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Rudolphine Bär * 1879

Kegelhofstraße 34 (Hamburg-Nord, Eppendorf)

1941 Minsk
ermordet

further stumbling stones in Kegelhofstraße 34:
Emil Bär

Louis Bär, born on 29 Nov. 1881 in Weinheim, deported on 8 Nov. 1941 to Minsk

Wrangelstraße 10

Emil Bär, born on 18 June 1877 in Weinheim, deported on 8 Nov. 1941 to Minsk
Rudolphine Bär, born on 2 Mar. 1879 in Weinheim, deported on 8 Nov. 1941 to Minsk

Kegelhofstraße 34, Eppendorf

The Jewish man Louis Bär was married to Frieda Bär, née Buck, who was non-Jewish and died in 1940. The couple had no children. Louis had several siblings: Emil Bär (born in 1877), Rudolphine Bär (born in 1879), Hugo Bär (born in 1886), and Julius Bär (born in 1891). Just like their brother Louis, Emil and Rudolphine Bär were deported to Minsk on 8 Nov. 1941. At this time, they lived at Kegelhofstraße 34. The occupations entered on the deportation list were "correspondent” in the case of Emil Bär and "domestic help” ("Morgenfrau” – a term obsolete by now [it literally means "morning lady”]) in the case of Rudolphine Bär. Three months after the deportation of Emil and Rudolphine, their household effects were auctioned off publically in Hamburg on 9 and 10 Feb. 1942. The auction records indicate "Bähr” as the last name. The siblings had lived together and owned an extensive middle-class household, including many books. The gross proceeds from the auction amounted to 865 RM (reichsmark). The brothers Julius and Hugo Bär survived in Argentina.

In an affirmation in lieu of an oath, Hugo Bär later wrote about his brother: "My brother Louis … attended the Höhere Bürgerschule Karl Bender [a secondary school for the middle classes] in Weinheim up to fourth year, subsequently doing an apprenticeship in Weinheim and then moving to Hamburg in 1903. He worked for the Hagenbeck Zoological Garden for five years, then obtaining a job at a fish smokehouse. He fought in the First World War from 1914 to 1917, ending in a sanatorium with gas poisoning. After the end of the war, he started up his own business exporting smoked fish. The company name was Louis Bär, with the exact address in Altona not known. He had his last domestic residential address in Altona at Barnerstraße 22 II … In Altona, he left behind what according to my recollection was a completely furnished two-bedroom apartment. He also owned valuable objects and considerable assets.”

The Hagenbeck Zoological Garden was also the workplace of his brother Emil Bär. In 1907, the Hagenbeck zoo relocated from Neuer Pferdemarkt to what was then the Prussian quarter of Stellingen. Probably the brothers worked there on the newly designed zoological park with its modern animal enclosures.

Louis Bär was the sole proprietor of "Bär & Zierold Hamburg – Makler in Heringen pp.,” a brokerage for herrings etc., entered in the company register since 1923. The co-owner, Carl Zierold, had already retired from the company in the year of foundation. The business was a small brokerage firm that yielded only modest revenues. According to the entry in the company register, the enterprise ceased to exist on 11 Aug. 1938. The directory indicates that Louis Bär lived in Altona at Barnerstraße 20. Possibly, he subsequently lived in Hamburg at Lindenallee 12 for a time. The 1933 directory shows an entry under this address for one Louis Bär, a mechanic.

As a disabled veteran, Louis Bär received a small pension amounting to 295.20 RM (reichsmark) per annum. From this pension and the modest business revenues, he provided for himself. Following the dissolution of his company, which he was probably forced to carry out, his financial situation became very difficult. From Sept. 1938 onward, he had to rely on public social assistance, which was later provided by the Jewish Community.

The last residential address, Wrangelstrasse 10, can be deduced from the data on the Jewish religious tax (Kultussteuer) file card of the German-Israelitic Community and from the deportation list. He lived there on the fourth floor as a subtenant of Rosa Garcia (see corresponding entry). The deportation list indicates "broker” as occupation.

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

© Susanne Lohmeyer

Quellen: 1; 4; 5; StaH 214-1 Gerichtsvollzieherwesen,122; StaH 231-7 Handelsregister A1 Band 130, HRA 29356; StaH 351-11 AfW 230986 Bär, Hugo (zu Bär, Louis); StaH 522-1, Jüdische Gemeinden, 992e2 Bd. 2; HAB II 1926; HAB I 1933.