Search for Names, Places and Biographies

Ludwig Philipp * 1884

Heinrich-Barth-Straße 11 (Eimsbüttel, Rotherbaum)

1941 Lodz
ermordet

further stumbling stones in Heinrich-Barth-Straße 11:
Anna Arendar, Mendel Arendar, Edith Philipp, Claus Salig

Ludwig Philipp, b. 12.3.1884, deported on 10.25.1941 to the Lodz ghetto

Ludwig Philipp, born 12.3.1884 in Hamburg, was the son of Bernhard and Sophie Philipp, née von Halle. The family lived at Marktstrasse 20 in the inner city.

Ludwig attended the state primary school. When he was twelve years old, he took Jewish religious instruction. After completing school, he learned to be an office clerk. On 16 December 1902, at eighteen years of age, he went to England and lived there until July 1918. It is not known what profession he practiced there.

Back in Hamburg, Ludwig went to war on 12 August 1918 (World War I ended on 11.11.1918). He served as a "musketeer," that is, in the infantry. Two and one half months after he joined the army, he became ill with a lung condition and pleurisy and was taken to the infirmary where he remained beyond the end of the war until his release on 31 January 1919. However, his health had suffered irreparable damage, a fact that negatively impacted his possibilities of gainful employment. He attempted on several occasions to get support from welfare offices but was continually denied. On 15 October 1922, Ludwig married Hedwig, née Hoffmann, who was also Jewish. The couple lived at Renzelstrasse 15 II as sub-letters of the Stapelfeld family. At this time Ludwig Philipp took in linens on consignment which he attempted to sell. On 6 July 1927, he was once again able to work in his profession. He found a position as a commercial clerk at the Arnold Bernstein shipping company.

His marriage met with less good fortune; it crumbled and the couple divorced at the beginning of 1930. Ludwig Philipp moved to Wagenfelderstrasse 10. A few weeks later on 16 May 1930, he married Edith, née Lichtenstein, from Oberhausen; she was also Jewish. She moved with him to Hamburg. On 1 October 1935, the couple changed their address to Barmbekerstrasse 85 II.

While other enterprises slumped during the he world economic crisis or went bankrupt, Ludwig Philipp’s employer did well. Arnold Bernstein skillfully used all opportunities to expand. In 1928, he founded the Arnold Bernstein Steamship Co. with headquarters in New York; in 1934, in cooperation with the Zionists, following negotiations with the National Socialist government, he established the Palestine Shipping Co. headquartered in Haifa; and in 1935, he purchased the Anglo-American Red Star Line. In view of the massive emigration out of Germany, the enterprise would probably have prospered for some time, had not the Customs Investigation Office opened criminal proceedings against Bernstein for currency irregularities. It ended with a prison sentence for the shipper, the compulsory sale of his business, and the ensuing firing of all its Jewish employees, among whom was Ludwig Philipp. On 6 October 1937, he was jobless. Without a steady income, the couple now had to give up their dwelling. A few months later, on 17 March 1938, they were living on the fourth floor of a building at Heinrich-Barth-Strasse 11, as sub-letters of the Wallach family. Ludwig remained without work until January 1939 and applied for unemployment aid during this period. Then he got a position with the Jewish Aid organization. This aid organization worked together with Jewish congregations. It funded poorer emigrants with the costs of travel or provided funds to be presented upon arrival, required by many countries that accepted immigrants. Even though Ludwig Philipp constantly dealt with other Jews who wanted to emigrate while he worked for Arnold Bernstein and the Jewish Aid Organization, there is no evidence that he ever took steps for himself or his wife to this end. He worked for the Aid Organization until Edith and he received their deportation order for the 25 October 1941 transport to the Lodz ghetto.

Upon their arrival, the couple lived initially at Heuhlgasse and on 6 January 1942 at Cranachstrasse 15, dwelling 43.

Concerning Ludwig Philipp’s further life, his work in the ghetto, and the moment of his death nothing is known. Like many other victims of the Holocaust he was declared dead at the end of the war, on 8 May 1945.

The commemorative stone for Ludwig Philipp was laid at Heinrich-Barth-Strasse 11, his last address in Hamburg.

Translator: Richard Levy
Kindly supported by the Hermann Reemtsma Stiftung, Hamburg.

Stand: February 2018
© Olga Dyundikova

Quellen: StaHH, 314-15 Oberfinanzpräsident; StaHH 351-11 Amt für Wiedergutmachung; StaHH 522-1 Jüdische Gemeinden, 992b, Kultussteuerkartei der Deutsch-Israelitischen Gemeinde Hamburgs, Archivum Panstowe w Lodzi, div. Dokumente; Frank Bajohr, "Arisierung" in Hamburg. Die Verdrängung der jüdischen Unternehmer 1933–1945, Hamburg 1997, S. 204 ff.