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Gotthard Hardy Jacobson
© Yad Vashem

Gotthard Hardy Jacobson * 1898

Hartungstraße 15 (Eimsbüttel, Rotherbaum)

HIER WOHNTE
GOTTHARD HARDY
JACOBSON
JG. 1898
FLUCHT 1937 BELGIEN
INTERNIERT MECHELEN
DEPORTIERT 1942
ERMORDET IN
AUSCHWITZ

further stumbling stones in Hartungstraße 15:
Auguste Wolfsfeld

Gotthard Hardy Jacobson, born on 7 Mar. 1898, fled on 18 Oct. 1937 to Belgium,
interned in Mechelen (Malines), deported on 16 Aug. 1942 to Auschwitz, murdered there

Hartungstrasse 15 Rotherbaum

Gotthard Hardy Jacobson was born as the sixth of seven children of the Jewish rabbi Moses Jacobson and his wife Regina née Hirsch on 7 Mar. 1898 in Gnesen (today Gniezno in Poland) near Posen (Poznan). Details on the fate of his siblings can be found at the end of this biography (His father Moses Jacobson passed away on 16 Nov. 1930 in Hamburg, his mother on 18 Mar. 1937 in Berlin. Both were buried in the Jewish Cemetery on Ilandkoppel).

In Gnesen/Posen, Gotthard Hardy attended high school (Gymnasium) and finished school by passing the graduation exam (Abitur). Gotthard Hardy Jacobson fought in World War I starting in 1914 as a front-line combatant until a war injury ended his wartime service in 1917.

His father, a rabbi, was given a choice of holding his office in Poland or in Germany. He chose Germany and decided to settle permanently in Hamburg, where he also received his doctorate with a thesis entitled Psychologie des Talmuds ("Psychology of the Talmud”). He officiated as rabbi at the Hoheluftchaussee 25a synagogue in Hoheluft-West. It had been created in 1909 by the orthodox association "Kelilath Jofi” and "Agudath Jescharim” according to plans of the architect Semmy Engel by rebuilding a back building. Moses Jacobson presided over both associations for several years. (The building of the synagogue does not exist anymore; it was destroyed during air raids in the Second World War). Moses Jacobson was highly respected in his community.

Gotthard Hardy Jacobson did an apprenticeship at Meyer & Co. with the aim of becoming a commercial clerk. The company dealt in animal hair and wool. He remained with the company until 1923.

On 3 Nov. 1922, Gotthard Hardy Jacobson married Ida Littmann at Registry Office 2. She had been born in Hamburg on 20 Nov. 1899, the third of seven children of the Jewish couple David Littmann and Rosa Stormlauf. Her father was a merchant. Ida finished her schooling in Hamburg with a high school diploma.

After their wedding, the young couple initially found a home with Ida’s parents at Grindelhof 76 in the Rotherbaum quarter. In 1923 and 1924, they then lived in their own apartment at nearby Bornstrasse 22, and in 1925, they moved to Bogenstrasse 24.

They had children Marcus Amram (born on 4 June 1924), Hanna (born on 19 Oct. 1926), and Gerhard Bernhard Salomon (born on 25 Mar. 1928).

Gotthard Hardy Jacobson had himself entered in the company register as an agent for wool on 30 Mar. 1927. He operated his business at Steintwiete 21 in Hamburg-Neustadt.

The Jacobson family moved to Grindelallee 25 in 1928 and then to the apartment at Hartungstrasse 15 from 1929 to 1937.

Gotthard Hardy Jacobson found work as a wool representative at Plaut & Co. in Hamburg. From 1933 to 1935, his considerable earnings amounted to about 20,000 RM (reichsmark) annually and even rose to 40,000 RM in 1936.

In 1934, Gotthard Hardy Jacobson – like all Jewish front-line soldiers – was belatedly awarded the Cross of Honor with Two Swords for his service in the First World War. By holding this award, he obviously felt protected from political and racial persecution. However, this turned out to be erroneous.

The persecution policy of the Nazis increasingly restricted the lives of Hamburg Jews. Therefore, on 18 Oct. 1937, Ida and Gotthard Hardy Jacobson fled with their three children to Brussels, Belgium, believing to be safe there.

In Brussels, Ida Jacobson gave birth to their son Manfred Reginald Armand on 2 Dec. 1937.
Gotthard Hardy Jacobson made use of his business connections in Antwerp and set up his own company again in Brussels. He built up an import and export business for animal hair.

However, after German troops invaded Belgium in May 1940, the noose tightened there as well. The family tried to evade this by going into hiding. The last residence of Gotthard Hardy Jacobson and his family was in Brussels at 61 Avenue Elisabeth. The hiding place was betrayed though, the family caught and sent to the Malines/Mechelen internment camp.

On 16 Aug. 1942, Gotthard Hardy Jacobson was deported from Malines to Auschwitz, where he was murdered. His relatives never heard from him again. He was pronounced dead after the war as of 8 May 1945.

Several surviving family members commemorate him with Pages of Testimony submitted at Yad Vashem.

Ida Jacobson and the children remained in Malines until Feb. 1944. They were transferred to Vittel, an internment camp in France, in Feb. 1944 and to La Bouboule, also in France, in Sept. 1944. There Ida Jacobson and the children were liberated by the Allies and emigrated to the United States, where Ida Jacobson passed away on 5 Feb. 1982.

Marcus Amram Jacobson lived in Chicago in the USA, but then returned to Hamburg, where he passed away on 9 Jan. 2014.
Manfred Reginald Armand Jacobson lived in St. Louis, as did Hanna Jacobson. She passed away in Israel on 17 Apr. 2001.
Gerhard Bernhard Salomon Jacobson, in turn, lived in Israel and died in New York on 10 Feb. 1997.

Details on the fate of Gotthard Hardy Jacobson’s siblings:
Jacob Jacobson (born on 27 Nov. 1888) was an archivist and historian after his studies, headed the Gesamtarchiv der deutschen Juden (Central Archives of German Jewry) in Berlin, published several genealogical writings; he survived deportation to Theresienstadt, where he was liberated in 1945; he then emigrated to London, passing away on 31 May 1968 in Bad Neuenahr.

Hanna Jacobson (born on 22 Dec. 1889) died in 1964; we do not know exactly where or when she died.

Sarah Jacobson (born on 3 June 1892) fled to Pittsburgh in the USA in 1941. We do not know the date of her death.

Kaete Jacobson (born in 1895) died in 1989; we do not know the exact dates of birth and death.

Soloman Jacobson (born in 1897) died fighting in World War I in 1914. Exact birth and death dates are not known to us.

Bernhard Jacobson (born on 16 Oct. 1900) fled to London. He married Ester Zeitlin and had three children with her. He died in Israel in 1992. We do not have an exact date of death for Bernhard Jacobson.

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

Stand: May 2021
© Bärbel Klein

Quellen: StaH 1; 2; 4; 5; 8; 351-11_20570; 213-13_18055; 213-13_30397; 351-11_22370 Ida Jacobson; 351-11_22370; 213-13_18055 Regina Hirsch; 351-11_32505; 232-5_837; 351-11_23433 Bernhard Jacobson; 351-11_48020; 351-11_48020 Hanna Fishermann; 213-13_28085 Ellen Littmann; 351-11_23433; 232-5_837; 351-11_49366; 213-13_27702 Bernhard Jacobson; 741-4_K 6299; 741-4_K 4459; 332-5_533(1982; 332-5_609/1922; 332-5_170/1931; 332-5_3774/1899; 231-7_A 1 Band 154_Registernr. 34495; FzH_WdE Akte 386 Carl Salomon; www.ancestry.de, www.geni.com; www.wikipedea.de; Michael Studemund-Halevy, Im jüdischen Hamburg. Ein Stadtführer von A bis Z, Hamburg 2011, S. 18; https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_Jacobson¸ (Zugriff 17.8.2020); https://yvng.yadvashem.org/index.html?language=en&s_lastName=jacobson&s_firstName= gotthard%20hardy&s_place=&s_dateOfBirth=&cluster=true (Zugriff 17.8.2020).
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