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Moritz Israel * 1866

Sternstraße 67 (Altona, Sternschanze)

HIER WOHNTE
MORITZ ISRAEL
JG. 1866
DEPORTIERT 1942
THERESIENSTADT
ERMORDET 26.1.1943

further stumbling stones in Sternstraße 67:
Recha Josephsohn

Moritz Israel, born 12 Mar. 1866, deported 15 July 1942 to Theresienstadt, died 26 Jan. 1943 in Theresienstadt

Sternstraße 67 (Sternstraße 61)

Moritz Israel was born on 2 Aug. 1866 in Lübeck as the son of David Israel and his second wife Henriette (Jette). His father operated as a "loose hair trader”, meaning he bought and sold horsehair which was used as upholstery material. Shortly after Moritz’s birth, the family moved to Hamburg. Nothing is known about his childhood or education. His physical examination papers merely reveal he worked as a commission agent (independent merchant).

He registered as a member of the Jewish Community in 1920. At that time he sublet an apartment on Seilerstraße in St. Pauli. He worked as a accountant in a permanent position until 1926 when he lost his job for unknown reasons. He turned to the welfare office, and their records show that by his own accounts he worked a few days now and then and made at least a little money as a salesman and selling advertisements, but it was not enough to live on so he accumulated back rent. His advisor at the welfare office noted in Oct. 1926: "I. tries to earn money in all sorts of ways and always managed to get by without any help from others.” Nor in the following year, despite numerous attempts, was Moritz Israel able to find a new job. During that period he received support both from the welfare office and the German-Israelite Community as well as from unnamed relatives. It was not until Apr. 1928 that he found a regular job for one year with the company Franz Pollinger Import & Export. Afterwards his advanced age made it difficult for him however to find further employment. From then on he received long-term support from the welfare office which was not affected by a short-term obligation to work as an emergency aid worker in the service of the welfare authority. However Moritz Israel was not entitled to a pension since he had only paid into the system until 1921.

In Jan. 1934 Moritz Israel moved to Sophienstraße 56, today Detlef Bremer Straße, for a little over a year where he sublet. In June 1935, he moved in with his sister Recha Josephsohn who was widowed and lived with her daughter Johanna at Sternstraße 61. Only Johanna was occasionally able to contribute to improving the household with a small income from waitressing, while Moritz and his sister were completely dependent on welfare support. Despite Moritz Israel’s obvious neediness, he rejected additional handouts. Apparently he did not want to accept charity. This is demonstrated by his welfare file from 1938 and by the records of the Jewish Religious Association whom Moritz Israel turned to only once in all those years for a small food donation.

In Jan. 1939 Moritz was forced to move several times since his sister moved into an apartment in social housing at Schlachtstraße 46. He sublet a room from Heinrich Mayer at Rappstraße 15. That house later became a "Jewish house”. He occupied a poorly appointed room there for 18 Reich Marks (RM) rent. In Mar. 1942, he was housed for a brief time in the "Jewish house” at Kielortallee 24 for unknown reasons. He was deported from Hamburg to Theresienstadt on the first large transport on 15 July 1942. Moritz Israel died a little over half a year later from uremia, according to the death certificate issued by the Jewish physicians in Theresienstadt on 26 Feb. 1943.

His sister had already been deported along with her daughter to Minsk in Nov. 1941. She was declared deceased in 1945.


Translator: Suzanne von Engelhardt
Kindly supported by the Hermann Reemtsma Stiftung, Hamburg.

Stand: April 2018
© Thomas Rost

Quellen: 1; 3; 4; 7; AB 1890-1942; StaH StaH 351-14 Arbeits- und Sozialfürsorge – Sonderakten, 1316; StaH, 522-1 (Jüdische Gemeinden), 992 e 2 (Deportationslisten), Band 4, Liste 1; StaH 342-2 Militär-Ersatzbehörden, D II 44, Band II; Archiv der Hansestadt Lübeck, Israelitische Gemeinde Band 4, Familienverzeichnis der Personenstandsregister der Israelitischen Gemeinde Lübeck.
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