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Erwin Horschitz 1922 in Reinbek
© Archiv David Blank, Jerusalem

Erwin Horschitz * 1878

Rothenbaumchaussee 31 (Eimsbüttel, Rotherbaum)

1943 Theresienstadt
Flucht in den Tod
31.3.1943

• http://www.blankgenealogy.com/getperson.php?personID=I9587&tree=Blank1
  (Erwin Horschitz at blankgenealogy)

further stumbling stones in Rothenbaumchaussee 31:
Edgar Horschitz, Jenny Landjung, Helene Lurie, Hertha Wohl, Erich Wohl

Erwin Moritz Horschitz, born on 29 Sept. 1878 in Hamburg, deported to Theresienstadt on 24 Mar. 1943, suicide on 31 Mar. 1943

Rothenbaumchaussee 31

Erwin Moritz Horschitz was born in Hamburg as the first child of the merchant Julius Horschitz (born in 1843 in Kassel) and Ilka Betty Horschitz, née Fleischel (born in 1854 in Leipzig). The couple had married in Hamburg in 1877. Julius Horschitz was a partner in the "Arnthal & Horschitz Gebr. [Bros.]” company from 1878 to 1906; he had taken over this position from his father Moritz (Moses) Horschitz (1812–1877). Erwin’s grandfather, Moritz (Moses) Horschitz, had managed a lucrative wool trading company in Kassel, which had branches in Hamburg and London and later switched its product portfolio to cereals, coffee, and sugar. In the Horschitz family with many branches, some family members converted to Christianity starting in the 1880s, while the older family members in particular held fast to the Jewish religion. Julius Horschitz acquired Hamburg civic rights (Bürgerrecht) in 1881.

After Erwin, the siblings Walther (1880–1945), Katharina (1882–1942), Richard (1884–1947), and Edgar (1887–1942) were born in the Hanseatic city. In Oct. 1888, the parents had Erwin Horschitz and his four siblings baptized in the Protestant parish of St. Georg – in this instance, too, the parents were recorded as being of the Jewish faith. The family lived at Heimhuderstrasse 35 / Rotherbaum (1878–1882) and Heimhuderstrasse 18 / Rotherbaum (1883–1889), as well as Alsterkamp 8 (1890–1897).

In Sept. 1897, Erwin Horschitz obtained his high school diploma at the renowned Wilhelm-Gymnasium (Rotherbaum) in Hamburg. His parents had already moved from Hamburg to Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe in Apr. 1897. In the winter semester of 1897/1898, he studied chemistry at the engineering college in Munich, one of the largest of its kind in Germany. He lived at Schleissheimerstrasse 6/2 in Munich, but we do not know to which university he changed after that. In Aug. 1900, Erwin Horschitz moved from Berlin to Kassel to reside with his mother for 70 days (during the semester break). The father seems to have lived permanently in Britain. The Kassel residents’ registration card, which had been on file since 1897, meanwhile showed the mother, too, with Lutheran religious affiliation.

Erwin’s brother Richard Julius Horschitz (born on 13 Nov. 1884 in Hamburg) moved to Kassel in 1897, where he lived until Apr. 1904. In 1904, he moved from Kassel to Freiberg/ Saxony. Richard Horschitz successfully attended university and became a graduate engineer; he took part in the war from 1914 to 1918 and then moved to the District of Halle.

His brother Walther Horschitz (born on 27 May 1880 in Hamburg) completed his one-year military service with the Baden Field Artillery Regiment 50, worked as a merchant, and he was drafted to fight in the war. Eventually, he rose to the rank of a captain of the reserve. He returned to Kassel in Dec. 1918.

In addition to the opportunity to study, Erwin Horschitz was offered a further opening to gain social status in imperial class society: After some time, the one-year shortened military service afforded him promotion to reserve officer. For this gain in prestige, the unit in which one served was also significant. Possibly contacts of the uncle Oskar Sally Horschitz (1866–1910), who had done his military service in Baden’s capital of Karlsruhe, helped. From Oct. 1900 onward, Erwin Horschitz did his one-year military service with the 1st Baden Field Artillery Regiment No. 14 in Karlsruhe (FAR 14), which was incorporated into the Prussian army.

In the Hamburg directories from 1901 to 1911, Erwin Horschitz was not listed as the main tenant.

Starting in Oct. 1897, Erwin’s father resided in Britain, where he died in Oct. 1910 in the garden suburb of Hampstead near London. His brother Edgar (see www.stolpersteine-hamburg.de) also stayed there temporarily. His mother Ilka lived from 1897 to 1900 in Wilhelmshöhe near Kassel as a subtenant (on Stahl?strasse 6 with Roth) and from 1900 to 1906 in Kassel (at Kaiserstrasse 68 with Meyer), and from 1911 to 1921 also in Kassel at Kaiser-Friedrichstrasse 2.

His sister Toni Katharina Jeanette Horschitz (born on 9 Feb. 1882 in Hamburg), four years his junior, married District Judge (Amtsrichter) Arthur Felix Goldschmidt (born on 30 Apr. 1873 in Berlin) in Kassel in May 1905. The Goldschmidt couple lived in Reinbek (Kückallee) near Hamburg since 1916. There she probably also celebrated her fortieth birthday, and probably the above photo by Erwin Horschitz was taken on this occasion. Arthur Goldschmidt was forced into retirement on 30 Nov. 1933. In Oct. 1941, the couple received their deportation order, which "could still be averted, probably thanks to the intervention of the mayor of Reinbek, Claussen”. Katharina "Kitty” Goldschmidt passed away on 2 June 1942 in Hamburg at the Jewish Hospital (at Johnsallee 68). Her husband Arthur was deported to the Theresienstadt Ghetto on 19 July 1942, where he established a Protestant congregation; he survived and returned to Reinbek in Sept. 1945.

Returning, however, to Erwin Horschitz, in 1911, he married Martha Elli Reimann (born in 1885 in Berlin) in Hamburg. She had been adopted by the banker Eduard C. Hamberg (1846–1926) and his wife Ida Hamberg, née Elkan (1851–1930), and she also bore their family names. At the time of their wedding, Erwin and Elli Horschitz were members of the Lutheran Church. Witnesses to the marriage were Eduard C. Hamberg and Ida Hamberg, who lived at Mittelweg 57 (Rotherbaum).

Unlike his father, Erwin Horschitz did not become a merchant, but initially a graduate engineer. Possibly, the inheritance from his late father opened up new perspectives for him. In Oct. 1910, he joined J. de Lemos & Hess, an import and export company for yard goods, paper, and hardware (Neuer Wall 54), founded in 1900, as a merchant and personally liable partner. His passport issued in Dec. 1913 for trips to South America may have had a business background. In Mar. 1924, he left the company as a partner, which was thereafter continued by Hans (Iwan) Hess (1870–1943) (see www.stolpersteine-hamburg.de) as the sole owner. We have no information about Erwin Horschitz’s subsequent professional activities.

His residential addresses in Hamburg were Isestrasse 119 (in 1912), Geffckenstrasse 30/ Eppendorf (1913–1918), Hagedornstrasse 31/ Harvestehude (1919–1933), Schäferkampsallee 31 (in 1934), Moorweidenstrasse 14 (1935–1938), as well as Rothenbaumchaussee 31/ corner of Johnsallee (among other times, in 1939–1941).

Beginning in 1933, he was gradually marginalized and deprived of his rights in Nazi Germany because of his Jewish (grand)parents. Since his wife was of non-Jewish descent and the children had been baptized and raised Protestants, the Nazi state granted the couple the status of a "privileged mixed marriage” ("privilegierte Mischehe”), which initially protected them from deportation, while his unmarried brother Edgar was deported to the Riga Ghetto in Dec. 1941.

However, Erwin Horschitz faced danger from another quarter as well: The janitor of his home reported him to the Gestapo for "incitement of the people” ("Volksverhetzung”), and the Gestapo committed him to the Fuhlsbüttel concentration camp from 17 to 29 Nov. 1942. The abuse and humiliation he suffered there broke his will to live.

The marriage, which produced the three children Gerda (1913–2005), Günter (1915), and Kurt Erwin (1916–2006), was divorced by the Hamburg Regional Court (Landgericht) on 11 Mar. 1943, at the wife’s initiative. Whether this was based on promises by Gestapo officials that her husband would be taken to a less harsh camp in the event of a divorce is not known, but it is quite realistic (see biography of Georg Blankenstein, www.stolpersteine-hamburg.de). Only two weeks later, 64-year-old Erwin Horschitz was deported to the Theresienstadt Ghetto; one week later, he committed suicide there using cyanide.

On 17 Apr. 1943, the "Department for the Utilization of Assets” ("Vermögensverwertungsstelle”) of the Hamburg Chief Finance Administrator (Oberfinanzpräsident) instructed the Hamburg court bailiff by the name of Bobsien to sell the following objects belonging to Erwin Horschitz, which was carried out on 17 and 18 June 1943, as part of a larger auction: an old raincoat, an old hat, and a pair of men’s shoes for a total of 3 RM (reichsmark) went to a (Mr.) Netzoldt; a camera for 15 RM to a (Mr. or Mrs.) Aude; and a tailcoat with vest and pants for 30 RM to a (Mr.) Kemstedt. It is not known how the Nazi state got hold of these items and why more extensive clothing and valuables of Erwin Horschitz were not confiscated from his apartment.

In July 2007, Stolpersteine were laid for Erwin Horschitz and his brother Edgar Horschitz in front of the house at Rothenbaumchaussee 31.

Stolpersteine at Wellingsbütteler Landstrasse 110 commemorate their cousins Gertrud Horschitz and Elsbeth Horschitz.

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

Stand: December 2020
© Björn Eggert

Quellen: Staatsarchiv Hamburg (StaH) 214-1 (Gerichtsvollzieherwesen), 364 (Erwin Horschitz, Bekleidung u. Fotoapparat, 1943); StaH 231-7 (Handelsregister), A 1 Band 12 (Arnthal & Horschitz Gebr., HR A 3293); StaH 231-7 (Handelsregister), A 1 Band 43 (J. de Lemos & Hess, A 10463); StaH 314-15 (Oberfinanzpräsident), R 1939/2392 (Elly Horschitz geb. Reimann); StaH 332-5 (Standesämter), 8486 u. 609/1877 (Heiratsregister 1877, Julius Horschitz u. Ilka Betty Fleischel); StaH 332-5 (Standesämter), 8675 u. 51/1911 (Heiratsregister 1911, Erwin Horschitz u. Elli Hamberg); StaH 332-5 (Standesämter), 8085 u. 460/ 1926 (Sterberegister 1926, Eduard Hamberg); StaH 332-5 (Standesämter), 8102 u. 195/ 1930 (Sterberegister 1930, Ida Hamberg geb. Elkan); StaH 332-5 (Standesämter), 8180 u. 258/1942 (Sterberegister 1942, Katharina Goldschmidt); StaH 332-8 (Meldewesen), Alte Einwohnermeldekartei (1892-1925), K 6285 (Julius Horschitz, Richard Horschitz); StaH 332-8 (Meldewesen), A 24 Band 119 (Reisepassprotokolle 1897-1929), 4025/1913 (Erwin Horschitz); StaH 332-8 (Meldewesen), A 24 Band 321 (Reisepassprotokolle 1897-1929), 4911/1925 (Erwin Horschitz); StaH 342-2 (Militär-Ersatzbehörden), D II 91 Band 2 (Erwin Horschitz); StaH 342-2 (Militär-Ersatzbehörden), D II 43 Band 1 (Oskar Sally Horschitz geb. 1866); Kirchengemeinde St. Georg, Taufregister 936/1888 (19.10.1888: Erwin Horschitz, Walther Horschitz, Katharina Horschitz, Richard Horschitz, Edgar Horschitz); Kirchengemeinde St. Johannis zu Eppendorf, Taufregister 1913 (Gerda Horschitz), Taufregister 1915 (Günter Horschitz), Taufregister 1916 (Kurt Erwin Horschitz); Stadtarchiv Kassel, Melderkarten (Julius Horschitz, Ilka Horschitz geb. Fleischel, Edgar Horschitz, Erwin Horschitz); Technische Universität München (TUM), Archiv, Personalstandsverzeichnisse der TH München (Erwin Horschitz); Handelskammer Hamburg, Handelsregisterinformationen (J. de Lemos & Hess, gegr. 1900), Frank Bajohr, "Arisierung" in Hamburg. Die Verdrängung der jüdischen Unternehmer 1933-1945, Hamburg 1998, S. 363 (J. de Lemos & Hess); Franz Bömer (Hrsg.), Wilhelm Gymnasium Hamburg 1881-1956, Hamburg, S. 113 (Abitur Michaelis 1897, Erwin Horschitz); Heiko Morisse, Ausgrenzung und Verfolgung der Hamburger jüdischen Juristen im Nationalsozialismus, Göttingen 2013, S. 114-116 (Arthur Goldschmidt); Hamburger Adressbuch (Julius Horschitz) 1878, 1879, 1882, 1883, 1887, 1889, 1890, 1895; Hamburger Adressbuch (Erwin Horschitz) 1912-1913, 1915, 1918, 1919, 1924, 1927, 1930, 1932-1936, 1938, 1940, 1941; Hamburger Telefonbuch (Bergedorf) 1920 (Dr. A. Goldschmidt, Landrichter, Reinbek Kückallee 37, Rheinbach 2009; www.ancestry.de (Geburtsregister 1885 Berlin III, Martha Elli/Elly Reimann); Detlef Landgrebe, Kückallee 37- Eine Kindheit am Rande des Holocaust, , http://www.blankgenealogy.com/histories/Biographies/Horschitz/Erwin%20Horschitz%20Biography%20in%20German.pdf (eingesehen 29.8.2019); www.stolpersteine-hamburg.de (Georg Blankenstein, Iwan Hess).