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Selma Cohn * 1873

Grindelallee 126 (Eimsbüttel, Rotherbaum)

HIER WOHNTE
SELMA COHN
JG. 1873
GEDEMÜTIGT / ENTRECHTET
FLUCHT IN DEN TOD
13. AUG. 1939

further stumbling stones in Grindelallee 126:
Josef Lasdun, Aurelia Lasdun, Sophie Gertrud Lasdun, Charles Lasdun, Fanny Lasdun, Sulamith Lasdun, Valesca Lewin

Selma Cohn, born on 8.2.1873, humiliated/disenfranchised, committed suicide on 13.8.1939

Grindelallee 126, Rotherbaum

Selma Cohn was born in Bremen to the Jewish couple Samuel David Cohn and Marianne Cohn, née Cassuto. The couple had four children in Bremen: Joseph, born on 1.6.1869, Selma, born on 8.2.1873, Emil, born in February 1878 and deceased in May of that year, and Julius Cohn, born on 8.6.1882.

Samuel David Cohn died on February 22, 1906, Marianne Cohn on March 27, 1917, both were buried in Hamburg in the Ilandkoppel Jewish Cemetery.

Selma's father had ran a men's clothing store in Bremen. It was first mentioned in the Bremen directory in 1869. It was located at Sielwall 1a until 1881. We do not know when the family moved to Hamburg.

Selma Cohn's life has left few traceable biographical traces. Nothing is known about her childhood, youth and possible education. In 1932, she moved in with her brother Julius Cohn and his wife Gertrud in Hamburg to the street Hauersweg 10 in Winterhude. She is not registered as an independent member in the Jewish Community of Hamburg's Jewish religious tax register, but as a member of her brother's household.

In 1935, Selma Cohn moved into a sublet room with David van Son (born on 31.5.1876) and his family at Schlüterstraße 63 in Rotherbaum. The Jewish Community now set up a separate religious tax card for her. Selma Cohn's income is not listed on the Jewish religious tax card. She was presumably supported financially by her brother Julius Cohn. His wife Rachel Schelly van Son, born on 5.1.1887, and their daughter Ingeborg, born on 12.3.1909, fled to the USA in 1940, but Selma Cohn was no longer living there at the time. (David van Son was deported to Theresienstadt on July 19, 1942, survived and was liberated there in May 1945).

After 2 ½ years, Selma Cohn moved in with Clara Ida Helene Bertz (born on 19.4.1883) at Heinrich-Barth-Straße 3 in Rotherbaum. She paid 27 RM a month for her room. But even here she could no longer stay: Helene Bertz felt ill with depression, was placed under guardianship and admitted to the Langenhorn sanatorium on November 27, 1937.

Selma Cohn had to look for a new place to live. She found a sublet room with Ernst Alsberg, born on 8.6.1879, at Werderstraße 7 in Harvestehude. (Ernst Alsberg was deported to Theresienstadt on July 15, 1942 and on to Auschwitz in 1944. See www.stolpersteine-hamburg.de).

Selma Cohn found her last home in 1938 with Felix Epstein, born on 3.9.1882, at Grindelallee 126 in Rotherbaum. She had met him through her brother Julius Cohn, who both worked in the banking business. (Felix Epstein was deported to Theresienstadt on July 19, 1942 and liberated by the Allies in May 1945).

Selma Cohn had been a patient at the Israelite Hospital at Eckernförder Strasse 4 (now Simon-von-Utrecht-Strasse) in St. Pauli since August 6, 1939. She had been admitted with a diagnosis of "nervous weakness”. The details of what preceded this are not known. However, it is clear that the discrimination and the demands of National Socialism had taken such a toll on Selma Cohn that she no longer wanted to live.

The night nurse on duty, who checked the rooms on August 13, 1939, found Selma Cohn's bed empty and the window open. She found Selma Cohn in the garden at 2.15 am. She had thrown herself to her death from the window on the third floor.

Selma Cohn's mortal remains were cremated and then buried in the Ilandkoppel Jewish cemetery.

The fate of Selma Cohn's siblings:
Joseph Cohn had married Hella Cohn, born on 11.4.1875. They lived in Denmark until 1940 and probably managed to flee to New York.

Julius Cohn had married Gertrud Simcha Delmonte, born on 20.3.1890, in Hamburg on April 20, 1911. The couple was deported to the Lodz ghetto on October 25, 1941 and deported on to Chelmno/Kulmhof on September 15, 1942 where they were murdered.

There are Stolpersteine for the couple at Eppendorfer Landstraße 30 (see www.stolpersteine-hamburg.de).

Translation: Beate Meyer
Stand: December 2024
© Bärbel Klein

Quellen: 1; 4; StaH; 331-5 Polizeibehörde – unnatürliche Sterbefälle 3 Akte 1269/1939 (Selma Cohn); 351-11 AfW 12278, 46984 (Gertrud und Julius Cohn); 232-5 Amtsgericht Hamburg – Vormundschaftswesen 57 (Clara Ida Helene Bertz); 424-79/2 Stiftungen in Altona – Brandon Stiftung 11 (Gertrud und Julius Cohn); 332-5 Heiratsregister 8678 Nr. 297/1911 Julius Cohn/Gertrud Simcha Delmonte; 332-5 Sterberegister 572 Nr. 154/1906 Samuel David Cohn, 8041 Nr. 232/1917 Marianne Cohn, 1104 Nr. 505/1939 Selma Cohn; Mail am 25.07.1920 aus Bremen von Monika Maschalck mit Informationen zur Familie von Selma Cohn; www.geni.com; www.ancestry.de (Einsicht am 29.9.2020).
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