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Johanna Koppel (née Gressmann) * 1879

Großneumarkt 38 (vorm. Schlachterstraße) (Hamburg-Mitte, Neustadt)

HIER WOHNTE
JOHANNA KOPPEL
GEB. GRESSMANN
JG. 1879
DEPORTIERT 1941
MINSK
ERMORDET

further stumbling stones in Großneumarkt 38 (vorm. Schlachterstraße):
Hanna Aghitstein, Julie Baruch, Ludwig Louis Baruch, Julius Blogg, Rebecca Blogg, Kurt Cossmann, Mathilde Cossmann, Frieda Dannenberg, Alice Graff, Leopold Graff, Flora Halberstadt, Elsa Hamburger, Herbert Hamburger, Louis Hecker, Max Hecker, Marianne Minna Hecker, Lea Heymann, Alfred Heymann, Wilma Heymann, Paul Heymann, Jettchen Kahn, Adolf Kahn, Curt Koppel, Hannchen Liepmann, Henriette Liepmann, Bernhard Liepmann, Johanna Löwe, Martin Moses, Beate Ruben, Flora Samuel, Karl Schack, Minna Schack, Werner Sochaczewski, Margot Sochazewski, verh. Darvill, Sophie Vogel, Sara Vogel

Johanna Maria Koppel, née Gressmann, born on 21 Apr. 1879 in Hamburg, deported 8 Nov. 1941 to Minsk
Curt Koppel, born on 3 Oct. 1907 in Hamburg, deported 8 Nov. 1941 to Minsk

Grossneumarkt 38 (Schlachterstrasse 46/47)

When Johanna Maria Koppel’s parents married in Hamburg in 1878, the registrar noted down the Christian denomination of the hat and umbrella maker Gustav Heinrich August Gressmann (born on 14 May 1854, died on 13 May 1928). For the bride Lea Moses (born on 28 Nov. 1854, died on 8 Nov. 1934), the "Mosaic” denomination was registered, i.e., she belonged to the Jewish religious community. Daughter Johanna was their oldest child, born on 21 Apr. 1879 in her parents’ home at Neuer Steinweg 20. Close by, at Steinwegpassage 8, lived the grandparents on the mother’s side, the hosiery dealer Salomon Moses with his wife Hanna, née Abraham. After Johanna, at least six more children were born: Auguste Franziska (born on 5 Aug. 1881), Margaretha Emilie (born on 9 Dec. 1882, died in 1951), Paula Frieda (born on 19 May 1884), Elsa Mathilde (born in 1886), Gustav (born on 28 Aug. 1889), and Martha (born on 11 Nov. 1891, died on 27 Nov. 1968).

The third youngest child, Elsa Mathilde, died shortly after her tenth birthday, on 4 June 1896. Her death register entry contained a note indicating "Jewish religion.”

On 9 Nov. 1905, Johanna married the Hamburg native Konrad Koppel, born on 11 July 1880. His parents, Calmann/Carl Koppel (born on 17 Aug. 1839, died on 6 May 1915) and Hanna, née Pollack (born on 16 May 1845, died on 29 Oct. 1925), resided at Wexstrasse 39 and operated a "mask costume rental” and a "club article trade” business there.

After the wedding, Konrad Koppel opened a cigar store at Poolstrasse 44. The couple moved into an apartment at Marcusstrasse 25 (today Markusstrasse).

Their first child, daughter Else, was born on 10 Jan. 1906, son Curt followed on 3 Oct. 1907, and the youngest, Herbert, on 17 Oct. 1908. Konrad Koppel took part in the First World War and served as a cavalryman for the Wandsbek Husars. In 1918, he was discharged from military service, but he could not resume his business activities for health reasons. Konrad Koppel was listed in the 1920 Hamburg directory as a trader, and later he worked as an office employee. At that time, the family lived at Schlachterstrasse 46/47, house 7, in the Jewish Lazarus-Gumpel-Stift, a residential home. Konrad Koppel died on 25 Sept. 1923, at the age of 43.

The older son Curt completed an apprenticeship as a plumber and remained in his mother’s household. Later, both moved into a smaller two-room apartment within the Lazarus-Gumpel-Stift.

His siblings Herbert and Else started their own families. Else completed her commercial training and on 12 Oct. 1928, she married the silversmith Julius Marcus, born on 26 Mar. 1904. Her father-in-law Gustav Marcus (see corresponding entry) was a paper merchant based at Peterstrasse 71/73. Daughter Marion was born on 21 June 1929. When Marion reached school age, she attended the girls’ school of the German-Israelitic Community on Carolinenstrasse. She was considered a good student and lived with her parents at Schumannstrasse 50a in Hamburg-Uhlenhorst.

On 5 Aug. 1933, Herbert Koppel married Alice Lohse from Hamburg, born on 16 July 1907. Alice was not Jewish and worked as a sales assistant at EPA (Einheitspreis-AG) on Rödingsmarkt. Her superior, showing foresight, continued to have her on file after her marriage under her maiden name of Lohse. In the summer of 1935, she was nevertheless dismissed because of her Jewish husband. Herbert Koppel had learned the trade of a painter and being a Jew, he was no longer admitted to the master examination in 1934. He worked at the Ivan Levy Company at Kippingstrasse 25 until he became unemployed in 1937.

As the couple had no children, the marriage was considered a "non-privileged mixed marriage” ("nichtprivilegierte Mischehe”). From 1 Sept. 1941 onward, Herbert Koppel had to wear the "Jews’ star” ("Judenstern”) and he was also subject to the other restrictions applicable to Jews.

According to Herbert Koppel, his mother Johanna was dismissed in 1941 after 20 years as a checkroom attendant in the upper circle of the Hamburg Musikhalle (today Laeiszhalle), the concert hall on Karl-Muck-Platz (today Johannes-Brahms-Platz). After the war, a former colleague confirmed to the Restitution Office (Amt für Wiedergutmachung) the following: "I knew that Johanna Koppel was Jewish and I remember that one day, she did not return to duty.”

Johanna Koppel was deported together with her son Curt, daughter Else, her son-in-law Julius Marcus, and granddaughter Marion to the Minsk Ghetto on 8 Nov. 1941. Stolpersteine in front of the house at Grindelberg 7 were laid for the couple Marcus and daughter Marion.

On 25 Aug. 1943, Herbert and Alice Koppel were forced to leave their apartment at Scheideweg 46 in Eimsbüttel, and they were quartered at Bornstrasse 22, in a "Jews’ house” ("Judenhaus”). Since the beginning of the year, Alice Koppel worked in an Iranian bazaar at Graskeller 23. After a negative statement about the Waffen-SS and Adolf Hitler, she suspected that she was denounced by a female customer present. On 16 Mar. 1944, she was taken into "protective custody” ("Schutzhaft”) for this offense against the "Treachery Act” (Heimtückegesetz). She was able to obtain a stay of proceedings and her release from custody on 25 July 1944, although she was "advised” to divorce. Alice Koppel continued to stand by her husband, who until the end of the war had to perform forced labor with other Jewish men from "mixed marriages” in a so-called Jewish labor deployment. Herbert Koppel was seriously injured while cleaning up a painting company in Hamburg-Harburg following an air raid. After the war, he eventually did complete his master examination, which had been denied him in 1934, and went into business for himself as a master painter at Goebenstrasse 11 in Eimsbüttel. He died on 12 Oct. 1988 in Hamburg.

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

Stand: May 2020
© Susanne Rosendahl

Quellen: 1; 4; 9; StaH 351-11 AfW 19857 (Koppel, Herbert); StaH 351-11 AfW 32248 (Koppel, Alice); StaH 213-13 Z 27940; StaH 332-5 Standesämter 396 u 954/1896; StaH 332-5 Standesämter 869 u 612/1923; StaH 352-5 Todesbescheinigung 1923, Sta 2, 612; StaH 332-5 Standesämter 1980 u 3365/1880; StaH 332-5 Standesämter 2202 u 3614/1889; StaH 332-5 Standesämter 14229 u 764/1904; StaH 332-5 Standesämter 3043 u 772/1905; StaH 332-5 Standesämter 722 u 459/1915; StaH 332-5 Standesämter 13950 u 520/1933; StaH 332-5 Standesämter 1023 u 313/1934; StaH 332-5 Standesämter 2592 u 1390/1878; StaH 332-5 Standesämter 938 u 311/1928; StaH 332-5 Standesämter 1954 u 2060/1879; StaH 332-5 Standesämter 13950 u 520/1933; StaH 522-1 Jüdische Gemeinden 477; StaH 522-1 Jüdische Gemeinde Nr. 992 e 2 Band 5; diverse Hamburger Adressbücher.
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