Search for Names, Places and Biographies

Elisabeth Hoffmann
© Nicolas Cron

Elisabeth Hoffmann (née Danziger) * 1886

Isestraße 67 (Eimsbüttel, Harvestehude)

1941 Lodz
ermordet 26.4.1944

further stumbling stones in Isestraße 67:
Henriette Ballin, Edwin Ballin, Herbert Cohn, Käthe Cohn, Helene Felsenthal, Alfred Felsenthal, Dr. Richard Hoffmann, Gertrud Horwitz, Hugo Horwitz, Amalie Salomon, Mathel Windmüller, Denny Windmüller

Elisabeth Hoffmann, née Danziger, widow of Mr. Haase, born on 16 June 1886 in Cologne; deported on 25 Oct. 1941 to Lodz, perished there on 26 Apr. 1944
Dr. Richard Hoffmann, born on 4 Mar. 1882 in Hamburg, deported on 25 Oct. 1941 to Lodz, perished there on 14 Mar. 1943

Isestrasse 67 is the last address of the Hoffmann couple in Hamburg, before they were deported to Lodz. By the spring of 1941 at the latest, the Hoffmanns moved to this address, living on Alte Rabenstrasse prior to that.

Richard Hoffmann was the son of the physician Dr. Jacob, called Georg, Hoffmann, who operated his practice at Gänsemarkt 64. Shortly before his high-school graduating exam (Abitur) at the Academic School of the Johanneum high school (Gelehrtenschule des Johanneums) on 28 Aug. 1900, he converted to the Protestant faith. He completed his studies at the universities of Munich, Freiburg, and Berlin with the first state law exam in Berlin on 25 Apr. 1904.

During his legal traineeship in Hamburg, he obtained a doctorate in law at the University of Heidelberg on 3 Aug. 1904. He passed his second state law exam in Hamburg on 17 Oct. 1907. One week later, he was appointed assistant judge (Assessor) and on 1 Oct. 1912, district court (Amtsgericht) judge. In World War I, he served with the military administration of the Supreme Command of all German Forces in the East (Oberbefehlshaber Ost), and he was awarded the Iron Cross. On 18 Jan. 1926, he was appointed Regional Court Director (Landgerichtsdirektor) and he took on the position of presiding judge of a civil division.

In 1930, he married Elisabeth Haase, née Danziger, a widowed cousin, who brought daughters Ursula and Renate from her first marriage into the union. By administrative decision of the Reich Minister of Justice dated 19 Dec. 1935, Richard Hoffmann was retired as of 31 Dec. 1935 based on Sec. 4 Par. 2 of the "1st Ordinance to the Reich Citizenship Law.” The two daughters departed Germany for Great Britain at the end of 1938. Although Richard and Elisabeth Hoffmann notified the authorities in June 1941 about intending to emigrate to the USA, they were not able to realize this plan anymore.

They were deported on the first Hamburg transport to the Lodz Ghetto on 25 Oct. 1941. From there, at the address of "Litzmannstadt-Getto, Hohensteinerstrasse 43, room 33,” Richard Hoffmann turned several times to the justice treasury, asking for transfer of his retirement pension; due to his age, he pointed out, he had no employment and was in a particularly desperate situation. Dated 22 July 1942, the Higher Regional Court (Oberlandesgericht – OLG) notified him that his assets, including his entitlement to pension benefits, had been confiscated in favor of the German Reich.

Richard Hoffmann perished in Lodz on 14 Mar. 1943, his wife Elisabeth on 26 Apr. 1944.

Translator: Erwin Fink

Kindly supported by the Hermann Reemtsma Stiftung, Hamburg.

Stand: October 2016
© Heiko Morisse

Quellen: StaH, 241-2 – Justizverwaltung- Personalakten, Sign. A1619; AfW 040382.