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Walter Baruch * 1882

Isestraße 85 (Eimsbüttel, Harvestehude)

1941 Minsk

further stumbling stones in Isestraße 85:
Erna Baruch, Gretchen Cohn, Max Cohn, Erwin Cohn, Senta Lissauer, Ruth Lissauer, Wolfgang Lissauer, Cerline Elise Nathan

Erna Baruch, née Heilbronn, born on 8 Nov. 1892 in Krefeld, deported on 8 Nov. 1941 to Minsk
Walter Baruch, born on 26 June 1882 in Essen, deported on 8 Nov. 1941 to Minsk

Erna and Walter Baruch came from Krefeld and Essen to Hamburg, where Walter Baruch worked as a commercial agent. By the onset of National Socialist restrictions at the latest, his income was so small that the family had to be supported financially by relatives. In Feb. 1939, Erna Baruch received a share of the inheritance from the sale of a house, but even then the family’s income remained so low that no "security order” ("Sicherungsanordnung") was issued.

The hope of being able to emigrate to the USA together came to nothing.

Erna and Walter Baruch had a daughter, Margot, born in 1911, about whose fate there is no information. A son, Rolf, was born in 1922. In 1938, he was doing a commercial apprenticeship. He intended to emigrate to the Netherlands and received the tax clearance certificate in Nov. 1938. Subsequently, he apparently changed his plans, receiving in July 1939 the certificate to depart for Britain and from there onward to the USA.

The parents had to have the "moving goods” approved for their underage child. The second-hand suitcase was packed as if going on a school trip. The prayer books were placed there but also "luxury items”: a tennis racket and the stamp collection valued at 20 RM (reichsmark). Eleven days before the outbreak of war, on 19 Aug. 1939, Rolf Baruch went to Britain, probably on a "children transport” (Kindertransport). Nothing is known about his subsequent fate.

The parents were deported on the first transport to the ghetto in Minsk. It is not known how long they survived there.

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

© Christa Fladhammer

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