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Julius Hirschfeld * 1868

Isestraße 104 (Eimsbüttel, Harvestehude)

1942 Theresienstadt
ermordet 01.11.1942

Julius Hirschfeld, born 3 Aug. 1868 in Offenbach, deported 15 July 1942 to Theresienstadt, died there 1 Nov. 1942

Julius Hirschfeld was born as the son of Heinrich and Bernhardine Hirschfeld, née Weinthal, in Offenbach am Main.

His wife Amalie, born 25 Mar. 1867, also had the maiden name Weinthal. They had three daughters in quick succession, Hedwig, 1904, her sisters Bertha and Liselotte (Elise, Else) 1905 and 1906.

Hedwig married Wilhelm Baum who was nearly twelve years her senior. As co-owner, he joined the shoe store "J. W. Meyer" at Steindamm 92 which had belonged to his father-in-law since 1898. The large store covered three floors and had ten employees. The family lived at Steindamm 65, not far from the store. In 1935 Hedwig and Walter Baum had a daughter whom they named Hannelore. Bertha was married to the self-employed merchant Robert Philipp. The rather wealthy family immigrated with their two sons, nine and seven years old, in Aug. 1938 via Holland and England to Australia.

At the same time, Julius Hirschfeld and Wilhelm Baum tried to sell their shoe store. Immediately the regional finance office initiated proceedings for "security arrangements" due to "suspicion of capital flight" because the two were assumed to intend to emigrate. The customs investigation determined on the other hand that Julius Hirschfeld, at the age of 70, no longer intended to emigrate, but rather hoped to gain sufficient retirement provisions for himself and his wife through the proceeds of the business whose value he estimated at 50 to 60,000 RM. Moreover, he still had reserves in his bank account in the form of securities.

Wilhelm Baum would have liked to have emigrated with his family, but as the customs investigation explained, "that was not an option for him due to a lack of the necessary connections". He possessed no noteworthy assets, only had a 5,000 RM share in a company which also paid the rent for the young family. The "security arrangement" for Julius Hirschfeld was issued on 11 Oct. 1938. On 15 Nov. 1938 the "Aryan" company E. & E. Rehder acquired the shoe store. The files do not show how much the business was sold for, presumably less than hoped. On the same day it was decided that Julius Hirschfeld would have a monthly allowance of 1100 RM for himself, his wife and his daughter’s family.

His apparently considerable wealth was already placed under a "security arrangement" on 11 Oct. 1938 during the investigation by the customs authority. He was forced to pay over 18,000 RM "Reich Flight Tax" (Reichsfluchtsteuer) and 15,000 RM "Jewish property levy" (Judenvermögensabgabe).

Unpaid invoices presented a problem. Three small subcontractors from southwest Germany turned to the regional finance director in desperation to have their claims paid by the frozen funds so that they could purchase raw materials. Since "Aryan" companies should not suffer from "Aryanization", the interventions were granted.

For the families, the closing down of their business marked the start of many hardships. They had to vacate the apartments on Steindamm where Julius Hirschfeld had hoped to spend a quiet old age. Part of their furniture was put into storage.

Hedwig Baum moved with her husband and her daughter to Eppendorfer Baum, presumably to her sister Else, whose married name was Sealtiel.

Amalie and Julius Hirschfeld’s new address was Isestraße 104. It is one of the few single-family dwellings on the street that was apparently divided into three units. We can assume with certainty that that was not a voluntarily chosen address, but that the couple was assigned to it. Their allowance from the frozen account was divided among two households.

On 2 May 1942, Julius Hirschfeld requested authorization for additional expenditures: He needed 5,000 RM as a "fee for admission to the nursing home Altersheim Beneckestraße 6" where he and his wife were taken in on 14 April 1942. The request was made informally in a handwritten letter and had to be transferred to an application form. That sheet is the last document in the former business owner’s file at the finance office

On 15 July the two 73 and 75-year-old people were deported to Theresienstadt. Immediately beforehand, Julius Hirschfeld sent a telegram to his children in Australia:

"HEDWIG WILLY HANNELORE DEPARTED ELEVENTH WE AND AUNTS LEAVE THIRTEENTH THERESIENSTADT SUDETENLAND – ELSE JOSEPH CHILD FOLLOW NINETEENTH – ALL HEALTHY HOPE FOR HAPPY REUNION – REGARDS PARENTS".

Their daughter Hedwig was indeed sent to her death with her husband Wilhelm and their seven-year-old Hannelore four days earlier on 11 July 1942 in Auschwitz.

Else Sealtiel and her husband Joseph were deported to Theresienstadt four days after her parents on 19 July 1942, with their barely six-month-old daughter Judith. From there they were deported two years later to Auschwitz.

Julius Hirschfeld died on 1 Nov. 1942 in Theresienstadt. In Dec. 1943 Amalie Hirschfeld wrote to Max Plaut:

"Dear Dr. Plaut!
From various sources I hear that you are well, thank God. Regarding my health, I cannot complain. I have been alone for a year already, though my children and my dear grandchild help me to cope. The 1st child is developing splendidly, it is unbidden [?] a bright child. Hopefully you will think of me dear Dr. and write back to me. Warmest greetings, Seatiels and your Amalie Hirschfeld"

Amalie Hirschfeld survived the Shoah. At the end of the war she was liberated from the Theresienstadt camp and returned to Hamburg where no one from her family was able to meet her. With the help of the "Jewish Cultural Commission, Hamburg" she travelled to Australia, to the family of her daughter Bertha where she died in Aug. 1953. Her daughter survived her by only six years.

Translator: Suzanne von Engelhardt

Kindly supported by the Hermann Reemtsma Stiftung, Hamburg.

Stand: October 2016
© Christa Fladhammer

Quellen: 1; 2; 4; 7; 8; StaH, 522-1 Jüd. Gemeinden, 992 e 2, Bd. 4 und Bd.5; AfW 240999, Benedikt Behrens, Stolpersteine in Hamburg-St. Georg, Hamburg 2009, S. 89ff.
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Julius Hirschfeld, born 3 Aug. 1868 in Offenbach, deported 15 July 1942 to Theresienstadt, died there 1 Nov. 1942

Julius Hirschfeld had been proprietor of a large shoe store at Steindamm 92, corner of Lindenstraße since 1898. The store covered three floors of the building and had ten permanent employees. Julius Hirschfeld was married to Amalie, née Weinthal (born 1867 in Norden, East Frisia) with whom he had the daughters Hedwig (born 1904), Bertha (born 1905) and Elise (born 1906), called Else. The Hirschfelds’ family residence was located at Steindamm 65 until 1938, a five-room apartment, not far from their store.

The couple first saw itself in 1939 forced to give up the large apartment and move to Isestraße 104, from where they later had to move into the "Jewish house" at Beneckestraße 6. All three daughters were already married by the 1930s and some had children themselves. In 1938 the formerly prosperous shoe store was "Aryanized" and sold to the company E. & E. Rehder Schuhwaren. The selling price was so low back then that surviving heirs we able to obtain an additional payment of 20,000 DM after World War II from the Rehder company which still existed.

In addition to these business disadvantages, the NS regime subjected the Hirschfelds to further discriminatory measures like the "Reich Flight Tax" (Reichsfluchtsteuer), a quarter of their entire assets (72,666 RM) which amounted to 18,666 RM, levied in Oct. 1938. Afterwards securities and bank balances of 8,200 RM were seized and a "Jewish property levy" (Judenvermögensabgabe) of 15,000 RM was imposed. On the day of the Hirschfelds’ deportation to Theresienstadt, the Reich Lieutenant (Reichsstatthalter) in Hamburg issued an order directing the seizure of the rest of the Hirschfelds’ property in its entirety.

Julius and Amalie Hirschfeld were deported to the Theresienstadt ghetto on 15 July 1942, together with his sister (Martha Hirschfeld) and a sister-in-law (Helene Hirschfeld). On 11 July, their daughter Hedwig, her husband Wilhelm Baum and their seven-year-old daughter Hannelore were already deported to Auschwitz where the entire family was killed.

On 19 July their daughter Else with her husband Joseph Sealtiel and her barely six-month-old daughter Judith followed her parents on another mass transport to Theresienstadt. Mother and daughter were deported on to Auschwitz where they were killed in 1944, while the father Joseph perished at the Dachau concentration camp shortly before the end of the war in Mar. 1945. The Baums’ family home was in Hohenfelde, while that of the Sealtiels was located in Eppendorf. Only the third daughter Bertha, who was married to Robert Philipp, was able escape persecution by the Nazis through immigrating with her husband, first in 1938 to the Netherlands and then on to Australia.

A few days before his deportation, Julius Hirschfeld sent his son-in-law Robert Philipp a telegram through the Australian Red Cross in which he communicated the "departure" of all relatives to Theresienstadt and Auschwitz (though without naming that place of horror). The key words he used were: "All healthy – hope for happy reunion – regards Parents".

For Julius Hirschfeld there was no return. He died on 1 Nov. 1942 in Theresienstadt. His wife Amalie survived the inhuman living conditions in Theresienstadt, despite her advanced age, and lived to see the end of the war.

Translator: Suzanne von Engelhardt

Kindly supported by the Hermann Reemtsma Stiftung, Hamburg.

Stand: October 2016
© Benedikt Behrens

Quellen: 1; 4; 7; 8; AfW, Entschädigungsakte; StaH, 522-1, Jüdische Gemeinden, 992 e 2 (Deportationslisten); Bajohr, Frank, "Arisierung" in Hamburg. Die Verdrängung der jüdischen Unternehmer 1933–1945, Hamburg 1997, S. 360.
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