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Ludwig Meyer
© Yad Vashem

Ludwig Meyer * 1885

Beim Andreasbrunnen 2 (Hamburg-Nord, Eppendorf)

HIER WOHNTE
LUDWIG MEYER
JG. 1885
FLUCHT 1939 HOLLAND
DEPORTIERT 1943
THERESIENSTADT
1944 AUSCHWITZ
ERMORDET

further stumbling stones in Beim Andreasbrunnen 2:
Annie Höxter, Berthold Höxter, Jacoba Meyer

Ludwig Meyer, born on 16 Mar. 1885 in Hamburg, deported on 12 Oct. 1944 to Auschwitz
Jacoba Meyer, née Bos, born 6 Nov. 1888 in Veendam/Netherlands, deported on 12 Oct. 1944 to Auschwitz

Beim Andreasbrunnen 2

Ludwig Meyer was born in Hamburg on 16 Mar. 1885 as the sixth of seven children of the married couple Jacob and Flora Meyer, née Jaffé. He married Jacoba Martha Bos, who had been born in Veendam/Netherlands as the child of Nathan and Helene Bos, née Hirschel, on 6 Nov. 1888. Ludwig and Jacoba Meyer initially lived at Lenhartzstrasse 11, where their children Claus (born on 14 Feb. 1922) and Rolf (8 Feb. 1925 to 2 Jan. 1934) were born as well. Ludwig Meyer operated Gerd Nissen Strumpfwaren, a company dealing in hosiery located at Klosterstrasse 14, and, in the 1920s, also branches at Alsenstrasse 1 and Oben Borgfelde 29. In the 1930s, he only ran one business, a textiles retail store, at Hammerbrookstrasse 97, also using "Gerd Nissen” as the company name.

At the beginning of the 1930s, the family moved into accommodation at Beim Andreasbrunnen 2. Then they lived for about two months as subtenants at Isestrasse 61 with Max Meyer, probably a distant relative, until shortly before their flight to the Netherlands in May 1939. The Jewish religious tax (Kultussteuer) file card of the Hamburg Jewish Community contained a note indicating that son Claus fled into Dutch exile in 1939, whereas Ludwig and Jacoba apparently intended to depart for Montevideo. It is uncertain whether attempts to emigrate to Montevideo actually took place. The time of emigration to the Netherlands is dated for 19 May 1939 on the genealogical web page of Gladys and David Blank.

Prior to their flight to the Netherlands, the business on Hammerbrookstrasse was liquidated by the auditor Gustav von Bargen. A file memorandum for the foreign currency office dated 1 Mar. 1939 estimated the company assets at 5,000 RM (reichsmark) and the private assets at 4,400 RM. This meant that according to this memo, 1,400 RM became payable as a levy on assets.

From correspondence between Ludwig and his sister Fanny Berlin, née Meyer, one can gather that after their flight, Ludwig and Jacoba Meyer initially lived in The Hague at Morelstraat 105. The Dutch database for victims of the Shoah indicates as the subsequent address for 1941 Memlingstraat 9 in Amersfoort. From the Netherlands, Fanny Berlin as well as her daughter Olga Wolf and grandchild Dan received parcels with food and clothing from time to time. Nevertheless, Ludwig and Jacoba Meyer were dependent themselves on support from Jacoba’s family.

For instance, on 1 Apr. 1940, Ludwig Meyer wrote in a letter to his nephew Herbert Berlin, "With kind assistance from my relatives, I already brought them a nice parcel eight days ago but unfortunately we cannot do that as often as we would like because we are completely destitute here. Moreover, the relatives of your dear Aunt Coba have enough commitments right now. The term ‘help’ continues to be the principal word and deed for all of us!!!!! … I assume that you continue to do well and that you have found a pleasant ‘job’ by now. So I send my warmest regards, Your Uncle Ludwig and Aunt Coba.”

After the invasion of the German Wehrmacht in the Netherlands, Ludwig and Jacoba Meyer were deported – after internment in the Westerbork camp – to Theresienstadt on 21 Apr. 1943 and on 12 Oct. 1944 from there to Auschwitz, where both were murdered. Son Claus was spared this fate. He managed beforehand to emigrate to Britain, where he continues to live to this day.


Translator: Erwin Fink

Kindly supported by the Hermann Reemtsma Stiftung, Hamburg.

Stand: October 2017
© Johann-Hinrich Möller

Quellen: 1; 2; StaH 314-15 OFP, 1939/616; StaH 214-15 OFP, Fvg 7193; Briefwechsel Familien Meyer und Berlin, Nachlass Herbert Berlin, San Raphael, CA, USA; www.blankgenealogy.com/index.php (eingesehen 17.8.2010); www.joodsmonument.nl (eingesehen 17.8.2010).
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