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Günter Rosenthal * 1893

Schlüterstraße 5 (Eimsbüttel, Rotherbaum)

HIER WOHNTE
GÜNTER ROSENTHAL
JG.1893
VERHAFTET 1939
ZUCHTHAUS BREMEN
1943 KZ FUHLSBÜTTEL
DEPORTIERT 1943
AUSCHWITZ
ERMORDET 13.2.1943

further stumbling stones in Schlüterstraße 5:
Lotte Mansfeldt, Bela Mansfeldt, Adolf Sachsenhaus, Alice Sachsenhaus, Martha Seidel

Günther Friedrich Rosenthal, born on 13 June 1893 in Lübeck, murdered in Auschwitz on 13 Feb. 1943

Schlüterstrasse 5

The bookseller Günther Rosenthal was a native of Lübeck and the son of the married couple Max and Julie Rosenthal, née Simon. On 10 June 1923, he joined the Jewish Community in Hamburg. At that time, his income was not sufficient to be taxed.

In 1923, his business address as a bookseller was at Bismarckstrasse 128. At the same time, he resided at Hochallee 77, where he remained until he moved to Parkallee 4 on 12 Dec. 1935. Two years later, he moved to the ground floor of Schlüterstrasse 5. Since 21 Apr. 1937, he lived there as a subtenant of Levy.

Günther Rosenthal was arrested on 18 Oct. 1938, on charges of "racial defilement” ("Rassenschande”) and committed to the Fuhlsbüttel concentration camp. On 25 October, he was transferred to the Fuhlsbüttel prison for pretrial detention. There, he awaited his trial. Almost a year later, on 28 June 1939, Günther Rosenthal was sentenced to five years in prison. He was found guilty of committing "racial defilement” in five cases. In doing so, he had infringed Secs. 2 and 5 II of the "Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honor” ("Gesetz zum Schutz des deutschen Blutes und der deutschen Ehre”). Günther Rosenthal had probably had one or more relationships with non-Jewish women. His criminal records no longer exist today, so the exact "crime” can no longer be traced.

At 1:50 p.m. on 25 Sept. 1939, Guenther Rosenthal began serving his sentence in the Bremen-Oslebshausen penal camp. The end of his imprisonment would have been on 23 Jan. 1944. On 1 June 1940, he was transferred from Bremen-Oslebshausen to Fuhlsbüttel. A short time later, on 16 Sept. 1940, Günther Rosenthal had to seek treatment in the prison hospital. There, he named Militta Salomon from Oslo as a relative who was to be notified in case of an emergency.

While Günther Rosenthal was in prison, the foreign currency office of the Chief Finance Administrator (Oberfinanzpräsident) tried to confiscate his assets. A summons was sent to his last address, Schlüterstrasse 5, stating that he had to be at the office of the Chief Finance Administrator, Hindenburghaus, Grosser Burstah 31, at 11:30 a.m. on 7 Feb. 1940. He had to bring along the obligatory questionnaire that Jews had to complete. It contained personal details, marital status, current income, current expenses, and remaining assets.

The letter did not reach Günther Rosenthal, as a result of which the tax official noted in his files on 7 Feb. 1940: "By telephone inquiry at the registration office, it was established that Günther Friedrich Israel Rosenthal is currently serving time in Bremen Prison for racial defilement. According to information received by phone, the account was closed in 1939.” At that time, Günther Rosenthal had just 500 RM (reichsmark) in assets in an account with the Warburg Bank.

In Oct. /Nov. 1942, a decree was issued, according to which German prisons and penitentiaries were to be made "free of Jews.” Günther Rosenthal was therefore transferred to the Fuhlsbüttel concentration camp on 14 Jan. 1943. There he was detained until his deportation to Auschwitz. This took place on 28 Jan. 1943. Two weeks later, on 13 Feb. 1943, Günther Rosenthal was murdered in the Auschwitz concentration camp at the age of 49.

After the war, the Red Cross sent Günther Rosenthal’s death certificate to the responsible district office in Eimsbüttel in Hamburg. Nobody had requested it. Therefore, it can be assumed that Günther Rosenthal no longer had any close relatives.

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

Stand: September 2020
© Carmen Bisotti

Quellen: 1; 4; 5; 8; StaHH, 242-1 II, Gefängnisverwaltung II, 24862; StaHH, 314-15, OFP, R 1940/914; Hamburger Fernsprechbücher 1923-1939.
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