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Sura Abrahamsohn (née Dobroschitzky) * 1897

Beim Schlump 13 (Eimsbüttel, Eimsbüttel)

1941 Lodz
HIER WOHNTE
SURA ABRAHAMSOHN
GEB. DOBROSCHITZKY
JG. 1897
DEPORTIERT 1941
LODZ
ERMORDET

further stumbling stones in Beim Schlump 13:
Sibille Jacoby, Norbert Jacoby

Sura (Salomea) Abrahamsohn, neé Dobroschitzky-Posnanski (Dolzoschicki-Posnanski), born on 15 May 1897 in Przedborz, deported to Lodz on 25 Oct. 1941

Beim Schlump 13

Sura Abrahamsohn was born in 1897 in a small Polish town in the voivodeship Lodz. She was the daughter of Moritz and Rebecca Dobroschitzky-Posnanski, neé Lebeskind. In the year of her birth Przedborz had 5927 inhabitants of which the majority – namely 4089 – were Jewish. It is not known when and how Sura Abrahamsohn came from Przedborz to Hamburg. In Hamburg she married Max Hermann Abrahamsohn in Sep. 1922. By the marriage she acquired German citizenship. The merchant Alfred Abrahamsohn - one of Max Hermann’s brothers – and his father the merchant Leopold Abrahamsohn were witnesses to the marriage. The married couple lived at Max’ father’s place at Rappstraße 3. There, the father ran an export firm until he died in early 1933.

In 1924 Sura Abrahamsohn applied for a passport in order to travel to Poland. The passport protocol reveals some information about her appearance: She was of medium height, had an oval face, brown eyes, and brown-black hair.

Sura’s husband was a successful grain broker. He mainly worked for big companies of Königsberg and brokered contracts for supplies of oil- and mustard seeds. He had an office at Brandstwiete 36. Most likely he had his own company, but was at the same time employed as chief executive at the company H.S. Cramer GmbH which traded in grain, seeds, and feeding stuff and also operated under the address of Brandstwiete 36. The financial situation deteriorated as a result of the Great Depression and the boycott of Jewish merchants since 1933. Abrahamsohn’s company had existed since 1915; on 13 Mar 1939 Reich Lieutenant (Reichsstatthalter) Karl Kaufmann ordered Max Abrahamsohn in an official writing to wind up his company by 30 June 1939. On 2 June 1939 the entry was erased from the commercial register, and on 13 July 1939 Max Abrahamsohn migrated to London. Also the company H.S. Cramer – the owners most likely also Jews – was deregistered in 1939.

For a while, Sura and Max Abrahamsohn lived at Klosterallee 23. In 1926 the register of the City of Hamburg reports the private address Rothenbaumchaussee 5; the telephone directory states Hallerstraße 72 as a private address. In a different document Hallerstraße 75 is mentioned. Most likely, the family lived at the street Beim Schlump 13 since 1933. From there, Max Abrahamsohn carried on his trade business. The stumbling stone in memory of Sura Abrahamsohn was laid here. Also Sura’s brother-in-law Ernst Abrahamsohn and her sister-in-law Harta Abrahamsohn lived in the same house before they emigrated.

The married couple Abrahasohn had a son called Martin (born 1923) who had his Bar Mitzvah in July 1936. In 1939 Martin migrated to England, shortly before his father emigrated. We do not know why the mother stayed in Hamburg on her own.

Sura Abrahamsohn lived at Blücherstraße 38 (today Kottwitzstraße) for a while together with the Rothenburg family, but this was most likely only after her son and husband had emigrated. The Rothenburg family was deported together with Sura on 25 Oct. 1941 to Lodz (see also biography of Rothenburg family). Sura’s name is to be found on the cancellation-list (Ausfallliste) which means that she was listed instead of somebody else who had initially been designated for deportation, but was deferred then. The address on the deportation list is Grindelallee 23 (at Neumark’s). In the Litzmannstadt ghetto her address was Inselstraße 11, apartment 11, and later Sulzfelder Straße 43. There is a letter from the ghetto from 2 May 1942 in which she asks for being released from the order III/520 which was the order for leaving the country. This "leaving the country” would have meant deportation to Chelmno extermination camp. Her request was accepted, perhaps because of her pointing to her place of birth and her Polish language skills. On 27 Apr. 1943 her change of address from Insel- to Sulzfelder Straße is notified; there is no trace of her after that.

Sura Abrahamnsohn’s husband Max married for a second time in London in 1948 at the age of 61. He took British citizenship and changed his name into Amson, after Sura had been declared dead. The son Martin joined the British Army as a member of the "tanks corps". Shortly before the end of the war he died in a battle in Mar. 1945.

Sura’s husband had a brother called Robert Victor (born in 1892). His wife was Chaja Tauba (Pola), neé Posnanski. It is possible that Pola and Sura were relatives. Robert and Pola migrated to the USA with their children Lilly and Mary in July 1939. Before they left, they lived at Isestraße 6. One brother – Alfred Abrahamsohn – died in early 1935. Two of Max Abrahamson’s brothers were called Ernst and Herbert. Ernst Abrahamsohn (born in 1896) got engaged in 1934 and migrated in 1936 together with his wife Hertha, neé Lanzkron to Palestine where he died in 1938.

Translator: Paula Antonella Oppermann
Kindly supported by the Hermann Reemtsma Stiftung, Hamburg.

© Susanne Lohmeyer

Quellen: 1; 2 (FVg 3273); 5; StaH 231-7, A1 Bd. 183, HRA 41074; StaH 332-5 Standesämter 8766/1922; StaH 332-8 Meldewesen A24 Bd. 315 Nr. 18996; StaH 332-8 A 24 Bd. 376 Nr. 22474; StaH 332-8 A 24 Bd. 376 Nr. 14080; StaH 351-11 AfW 160901 Amson, Renée; StaH 522-1 Jüdische Gemeinden, 992e2 Band 1 Deportationsliste; Hamburger Fernsprechbücher 1926; Hamburger Fremdenblatt 105 (1933), Nr. 53 A (22.2.) S. 4; Hamburger Anzeiger 46 (1933) Nr. 45 (22.2.) S. 8; Hamburger Familienblatt vom 9.8.1934 und vom 2.7.1936; USHMM 301/28-29; USHMM, 299/281; HAB II 1918, 1926; HAB IV 1933, 1935, 1939.