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Kurt Lebenthal * 1920

Bethesdastraße 16 (Hamburg-Mitte, Borgfelde)

HIER WOHNTE
KURT LEBENTHAL
JG. 1920
ABGESCHOBEN 1938
ZBASZYN / POLEN
???

further stumbling stones in Bethesdastraße 16:
Julius Lebenthal

Julius Lebenthal, born 28 Oct. 1881 in Warsaw, deported 23 June 1943 to Theresienstadt, 12 Oct. 1944 to Auschwitz
Kurt Lebenthal, born 15 Feb. 1920 in Hamburg, deported 28 Oct. 1938 to Zbaszyn, date of death unknown

Bethesdastraße 16

"She hoped that her husband would soon be well enough to go back to work and pay off the hospital bills. They seem to be very decent people.” These are the words written by a welfare nurse in September 1929, describing the situation of the Lebenthal family, who at that time lived at Hinter der Markthalle 1 in the Hamburg Altstadt. The Lebenthals were Julius and Elfriede, née Klemme, and their nine-year-old son Kurt. Elfriede Lebenthal’s hopes were never fulfilled – her husband remained too ill to work and they were dependent upon support from the State Welfare Agency, until the provision of welfare benefits to Jews was turned over to the Jewish Community.

Julius Lebenthal was from a large Polish-Jewish family from Zirardow near Warsaw. He came to Hamburg in 1919 at the age of 38. Of his thirteen siblings, two of his brothers also lived in Germany: David Lebenthal in Münster, and Sally Lebenthal in Rheine. Julius Lebenthal found work as a travelling salesman for the Dessau mail-order linens company. In 1920 he married Elfriede Klemme (*27 October 1896 in Schinkel near Osnabrück). Her family was Catholic. She became a Polish citizen when they married. Elfriede Klemme was a sales clerk, and continued to work until she developed thrombosis in 1924 and could no longer stand for long periods of time. She later had to stay at home to care for her husband.

Their son Kurt was born on 15 February 1920. Elfriede Lebenthal converted to Judaism, and the family joined the Hamburg German-Israelitic Community. They followed the tradition of providing for their graves at the Jewish cemetery. Kurt attended the Talmud Tora school.

Little is known about the family’s financial situation in the 1920s. A Welfare Agency file started after Julius Lebenthal’s illness and their resulting poverty and which is still extant provides some insight into their situation in the 1930s. The records do not show when Julius Lebenthal first became ill. He suffered from Tabes dorsalis, a slow degeneration of the nerves in the spinal cord, which caused him to become lame in both of his legs. He was only able to walk with the help of two canes. Assuming that his condition was temporary, his employer continued to pay him 20 Reichsmarks (RM) per week. The couple sold many of their valuables and jewelry, and the Talmud Tora school waived tuition fees for Kurt. In 1929, when their income was no longer sufficient to pay the rent and living expenses, Julius Lebenthal turned to the Welfare Agency. He wrote the letters in a fine hand – the illness did not affect his mental faculties. The Welfare Agency provided for the family’s living expenses, and the Jewish Community took over the rental payments. The family rented out one room to lower their costs.

In 1930 the family moved to an apartment a few streets away at Rosenstraße 52. The Welfare Agency approved the cost of a wheelchair so that Julius could get around in the apartment. The apartment proved to be too expensive, however, and they moved again, this time to Bethesdastraße 16 in Borgfelde, into a three-and-a-half-room apartment on the third floor. When Julius’ condition had not improved after two-and-a-half years, his doctor prescribed a four-week stay at a spa in Bad Oeynhausen. The Jewish Community covered the costs. Because of the success of the treatment, Elfriede Lebenthal applied for a renewal, but it was turned down, as was the application for a second visit the following year.

When Kurt Lebenthal finished his schooling in April 1935, the Nazi’s anti-Jewish measures were already in place, and he had a hard time finding an apprenticeship. His worn clothing was also a hindrance. The Welfare Agency covered the costs of a new suit and shoes. He finally found a training position as a sales clerk in Elmshorn. Half of his training salary went for travel costs.

In 1935 the Welfare Agency investigated the possibility of relatives providing financial support. Julius Lebenthal’s parents were both deceased, and his mother-in-law was supported by her son in Berlin. No other relatives were found.

When the company where Kurt Lebenthal was training was closed in 1936, he was able to continue his apprenticeship in the offices of the Automat paper factory on Marienthaler Straße in Hamburg-Hamm. He quit the apprenticeship after a year, however, but remained at the company as an employee, with a higher salary than he had received as an apprentice. The extra welfare benefits that the family received for his living expenses, however, were cut. The Welfare Agency once again covered the costs of a new suit and shoes for Kurt. He became a member of the Hamburg German-Israelitic Community. In the meantime, the financial support for rental payments had been considerably reduced, as had the payments from Julius Lebenthal’s former employer.

On 1 January 1938, Julius Lebenthal fractured his right hip and was admitted to the St. Georg General Hospital. Because this kind of fracture, in light of his existing condition, was known to heal very slowly, he was transferred to the hospital ward of the State Care Home on 23 April 1938. The Welfare Agency strongly urged Elfriede Lebenthal to find work, since she no longer needed to care for her husband and he would, in all likelihood, remain in institutional care. As she was considered a Jew and a Polish citizen, she could not find a job. On 1 October 1938 the Welfare Agency discontinued all benefits for her living expenses.

At the end of October 1938, the family was torn apart. While Julius Lebenthal lay in the Care Home, Elfriede and Kurt Lebenthal were taken to the police station on Burgstraße in the early morning hours of 28 October. They were only allowed to bring basic clothing necessities with them. On that evening they were taken to the assembly point for the Polish Jews who were being expelled from Germany. At the Altona Train Station they were put on a train for the Polish border town of Zbaszyn. When they arrived, they were herded off the train by the SS, but prevented from crossing the border by armed Polish guards. The conditions in the camp for the thousands of people expelled from Germany were horrific (it was only in the mid-1950s that they were recognized as having been as desperate as those in the concentration camps).

Elfriede Lebenthal was able to provide proof of her "Aryan descent,” and was allowed to return to Hamburg in July 1939. As soon as she was back in Germany she annulled her conversion to Judaism and reinstated her German citizenship. Although Kurt Lebenthal was a "first-degree Mischling” and had been born in Hamburg, he was not allowed to return. He probably joined a group of young people who were preparing to emigrate to Palestine. The last his mother heard from him were two letters, one from Lodz and and one from Vilnius. In her absence, her landlord had had her evicted from the apartment on Bethesdastraße. Friends had stored her furniture and household goods, so that she was at least able to return to her belongings, if not her apartment. Thereafter she lived on Marienthaler Straße.

On 22 May 1939, Julius Lebenthal was transferred from the State Care Home to the Jewish Community’s Nursing Home and Home for the Elderly at Grünestraße 5 in Altona. When the Jewish Community was forced to give up this home in March 1942, he was transferred to the nursing home at Laufgraben 37. Shortly before this date, Elfriede Lebenthal had divorced him after 22 years of marriage. He was moved once again, this time to the former offices of the Jewish Community, which now served as a home for the elderly. From there he was deported to the Theresienstadt Ghetto, on 23 June 1943. He was 62 years old and severely disabled. On 12 October 1944 he was selected for a transport to Auschwitz, and was probably murdered immediately upon arrival.

Elfriede Lebenthal’s apartment was completely destroyed during an air raid on 27-28 July 1943. On 19 June 1950, the district court declared Kurt Lebenthal’s date of death as 31 December 1944, under the assumption that with the advance of the Red Army, he would have found himself between enemy lines and lost his life.


Translator: Amy Lee
Kindly supported by the Hermann Reemtsma Stiftung, Hamburg.

Stand: March 2017
© Hildegard Thevs

Quellen: 1; 4; 5; 7; StaH, 351-11 AfW, 19502; 552-1 Jüdische Gemeinden, 992 e 2, Bd. 5.
Zur Nummerierung häufig genutzter Quellen siehe Link "Recherche und Quellen".