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Max Moses Norden * 1907

Grindelallee 73 (Eimsbüttel, Rotherbaum)

HIER WOHNTE
MAX MOSES NORDEN
JG. 1907
FLUCHT 1937 HOLLAND
DEPORTIERT 1942
AUSCHWITZ
ERMORDET

further stumbling stones in Grindelallee 73:
Lonny Beese, Bert(h)a Hirnheimer, Alma Lisser, Alexander Norden, Caroline Norden, Carl Norden, Siegfried Norden

Alexander Norden, born on 10 Oct. 1875 in Hamburg, imprisoned in 1938, emigrated on 24 Dec. 1938 to the Netherlands, interned on 26 May 1943 in Westerbork, from there deported on 20 July 1943 to the Sobibor extermination camp, declared dead as of 23 July 1943
Caroline Norden, née Mindus, born on 12 Oct. 1885 in Jemgum/East Friesland, emigrated on 24 Dec. 1938 to the Netherlands, interned on 26 May 1943 in Westerbork, deported on 20 July 1943 to the Sobibor extermination camp, declared dead as of 23 July 1943
Max Moses Norden, born on 16 Aug. 1907 in Hamburg, emigrated to the Netherlands, on 10 Aug. 1942 deported via Westerbork to the Auschwitz extermination camp, murdered there on 25 Aug. 1942
Bertha Victoria Hirnheimer, née Norden, born on 24 Aug. 1914 in Hamburg, deported on 23 Sept. 1942 from Nuremberg to Theresienstadt, from there deported to the Auschwitz extermination camp, murdered and declared dead as of 12 Oct. 1944
Carl Norden, born on 9 Sept. 1921 in Hamburg, emigrated on 24 Dec. 1938 to the Netherlands, interned on 9 Nov. 1939 in Westerbork, from there deported on 15 July 1942 to the Auschwitz extermination camp, murdered there on 21 Aug. 1942
Siegfried Simon Norden, born on 4 May 1924 in Hamburg, emigrated to the Netherlands on 24 Dec. 1938, from there deported via Westerbork to the Auschwitz extermination camp on 10 Aug. 1942, murdered there on 30 Sept. 1942

Grindelallee 73

Alexander Norden and his twin brother Carl were the children of Moses Norden and his wife Bertha, née Levy. Moses Norden, a merchant born on 9 May 1831 in Emden, had acquired Hamburg civic rights in 1861 and was married on 11 June 1865 in Hamburg to Bertha, who was 24 years old at the time. Her parents were Joseph Levy and Fanny, née Alexander.

The twins had a brother five years older, Joseph Norden, born on 17 June 1870. After graduating from high school, he studied philosophy and trained as a rabbi. As such, he worked in various places, including Elberfeld, today a district of Wuppertal. After his retirement, he returned to Hamburg.

Alexander Norden’s first wife was Julchen Jaffe, born on 17 Sept. 1875. The two married in Hamburg on 11 Sept. 1906. Their children were all born in Hamburg: Max Moses on 16 Aug. 1907, Leo Alexander on 15 Oct. 1912, and Bertha Victoria on 24 Aug. 1914. Another son named Albert was born in 1909 and died very early; the exact dates of his life are not known.

Julchen died on 9 July 1919. About a year later, on 3 Aug. 1920, Alexander Norden married a second time. His wife, Caroline Mindus, came from Jemgum in the East Frisian Rheiderland near the Dutch border. The wedding was also held in Jemgum. This marriage produced two additional children, Carl, born on 9 Sept. 1921, and Siegfried Simon, born on 4 May 1924, in Hamburg.

The Nordens lived in Hamburg and moved several times. In 1913, they resided in Hamburg-Neustadt, at Peterstrasse 69, then one street further at Marienstrasse 4, where they remained until about 1930. In 1931, the family moved to Grindelallee 73 on the second floor.

At the beginning of 1917, the then 31-year-old Alexander Norden was drafted into the territorial reserve (Landsturm). The First World War had already lasted for three years by then. Alexander was an employee of the German-Israelitic Synagogue Association (Synagogenverband). He directed the choir of the Kohlhöfen community synagogue. He was also a Torah reader, an important part of the Jewish religious service. On 5 Feb. 1917, the board of the German-Israelite congregation wrote to the Senate Commission for the Israelite Religious Communities seeking Alexander’s exemption. The Senate Commission forwarded the letter to the Military Commission. The latter refused an exemption on the following grounds: "The current crisis situation requires the use of any man who can be replaced in any way for the purpose of military service.” However, the conscription was postponed until 1 May so that the Jewish Community would have time to procure a replacement. Alexander had to join the military.

Alexander and Caroline Norden’s son Leo Alexander attended the Hamburg Talmud Tora School. He then completed a commercial apprenticeship at Gottholt & Co. After that, he stayed on with the company as an employee. On 31 Mar. 1933, Alexander Norden sent Leo by night train to the Netherlands, anticipating bad prospects for the future one day before the first boycott of Jewish businesses announced by the Nazis.

Daughter Bertha Victoria Norden left her parents’ house on 2 May 1934 to take up an internship in Kassel. In the same year, she married in Würzburg Jacob Benno Hirnheimer, born on 3 Sept. 1897 in nearby Greussenheim. He worked as a graduate secondary teacher. As a result of spinal poliomyelitis, he was severely physically disabled, but this did not prevent him from engaging in political activities in addition to his professional work. In the Weimar Republic, for example, from 1924 to 1928, he had been a member of the left-liberal German Democratic Party (Deutsche Demokratische Partei – DDP). Bertha took care of her husband’s needs. She belonged to the Jewish Cultural Federation (Jüdischer Kulturbund).

The son, Max Norden, fled on 8 Sept. 1937 from Hamburg to the Netherlands, to Amsterdam. There he briefly found accommodation at Valkenburgerstraat 79 and from Dec. 1937 lived on Daniel Willinkplein. In Amsterdam, he managed the company Hesse en Joseph. The rest of the family moved within Hamburg to Rappstrasse 15 and in Mar. 1938 to Bornstrasse 28e.

After the takeover of the German-Israelite Synagogue Association by the Hamburg Jewish Religious Organization (Jüdischer Religionsverband) in 1938, Alexander Norden then worked for that association. In connection with the pogrom night, he was imprisoned in the Fuhlsbüttel concentration camp from 10 to 11 Nov. 1938.

Only a few weeks later, he emigrated to the Netherlands with his wife Caroline and their two sons Carl and Siegfried Simon. Apparently, the couple had already planned this step in the summer of 1938. The corresponding files on their emigration contained a note from the Chief Finance Administrator (Oberfinanzpräsident) to the German Reich Bank (Deutsche Reichsbank) dated 9 June 1938: The bank was to monitor closely to ensure Alexander Norden did not export any foreign currency.

In Dec. 1938, everything went very fast, although the bureaucratic effort involved was enormous. This emerges from the extensive correspondence between Alexander Norden, the Chief Finance Administrator, who was responsible for emigration, the Deutsche Reichsbank, the Dresdner Bank, the tax office, and the customs investigation department. On 9 Dec. 1938, Alexander Norden first had to undergo debt settlement proceedings and submit a declaration of assets. He noted 100 to 150 RM (reichsmark) on a savings book and 2,600 RM in shares. This was followed by tax clearance certificates and at the same time fee invoices for the individual processing steps. More than 700 RM in fees were incurred overall. On 16 Dec. 1938, Alexander Norden deposited a gold men’s watch in a sealed envelope in a safe deposit box at Dresdner Bank, limited until 15 Dec. 1939. The order followed that the watch could be given back in return for foreign currency only with permission by the foreign currency office. On 17 Dec. 1938, Alexander Norden submitted an extensive list of furnishings related to his household. In addition to furniture, dishes, and cutlery, this included a list of suits, dresses, and linen – right down to the socks. The moving goods were stored at C. Luppy shipping agents. On 24 Dec. 1938, the Norden family left for the Netherlands via Oldenzaal. Haste was in order, since the immigration permit expired on 27 Dec. 1938.

However, delivery of the furnishings was considerably delayed, as shown by a letter from Alexander’s brother Carl dated 13 Dec. 1939. A Jewish lawyer by the name of Fels had to be called in first before the household goods were delivered to the Netherlands. The lawyer cost another 200 RM, a sum that at Carl’s insistence was covered by the Jewish Religious Organization because Alexander Norden had been employed there. On 27 Apr. 1939, the Chief Finance Administrator had instructed the Luppy shipping agent to remove 27 pieces of silverware from the set of chattels. These were later sealed by the goldsmith Bruno Peters.

In the Netherlands, the Norden family was first accommodated in Rotterdam at Quarantainestraat 1, from Jan. 1939 at Wilhelminakade 74, and from July at van der Horststraat 10b. There, son Max Moses rejoined the family. His son Carl was employed as a warehouse worker and was interned in Westerbork as early as 9 Nov. 1939. In this village in the northeast of the Netherlands, the Dutch administration had shortly before set up the "Westerbork Central Refugee Camp” in order to gather the many Jewish refugees from Germany and Austria in one place. Why Carl was taken there is not known.

On 14 Feb. 1940, the State Police (Staatspolizei, Gestapo) filed an application for the revocation of German citizenship for the Norden family. On 10 Apr. 1940, the Gestapo ordered the tax office to secure the assets of the Nordens remaining in Germany. There is no information on the scope of the assets. The files only refer to the golden men’s watch already mentioned. In Sept. 1940, it was sold for 32 RM less 3.20 RM in fees and the money was transferred to the Chief Finance Administrator.

A few weeks later Alexander, Caroline, Max, and Siegfried Norden moved from Rotterdam to Bussum, to Mecklenburglaan 23a and from there in summer 1942 to Amsterdam, first to Blauwen Distelweg 20 and from there as subtenants to Dün Willikplains 33b with Sohlberg.

As early as May 1940, the German Wehrmacht had invaded the Netherlands and shortly thereafter, terror against Jews had begun there, too. Carl Norden was still interned in Westerbork, which since 1 July 1942 served as a "transit camp” for Jews to other concentration and extermination camps. On 15 July 1942, he was deported on the first transport from Westerbork to the Auschwitz concentration camp, where he was murdered on 21 Aug. 1942. Max and Siegfried Norden had to report for labor duty in Amsterdam. Both were taken to Auschwitz via Westerbork on 10 Aug. 1942 and murdered there. Max died on 25 Aug. 1942; Siegfried was declared dead after the war as of 30 Sept. 1942.

Their parents, Alexander and Caroline Norden, were interned in Westerbork on 26 May 1943, deported to the Sobibor extermination camp on 20 July 1943, and murdered there three days later.

Benno Hirnheimer and Bertha, née Norden, had become parents to three children in Würzburg: Wolf on 12 Sept. 1937; Rachel Zerl Mirjam on 5 Feb. 1939; and Moses Menachim on 7 Mar. 1942. In Oct. 1939, Bertha Hirnheimer was reported to the authorities for "conduct harmful to the people” (volksschädigendes Verhalten), for an alleged instance of "hoarding” (Hamsterkauf). The charges had no consequences. Since the spring of 1942, the family no longer lived in their apartment at Annastrasse 26, but with six other Jewish families in the administrator’s house at the Jewish Cemetery. The accommodations were cramped. However, the children were able use the cemetery administrator’s garden and the surrounding area as a playground. In addition, the cemetery was far from the city, so that the family was not harassed by the police or the National Socialists. The garden was used for growing fruits and vegetables.

On 23 Sept. 1942, Benno and Bertha Hirnheimer, together with their three children Wolf, Rachel, and Moses, were deported on a transport routed from Nuremberg via Würzburg and Regensburg to the Theresienstadt Ghetto. From there, they were taken to Minsk, where Benno Hirnheimer was probably murdered. Bertha and the three children were deported from Minsk to the Auschwitz extermination camp, where they were murdered on 12 Oct. 1944.

Leo Norden had completed a ten-month training course as a farmer in the Netherlands, in Usselo. In 1934, he had emigrated via Trieste to Palestine and initially lived only one year in the Kfar Saba Kibbutz near Tel Aviv, then two more years as a farm worker in the village of Kfar Saba. Subsequently, he became self-employed as a farmer. He was the only survivor of the Alexander Norden family.

A biography of Susanne Lohmeyer exists for Alexander Norden’s brother Joseph (see Stolpersteine in Hamburg-Eimsbüttel und Hamburg-Hoheluft-West and on www.stolpersteine-hamburg.de); for him another Stolperstein is located at Kielortallee 13 in Eimsbüttel. For Carl Norden there is also a Stolperstein in Hamburg-Neustadt, at Amelungstrasse 6. For Bertha and her family, there are Stolpersteine in Würzburg, at Annastrasse 26. Her biography was also published on the Internet by the Würzburg Stolperstein Group (see http://www.stolpersteine-wuerzburg.de/wer_opfer_lang.php?&opferid=148).


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

© Peter Steckhan, Frauke Steinhäuser

Quellen: 1; 2; 5; StaH 332-3 Standesämter A213, Nr. 7617, Alf 128, Folg. 916; StaH 332–1 II Wedde II, 8 Bd. 186, 1865 Nr. 750; StaH 351-11 Amt für Wiedergutmachung 27888; www.stolpersteine-wuerzburg.de/ wer_opfer_lang.php?&opferid=148 (Zugriff 5.2.2017); Landjudentum in Unterfranken/Johanna Stahl Zentrum (Hrsg.): Hirnheimer; Stadsarchief Amsterdam, Persoonskaart NL-SAA-3876193, Alexander Norden
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