorary capacity for the state youth welfare service. In 1926, he was also appointed as one of the Jewish community's poor relief officers. This social commitment does not seem to have remained without effect on his children: two children took up professions in the social sector (Gertrud and Angela) and two children became members of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (Gertrud and Herbert). The occupations of the five children and also some of their documented school attendance show a family in which education was seen as a social opportunity (and possibly also an obligation).

After graduating from a secondary girls' school in Hamburg, Gertrud Pardo attended the teacher training seminar in Hamburg, graduating in 1903 with an exam for secondary and middle schools. At this time she lived with her parents, who moved frequently: Grindelallee 30/31 (1894-1897), Schlüterstraße 54a (1898-1899), Grindelhof 12a (1900), Grindelhof 43 (1901), and Fröbelstraße 11 (1902-1906).

In Hamburg, the teacher training seminar took place in rooms of the Klosterschule (Street Holzdamm behind the Atlantic Hotel) from 1879. "Admission to the seminary could be made at the age of sixteen, to the preparatory class at the age of fifteen." A prerequisite for becoming a teacher was that the applicant was unmarried and childless; it was not until 1919 that this teacher celibacy was abolished, though it was reintroduced just a few years later in connection with the downsizing ordinance.

After teaching for two years at a private school and another year at a boarding school in Paris, for which she received a passport in February 1905, she was accepted into the Hamburg elementary school service in May 1906. She taught at the Rosenallee 37 elementary school (district of Hamburg-Hammerbrook) in the 1907/08 school year and at the street Kielortallee 20 girls' elementary school (Eimsbüttel) in 1912/13 and 1918/19. Nineteen teachers were employed there in the 1913/14 school year, 13 of them female.

In 1919, at the instigation of the school authorities, she completed further training as a trade teacher and in November 1920 received a position at a state vocational school. Until 1933, she worked at the Schrammsweg 34 school, located between Kellinghusenstraße and Knauerstraße. Her monthly salary was 490 RM. She was also the first chairwoman of the "Verein der Lehrerinnen an beruflichen Schulen zu Hamburg e.V. (ADLV)".

Her other residential addresses were Fröbelstraße 11/Rotherbaum (1902-1906), Grindelallee 157/ Rotherbaum (1907-1912) and Eppendorfer Landstraße 12/ Eppendorf (1913-1933). In 1934 Gertrud and her father moved into the home of Lucy Borchardt (Fairplay Schleppdampfer Schiffs-Reederei) at Rainweg 9 II. Stock/ Eppendorf. In August 1938 Lucy Borchardt, née May emigrated to Great Britain, and in May 1940 the house at Rainweg 9 was sold by her general agent to Max Vogel, managing director of Handelsgesellschaft mbH (Jungfernstieg 34), for 35,000 RM.

After the death of Isaac Pardo in May 1938, Gertrud and Angela Pardo lived there until their deportation in October 1941. The Nazi state then had the apartment sealed by police officers. Later, the apartment's furnishings were removed and auctioned off at W. C. H. Schopmann & Sohn (Hohe Bleichen 30) for the benefit of the German Reich, which raised 5,250 Reichsmarks (among the items appropriated were a buffet cabinet, Persian rugs, a Kohl piano and an extensive library). Already before that, in February 1939, the compulsory delivery of precious metals (which included the table silver and also the valuable coin collection of Pardos) and in September 1939 of radio sets (Pardos also owned a radio) had been ordered.
After a reconstruction as well as furnishing the apartment was rented again from August 1, 1942.

Gertrud Pardo's brother Herbert, who was four years younger, passed the Abitur exams at the renowned Wilhelm Gymnasium (Rotherbaum), studied law in Munich, Berlin and Kiel and received his doctorate in Rostock in 1909. In 1910 he joined the SPD and worked as a lawyer from 1912 to 1933. He was a member of the Hamburg Parliament from 1919 to 1932. He emigrated with his family to Palestine in 1933, returned to Hamburg in 1947 and back to Israel in 1971.

Due to the war, her sister Angela "Anne" underwent an abbreviated training as a nurse at the Israelite Hospital in Hamburg-St. Pauli (Eckernförder Straße) from 1914 to 1915, where she still worked as a nurse in 1925. In 1928 she moved to Leipzig as matron (Oberin) at the Jewish Eitingon Hospital, which she had to leave at the end of January 1939 under pressure from the Gestapo and moved in with her sister Gertrud in Hamburg. In August 1939, she made efforts to leave for Palestine through the Zionist organization Keren Hajessod in Berlin and paid RM 200 to Keren Hajessod for this purpose in August 1939 and the travel expenses of RM 650 at a travel agency in Hamburg's main train station in October 1940. In Hamburg, a district secretariat of Keren Hajessod was located at Eppendorfer Baum 6 in the United Zionist Offices from July 1936 to June 1939; applications for Palestine certificates could be made here.

Her brother Manfred Pardo had been running a pharmacy, the "Apotheke am Winterhuder Marktplatz" in the adjacent Hudtwalckerstrasse 39 since 1923, of which he was also the house owner. From March 1936, like the other 18 Jewish pharmacists working in Hamburg, he was obliged to lease or sell his pharmacy. The beneficiary of this "Aryanization policy" in this case was Hermann Eschenbrenner, who took over the pharmacy as a tenant in June 1936. In January 1939, Manfred Pardo's license as a pharmacist was also revoked. He sold the house in February 1939 to the Hamburger Sparkasse von 1827. Manfred Pardo emigrated with his wife and children to the USA via England in 1940.

On July 18, 1933, Gertrud Pardo was dismissed from the teaching profession. The basis for this was the "Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service" of April 7, 1933. The civil servant for life Gertrud Pardo was paid a monthly pension of 240 Reichsmark gross from November 1933. In subsequent years, this amount fell to around RM 150. In a memo from the personnel department of the Hamburg State Office dated June 5, 1934, for the Secret State Police Office (Gestapa) in Berlin, the reasons for dismissal were stated: "P. was not politically reliable and does not offer the guarantee of working wholeheartedly for the national state." In addition, the exclusion criteria "Jewess" and "was a member of the SPD" were noted.

In October 1933, "at the instigation of the Counseling Center for Jewish Economic Aid, she established a Jewish housekeeping school in Hamburg, which set itself the task of preparing Jewish women and girls for emigration." As late as December 1938, she was still working there at Heimhuderstraße 70 (Rotherbaum). In addition to management, she also taught the subjects of health and nutrition, home economics, needlework, and cooking and baking. The head of the counseling center, former senior prosecutor Eduard Guckenheimer (1893-1961), issued her a report card on December 31, 1938, which stated, among other things, "With tact and individual empathy, Fräulein Pardo made her relations with the students and teachers most friendly, without losing her authoritarian attitude." The testimonial refers to Gertrud Pardo's intention to emigrate.

The Jewish domestic science school was closed on June 1, 1941, on the orders of the Gestapo. A year later, all general Jewish schools were also forced to close.

Presumably, the November pogrom of 1938 was the final impetus for the sisters' emigration intentions. The bureaucracy of the National Socialist German Reich demanded, in addition to various application forms, certificates, and permits from other authorities, complete proof of capital, the sale of all real estate, and the liquidation of life insurance policies. The goal was the systematic robbery of emigrants. The official procedure made the departure more difficult and delayed it.

Together with her sister Angela, Gertrud Pardo also had to apply for emigration to Palestine in June 1939 through the "Öffentliche Auskunfts- und Beratungsstelle für Auswanderer in Hamburg" (Public Information and Advice Center for Emigrants in Hamburg) at Büschstraße 14 (Neustadt). The certificate from the counseling center was a prerequisite for the issuance of a passport by the passport office. Two of her brothers had already emigrated to Palestine. The sisters received the registration numbers 8404 and 8405. Great Britain, however, had reduced the entry quotas for Jews to Palestine a month earlier, lengthening the waiting time for Gertrud and Angela Pardo. Their "show money" was reduced from 1,000 to 250 Palestinian pounds per person by the Palestine Trust Office in Berlin in July 1939. However, with the start of the war in September 1939, a transfer of capital to the British Mandate territory of Palestine was no longer possible.

In October 1941, the Nazi regime prohibited Jews from emigrating from Germany and began their deportation. Gertrud Pardo was deported on October 25, 1941, together with her sister Angela Pardo (born 28.8.1885 in Hamburg) to Lodz, which was occupied by the Wehrmacht. A ghetto area had been established there by the German administration in February 1940 and sealed off at the end of April 1940. On the basis of the registration cards for the registration in the ghetto, which did not take place until January 1942, her quarters there can be traced: she lived with 12 people in Rauchgasse 25 apartment 17; former teacher Henriette Arndt (see www.stolpersteine-hamburg.de) was also quartered here. The street was called ul. Wolborska until 1939 and was located in the south of the ghetto, near the synagogue of 1859.

The overcrowding of the ghetto combined with the disastrous sanitary situation and the lack of food led to a high mortality rate in the ghetto. On the basis of the ghetto's deregistration card dated June 1, 1942 (but possibly, like the registration card, created after the fact), her date of death was later assumed: Presumably on June 3, 1942, the sisters were further deported to the nearby Kulmhof (Chelmno) extermination camp and murdered in a mobile gas van. (The 1995 Hamburg Memorial Book and also the Memorial Book of the Federal Archives in Koblenz give June 3, 1942 as their date of death).

A diary entry by the interned lawyer and journalist Oskar Singer (1893-1944) of May 15, 1942, described one of the "resettlements" (deportations) from the ghetto: "(...) In the morning hours the 15th transport left. (...) The eternal question of where these people were taken will not be answered. Nobody knows. There is no hope to get in touch with them. Only rumors are buzzing through the ghetto again and again and in the murmurings appear place names like Kolo, where a transit camp is supposed to be located. There the expellees are to be sorted according to their ability to work and transported on. (...)" From Kolo they were transported to Kulmhof/ Chelmno and murdered.

The German Reich under National Socialist leadership seized the property of the two sisters. With the "security order" (Vermögensssperre) issued by the Foreign Exchange Office of the Chief Finance President in December 1938, their checking account and securities account at Bankhaus M. M. Warburg & Co. (renamed Brinckmann, Wirtz & Co. in October 1941 after the "Aryanization" in 1938) had been blocked. In the case of Gertrud Pardo, the value around RM 22,000, and in the case of Angela Pardo, around RM 16,000. At the time, the Foreign Exchange Office had stipulated that Gertrud Pardo was only allowed to withdraw RM 300 per month from her checking account. Subsequently, the sale of two real estate holdings by Gertrud Pardo took place.


In 1947, the Hamburg-Altona District Court declared Gertrud and Angela Pardo dead on May 8, 1945, as there were no official documents of their death.

In 1956, her nephew David Pardo deposited a memorial leaf for each of Gertrud Pardo and Angela Pardo at the Yad Vashem Memorial.

In 1985, the Gertrud-Pardo-Weg in Hamburg-Alsterdorf was named after her. Already in 1971, the Herbert-Pardo-Weg had been named after her brother in Hamburg-Allermöhe.

Two Stolpersteine were laid for Gertrud Pardo: in 2013 in front of the school Schrammsweg 34 (later entrance Kellinghusenstraße 11) and also in 2013 together with a Stolperstein for her sister Angela in front of her apartment in nearby Rainweg 9 (Eppendorf).

Translation Beate Meyer

Stand: March 2023
© Björn Eggert

Quellen: Staatsarchiv Hamburg (StaH) 131-11, 896 (Ruhegehalts-Ansprüche der Erben Pardo 1949-1950); StaH 231-7 (Handelsregister), A1 Band 38 (I.Pardo & Sohn, HR A 9207); StaH 231-7 (Handelsregister), B 1998-61 Band 1 (Apotheke am Winterhuder Marktplatz, Pardo); StaH 314-15 (Oberfinanzpräsident), R 1938/3536 (Manfried Pardo, Frieda Pardo geb. Niese, Gertrud Pardo, Sicherungsanordnung, Grundstücksverkäufe); StaH 314-15 (Oberfinanzpräsident), FVg 5250 (Gertrud Pardo und Angela Pardo, Auswanderungsabsicht); StaH 314-15 (Oberfinanzpräsident), F 189 Bd. 2 (Lucy Borchardt, u.a. Verkauf Wohnhaus Rainweg 9); StaH 332-3 (Zivilstandsaufsicht) C 166, Nr. 7225/1874 (Sterberegister 1874, Benjamin Simon Fraenkel, Altona, Parallelstr. 16); StaH 332-5 (Standesämter), 2622 u. 917/1881 (Heiratsregister 1881, Isaac Pardo u. Sophie Fränkel); StaH 332-5 (Standesämter), 9853 u. 1007/1931 (Sterberegister 1931, Sophie Pardo geb. Fränkel); StaH 332-5 (Standesämter), 1088 u. 157/1938 (Sterberegister 1938, Isaac Pardo); StaH 332-7 (Staatsangehörigkeitsaufsicht), A I e 40 Bd. 10 (Bürger-Register 1876-1896 L-Z, 2.5.1884 Isaac Pardo Nr. 11389); StaH 332-8 (Meldewesen), A 24 (Reisepasskartei 1897-1929), Band 92 (Nr. 453/1905, Gertrud Pardo); StaH 332-8 (Meldewesen), A 24 (Reisepasskartei 1897-1929), Band 189 (Nr. 6897 u. 6898/1919, Sophie Pardo u. Gertrud Pardo); StaH 332-8 (Meldewesen), A 24 (Reisepasskartei 1897-1929), Band 224 (Nr. 21724/1920, Gertrud Pardo); StaH 332-8 (Meldewesen), A 24 (Reisepasskartei 1897-1929), Band 320 (Nr. 2832, 2833, 2834 u. 2846/1925, Isaac Pardo, Sophie Pardo, Angela Pardo u. Gertrud Pardo); StaH 342-2 (Militär-Ersatzbehörden), D II 11 Band 2 (Isaac Pardo); StaH 342-2 (Militär-Ersatzbehörden), D II 107 Band 3 (David Manfried Pardo); StaH 351-11 (Amt für Wiedergutmachung), 6664 (Gertrud Pardo); StaH 351-11 (Amt für Wiedergutmachung), 7553 (Richard Jakob Pardo); StaH 351-11 (Amt für Wiedergutmachung), 8379 (Angela/Anne Pardo); Stadtarchiv Göttingen (Meldekarte von Manfried Pardo 2.5.1905 – 8.6.1906); Archivum Panstwowe, Lodz (Gertrud Pardo, Anmeldekarte vom 8.1.1942, Abmeldekarte vom 1.6.1942); Altonaer Adressbuch (Witwe B. S. Fränckel, Parallelstr. 16) 1875-1877; Adressbuch (Witwe B.S. Fränckel, Juliusstr. 17) 1878-1879; Hamburger Adressbuch (Witwe Fraenckel) 1881-1883; Hamburger Adressbuch (David Pardo u. Isaac Pardo, Rothenbaumchaussee 12) 1881; Hamburger Adressbuch (J. Pardo) 1894-1904; Hamburger Adressbuch ("Gertr. Pardo Gewerbelehr., Eppendorferlandstr. 12, Tel. 53 20 23; J. Pardo, Eppendorferlandstr. 12, Tel. 53 20 23"), 1932, 1933; Hamburger Adressbuch ("Gertr. Pardo Gewerbelehr. i. R., Rainweg 9, Tel. 53 20 23; J. Pardo, Rainweg 9, Tel. 53 20 23; Manfried Pardo, Apotheker, Hudtwalckerstr. 39, Tel. 52 39 39"), 1934, 1935; Hamburger Adressbuch (Lucy Borchardt, Rainweg 9) 1934, 1938; Adressbuch Hamburg (Verzeichnis der wichtigsten öffentlichen Anstalten, wissenschaftliche Institute (…), Siebenter Abschnitt, Bildungsanstalten, Holzdamm 5) 1887; Adressbuch Hamburg (Fünfter Abschnitt, Bildungsanstalten, Holzdamm 21-23) 1902; Adressbuch Köln 1912 (J. Merfeld & Herz, Fabrik-Großlager u. Ausfuhr in Spitzen u. Modewaren); Leipziger Jüdisches Jahr- und Adressbuch 1933 (Pardo, Angela, Oberin, Eitingonstr. 1); Bundesarchiv Berlin, R 1509 (Reichssippenamt), Volks-, Berufs- u. Betriebszählung am 17. Mai 1939 (Angela Pardo, Hamburg, Rainweg 9; Gertrud Pardo, Hamburg, Rainweg 9); Bundesarchiv Koblenz, Gedenkbuch der Verfolgung der Juden unter nationalsozialistischer Gewaltherrschaft in Deutschland 1933-1945 (Gertrud Pardo, Angela Pardo); Gedenkbuch Hamburger jüdische Opfer des Nationalsozialismus, Hamburg 1995, S. 319 (Gertrud Pardo, Angela Pardo); Hamburgische Biografie, Personenlexikon, Band 2, S. 315 (Herbert Pardo); Hamburger Lehrerverzeichnis Schuljahr 1907/08, 1912/13, 1913/14, 1918/19, 1922/23, 1927/28, 1929/30, 1930/31 (Gertrud Pardo); Handelskammer Hamburg, Handelsregisterinformationen (I. Pardo & Sohn, HR A 9207; Richard Pardo & Co., HR A 26498); Hamburger Börsenfirmen, Hamburg 1910, S. 498 (J. Pardo, Schirm-u. Stock-Fabrik, gegr. 1882, Inhaber: Isaac Pardo, Neuer Wall 67); Hamburger Börsenfirmen, Hamburg 1926, S. 789 (Richard Pardo & Co., Textilwaren, Im- u. Export, gegr. 1924, Inhaber: A. G. Guttentag u. J. R. Pardo, Große Bleichen 23-27, Zimmer 20-22); Frank Bajohr, "Arisierung" in Hamburg. Die Verdrängung der jüdischen Unternehmer 1933-1945, Hamburg 1998, S. 112-114 (Manfred Pardo), S. 253-257 (M. M. Warburg & Co.), S. 259-264 (Lucy Borchardt "Fairplay"-Schlepper); Rita Bake, Das Gedächtnis der Stadt, Band 2, Nach Frauen benannte Straßen (…), Hamburg 2015, S. 169-171 (Gertrud-Pardo-Weg); Franz Bömer (Hrsg.), Wilhelm-Gymnasium Hamburg 1881-1956, Hamburg, S. 116 (Herbert Pardo); Ursula Büttner, Politischer Neubeginn in schwieriger Zeit: Wahl und Arbeit der ersten demokratischen Bürgerschaft 1919-21, Hamburg 1994, S. 123 (Herbert Pardo); Herbert Freudenthal, Vereine in Hamburg, Hamburg 1968, S. 158-160 (Ein Ehrbarer Kaufmann); Michael Hartvig, Levin Marcus Hartvigs Efterkommere, Kopenhagen 1928, S. 11 u. 13 (Sophie Fränckel, Eltern: Porzellanhändler Benjamin Simon Fraenckel 1806-1874 u. Hanne Fraenckel geb. Meyer 1809-1890); Ursel Hochmuth/ Hans-Peter de Lorent, Hamburg: Schule unterm Hakenkreuz, Hamburg 1985, S. 316 (Gertrud Pardo); Ina Lorenz, Die Juden in Hamburg zur Zeit der Weimarer Republik, 2 Bände, Hamburg 1987, S. 1188/1189 (Isaac Pardo); Ina Lorenz/ Jörg Berkemann, Die Hamburger Juden im NS-Staat 1933 bis 1938/39, Göttingen 2016, Band II, S. 1041/1042 (Öffentliche Auskunfts- u. Beratungsstelle), Band IV, S. 555-556 (Gertrud Pardo: Die Hauswirtschaft als Grundlage für weibliche Berufe), Band IV, S. 785 u. 793 (Keren Hajessod), Band V, S. 401 (Adressen-Übermittlung an Gestapa); Jüdisches Museum Frankfurt/Main, "Unser einiger Weg ist Arbeit", Ausstellungskatalog, Frankfurt/Main 1990, S. 204 (Tagebuch von Oskar Singer, 15.5.1942); Andrea Lorz, Eine Spurensuche nach dem Wirken von Angela Pardo, Oberin im Israelitischen Krankenhaus zu Leipzig von 1928 bis 1938, in: Caris-Petra Heidel (Hrsg.), Jüdinnen und Psyche, Medizin und Judentum Band 13, Frankfurt/Main 2016, S. 195-210; Heiko Morisse, Jüdische Rechtsanwälte in Hamburg, Ausgrenzung und Verfolgung im NS-Staat, Hamburg 2003, S. 151 (Dr. Herbert Joseph Benjamin Pardo); Nicol Trepka/ Maria Koser/ Michael Halévy/ Lutz Thalacker (Bearbeiter), Die Pardos. Vom Osmanischen Reich über die Neue Welt nach Hamburg. Begleitheft zur Ausstellung Spurensuche. Ein Stolperstein für Gertrud Pardo, Hamburg 2013; https://yvng.Yadvashem.org; https://www.xn--jdischer-friedhof-altona-vsc.de/img/biographien/pardo.pdf; www.stolpersteine-hamburg.de (Martha Hildesheim/ Gewerbelehrerin, Margot Massé/ Gewerbelehrerin, Henriette Arndt/ Lehrerin).