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Moritz Polak * 1875

Eppendorfer Landstraße 30 (Hamburg-Nord, Eppendorf)

1941 Minsk

further stumbling stones in Eppendorfer Landstraße 30:
Dr. Paul Blumenthal, Julius Cohn, Gertrud Cohn, Meta Müller, Hermann Müller, Erna Polak

Moritz Pola(c)k, b. 9.2.1875 in Hamburg, deported to Minsk on 11.8.1941
Erna Nanette Pola(c)k, née Blumenthal, b. 10.12.1881 in Hanover, deported to Minsk on 11.8.1941

Eppendorfer Landstraße 30

Moritz Polak was the son of Hermann and Fanny Polak, née Rothgiesser. Since 1921 he was active as a self-employed businessman in the metal wares trade. His business address until 1931 was Kleine Johanisstrasse 9, then, until 1935, Schauenburgerstrasse 7; thereafter the telephone directory listed it at Rathaussstrasse 16. According to the registry of Hamburg firms traded on the stock exchange in 1933, Moritz Polak was listed as sales representative for metal ware and cutlery. Presumably, he had lost his own business and sought to make a living as a sales representative.

Moritz Polak married Erna Nanette, née Blumenthal. (For her family of origin, see the entry on Paul Blumenthal.) The couple lived at Haynstrasse 26 II. Their three children were probably born here: Hans Max on 31 December 1902, Anne-Liese on 30 December 1903, and Werner Hermann on 16 August 1905.

The entry for the parents in their communal religion tax records was "without faith"; however, they had their children baptized as Protestants. Only after the law of July 1939 did they have to enroll as Jews in the Jewish Religion Association, which was now a branch organization of the Reich Association of Jews in Germany.

According to another entry in the communal religion tax records, Moritz Polak again withdrew from the Jewish Congregation; we do not know on what grounds he could have made his case.

Between 1938 and 1939, all the children succeeded in emigrating from Germany. The last address for Hans is Thurygasse 4 in Vienna’s 9th district; his ultimate fate is not known. Anne-Liese, according to information from her father, went to America on 21 September 1939. The youngest son, Werner, got to Paris in December 1938; his subsequent path through life is not known.

The couple had to leave their home on Haynstrasse and move, on 29 September 1939, to Landstrasse 30 in Eppendorf, where they lived in two rooms on the mezzanine floor. In this dwelling Erna Polak’s brother, Paul Blumenthal, also lived. Like all Jews, the couple came under the "Security Ordinance” and had to make the appropriate applications when they wanted to withdraw cash from their own account.

On 23 October 1939, Moritz Polak applied to have disposal over a monthly withdrawal of 430 RM, for which he listed the following payouts: Rent, 100 RM; cost of living, including clothing, 240 RM; miscellaneous, 90 RM. The requested sum was lowered, without explanation, to 350 RM.

On 8 November 1941, Erna and Moritz Polak, under the numbers 745 and 748, were deported on the second transport from Hamburg to Minsk. Both, like almost all deportees, were killed there. Their precise dates of death are unknown. After the end of the war, Moritz Polak’s death was officially confirmed: "Acc. to the decision of the Hamburg District Court – Dept. 54-Document file 54 II 2240/50 of 27 March 1951, Moritz Pola(c)k is declared dead. Day of death: 8 May 1945
Hamburg. 3rd of October 1951
(signature)”

For Erna Polak, too, no death certificate could be issued because, according to a notation of the search service of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Arolsen, no proof of death was at hand.

Translator: Richard Levy
Kindly supported by the Hermann Reemtsma Stiftung, Hamburg.

Stand: February 2018
© Ulrike Graubner

Quellen: 1; 4; 5; 8; StaH 351-11 AfW, 121081 Erna Polack; StaH 341-15 OFP, R 1939/ 301; StaH 522-1 Jüd. Gemeinden, 992e2 Band 2; StaH 332-8 Meldewesen, A 30 (Moritz Polack); Benz (Hrsg.), Die Juden in Deutschland, 1988, S. 739–745; E-Mail vom 14.11.2007 von Björn Eggert, Amtliche Fernsprechbücher 1895 bis 1939.
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