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Marion Ursztajn * 1932

Colonnaden 21/23 (Hamburg-Mitte, Neustadt)

HIER WOHNTE
MARION URSZTAJN
JG. 1932
DEPORTIERT 1943
THERESIENSTADT
1944 AUSCHWITZ
ERMORDET

further stumbling stones in Colonnaden 21/23:
Felix Ursztajn, Hedwig Ursztajn, Jankiel Ursztajn, Margot Ursztajn

Fiszel Ursztajn (also Felix Urstein), born 21.5.1890 in Dobrenice, Poland, forcibly expelled on 28.10.1938 across the Polish border at Zbąszyń (German: Bentschen), murdered in occupied Poland

Hedwig (also Jadwiga) Ursztajn, widowed Richheimer, née Beckhard, born on 16.3.1901 in Herrstein near Idar-Oberstein, forcibly expelled on 28.10.1938 across the Polish border at Zbąszyń (German: Bentschen), murdered in occupied Poland

Jankiel Ursztajn, born on 24.5.1898 in Dobrenice, Poland, deported on 10.3.1943 to the Theresienstadt ghetto, deported on 28.10.1944 to Auschwitz, murdered there

Margot Ursztajn, née Fridberg, born on 24.11.1908 in Altona, deported on 10.3.1943 to the Theresienstadt ghetto, deported on 28.10.1944 to Auschwitz, murdered there

Marion Fridberg (Ursztajn), born on April 12, 1932, in Hamburg, deported on 10.3.1943 to the Theresienstadt ghetto, deported on 28.10.1944 to Auschwitz, murdered there

Colonnaden 21/23

At Colonnaden 21/23 in Hamburg-Neustadt, five stumbling stones (Stolpersteine) commemorate members of the Ursztajn family, who were Jewish immigrants from Poland.
However, only Fiszel Ursztajn (also known in Germany as Felix Urstein or Felix Ursztajn) and his wife Hedwig Ursztajn, widowed Richheimer, née Beckhard, who later changed her first name to Jadwiga, lived here.

Fiszel Ursztajn's brother Jankiel, his wife Margot, and their daughter Marion Fridberg last lived in the so-called "Judenhaus” (Jewish house) at Grindelallee 21 before they were deported on March 10, 1943, first to Theresienstadt and later to Auschwitz, where they were murdered. The stumbling stones commemorating these three individuals were also placed in the pavement in front of Colonnaden 21/23 due to their family connection.

Fiszel (Felix) and Hedwig Charlotte (Jadwiga) Ursztajn (Urstein), widowed Richheimer, née Beckhard
Fiszel Ursztajn, a Polish citizen of Jewish faith, settled in Hamburg in 1934. Here he called himself Felix Urstein. He was listed in the Hamburg address book as Felix Ursztajn. He had previously lived in Wiesbaden and belonged to the Jewish community there.

Fiszel Ursztajn was born on May 21, 1890, in Dobrenice (Poland, about 100 km south of Łódź) as the eldest of probably six siblings. His brothers Jacob, born on March 10, 1897, in Łódź, and Jankiel, born on May 24, 1898, in Dobrenice, also settled in Hamburg in the 1930s. The two brothers had a sister, Zlata, married name Simon, born on April 23, 1911, in Łódź. Other siblings were probably the unmarried painter Adolf Urstein, born in Łódź, who died on December 30, 1921, at the age of 26 in the hospital of the Jewish community in Berlin, Gilel Ursztajn, born on August 28, 1901, in Rozprza (south of Łódź), and Aron Ursztajn, born in 1907 in Łódź. We do not know the fate of Gilel and Aron Urstajn.

Their father, Chaim Moszek Ursztajn, born on July 27, 1867, in Przerąb (south of Łódź), is said to have died in 1915. Their mother, Chaima Moszka Martha Malki Ursztajn, née Wolrauch, born in 1866 in Rozprza, Poland, last lived in the Wittenau Sanatorium in Berlin. She died there on December 2, 1926.

Fiszel Ursztajn initially found accommodation in Hamburg at the boarding house at what was then Capellenstraße 14 in the Winterhude district. At the beginning of June 1934, he joined the Jewish community. In November 1934, he received a trade license for a textile wholesale business at Hachmannplatz 2 (Bieberhaus) in the St. Georg district.

Shortly before, on September 4, 1934, Fiszel Ursztajn and the widow Hedwig Charlotte Richheimer, née Beckhard, had married in Hamburg.

Hedwig Charlotte Beckhard was probably born on March 16, 1901, in Herrstein, not far from Idar-Oberstein. She was the daughter of the Jewish veterinarian Joseph Ludwig Isaak (called Hermann) Beckhard and his wife Clara, née Kahn. Her older brothers Ernst, born on January 4, 1898, and Kurt Siegfried, born on October 26, 1899, were also born in Herrstein. Between 1901 and 1905, the Beckhard family settled in Ahrensbök in Schleswig-Holstein. Here, their other siblings Elly Karola was born on January 29, 1905, Erna on July 6, 1906, and Walter Siegbert on January 31, 1912.

On 24 March 1921, Hedwig Beckhard married Ferdinand Richheimer, a Jewish merchant born on 22 March 1892 in Gemmingen near Heilbronn, in Stuttgart. The marriage produced two sons, Herbert Max, born on August 2, 1922, in Stuttgart, and Rolf (later Ralph), born on February 4, 1924, also in Stuttgart. Ferdinand Richheimer took his own life on March 19, 1933, in Chemnitz, "out of grief over the Third Reich,” as his son Herbert later stated.

The Ursztajn couple initially lived with Hedwig Ursztajn's two sons at Krohnskamp 3 in Winterhude and, from 1936, at Colonnaden 21/23 in Hamburg-Neustadt. While Herbert Richheimer presumably worked as a textile salesman in his stepfather's company, Rolf attended the Talmud Thora School.

From late 1937/early 1938, their home and business address was Schäferkampsallee 28 in the Eimsbüttel district. Fiszel Ursztajn apparently attempted to continue running his business from his new home address.

All we know about the course of business during the years of increasing discrimination against Jews is that the company's assets had grown to RM 22,000 by early 1936. Considerations to leave Germany must have been made repeatedly in this family, and the sons put them into practice: Herbert Max Richheimer left Germany on April 1, 1937, on the S.S. Washington. Rolf followed him to the USA on October 17, 1938, on the S.S. Manhattan.

On October 28, 1938, 17,000 Jews of Polish origin were deported from the German Reich to Poland during the so-called Poland Action, including about 1,000 from Hamburg. The Polish government had previously threatened to confiscate the passports of Poles living abroad. This would have made them stateless. The Nazi government feared that thousands of "Eastern Jews” would then remain permanently on German territory. Without warning and without regard for their status, men, women, and children were picked up from their workplaces or homes throughout the German Reich, herded together at various locations, and deported by train across the Polish border at Zbąszyń (Bentschen), Chojnice (Konitz) in Pomerania, and Bytom in Upper Silesia. The costs of the operation were to be borne by the deported Jews. Only if this was not possible would the Reich budget be used.

Fiszel and Hedwig Charlotte Ursztajn were among those who were forcibly expelled. They were first taken to a collection camp in Hamburg and then, on the evening of October 28, transported by train from Altona station together with the other Polish Jews living in Hamburg to the German border station of Neu-Bentschen (Zbąszynek). From there, the deportees had to walk about seven kilometers through rough terrain toward the Polish border the next morning. The Polish border guards did not want to let them through, but were unable to stop the large crowd.

In Zbąszyń, the people found makeshift accommodation in horse stables of a former barracks, a grain mill and, if they could afford it, in guesthouses and private rooms. Those who could left Zbąszyń and traveled to relatives in Poland. Only very few were granted entry to Palestine. From documents from the Hamburg Regional Finance Office, we know that Fiszel and Hedwig Charlotte Ursztajn were in Poznań (Posen) in December 1938. Hedwig Ursztajn had changed her first name to the Polish form Jadwiga.

Based on an agreement between the governments of the German Reich and the Republic of Poland, some of those who had been forcibly expelled were allowed to return to Germany temporarily to settle private and business matters. Fiszel Ursztajn was allowed to travel to Hamburg on March 23, 1939. He was required to leave Hamburg by May 24, 1939. His return trip to Poland was delayed until August 2, 1939.

During his stay in Hamburg, Fiszel Ursztajn lived at Grindelallee 45 with Emma and Lazar Benjamin (known as Leon). (This couple was deported to Minsk on November 8, 1941, and murdered.)

The further fate of Fiszel and Hedwig/Jadwiga Ursztajn can only be surmised from a postcard dated October 20, 1941, sent to her mother Clara Beckhard in New York by Hedwig Ursztajn from Warsaw, Elektoralna 13/IIa. She wrote:
"Warsaw, Oct. 20, 1941
My dear ones, I have not heard from you for a long time. I hope you are all well, as we are here. Unfortunately, we have not yet received any of your parcels. Mrs. Spielmann, née Ermann, has already received 10 parcels with coffee, cocoa, and chocolate this month. I hope you have not arranged for large parcels to be sent to us. Please only send parcels weighing 450 g, but send them regularly. All my friends have received so much, and we have received nothing. Please write more often and tell us in detail what you are sending and how many parcels are on their way. I need to keep track of things. Warm regards and kisses also from Felix and loving you (Euchl.) Mum and Hede."

During the reparations proceedings after the war, Herbert Richheimer reported that he had been in written contact with Hedwig/Jadwiga and Fiszel Ursztajn in the Warsaw Ghetto until 1942. After that, there was no further sign of life from Fiszel and Hedwig/Jadwiga Ursztajn. It can be assumed with certainty that they were murdered in the Warsaw Ghetto. Both were declared dead on May 8, 1945.

Jankiel and Margot Ursztajn, née Fridberg, and Marion Fridberg (Ursztajn)
Jankiel Ursztajn, Fiszel Ursztajn's younger brother, born on May 24, 1898, in Dobrenice, joined the Jewish community of Hamburg in November 1936, which registered him as stateless. He worked as a sales representative in his brother's textile wholesale business until the company was closed down after the forced expulsion.

Jankiel Ursztajn initially lived at Dillstraße 16 in Hamburg-Rotherbaum, subletting from Walter and Erna Seligmann. (Walter Seligmann, who was married to a non-Jewish woman, was imprisoned on November 10, 1938, in Sachsenhausen concentration camp and later in Dachau concentration camp. He survived.)

On November 18, 1941, Jankiel Ursztajn and Margot Wilhelmina Augusta Fridberg, born on November 24, 1908, in the then still independent city of Altona (today Hamburg), were married after the regional court exempted the stateless Jankiel Ursztajn from the requirement to provide a "certificate of no impediment to marriage for foreigners.”

Margot Wilhelmina Augusta Fridberg was the daughter of the non-Jewish Emma Auguste, née Nubbe, born on December 3, 1878, in Hamburg, and the Jewish merchant Hugo Fridberg, born on July 14, 1878, in Hamburg. Both fiancés stated that they had no assets. Jankiel Ursztajn also stated that he had been living off his brother's estate until then. Margot Fridberg already had a daughter, Marion, born on April 12, 1932, in Hamburg, when she got married. She was registered by the Gestapo under her stepfather Ursztajn's name, even though, as far as can be seen from the available documents, she had not taken his surname.

On January 13, 1942, the family had to move from Dillstraße 16 to Grindelallee 21. Both buildings were used as "Judenhäuser” (Jewish houses), where Jewish people were concentrated in cramped conditions.

It is not known whether Jankiel Ursztajn was imprisoned during the November pogrom or afterwards, like many other Jewish men. He was forced to perform hard labor from November 1941 to 1943.

The entire family was deported to the Theresienstadt ghetto on March 10, 1943, and from there to the Auschwitz extermination camp on October 28, 1944, with Marion Fridberg under the surname Ursztajn. All of them were murdered.

On March 16, 1943, the property liquidation office of the Chief Finance Administrator instructed the bailiff's office to sell the apartment furnishings "in favor of the German Reich in a voluntary auction.” Attached was an inventory list with 96 items, ranging from a wardrobe to mattress protectors. Bobzien, the bailiff often commissioned in such cases, raised a total of 672.20 RM, from which he deducted fees of 41.75 RM and paid the rest into the account of the Chief Finance Administrator at the Reichsbank.

The other members of the Ursztajn family
Zlata Ursztajn, Fiszel and Jankiel Ursztajn's sister, fled Germany in 1933 and survived. After her marriage, she took the surname Simon and lived in Paris.

The third of the Ursztajn brothers, Jacob, initially found accommodation at Capellenstraße 14 in 1936, as his brother Fiszel had done in 1934. Like his brother Jankiel, he joined the Jewish community on November 17, 1936. We know nothing about Jacob Ursztajn's further fate.

Hedwig/Jadwiga Ursztajn's brother Ernst Beckhard fled to France. On September 23, 1942, he was deported from the Drancy transit camp near Paris to Auschwitz and murdered.

His brother Kurt Siegfried married Esmeralda Braunshausen, who was born in Bremen, and emigrated with her to the USA.
Elly Karola Beckhard married in Ahrensbök in 1930. She also emigrated to the USA. She died in Westport, Fairfield, Connecticut, in 1982.

Erna Beckhard was married to a partner named Ackermann. She died on March 1, 1951, in Elmhurst/Chicago. According to the obituary found on the Internet, she was mourned by her mother, a sister, and at least one child.

The fate of Gilel Ursztajn is unknown to us.

Stand: February 2026
© Ingo Wille

Quellen: Adressbuch Hamburg (1934-1943); StaH 213-1 Hanseatisches Oberlandesgericht 1209 Jankiel Ursztajn Ehefähigkeitszeugnis, 213-13 Landgericht Hamburg Wiedergutmachung 11771 Rolf Richheimer, 19511 Margot Fridberg, 23825 Fiszel Ursztajn, 28425 Zlata Simon, 36174 Felix Ursztajn, 214-1 Gerichtsvollzieherwesen 685 Ursztajn Margot, 314-15 Oberfinanzpräsident F 2293 Urstztajn Fiszel, FVg 7829 Rolf Richheimer, R1938/1529 Riechheimer Rolf, R1938/2855 Ursztajn Jankiel, R1938/3670 Ursztajn Felisz, 351-11 Amt für Wiedergutmachung 24816 (Hedwig Ursztajn), 34089 (Hugo Fridberg), 36942 (Zlata Simon), 45373 (Herbert Richheimer), 46317 (Rolf Ralph Richheimer), 332-5 Standesämter 1921 Geburtsregister Nr. 2929 (Hugo Fridberg), 6204 Geburtsregister Nr. 3425/1878 (Emma Auguste Freese/Nubbe), 113310 Geburtsregister Nr. 2937 (Margot Wilhelmine Auguste Fridberg), 14581 Geburtsregister Nr. 3106/1905 (Edgar Max Hermann August Fridberg), 5961 Heiratsregister Nr. 1153/1903 (Emma Nubbe/Hugo Fridberg), 14251 Heiratsregister Nr. 575/1934 (Fiszel Urstayn/Hedwig Charlotte Richheimer), 522-01 Jüdische Gemeinde in Hamburg 992 b (Kultussteuerkarteikarten). Standesamt Herrstein Geburtsregister Nr. 58/1898 (Ernst Beckhardt). Standesamt Berlin-Wittenau, Sterberegister Nr. 365/1926 (Martha Urstein geb. Wolrauch). Standesamt Berlin XIII A, Sterberegisterauszug Nr. 1779/1926 (Adolph Urstein). Stadtarchiv Ahrensbök Geburtsregister Nr. 11/1905 (Elly Karola Beckhard), Nr. 37/1906 Erna Beckhard, Nr. 12/1912 Walter Siegbert Beckhardt. Stadtarchiv Chemnitz Sterberegister Nr. 363/1933 (Ferdinand Richheimer). Bundesarchiv R58/276 Reichssicherheitshauptamt (Vereinbarung zwischen Deutschland und Polen über vorübergehende Rückkehr von Ausgewiesenen nach Deutschland). Gedenkbuch Opfer der Verfolgung der Juden unter der nationalsozialistischen Gewaltherrschaft in Deutschland 1933 – 1945, Bundesarchiv (Ernst Ernest Beckhard, Hedwig Beckhard, Margot Ursztajn geb. Friedberg, Marion Ursztajn). Theresienstädter Gedenkbuch, S. 414f. Yad Vashem Datenbank der Holocaustopfer (Jankiel Ursztajn, Margot Ursztajn). Arolsen Archives 11422001 (Theresienstadt Haftkarteikarte Jankiel Ursztajn), 11422001 35 (Marion Ursztajn/Fridberg), 11422001 325 (Margot Ursztajn). Zack Family tree: https://www.ancestry.de/family-tree/tree/9938079/family?cfpid=-721249346&fpid=252457668844&usePUBJs=true (Zugriff 14.12.2025)