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Franziska Heilbron
© Evelyn Karlsberg

Franziska Heilbron (née Fröhlich) * 1877

Oderfelder Straße 23 (vormals Nr. 25) (Eimsbüttel, Harvestehude)


HIER WOHNTE
FRANZISKA HEILBRON
GEB. FRÖHLICH
JG. 1877
FLUCHT 1939 HOLLAND
INTERNIERT WESTERBORK
DEPORTIERT 1943
SOBIBOR
ERMORDET

see:

Franziska Heilbron, née Fröhlich, born 25 Nov. 1877 in Mainz, fled to Amsterdam, deported 13 July 1943 from Westerbork transit camp to Sobibor extermination camp, date of death July 1943

Oderfelderstraße 25

When Franziska Heilbron moved to Amsterdam to join her daughter Ilse Karlsberg’s family in Feb. 1939 (see www.stolpersteine-hamburg.de), she believed she had reached safety. Her safety did not last long. In 1943 she was transported to Sobibor and to her death.

Franzika Fröhlich was born on 25 Nov. 1877 in Mainz. Her parents were the merchant Hermann Simon Fröhlich, born in 1844 in Ulrichstein (Vogelbergkreis, Hessen) and Rosalie Fröhlich, née Lahnstein, born in 1848 in Jostein. Her siblings were Manfred (1880) and Siegfried Ferdinand (1885). On 18 Aug. 1899 she married Simon Heilbron in Mainz. He had been born on 26 Sept. 1868 in Hagen, Westfalen and lived in Hamburg since 1875, first as a high school student until he started a merchant’s apprenticeship in 1888. Ruth Meissner, Franziska Heilbron’s granddaughter commented: "He and his two or three sisters became orphaned at a very young age. I don’t know how or why he moved to Hamburg. It’s very likely that he was taken in by relatives in Hamburg after his parents died. How he met my grandmother (Franziska Heilbron) I do not know. The business he co-owned was a state lottery.” Simon Heilbron first lived on Wexstraße with Philipp Fürst. We can assume that the Fürst Family were his relatives in Hamburg. The company Philipp Fürst, Große Bleichen 82, Kaiser-Wilhelm-Straße 20/26 and Große Bleichen 32 (1 July 1935), acted as one of the main collectors for the Hamburg state lottery. It was founded in 1872 by the merchant Philipp Fürst. Simon Heilbron became a partner in the company in 1895, having previously worked as their authorized representative. At that time there were many lottery businesses in Hamburg. One slogan of Company Fürst was "Princely luck is waitin’ at 82 Große Bleichen.”

Franziska and Simon Heilbron had three children, Ilse, born in 1900, Martin Philipp, born in 1903 and Alice, born in 1907. The family lived at Hansastraße 63, where Franziska gave birth to their children. Simon Heilbron died of tuberculosis in 1920. Franziska Heilbron took over the business, then her son Martin Philipp joined. He ran the company until he fled to Paris in 1934. In 1936 his sister Alice followed him. Franziska Heilbron was again sole owner of the Company Fürst until 1936. Franziska Heilbron stayed very close to her daughter Ilse’s family. She had married Bernhard Karlsberg and had three children, Rahel, Ruth and Walter. The grandchildren adored Franziska Heilbron and called her Oma Zis. It was Franziska Heilbron who discovered the warrant for Bernhard Karlsberg’s arrest on suspicion of treason in the gazette "Amtlichen Anzeiger”. Bernhard Karlsberg was a member of the communist party which was banned in 1933. He also aided political prisoners as a legal advisor. On 25 Jan. 1935 Bernhard Karlsberg fled by train to Basel. Their children were already living in a children’s home in Switzerland. Ilse Karlsberg dissolved their household in Hamburg over the summer and then followed her family.

In 1935 Franziska Heilbron moved out of Hansastraße 63 and into Oderfelderstraße 25. In 1936 she sold the business Philipp Fürst to follow her children abroad. Her children Martin Philipp and Alice were still on the run in France. Once Paris was captured, they stayed in the unoccupied part of France. After receiving an emergency visa, they were able to flee from Marseille via Trinidad to New York. In Feb. 1939 Franziska Heilbron went to her daughter and her family in Amsterdam. She had lost her considerable assets to emigration regulations. Ilse Karlsberg had fled with her children Rahel, Ruth and Walter from Switzerland to Prague and two years later, on 5 Apr. 1938 to Amsterdam. Bernhard Karlsberg had previously obtained a residence and work permit there which led everyone to believe Franziska Heilbron would have a safe place to stay. Bernhard Karlsberg’s parents, Moritz and Emilie Karlsberg, had come to Amsterdam in Sept. 1938 (see www.stolpersteine-hamburg.de). They all lived on Merwedeplein, Franziska Heilbron at no. 19. After the German troops had occupied the Netherlands in May 1940, Bernhard Karlsberg must have anticipated being arrested. He went underground. Ilse Karlsberg wanted to stay with her children, mother and parents-in-law. On 24 Sept. 1940 she was arrested in her apartment and taken back to Hamburg where she was held hostage for her husband. Her apartment was cleared out. Franziska Heibron remained behind. In the subsequent period, she moved into several different apartments in Amsterdam, apartments that looked more and more like hiding places. According to the granddaughter, they never lost contact with their grandmother. "My grandmother, Oma Zis, was a wonderful person, always brave and cared for us in our tragic life. I can’t shake the thought of her tragic ending.” (R.M.)

Franziska Heilbron was captured on 13 July 1943 and first sent to the Westerbork transit camp and then on to Sobibor extermination camp. The transport reached the camp on 16 July. That day was also noted as her date of death. Her granddaughter Ruth, who was also detained at Westerbork (she was later able to flee), described her final encounter with her grandmother: "Since I was assigned to work outside the camp during the day, I was able to visit her once in a while. Shortly before her deportation to Sobibor, I was with Oma Zis in her barrack. She opened a can of pineapple that she shared with me with words of farewell to civilization. In the morning, when she was called, I took her to the cattle car that was waiting in camp for its victims. A last hug, then she had to climb in, and I had to return to my barrack. She called out my name once more, Ruth, I turned around, and she waved at me. She knew precisely that her life was over.”

Information as of April 2016


Translator: Suzanne von Engelhardt

Kindly supported by the Hermann Reemtsma Stiftung, Hamburg.

Stand: November 2017
© Ursula Erler

Quellen: 1; 2; 8; StaH, Amt für Wiedergutmachung, 351-11, 27647, 3652; Stadt Mainz vom 28.10.2014, Unterlagen über Franziska Heilbron, geb. Fröhlich; Ursula Wamser/Wilfried Weinke (Hrsg.): Ein Niederländer aus Überzeugung: Bernhard Karlsberg, in: Ehemals in Hamburg zu Hause, Jüdisches Leben am Grindel, Hbg. 1991 S. 189–195; Div. mündliche und Mail-Auskünfte: Ruth Meissner, geb. Karlsberg, USA, Chester, Enkeltochter von Franziska Heilbron, Besuch Mai 2014; Jürgen Sielemann, Recherchen zu Simon Heilbron vom 3.4.2015. Dank: Mein herzlicher Dank geht an Ruth und Harry Meissner (2014 verstorben) für ihre Gastfreundschaft in ihrem Haus in Chester/USA und Erzählungen über die Familie Karlsberg/Heilbron, für die Überlassung von Fotos und der Familienbuch-Kopie. Für ihre Auskünfte danke ich Ramona Weisenberger im Stadtarchiv der Stadt Mainz.
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