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Hannchen Scholinus (née Hartig) * 1897

Heinrich-Barth-Straße 15 (Eimsbüttel, Rotherbaum)

1944 Theresienstadt
ermordet in Auschwitz

Hannchen Scholinus, née Hartig, born 7/9/1897 in Hamburg, deported to Theresienstadt on 1/19/1944, to Auschwitz on 5/15/1944, murdered there

Heinrich-Barth-Strasse 15

Hannchen Scholinus was the third of four children of Philipp Hartig (born 1862 in Altona, died 1921) and his wife Johanna, née Schwartz (born 1866 in Peru, died 1936). Both parents were Jewish; Johanna was born at her parent’s home, an apartment in Seilerstrasse 40 at 12:156 p.m. in Hamburg-St. Pauli. Her father worked in the artistic world: at the end of the 19th century, he ran an advertising agency, after the turn of the century a "Concert, Theater and Artist’s Agency” – the name of the agency changed in the course of its existence; after Phillip’s death, his wife Johanna carried it on. It seems that Philipp also wrote books. Hannchen therefore probably grew up in an artistically characterized environment. Little is known about her siblings. Julius Hartig, born 1891, was an office messenger; he died in Berlin in 1939. Siegmund Hartig, born 1893, took his own life in 1938 in Berlin. Fritz Hartig, born 1911, was a merchant; nothing is known about his career. In 1901/2, the Hartig family moved around the corner to Wilhelminenstrasse 40 (now Hein-Hoyer-Strasse), and in 1913/14 to Sophienstrasse 27 (now Detlef-Bremer-Strasse) in the same neighborhood.

On April 29th, 1922, Hannchen married Carl Wilhelm Eduard Scholinus, born 1896, a Merchant by trade and a Lutheran Protestant. As Carl’s father Eduard Theodor Adolf Scholinus was a sculptor by trade, it is likely that me met Hannchen through her parents. On October 17th, 1925, Hannchen gave birth to their daughter Margot. Since Carl was an "Aryan” pursuant to the Nuremberg race laws, and he and Hannchen educated their daughter in Lutheran tradition, their union was classified as a "privileged mixed marriage” in Nazi Germany.

In the years after Margot’s birth, the family moved several times within Hamburg, living at Baustrasse 32 until 1926/27, at Lübecker Strasse 63 until 1932/33, followed b y a short period at Beneckestrasse 16, then at Hochallee 25, before arriving at Heinrich-Barth-Strasse 15 in 1935/36.

On a "children’s transport”, Margot reached England in August 1939. Kindertransport is the name given the organized emigration of almost 10,000 "non-Aryan” children from Germany or countries occupied and annexed by Germany in the period between late November 1938 and the end of August 1939. The documents authorizing Margot’s emigration reveal that her mother, too, had planned to go to Britain. Thus, the emigration file contains a clearance certificate from the Hamburg Finance Agency for emigration purposes, dated August 17th, 1939. The certificate states that Hannchen had no assets or possessions. However, as Great Britain declared war on Germany only a few days later, on September 3rd, 1939, the plan for emigration could not be realized.

According to her culture tax card, Hannchen at least worked at the Jewish Community House in 1940. The exact dates of her employment there are unclear. The Community House at Hartungstrasse 9-11 housed various facilities, including a theater and a lecture hall. The previous owners had sold it to a company founded by Jewish dignitaries who had it remodeled and opened it as a Community House in January 1938. It was to serve as a meeting-place for all Jews remaining in Hamburg and as a venue for events organized by the Jewish Culture Union /theater performances, readings, concerts, etc. After the Gestapo liquidated the Jewish Culture Union in Germany on September 11th, 1941, the Community House was used as a provision and supply point for the deportations that began only a few weeks later. Once, it even served as an assembly point for a transport. We do not know what kind of work Hannchen did at the Community House, but we must assume it was a job behind the scene, as her name does not appear in programs or leaflets, nor is she mentioned in the literature about the Jewish Culture Union or the Community House.

It is most likely that Hannchen’s husband Carl died at the end of 1943 or the beginning of 1944. Hannchen was deported to Theresienstadt on transport VI/9, č. 52 nach Theresienstadt. Until Carl’s death, her status as partner in a privileged mixed marriage had protected her from deportation. We were unable to determine exactly when and under what circumstances Carl Scholinus died.

On May 15th, 1944, Hannchen was deported from Theresienstadt to Auschwitz on transport Dz, č. 2261, where she was murdered at a undetermined time – probably shortly after her arrival.

Hannchen and Carl’s daughter Margot (later Margot Luke) emigrated to Australia in December 1948. She studied at Melbourne University and in 1967 achieved the degree of Bachelor of Arts – we were until now unable to determine in what field. She continued her studies at the University of Western Australia, but did not accomplish to acquire a master’s degree in German, quitting work on her thesis in 1979. After that, she worked as a critic. From 1976 to 1985, she taught German at the University of Western Australia. Margot Luke died on June 22nd, 2005 in Shenton Park in Western Australia.


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

Stand: January 2019
© Claudia Bühring

Quellen: StaHH 314-15, FVg 2180, Scholinus, Margot; StaHH 332-5, 2411, Geburten Standesamt 22 Hamburg, Nr. 1956, Carl Scholinus; StaHH 332-5, 2431, Geburten Standesamt 2 Hamburg, Nr. 2335, Hannchen Hartig; StaHH 332-5, 3433, Heiraten Standesamt 2a Hamburg, Nr. 340, Carl Scholinus + Hannchen Hartig; StaHH 522-1, 992b, Kultussteuerkartei der Deutsch-Israelitischen Gemeinde zu Hamburg; IGDJ 09-032, Jüdisches Gemeinschaftshaus; Hamburger Adressbücher (HAB) 1898–1943; Gauch, Richard/Schleip, Torsten, Er war doch nur ein neunjähriger Junge, Hans Richard Levy, Kindertransporte nach England 1938/1939, Leipzig 2010, S. 36; Meyer, Beate: Fragwürdiger Schutz – Mischehen in Hamburg (1922–1945), in: Meyer, Beate (Hg.), Die Verfolgung und Ermordung der Hamburger Juden 1933–1945, Geschichte. Zeugnis. Erinnerung, Hamburg 2006, S. 79–88; Müller-Wesemann, Barbara, "Mit der Freude zieht der Schmerz treulich durch die Zeiten". Die jüdische Kulturgeschichte des Hauses Hartungstraße 9–11, in: Herzig, Arno (Hg.), Die Juden in Hamburg 1590 bis 1990. Wissenschaftliche Beiträge der Universität Hamburg zur Ausstellung "Vierhundert Jahre Juden in Hamburg", Hamburg 1991, S. 323–332; Wexberg-Kubisch, Anna, Vergiss nie, dass du ein jüdisches Kind bist. Der Kindertransport nach England 1938/39, Wien 2013, S. 40; AJR Special Interest Section: Kindertransport Newsletter January 2006 (Suchanzeige einer Miriam Honig, geb. Marion Friedlander, nach Margot Scholinus, http://www.ajr.org.uk/documents/ktjan06.pdf (Zugriff 31.3.2014); holocaust.cz, Eintrag Hannchen Scholinus, http://109.123.214.108/de/victims/PERSON.ITI.626692 (Zugriff 31.3.2014); http://www.bundesarchiv.de/gedenkbuch/directory.html.de?result#frmResults (Zugriff 31.3.2014); Ingolf Goritz, Straßenverzeichnis (zur früheren Bezeichnung von Straßen in Hamburg), http://www.20359hamburg.de/strassenverzeichnis/ausgabe.php?#[0einleitung] (Zugriff 31.3.2014); Telegraph Media Group, Telegraph Announcements – Deaths – Luke (Todesanzeige von Margot Luke, geb. Scholinus), http://announcements.telegraph.co.uk/deaths/23527/luke (Zugriff 31.3.2014); E-Mail von Maria Carvalho im Auftrag der University of Western Australia vom 14.3.2014.