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Johanna Samson (née Weis) * 1870

Felix-Dahn-Straße 2 (Eimsbüttel, Eimsbüttel)

HIER WOHNTE
JOHANNA SAMSON
GEB. WEIS
JG. 1870
DEPORTIERT 1942
THERESIENSTADT
ERMORDET 11.8.1942

Johanna Samson, née Weis, born 19.3.1870 in Mainz, deported to Theresienstadt on 19.7.1942, died there on 11.8.1942

Felix-Dahn-Straße 2 (Eimsbüttel)

Johanna was born in Mainz in 1870, the daughter of the Mainz butcher Simon Weis (1817-1887) and Franziska Weis, née Lorch (1837-1905). His father had married Eva Lorch (1828-1864) in 1852 and had six children with her, three of whom died in their early years. After her death, he married her younger sister Franziska in 1865. The residential address at the time of Johanna's birth was Sackgasse 1, and remained so until her father's death. (The street was renamed Lotharstraße 1 around 1885/1886 and was a side street of Grosse Bleichen in the inner city).
The Samson family no longer lived in the original "Jewish quarter”, but close to it. Simon and Franziska Weis were buried in the Mainz Jewish cemetery in Untere Zahlbacher Straße.

The names of Johanna's five siblings from her second marriage were Leo Weis (1866-1866), Bernhard Weis (1867-1941), Ludwig Weis (1868-1942), Moritz Weis (1871-1944) and Carl Weis (1872-1933).

The Jewish Community in Mainz split in 1849. From then on, the liberal "Israelitische Religionsgemeinde” and the orthodox "Israelitische Religionsgesellschaft” existed side by side with their own synagogues. We do not know which of the two communities the Weis family belonged to. Their home was closer to the liberal synagogue in Vordere Synagogenstraße. The gravestones of Simon and Franziska Weis, which have the same design, German lettering and no symbols, also suggest a liberal-assimilationist rather than an orthodox orientation.

Johanna Weis married the Hamburg merchant Iwan Samson (born 16.11.1866 in Hamburg), son of Semmy Abraham Samson (1839-1906), at the Mainz registry office on October 11, 1893. Iwan and Johanna Samson had three children: Margarethe "Gretchen” (1895-1898), Alice (born 1897) and Walter (1899-1970). The children were born in Hamburg at Bogenstraße 11a.

Iwan Samson ran a commercial business (agency and commission) at Bogenstraße 11a (Eimsbüttel) from 1899 and was listed as a commercial agent at the same address after the First World War. The handbook of Hamburg stock exchange companies from 1910 listed five Berlin clothing companies for which Iwan Samson worked as an agent. His company was deleted from the commercial register in 1920. He had acquired Hamburg citizenship in 1897. In March 1928, at the age of 61, he died in the apartment they shared and was buried in the Hamburg-Ohlsdorf Jewish cemetery.

Johanna's half-brother David Weis (born 15.4.1855 in Mainz), who managed a bank and had married in Frankfurt/Main in 1898, died in Frankfurt/Main in 1930.

With the National Socialist takeover, Johanna Samson became increasingly lonely:
Her children, Alice van der Walde, née Samson (born 4.1.1897), and Walter Samson (born 27.8.1899) managed to emigrate to England. Walter Samson (1899-1970) was married to Irma Engel (born 16.11.1904 in Hamburg), daughter of the Hamburg architect Semmy Engel (1864-1946), who had designed the Bornplatz Synagogue, among other things. Walter Samson was an employee of the L. Anker machine factory at Glockengießerwall 26 from 1925 and an authorized signatory from 1926. He left Germany with his wife and three-year-old son as early as September 1933; they welost their German citizenship by the Nazi regime in June 1939.

Alice van der Walde and her husband, the successful sole proprietor of the stationery and office supplies store Adolph Riefling & Sohn (Kaiser-Wilhelm-Str. 89/91) Iwan van der Walde (born 9.8.1886 in Emden), emigrated to England in February 1939. Prior to this, Iwan van der Walde, who was interned in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp from November 10, 1938 to January 4, 1939, had been forced to sell the business he had acquired in 1921 for less than its value in December 1938. The removal goods for the departure were checked in the apartment by customs secretary Siedler, who noted in his report: "Of the silverware declared, I request that only one set of cutlery per person be released, but that permission not be granted for the remaining (table) silver.” After the start of the war, Iwan van der Walde was interned in Great Britain for four months as an "enemy alien” in May 1940.

Johanna's brother Moritz Weis (born 14.3.1871 in Mainz) also prepared for emigration. He had been living in Hamburg as an import and export merchant since 1896 and had been a member of the Jewish Community of Hamburg since 1904; he was also a member of the liberal Temple Association. His company, founded in Hamburg in 1906, had a branch in Malaga, Spain, and traded in essential oils. The company's trading desk was located at the Hamburg Stock Exchange in front of pillar 13 B. In 1913, Moritz Weiss had acquired Hamburg citizenship instead of Hessian citizenship. He had been married to Sarah (Sabine), née Blimowitsch (1888-1944), since 1910 and had three children with her. As early as November 1934, Moritz began to make initial preparations for a possible emigration to Palestine - he paid 30,000 Reichsmark into a special account at the Bank of the Temple Society, which was converted into 2,070 Palestinian pounds. In February 1936, Moritz Weis and his wife planned "to make an information trip to Palestine to find out about the possibilities of my children settling there.” While Moritz Weis was trying to secure money for his emigration, the Nazi state began to systematically appropriate his assets. Around 1938/39, these still amounted to 126,000 RM, but by the spring of 1939 they had been reduced to a half. With the help of special taxes, such as the Reich Flight Tax and the "Jewish Property Levy”, the state and executing authorities ensured that the expropriation was given a harmless-sounding name. In order to settle these claims, Moritz Weis had to sell two of his three properties (Treskowstraße 38-42 and Uhlenhorsterweg 46-48).
At the same time, the foreign exchange office in Hamburg stipulated that he could only dispose of RM 400 per month from his current account at Deutsche Bank. Even for a formerly wealthy person, the cost of emigrating to the USA, which had obviously replaced Palestine as the destination country, became a major problem due to the ongoing capital appropriation measures of the Nazi state. In July 1939, Moritz Weis also submitted the first forms for his emigration. The regulations demanded by the state for his still existing foreign claims delayed the completion of the regulations, which were meticulously monitored by the foreign exchange office. The emigration was no longer successful.

On the Jewish religious tax card of the Jewish Community, Johanna Samson's residential addresses after her husband's death were listed as Anna-Wohlwill-Straße 2, where her daughter Alice and son-in-law Iwan van der Walde lived from 1933, Jungfrauenthal 53 at Meseritz and Brahmsallee 62 at Dr. Haas. Anna-Wohlwill-Straße (named in 1921 after the headmistress of the Paulsenstift school, who lived from 1841-1920), located between Hohe Weide and Moorkamp, was renamed Felix-Dahn-Straße in 1938 - like all streets named after Jews in the Nazi state.
In February 1939, his daughter and son-in-law emigrated.

At the time of the census in May 1939, Johanna Samson lived at Jungfrauenthal 53. The house belonged to Fritz Meseritz (1876-1941/42), with whose family she lived as a subtenant. On December 6, 1941, the Meseritz couple were deported to the Riga-Jungfernhof ghetto. It is not clear from her Jewish religious tax file exactly when Johanna Samson moved to Brahmsallee 62 to live as a subtenant with lawyer Edgar Haas (1877-1946), but it was probably in 1941/1942.

Her brother Bernhard Weis (born 19.10.1867 in Mainz), who was director of Mitteldeutsche Kreditbank before 1932, committed suicide during this time due to the persecution of the Nazi state. He died in Mainz on December 2, 1941. Johanna Samson inherited 15,000 Reichsmarks from his estate. On July 1, 1942, the foreign currency office in Hamburg issued a "security order” (asset freeze) so that it could be confiscated later.

On July 19, 1942, 72-year-old Johanna Samson was deported to the Theresienstadt ghetto, where she died just three weeks later, on August 11, 1942, due to the camp conditions.

Together with Johanna Samson, her brother Moritz Weis and his wife were also deported to Theresienstadt.

Her unmarried brother Ludwig Weis was taken from Mainz to the Theresienstadt ghetto two months after them and died there two weeks later.

Stumbling stones were laid for her brother Moritz Weis and his wife at Oderfelder Straße 7 (Harvestehude), where they had lived on the first floor from 1935 to 1939 (see www.stolpersteine-hamburg.de)

Translation: Beate Meyer
Stand: November 2024
© Björn Eggert

Quellen: Staatsarchiv Hamburg (StaH) 231-7 (Handelsregister), A 1 Band 45 (A 10919, Iwan Samson); StaH 314-15 (Oberfinanzpräsident), R 1942/0069 (Sicherungsanordnung gegen Johanna Samson); StaH 314-15 (Oberfinanzpräsident), FVg 3440 (Iwan u. Alice van der Walde); StaH 314-15 (Oberfinanzpräsident), R 1939/0550 (Sicherungsanordnung gegen Moritz Weis); StaH 314-15 (Oberfinanzpräsident), F 2380 (Moritz Weis); StaH 314-15 (Oberfinanzpräsident), F 937 (Martin Philipp Heilbron); StaH 332-3 (Zivilstandsaufsicht 1866-1875), A 20 Urkunde 5782 (Geburtsregister 1866, Iwan Samson); StaH 332-5 (Standesämter), 13089 u. 1754/1899 (Geburtsregister 1899, Walther Simon Samson); StaH 332-5 (Standesämter), 6898 u. 741/1911 (Sterberegister 1911, Emil Weis/ Halbbruder von Johanna); StaH 332-5 (Standesämter), 8741 u. 383/1920 (Heiratsregister 1920, Iwan van der Walde u. Alice Samson); StaH 332-5 (Standesämter), 8093 u. 141/1928 (Sterberegister 1928, Iwan Samson); StaH 332-7 (Staatsangehörigkeitsaufsicht), A I e 40 Bd. 12 (Bürgerregister 1896-1898 L-Z, Iwan Samson); StaH 332-7 (Staatsangehörigkeitsaufsicht), A III 21 Bd. 18 (Aufnahmeregister 1911-1915 R-Z, Moritz Weis); StaH 332-7 (Staatsangehörigkeitsaufsicht), B III 119310 (Moritz Weis, am 22.1.1913 Nr. 119310); StaH 342-2 (Militär-Ersatzbehörden), D II 43 Band 2 (Iwan Samson); StaH 351-11 (Amt für Wiedergutmachung), 22711 (Walter Samson); StaH 351-11 (Amt für Wiedergutmachung), 8848 (Iwan u. Alice van der Walde); StaH 351-11 (Amt für Wiedergutmachung), 47011 (Moritz Weis); StaH 351-11 (Amt für Wiedergutmachung), 27647 (Martin Philipp Heilbron); StaH 522-1 (Jüdische Gemeinden), 992b (Kultussteuerkartei der Deutsch-Israelitischen Gemeinde Hamburg), Johanna Samson geb. Weiss, Moritz Weis, Walter Samson, Martin Philipp Heilbron; Bundesarchiv Berlin, R 1509 (Reichssippenamt), Volks-, Berufs-, u. Betriebszählung am 17. Mai 1939 (Johanna Samson geb. Weis, Hamburg, Jungfrauenthal 53; Moritz Weis, Hamburg, Blumenstraße 46; Bernhard Weis, Mainz, Bahnhofstraße 1; Ludwig Weis, Mainz, Bahnhofstraße 1); Stadtarchiv Mainz, Familienregister (Simon Weis, Eintrag Nr. 12154), Adressbuch 1924/25, 1932 (Bernhard Weis, Bahnhofstr. 1 II. Stock); Jüdische Kultusgemeinde Mainz-Rheinhessen, Auskunft zu Grabstellen (Simon Weis, Feld 2, Reihe 2, Nummer 5; Franziska Weis geb. Lorch, Feld 2, Reihe 2, Nummer 6); Jüdischer Friedhof Hamburg-Ohlsdorf, Gräberverzeichnis (Margarethe Samson ZZ 12 Nr. 6a, gest. Dez. 1898; Ivan Samson 0 2 55, gest. März 1928); Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv Wiesbaden (Sterberegister 791/1930, David Weis); Sonderarchiv Moskau, Sicherheitsdienst Unterabschnitt Hamburg, Liste einflußreicher und vermögender Juden, Dezember 1938, Sign. 500-1-659 (Nr. 52 Van der Walde, Iwan, geb. 9.8.1886 Emden, wohnhaft Anna-Wohlwillstr. 2, Kaufmann/ Papierwaren, sehr vermögend); Handelskammer Hamburg, Handelsregisterinformationen (Iwan Samson, A 10919); Hamburger Börsenfirmen, Hamburg 1910, S. 565 (Iwan Samson, gegr. 1899, Bogenstr. 11a, Vertreter für folgende Berliner Firmen: Kurzweg & Leffmann/Knabenconfection, Moritz Klein/Leibchen u. Kniehosen, Ehrenfried Tappert/Schürzen, Benno Rappaport/Damen- u. Kinderwäsche, Emil Sternberg & Co/Herrenwäsche u. bunte Garnituren), S. 699 (Moritz Weis, gegr. 1906, Fehlandstr. 21, Export, Import u. Commission äther. Öle, Niederlassung in Malaga/Spanien, Börsenplatz Pfeiler 13 B); Hamburger Börsenfirmen, Hamburg 1926, S. 27 (L. Anker, gegr. 1896, Brauerei-Maschinen, Glockengießerwall 26, Fabrik Humboldtstr. 55, Inhaber Ludwig u. Carl Anker, Prokuristen G. Kopf u. H. W. E. Mentze), S. 1095 (Moritz Weis, gegr. 1906, City Hof, Export, Import u. Kommission, äther. Öle, Niederlassung in Malaga/ Spanien, Prokura: S. Weis geb. Blimowitsch, Joh. Caroline Malwine Ehlers, Martin Phil. Heilbron, Börsenplatz Pfeiler 13 B); Hamburger Börsenfirmen, Hamburg 1935, S.21 (L. Anker, gegr. 1896, Maschinenfabrik, Humboldtstr. 55, Inhaber Ludwig u. Carl Anker), S. 900 (Moritz Weis, gegr. 1906, City Hof, Kaiser-Wilhelm-Str. 20-26, Export, Import u. Kommission, Prokura: S. Weis geb. Blimowitsch, Joh. Caroline Malwine Ehlers, Martin Phil. Heilbron, Börsenplatz Pfeiler 13 B); Das Buch der alten Firmen der Freien und Hansestadt Hamburg, Leipzig um 1930, Seite VII 39 (L. Anker Maschinenfabrik, Glockengießerwall 24-26); Frank Bajohr, "Arisierung" in Hamburg. Die Verdrängung der jüdischen Unternehmen 1933-1945, Hamburg 1998, S. 348 (Carl Leopold Anker, Brauerei- u. Kellerei-Maschinenfabrik, Humboldtstr. 55); Arno Herzig/ Saskia Rohde (Hrsg.), Die Juden in Hamburg 1590 bis 1990, Hamburg 1991, Band 2, S. 159-161 (Semmy Engel); Heiko Morisse, Jüdische Rechtsanwälte in Hamburg. Ausgrenzung und Verfolgung im NS-Staat, Hamburg 2003, S. 132 (Dr. Edgar Haas); HamburgerAdressbuch (Jungfrauenthal 53) 1939; Hamburger Adressbuch (Anna Wohlwill Straße 2) 1934; Hamburger Adressbuch (Iwan Samson) 1909, 1920; Hamburger Adressbuch (Dr. Edgar Haas) 1940; Mainzer Adressbuch (Metzger Simon Weis, Sackgasse 1) 1865, 1872, 1880, 1884; Mainzer Adressbuch (Metzger Simon Weis, Lotharstr. 1) 1887; https://www.mainz.de/kultur-und-wissenschaft/stadtgeschichte/magenza/juedisches-mainz-geschichte.php (eingesehen 4.8.2024); https://www.bundesarchiv.de/gedenkbuch/ (Bernhard Weis, Ludwig Weis, Moritz Weis); www.geni.com (Johanna Samson geb. Weis; Sarah Sabine Weis geb. Blimowitsch; Bernhard Weis); www.ancestryinstitution.de (Passagierliste 20.9.1933, Walter Samson nach London);https://www.holocaust.cz/de/opferdatenbank/opfer/36090-ludwig-weis/ (Todesfallanzeige von Ludwig Weis); www.stolpersteine-hamburg.de (Moritz Weis, Martha Samson, Fritz Meseritz).