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Harriet Hollander * 1888

Palmaille 19 (Altona, Altona-Altstadt)

HIER WOHNTE
HARRIET
HOLLANDER
JG. 1888
DEPORTIERT 1941
RIGA
ERMORDET

further stumbling stones in Palmaille 19:
Jesaias Gotthelf Hollander, Rebecca Levy

Harriet Hollander, born on 31 May 1888 in Altona, deported on 6 Dec. 1941 to Riga-Jungfernhof
Jesaias (Gotthelf) Hollander, born on 25 Aug. 1886 in Altona, detained in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp from 10 Nov. until 21 Dec. 1938, deported on 6 Dec. 1941 to Riga-Jungfernhof
Rebecca Levy, née Hollander, born on 22 July 1882 in Altona, deported on 6 Dec. 1941 to Riga-Jungfernhof

Palmaille 19

Rebecca, Jesaias, and Harriet Hollander were born on 22 July 1882, 25 Aug. 1886, and 31 May 1888 as children of the merchant Abraham Hollander (died in 1923) and his wife Sulamith (1859–1940), née Stern. Like their siblings Lea (1885–1938), the twins Arnold (1892–1984) and Anton (1892–1974), as well as Arthur (1890–1984), they were born in Altona and lived at Marktstrasse 47 (today Ehrenbergstrasse). Sulamith Hollander was the oldest daughter of the former Rabbi Anschel Stern and his wife Jette and the aunt of the teacher Jeanette Baer residing at Brahmsallee 24 (see www.stolpersteine-hamburg.de).

On 19 Mar. 1906, Rebecca Hollander married Behrend Wolff Levy (1878–1932) in Altona. Her husband was the son of Wolff Behrend Levy and Golda, née Emanuel. Wolff Behrend had opened a company trading in bagged goods of all sorts on Hopfenmarkt in Hamburg-Altstadt. The business was managed by Behrend Wolff Levy after the death of his father. The young couple lived at changing addresses in Hamburg, including on Parkallee. In 1907, they expected a child; son Naftali was born on 26 Nov. 1907 , daughter Jeanette on 10 Apr. 1910.

In 1923, Rebecca Levy’s father Abraham passed away, and three years afterward, on 7 Jan. 1926, Naftali, only 18 years old, followed for unknown reasons, and subsequently, daughter Jeanette did so as well at an early age. A few years later, in 1932, Behrend Wolff Levy was killed on Loignyplatz (today Theodor-Heuss-Platz). Rebecca gave up the apartment on Parkallee and moved to the Oppenheimer-Stiftung, a residential home, at Kielortallee 24.

We learned little about the life of Jesaias Hollander, who worked as a commercial agent and remained unmarried. In connection with the November Pogrom of 1938 on the night of 9 to 10 Nov. 1938, the Nazis detained him and his brother Anton in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. In mid-Dec. 1938, both of them were released.

His sister Harriet Hollander was also unmarried and it is not known whether she pursued any gainful employment. The cohesion of the family must have been strong, since the siblings lived together at their parents’ address on Marktstrasse.

The beginning of Nazi rule was to bring far-reaching changes for the Hollander/Levy family as well. In this context, it mattered little that the City of Altona did not yet belong to Hamburg. In Altona, too, the brown-shirted hordes put into action the organized "Boycotting Jews day” on 1 Apr. 1933 against Jewish stores and companies.

As early as 1 Sept. 1933, Arnold Hollander, who worked as a chemist, left the family and emigrated to Paris. Later he lived in the USA and died in New York in 1984.

Anton, Arnold’s twin brother, had learned the craft of photography. The First World War interrupted his professional career. He was wounded and decorated with the Iron Cross Second Class. He remained a soldier until Dec. 1918. Afterward, he tried to gain a professional foothold again, venturing to become self-employed in the area of high-end stationary. He gave up on that idea again after three years. In 1925, a contract as a traveling salesman on a commission basis with the Meyers Postkartenverlag materialized, a publisher of postcards. He worked in this capacity until 1938. When he was released from the Sachsenhausen concentration camp in Dec. 1938, he immediately undertook efforts to emigrate, managing to do so in Apr. 1939. His destination was initially Sweden, where he found accommodation with a relative in Stockholm. In Feb. 1940, he was successful at traveling onward to the USA where he passed away in New York in 1974.

Arthur Hollander was the sole owner of the A. J. Hollander Company that his father had co-founded in Altona in 1862. The company imported hides and furs, at the same time doing commission business and transit trade. The company headquarters had been located for some time already at Neue Gröningerstrasse 10, opposite the Speicherstadt (the warehouse district). In early 1938, the company was already in the process of dissolution since the authorities had no longer issued an export permit to Arthur Hollander for the year 1938. By voluntary declaration, he notified the Hamburg-Altstadt tax and revenue office in mid-Dec. 1938 of his decision to emigrate. After the relevant authorities had reviewed his bank accounts, accounts receivable, as well as the questionnaire for emigrants and all formalities had been met, Arthur Hollander received the "tax clearance certificate” ("Unbedenklichkeitsbescheinigung”) issued by the tax office. He did not have to pay the "Reich flight tax” ("Reichsfluchtsteuer”), and no "security order” ("Sicherungsanordnung") was imposed on him. In Jan. 1939, Arthur Hollander emigrated to Argentina via Sweden. From there, he later moved to the USA, where he was laid to rest in New York in 1984.

His sister Lea Hollander, also unmarried, lived together with her family. Whether she practiced any gainful employment is not known. She died in the Israelite Hospital on 30 June 1938.

Starting in the mid-1930s, the Hollander family moved to Palmaille 19, to the "butter side” of the street. The residential building belonging to the City of Altona was located directly adjacent to the Israelite Community School. The Hollanders resided on the second and third floor. Later, Rebecca Levy lived there for a short period as well. In his monthly circular dated early June 1939, Chief Rabbi Joseph Carlebach informed his community members, among other things, that "on the Sabbath, Mrs. (Sulamith) Hollander from Altona celebrated her 80th birthday.”

At the same time, Sulamith Hollander had been ordered by the Chief Finance Administrator (Oberfinanzpräsident) to produce a declaration of assets. Responding to his summons, her daughter Harriet appeared for the appointment as an authorized representative. A "security order” was issued in May 1940. Henceforth, the family was allowed to dispose of 390 RM (reichsmark) a month toward covering their living expenses. They had to get further costs approved by means of separate applications. Sulamith Hollander died a natural death on 23 Oct. 1940. The neighbor living on the ground floor, Mrs. Zwergel, found the deceased. Like Abraham and Lea Hollander, she was laid to rest in the Jewish Cemetery on Bornkampsweg.

A few days later, on 7 Nov. 1940, the Nazis quartered the three siblings in a Jews’ house ("Judenhaus”) at Kleine Papagoyenstrasse 3, directly across from the synagogue of the Hochdeutsche Israeliten-Gemeinde ("High German Israelite Community”). It had not been set on fire [in the November Pogrom] because it was located in a heavily developed residential area. Afterward, the building served as storage space.

In the course of the Nazi period, the assets of the Hollander/Levy family had decreased by half. In early Jan. 1941, the issued "security order” was lifted.

With the transport on 6 Dec. 1941, Rebecca Levy, née Hollander, Harriet, and Jesaias Hollander were deported to Riga. They spent the last night in Hamburg in the former Masonic Lodge on Moorweidenstrasse, subsequently boarding the train. In Riga-Jungfernhof they perished.

After the deportation of the three siblings, the remaining assets were confiscated to the benefit of the German Reich.
As of 8 May 1945, the three siblings were declared dead.

Arthur, Arnold, and Anton Hollander did not forget their sisters Harriet, Rebecca, and their brother Jesaias. In their memory, they submitted three Pages of Testimony at Yad Vashem.


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

Stand: April 2018
© Sonja Zoder

Quellen: 1; 2 (R 1938/1942 Arthur Hollander, R 1940/298 Sulamith Hollander); 4; 5; 6; 8; StaH 332-5 Standesämter, 8112-80/1932, 7064-34/1926, 5422-1463/1940, 1088-243/1938; StaH 351-11 Amt für Wiedergutmachung, 693 (Sulamith Hollander) und 14389 (Anton Hollander); StaH 424-111 Amtsgericht Altona, 6582; AB Hamburg und Altona; Gillis-Carlebach, Jüdischer Alltag als humaner Widerstand, S. 25, 59; Studemund-Halevy, Im jüdischen Hamburg, S. 142 f.; http://www.its-arolsen.org, Zugriff 31.1.2015
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