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Elsa Jakob (née Löwe) * 1878

Bornstraße 14 (Eimsbüttel, Rotherbaum)

1941 Minsk

further stumbling stones in Bornstraße 14:
Eugen Alexander, Max Jakob, Dorit Jakob, Marion Jakob, Frieda Rieper

Willi Jakob, born on 26 Jan. 1878, deported on 8 Nov. 1941 to Minsk, murdered on 10 Feb. 1945 in the Buchenwald concentration camp
Elsa Jakob, née Löwe, born on 27 Sept. 1878, deported on 8 Nov. 1941 to Minsk

Bornstrasse 14 / Rotherbaum

Willi Jakob was born on 26 Jan. 1878 in Nieder-Gemünden as a child of the Jewish livestock dealer Moses Jakob and his wife Biene Kaiser. (His parents both died in Nieder-Gemünden/Marburg).
We cannot report anything about Willi Jakob’s childhood.

Willi Jakob married Elsa Anna Alwine Löwe on 5 Jan. 1904 in Hamburg. She had been born on 27 Sept. 1878 in Hamburg. (Her parents were named Edward Löwe and Susanna Löwe, née Jacob). Elsa Löwe had learned the trade of a cook.

In 1904, Willi Jakob opened a fruit and vegetable store at Bornstrasse 14. An apartment belonged to the store, so that the couple could also reside and live there comfortably. At this location, they also had two children: on 20 Sept. 1904, Irma and on 27 Oct. 1906, Max.

On 21 Mar. 1914, Willi Jakob applied for civic rights (citizenship), which was approved by the City of Hamburg on 24 Apr. 1914. He stated that he had paid tax on an annual income of 1200 marks in the preceding five years and announced that he would pay tax on 1200 marks in the year of application as well.

Irma and Max Jakob received a strict religious education and attended the Talmud Tora Realschule on Grindelhof in Hamburg. After completing his schooling, Max worked as a helper and janitor at the Talmud Tora School. Irma trained as a photographer.

Willi and Elsa Jakob’s vegetable store enjoyed a good reputation. They received help and support from son Max, and in the store, they employed a staff of three to deliver the groceries. In 1934, they also hired a salaried employee, the non-Jewish Gertrud Kerwien, who worked there until the closing of the store.

On 10 Nov. 1938, SA commandos fanned out to demolish the stores owned and operated by Jews. Destruction and looting were the result in many neighborhoods in Hamburg. Between 10 and 15 November, a documented 873 Jews were then sent to the Hamburg Fuhlsbüttel police prison, and most of them were transferred to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. Willi Jakob, too, was arrested on 11 Nov. 1938, and transferred to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp via the Fuhlsbüttel police prison. He remained there until he was released on 25 Nov. 1938. Following the arrest, his vegetable store was closed on 12 Nov. 1938. We have no information about the following three years.

Willi and Elsa Jakob were deported to Minsk on 8 Nov. 1941. The 63-year old Elsa Jakob was murdered there.

Willi was further deported as a Jewish forced laborer from the Minsk Ghetto to the Gross Rosen concentration camp in Lower Silesia. There the prisoners had to mine granite in quarries. At the beginning of 1945, in the face of the advancing Red Army, the death marches began. Willi Jakob thus arrived at the Buchenwald concentration camp, where he was murdered at the age of 67 in Buchenwald on 10 Feb. 1945.

Details regarding the fate of Willi and Elsa Jakob’s children:
Irma Jakob was no longer able to pursue her profession as a photographer in Hamburg. She married the non-Jewish Ernst August Karl Maass (born on 12 May 1898) and emigrated with him to the USA.

Max Jakob married Lea Frida Bari on 2 Dec. 1933. They had children Marga Marion (born on 26 Oct. 1934) and Dorit Rita (born on 12 Oct. 1935). Lea Frida Jakob died on 9 Feb. 1941 and she was buried in the Ilandkoppel Jewish Cemetery. Her husband Max and children Marga Marion and Dorit Rita were deported to Riga on 6 Dec. 1941.

The children were murdered in Riga. Max was further deported to the Stutthof concentration camp and then to the Buchenwald concentration camp, where he was murdered on 24 Mar. 1945. (See www.stolpersteine-hamburg.de.)

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

Stand: August 2021
© Bärbel Klein

Quellen: StaH; 1; 2; 3; 4; 5; 6; 7; 8; 131-1 II_6851 Korrespondenz ehem. Jüd. Mitbürger; 213-13_11410 Max und Lea Jakob; 351-14_923 Mendel Bari; 351-11_3846 Max und Lea Jakob; 351-11_4025 Max und Lea Jakob; 351-11_29263 Max und Lea Jakob; 351-11_31483 Max und Lea Jakob; 351-11_34415 Leo Scharf / Bari; 522-1_992 f 2; 522-1_992 p 1569; 522-1_992 p 1567; 332-5_1073/1877; 332-5_1650/1878; 332-5_3030/1878; 332-5_502/1879; 332-5_3331/1880; 332-5_156/1882; 332-5_2026/1883; 332-5_1011/1887; 332-5_4321/1888; 332-5_4437/1889; 332-5_4486/1890; 332-5_2717/1891; 332-5_4729/1891; 332-5_1356/1892; 332-5_3529/1894; 332-5_105/1895; 332-5_3034/1895; 332-5_1136/1896; 332-5_1394/1896; 332-5_1862/1896; 332-5_1167/1897; 32-5_589/1898; 332-5_2062/1899; 332-5_3516/1899; 332-5_1554/1900; 332-5_84/1902; 332-5_7/1904; 332-5_2473/1904; 332-5_154/1906; 332-5_789/1906; 332-5_297/1911; 332-5_210/1913; 332.5_780/1914; 332-5_232/1917; 332-5_290/1917; 332-5_468/1921; 332-5_265/1922; 332-5_363/1922; 332-5_873/1928; 332-5_433/1933; 332-5_508/1933; 332-5_233/1934; 332-5_3/1936; 3325-5_235/1936; 332-5_402/1939; 332-5_505/1939; 332-5_572/1940; 332-5_48/1941; 332-5_209/1941; 332-5_294/1942; ITS Archives Bad Arolsen Digital Archive Korrespondenzakte 6.3.3.2 / 7105 Archivnummer [89794673]; ITS Archives Bad Arolsen Digital Archive Korrespondenzakte 6.3.3.2 / 7105 Archivnummer [90688216] und ITS Archives Bad Arolsen Digital Archive Korrespondenzakte 6.3.3.2 / 7105 Archivnummer [90688253] in alle Akten Einsichtnahme am 7.3.2017; Jüdische Baudenkmäler in Hamburg, Irmgard Stein, Hans Hamburg 1984, Seite 114, Absatz 2 und 3; 332-7_AIF 267/125698/1914 Bürgerprotokoll; Auskunft Gedenkstätte Sachsenhausen v. 17.1.2021; www.ancestry.de; www.geni.com; www.wikipedea.de (Einsicht 26.09.2020).