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Paul Löwenthal im Kontor, um 1920
© Privatbesitz

Paul Löwenthal * 1872

Blumenstraße 52 (Hamburg-Nord, Winterhude)

HIER WOHNTE
PAUL LÖWENTHAL
JG. 1872
GEDEMÜTIGT / ENTRECHTET
TOT 5.8.1943

Paul Löwenthal was born the son of the businessman Eduard Löwenthal (1840–1916) and Elisabeth, nee Sachs (1851–1915). The mother came from Berlin (parents: Hirsch Sachs and Clara, nee Moses), the father from Sternberg in Mecklenburg (parents: Levy Israel and Minna Löwenthal). In 1866 Eduard Löwenthal became a citizen of Hamburg.

Paul’s sister Emma was born two years after his birth. At this time the family lived at 23 Admiralitätsstraße (Neustadt). Three years later, on 24 October 1877, their brother Franz was born.

In December 1900 Paul left his parents’ house at 44 Grindelberg (Rotherbaum) and moved in to his own apartment. From approximately 1903 he owned the Hamburg export company Paul Löwenthal & Co. In April 1909 he became a Hamburg citizen. In 1914 his private address was 16 Husumerstraße (Eppendorf).

The Paul Löwenthal company, in which Robert Moses from Buenos Aires was an owner went into liquidation in 1921/22. Paul Löwenthal now joined his grandfather’s business, which was established in 1845. It was called L. (= Levy) J. (= Israel) Löwenthal, Butter- u. Fettwarengroßhandlung (Butter and Fat Merchants) (15 Neue Gröningerstraße). He, together with his brother Franz, who was registered in 1913 in the "Verband deutscher Butterfirmen e. V." (1913–1927 a member of the board), was the owner of the firm.

Paul Löwenthal married Clara Kaufmann in approximately 1919, and on 21. July 1920 their only child, Eva Lise, was born.

In 1920 the brothers Löwenthal acquired 52 Blumenstraße in Hamburg-Winterhude, in which they both lived with their wives. Clara Löwenthal died in 1925.

As Paul had spent a long time in South America Franz was in charge of the firm L. J. Löwenthal. In 1920 August Kemme (born 1875), a agent vested with a power of attorney was became an owner of the general partnership. According to the grand daughter August Kemme the operation owned a car with a chauffer which was used by the owners. August Kemme recalled in 1946: "The firm L. J. Löwenthal must have been forcibly dissolved in 1935 as its successor, H. C. Bruhn, operated from 1935 as an Aryanised firm." In May 1937 the firm, now into its third generation of family owners was officially dissolved. The company D. Haar, also operated by the brothers Löwenthal and August Kemme was closed on 1 August 1937.

The land on which the firm operated, 15/17 Gröningerstraße (Altstadt) remained private property owned by the owners of the former business. Imports (butter, fats, honey, dried fruit) by the firm L. J. Löwenthal OHG were transferred to the Butter- und Lebensmittelgroßhandlung (Butter and Food Wholesaler) H. C. Bruhn, which in October 1933 was registered as the Hamburg subsidiary of an Eckernförde firm of the same name. Its sole owner was August Kemme, the former owner of the Löwenthal -business, who according to his own statement had to endure "continued, personal reprimands” because he was married to a Jew. In July 1937, he reluctantly accepted Hans Hinrich Lütgens from Husum as a joint owner of the firm.

In January 1938 the National Socialist State took the first steps to seize the private property of the Löwenthal brothers. The Reichsfluchtsteuerstelle des Finanzamts (Finance Department Reich Flight Tax Office) in Hamburg-Altstadt stated on 11 January 1938: " (…) A security for RM 200,000 is required for the Reich Flight Tax and for outstanding taxes from the years 1935-37. At the same time the second owner Mr. Paul Löwenthal is required to provide a security of RM 100,000 for the same reason. It is recommend that the Currency Office now audit the books and records. A copy of the report should be provided. The passports are to be surrendered."

Shortly thereafter, Willy Markert, an independent appointed auditor, in his report of 14 February 1938 dealt not just to commercial matters but provided a few important details on their private lives: "Paul Löwenthal is 66 years old and has been emotionally disturbed for the last 5 years, since he was declared unfit to run a business. For the last two years the mentally ill man has been hospitalised in the Private -Heil- und Pflege-Anstalt Dr. Ferdinand Wahrendorf in Ilten near Hannover. The sick man requires constant attention particularly as he is facing total blindness."

Markert also stated that the security was demanded on falsified ground. He was able to have the requirement lifted but this did not prevent the systematic plunder of the brothers Löwenthal. Paul Löwenthal, as a Jew, was put into the highest tax bracket in accordance with a law passed on 1 February 1939. On 16 August 1939 the Oberfinanzdirektion Hamburg/Devisenstelle (Main Finance Office Hamburg/Currency) confiscated his property pursuant to a "Security Regulation”. Money was only made available for living expenses on request. The standard explanation for this, which was contrary to that of the auditor was as follows: "Mr. Paul Löwenthal is a Jew. It is therefore to be expected that he will emigrate in the near future. Based on recent experience of Jews who have emigrated it is necessary to ensure that access can only be granted to his property with permission." Between December 1938 and November 1939 he had to pay five instalments of the "Judenvermögensabgabe" each of approximately RM 42,000. In March 1939 he had to pay a "Reichsfluchtsteuer" and in November 1939 "Judenvermögenssteuer". Additionally in 1940 an amount equivalent to 15% of his income tax was payable as a Social Compensation Tax or "Sozialausgleichsabgabe". The property at 52 Blumenstraße was sold to Dr. jur. Wilhelm Crull, who is listed in the 1940 telephone book under this address.

Franz Löwenthal cared for his brother’s welfare for which an annual sum of RM 9,000 was payable. Since 1938 Franz Löwenthal was listed in the telephone book as living at 58 Schenckendorffstraße (Groß Flottbek), howeve, admittedly since 1940 with the forced additional name of "Israel" and description "Privatmann" or "Private”. The building with other properties in Barmbeker Straße, Semperstraße, Grindelallee and Thüringer Straße was owned by him. In March 1940 he moved with his brother Paul into an apartment at 42 Oderfelderstraße, Second Floor (Harvestehude); Paul later moved within the same building into a pension operated by Mrs. Dr. Meier-Ahrens. Paul’s health deteriorated further and he was totally blind in 1941. While all this was happening Franz Löwenthal and his wife were desperately trying to emigrate. On 6 May 1941 Franz received his passport. On 25 June 1941 a list of his luggage and freight was sent via the firm Scharlach & Co. to the Main Finance Office / Currency Section. A bailiff examined in the removal goods in the apartment. Packing and loading was to be done by the removalists Züst u. Bachmeier A. G. (Mönckebergstraße).

0n 7 July confirmation was received from Lisbon of a ship’s passage for two on the "Serpa Pinto" for August 1941 to New York. On 6 August transit visas for Spain and Portugal were stamped in the passport. On the next day Franz Löwenthal and his wife Helene, nee Rothschild (born 1889 in Central Mills/Alabama, USA), gave a notarised power of attorney to Fritz Scharlach (firm Scharlach & Co.,15 Königstraße Second Floor) which also covered real property. (Fritz Scharlach, born 1898, was sent the same year to the Fuhlsbüttel Concentration Camp and on 22 April 1943 to the Auschwitz Concentration Camp where he died on 5 September 1943).

Reichsmarks, which were to be taken overseas, were subject to a 96% tax. As a result only 4% of what the couple Löwenthal sent overseas reached the USA. For goods being exported there was a so-called "Dego-Abgabe" or tax payable (for a stamp collection alone it was RM 46,0000). On 15 August 1941 the Emigration Tax or "Auswandererabgabe" of RM 68,000 was transferred. Shortly thereafter the couple commenced their rail trip through France and Spain to Portugal. On 27 August 1941 they left there for the USA (Franz Löwenthal died on 1 April 1967 in Berkeley/California). They had managed to escape two months before the mass deportations began. They could not take Paul Löwenthal with them.

In April 1942 the blind Paul Löwenthal left his apartment at 101 Grindelhof (see. Siegfried Salomon, it is possible that the Pension Meier-Ahrens had been shifted to Grindelhof). There followed on 1. July 1942 the forced transfer to the Jewish Old People’s and Nursing Home at 6 Beneckestraße Second Floor (Rotherbaum), a "Judenhaus". Couple with the forced move was a house purchase or "Heimeinkaufsvertrag", which Paul, even though he was aged 70, had to enter into for 15 years and pay in advance. In addition there was a monthly charge of RM 180 which calculated over 15 years came to RM 34,490. The sum that he paid did not benefit him. Paul died on 5 April 1942 due to insufficient care and sustenance.

Eva Lise Löwenthal, the daughter, attended between 1930 and 1936 the Hansa-Oberrealschule (today Helene-Lange-Schule) and completed her schooling between 1936 and 1938 in Switzerland. At the end of 1938 she emigrated via Sweden to England, where she later married the medical practitioner Scott. She is thought to have died in 1999.

Translator: Dr. Stephen Pallavicini

© Björn Eggert

Quellen: 1; 2; 4; AfW 030172; AfW 241077; StaHH 741-4, Alte Einwohnermeldekartei; StaHH 221-11, Signatur C 16828; StaHH 221-11, Signatur F 13968; Landesarchiv Berlin: Handelsregister (Firma Eduard Löwenthal), E-mail vom 5.6.2007; AB 1875, 1898, 1900, 1904, 1913, 1919, 1922, 1936, 1937; Amtliche Fernsprechbücher Hamburg 1895, 1907, 1914–1925, 1927, 1936-1941; Hamburger Börsenfirmen 34. Aufl., Hamburg Februar 1933, S. 297 u. S. 528; Harald Vieth, Hier lebten sie miteinander in Harvestehude-Rotherbaum, Hamburg 1994, S. 33–38; Berliner Adressbuch 1872, 1879, 1882, 1884, 1885, 1890, 1894, 1896; Handelskammer Hamburg, Firmenarchiv (H.C.Bruhn), HR A 38383, 1933–1954; Informationen von Lore Wieprecht Frühj. 2007.