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Erna Simon * 1882

Harvestehuder Weg 63 (Eimsbüttel, Harvestehude)

1942 Riga
ermordet August 1942

Erna Simon, married name prior to divorce Stavenhagen, née Simon, born on 16 Feb. 1882 in Hamburg, deported on 15 Aug. 1942 from Berlin to Riga, murdered on 18 Aug. 1942

Erna Simon was the oldest of the three daughters from the marriage of Rosa Gabriele Simon, née Seckels, born on 1 Oct. 1860, and her husband Carl Jacob Simon, born on 1 Sept. 1850, who was ten years her senior. Both were natives of Hamburg and grew up on either side of the Alster River. Since 1866, Carl Jacob Simon’s father, the merchant Philipp Simon, operated under the company name of Simon May & Co. a white goods warehouse (bleached bed linens, table linens, and undergarments) in the St. Georg quarter, at An der Alster 61, where the family also had their residential quarters. Rosa Seckels’ parents, the bank director Jehuda, called Julius, Isaac Seckels, and his wife Adele, née Wagner, resided at Mittelweg 29 in Pöseldorf. Julius Seckels also had a city address in his capacity as the director of Wechsel-Bank in Hamburg at Adolphsplatz 5, which today accommodates the headquarters of the HASPA (Hamburger Sparkasse). Julius Seckels had moved to the area from Aurich, where his father had already been a bank director and where a family relationship existed with Albert Ballin. Adele Seckels-Wagner was a Hamburg merchant’s daughter, and Philipp Simon’s wife Auguste, née Behrens, was from Lüneburg.

After getting married, Rosa and Carl Jacob Simon moved to his parents’ neighborhood, to Holzdamm 53 in the St. Georg quarter, and stayed there until 1887. By then, Carl Jacob Simon was the sole owner of the white goods warehouse of his father, who had passed away in 1885, which he continued from 1890 onward under the name of Simon, Mayer (Jacob) & Co. on Neuer Wall. The home at Holzdamm 53 saw the birth of Erna in 1882, of Margarethe in 1883 (see "Margarethe Windmüller,” in the brochure on Stolpersteine in Hamburg-Winterhude), and of Paula in 1886. After a two-year interlude on Graumannsweg in Hohenfelde, in 1888 Carl Jacob Simon rented one of the newly built urban villas on Harvestehuder Weg, house no. 46 c, where the only son, named after his deceased grandfather, was born in 1890. In 1893, Carl Jacob Simon purchased the house, which remained the family residence for 35 years. In the course of the renumbering of Harvestehuder Weg in 1910, the Simons’ property became number 63, unchanged to this day.

Julius Seckels died a wealthy man in 1899, leaving behind his widow Adele well provided for. In his last will, he bestowed three generations succeeding him and decreed that his four grandchildren Erna, Margarethe, Paula, and Philipp should receive the interest from the assets amounting to 90,000 RM (reichsmark), while the principal should go to the great-grandchildren, at the point when his daughter Rosa died.

The relocation to Harvestehuder Weg coincided with the beginning of Erna’s school attendance. No details are known about her interests and about possible further training, in contrast to her sister Paula, who after finishing girls’ secondary school spent a year in Britain and then attended the teachers’ college at Klosterschule.

In 1901, the two older sisters got married: 18-year-old Margarethe to the dentist Dr. Percival Sidney Windmüller, one-year-older Erna the 32-year-old merchant Max Stavenhagen. Erna and Max Stavenhagen additionally had Rabbi Max Grunwald from the "Neue Dammtor Synagoge” unite them in matrimony. Both of them hailed from well-off families [translator’s note: in German, literally and figuratively "betucht,” i.e., "clothed” and "affluent”] – one of them successfully trading in white goods, the other one in wool. Max Stavenhagen’s parents, the merchant Moritz Stavenhagen and Sara, called Zerline, née Levy, had sent their son to attend the Realgymnasium [a high school focused on the sciences, math, and modern languages] of Johanneum high school, which he left after his one-year graduating class ("Einjähriges”), obtaining the intermediate school-leaving certificate (Mittlere Reife). He started his commercial training on 1 Dec. 1885 by doing an apprenticeship at a tea importing company. In 1820, his grandfather had founded the J. M. Stavenhagen wool trading company, managed by his father Moritz and his uncle Jonas when Max joined the company as a co-owner. In 1912, he took over the business as the sole owner and turned it into a large importing company with headquarters in the Thaliahaus at Alstertor 1.

Befitting the social station, the Simon daughters received so-called "silver cabinets” as part of their dowries. These contained 75-piece cutlery sets made of solid silver for six persons and additional individual household items made of silver. After getting married, Max and Erna Stavenhagen moved to Klosterallee 11, where on 21 Aug. 1902 their first child was born, Margot. Following their relocation to Abteistrasse 18 five years later, Rita was born on 21 May 1907. By then, Margarethe Windmüller also had two children, Kurt and Lilly, and she lived in Harvestehude as well. The greater part of her life at the time took place in the parents’ house on Harvestehuder Weg. The younger siblings were still immersed in their respective training. Philipp did not pursue a commercial career but became a graduate engineer.

Paula Simon was 25 years old when she entered a "mixed marriage” ("Mischehe”) in 1909, marrying the merchant Alfred Rehtz. They lived in Niendorf/Lokstedt, which was still Prussian at the time. Son Ulrich was born there in 1910, daughter Hildegard Rosa followed on 1 Apr. 1914. The two in turn formed a quartet with Margarethe Windmüller’s younger children, Harald, born on 1 Oct. 1911, and Henning, born on 25 May 1913, which brought life to the grandparents’ home on Harvestehuder Weg. Great-grandmother Adele Seckels passed away in 1912 at the age of 77, as a result of which Rosa Simon received her share of the parental assets.

In 1910, Erna Stavenhagen spent time in Vienna. When she returned to Hamburg, her husband had relocated his residence to Hansastrasse 65. From 14 Mar. 1910 onward, they lived in separation. For additional journeys abroad, Erna Stavenhagen required a passport, which she could not get without permission from her husband. Apparently, Max Stavenhagen had permission conveyed to her by lawyer Max Cohen, whose senior clerk also accepted the passport. The passport record reveals that Erna Stavenhagen was short, had blond hair, grayish blue eyes, and an oval-shaped face. The validity of her passport expired on 6 Aug. 1913. On 21 Jan. 1913, Bruno Simon was born as an illegitimate child in Vienna. Erna Stavenhagen’s marriage was divorced legally effective as of 16 Mar. 1913. Margot and Rita Stavenhagen remained with their father, Bruno Simon with the mother.
In Dec. 1913, Erna Stavenhagen left Hamburg and registered with the authorities in Berlin-Wilmersdorf as residing at Güntzelstrasse 13, though returning temporarily to her parents’ home in Oct. 1914. She applied to the Senate or, respectively, to the "Supervisory authority for the Hamburg registry offices” ("Aufsichtsbehörde für die Standesämter in Hamburg”) for permission to resume her maiden name, which was granted to her as of 30 Nov. 1914.

Erna Simon continued to commute between Berlin and Hamburg, traveled to Frankfurt, and paid an extended visit to her sister Paula in Niendorf in 1917, before giving notice to the Hamburg authorities on 17 Apr. 1918 that she was moving to Berlin for good. At Güntzelstrasse 13, in the building at the rear on the ground floor, she set herself up in a three-room apartment with heirloom and collector’s items. She designed the living room as a "Turkish room” featuring three old kilim runners and objects made of brass. She lived there until her deportation under the name of "Stavenhagen-Simon, E.”

Max Stavenhagen entered a second marriage. In 1917, he married Luise Maass, 16 years his junior and a bookseller’s daughter. In June 1918, their son Ernst was born, but he only reached the age of 16. During the First World War, the company flourished due to orders for the German Reich. Margot and Rita grew up in great affluence, without striving toward any occupational training of their own. Philipp Simon began his professional career as an engineer in 1919 working for the "Gesellschaft für Eisenbahn-Draisinen,” a company specializing in rail trolleys (draisines), where, after its renaming "Draisinenbau G.m.b.H.,” he became company manager in 1925.

After the failure of Erna Simon’s marriage, the death of Kurt Simon in 1918 was the next event to hit the family hard, especially his mother, Margarethe. Then followed the divorce of Paula Rehtz (in 1922), the death of Carl Jacob Simon on 7 Dec. 1924, the divorces of Margarethe Windmüller and Philipp Simon in 1926, and the difficulties Lilly and Harald Windmüller (see brochure on Stolpersteine in der Hamburger Isestrasse) had in establishing themselves in life. According to his sister Paula, Philipp Simon took care of his nephews Harald and Henning Windmüller, after his sister Margarethe had left the family.

No details are known about Carl Jacob Simon’s inheritance. The children received revenues from mortgages on properties in Borgfelde and in the Hammer Marsch. Rosa Simon had a double security in that she had assets of her own on her father’s part. After her husband’s death, she sold the property on Harvestehuder Weg and moved to Alte Rabenstrasse 34, and later to a place on Grasweg.

During the familial upheavals, the first marriage in the succeeding generation was sealed. Margot Stavenhagen married Paul Bauer, who had achieved considerable prosperity as a co-owner of the J.M. Stavenhagen Company. In 1926 and 1928, the sons Max and Friedrich were born. Erna Simon and her siblings maintained close contact among each other. Whether that included her children is not known. It is certain though that she had a very close relationship to her son Bruno. He did not become a merchant but a sculptor and poet. During his studies, he repeatedly returned to Berlin, where he remained registered with the authorities as residing with his mother until he emigrated.

In material terms, the family had got through both the period of inflation and the world economic crisis without substantial losses when, concurrent with the transfer of power to Hitler on 30 Jan. 1933, their persecution began. The first one to react was Rita Stavenhagen. At first, she tried to find work as an infant nurse in France and, when that did not succeed, in Italy. During Hitler’s trip to visit Mussolini in Florence on 9 May 1938, she was detained in prison for eleven days and released on condition that she leave Italy immediately. This meant that not only her emigration attempt had failed but that her sheltered world had collapsed. After a suicide attempt, she fled to Switzerland but was not allowed to stay there either, eventually reaching Palestine, where she found refuge in Haifa.

Rosa Seckels passed away on 2 Dec. 1933. As a result, the inheritance to the grandchildren Margot, Rita, Henning, and, following Paula’s death, Ulrich and Rosa became due.

Margot and Paul Bauer also tried to create a new life for themselves by striving for gainful employment abroad. In 1934, they founded a branch of the Stavenhagen wool importing company in Amsterdam. When it became apparent that they would not be left alone there either, they emigrated with both sons to Uruguay, a country connected by business relations for a long time.

In 1936, Max Stavenhagen gave to his daughter Rita almost 300,000 RM, of which only a modest sum was actually transferred to her, however, after deduction of all compulsory fees and dues. After 118 years, the J.M. Stavenhagen Company ended through a rather unusual "Aryanization.” On 30 Aug. 1938, Max Stavenhagen entered into a contract concerning the sale of his successful wool importing business to Rudolf Petersen, also a prosperous merchant, who according to Nazi terminology was classified as a "Jewish crossbreed of the first degree” ("Mischling 1. Grades”). He managed to continue his businesses during the Nazi period and became First Mayor of Hamburg following the war. Together with his wife Luise, Max Stavenhagen moved to and settled in Lausanne (Switzerland) in 1939. He, too, was left in exile with only a modest sum of his considerable fortune.

After the Pogrom of November 1938, Philipp Simon was imprisoned in the Fuhlsbüttel concentration camp and released four weeks later on condition that he emigrate immediately. In 1939, he emigrated initially to Britain and from there reached Australia. Bruno Simon was able to escape the Nazi regime in Aug. 1939 by fleeing to Britain at first, though he was subsequently interned in Australia as an "enemy alien.” Until the outbreak of war, he had still been able to correspond with his mother in Berlin via the Red Cross.

For Margarethe Windmüller, what proved to be her undoing was an illness not regarded clearly as either a psychological or oncological condition – she suffered from a tumor in her eye socket that came into consideration for a personality change, as a result of which she was admitted to the Langenhorn "sanatorium and nursing home” (Heil- und Pflegeanstalt Langenhorn). Even though she was not caught into the machinery of institutional euthanasia as early as Sept. 1940, she was transferred to the neurological clinic in Berlin-Buch. Her sisters Paula and Erna were very concerned about her and accompanied her during her stay in "Langenhorn.” It is not known whether they continued to stand by her side later, in Berlin-Buch and Wittenau, where she was transferred further. Margarethe Windmüller died in 1941, either in Wittenau or in the Bernburg euthanasia killing center. Thus, she did not learn about the deportations of her daughter Lilly and her son Harald to the Lodz Ghetto on 26 Oct. 1941.

After the death of her sister Margarethe, Erna Simon experienced from afar the "resettlement” ("Aussiedlung”) of her sister Paula from Hamburg to Theresienstadt on 19 July 1942. That Paula Rehtz was the mother of adult "Jewish crossbreeds of the first degree” did not spare her from being deported.

Like all Jews, Erna Simon had handed in her valuables, the silver, and the few pieces of high-quality jewelry that she had owned. On 14 Aug. 1942, she had to submit a comprehensive declaration of assets. The first complex of questions concerned her apartment, according to which she had already paid the rent to her "Aryan” landlord, the surgeon W. Blanke, up to the end of the month.

After payment of the compulsory charges, she had no more than 20 RM in any monetary assets in her account with Brinkmann, Wirtz & Co. in Hamburg, to which the semi-annual payments of 300 RM from the last will of her grandfather Seckels went as well. She owned a mortgage deed of Erikabaugesellschaft, a construction company in Hamburg worth 15,000 RM. Two additional mortgage deeds for properties Reinbek near Hamburg valued at 11,500 RM overall had been confiscated as payment of the "Reich flight tax” ("Reichsfluchtsteuer”).

Erna Simon filled out pages and pages that made up the list of apartment furnishings laid down for her by the "Reich Association of Jews in Germany” ("Reichsvereinigung der Juden in Deutschland”) on the orders of the Gestapo. On the following day, she had to report to the synagogue on Levetzowstrasse, which since 1941 served as an assembly camp of the Jewish residents of Berlin for their transport to ghettos and camps. Assigned transport number 16,484, she was deported with 937 other persons to Riga on 15 Aug. 1942 and murdered as not fit for work immediately upon arrival on 18 August. She reached the age of 60.

On 4 Sept. 1942, Erna Simon’s household effects were estimated and handed over on 16 October for 498.40 RM to the Balduin Pustelny Company in Neukölln, which was obligated to resell the items, with two restrictions attached: The sewing machine had to be shipped to the ghetto administration in Lodz and the books had to be reported to the representative of the Reich Chamber of Literature (Reichsschrifttumskammer), who arranged for their inspection and subsequent use.

On 19 Oct. 1942, Erna Simon’s apartment, which had been her home for 29 years, was cleared out and reported to the "General Building Inspector of the Reich Capital, Main Office for Administration and Economy” (Generalbauinspektor für die Reichshauptstadt, Hauptamt für Verwaltung und Wirtschaft) in Berlin-Charlottenburg. The apartment had been sealed but not confiscated. Now the owner and the Chief Finance Administrator (Oberfinanzpräsident), who had seized Erna Simon’s assets, quarreled about loss of rent. Even beyond the end of the war, the "Department for the Utilization of Assets” ("Vermögensverwertungsstelle”) of the Chief Finance Administrator also concerned itself with the mortgage on the property at Schadesweg 23/25 in Hamburg-Hamm. The Erikabaugesellschaft had not redeemed the mortgage and ceased to pay interest in the third quarter of 1944 because the property had been destroyed in the firestorm of 1943, rendering it worthless.

Hildegard Rosa Rehtz survived the severe air raids on Hamburg in the summer of 1943 and was evacuated to Saxony. On the day before the first attack on Dresden, she gave birth to her son Gerhard. She had not told the child’s father that she was a "half-Jewess” ("Halbjüdin”), also refusing to indicate his identity to the authorities in order not to endanger him. As a result, she herself was caught in a chain of adverse circumstances that earned her seven years of institutionalization and her son Gerhard institutional upbringing and foster care in a family.

Paula Rehtz returned from Theresienstadt in the summer of 1945. She succeeded in fetching her daughter to stay with her in Hamburg, but she did not regain her health.

None of the emigrants returned to live in Germany. Philipp Simon, married in his second marriage to Mathilde Blunck, née Sannecke, in Australia, without any children, passed away there at the age of 101. Rita Stavenhagen died in Haifa in 1965; Margot Bauer and her family continued to reside in Montevideo, where there are descendants of Erna Simon to this day.
Through his art, Bruno Simon had a few contacts to Germany, as attested to by the manuscript collection in the Wienbibliothek (Vienna City Library). He passed away on 16 Sept. 1999. His urn, like that of his aunt Paula Rehtz before, was buried in his grandparents’ grave in the Jewish Cemetery on Ilandkoppel in Hamburg-Ohlsdorf. Margarethe Windmüller’s son Henning survived the Nazi rule in Finland. Today (2013), his descendants live in Denmark and in the USA.


Translator: Erwin Fink
Kindly supported by the Hermann Reemtsma Stiftung, Hamburg.

Stand: January 2019
© Hildegard Thevs

Quellen: 1, 2 R 1939/2180; 4; 5; 6; 8; Berliner und Hamburger Adressbücher; 332-7, K 6984; 332-8, A 24, Bd. 114, 2487; 6985; 322-5, 8011+147/1912; 8078+625/1924; 8611+528/1901; 8716+135/1917; 9603+196/1925; 9863+729/1933; 351-1, 7861; 9068; 12798; 26586; 32731; 39410; 522-1, 696 h, 702 f, 708 NDS; 992 d, Band 29 u. 31; JFHH; http://www.katalog.wienbibliothek.at/hs0/PSI/redirect.psi&f_search=&pageid=13603.... Zugriff 8.2.2023; LA Berlin, WGA B Rep 025-04, 18735/59 – 18740/59, Nr. 746/50 und WGK 254.63, Nr. 4964-65/50, 4965; Brandenburgisches Landeshauptarchiv, OFP Rep. 36 A, 35855; Senatskanzlei Hamburg; Meyer, Beate, "Jüdische Mischlinge".
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