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Friedrich Glaser * 1888

Reeperbahn 100 (Hamburg-Mitte, St. Pauli)

HIER WOHNTE
DR. FRIEDRICH GLASER
JG. 1888
DEPORTIERT 1942
THERESIENSTADT
1944 AUSCHWITZ
ERMORDET

further stumbling stones in Reeperbahn 100:
Olga Glaser

Dr. Friedrich Glaser, born on 12 Aug. 1888 in Zabrze (Hindenburg)/Silesia, deported on 15 July 1942 to Theresienstadt, deported further on 19 Oct. 1944 to Auschwitz
Olga Auguste Glaser, née Fränkel, born on 17 Sept. 1892 in Hamburg, deported on 15 July 1942 to Theresienstadt, died there on 19 Apr. 1943

Reeperbahn 100

The Jewish doctor Friedrich Glaser was born on 12 Aug. 1888 as the youngest son of the married couple Max and Fanny Spitz in Zabrze/Silesia, and he probably came to Hamburg in 1914 after completing his studies in medicine at the University of Breslau (today Wroclaw in Poland). He moved into a spacious apartment on the third floor at Reeperbahn 100, which also included the practice with a waiting room and two treatment rooms. It is not possible to establish the exact date when he met and married his future wife, Olga Fränkel, a native of Hamburg. In 1923, the first daughter, Ilse, was born, and in 1928, daughter Ingeborg. Olga Glaser was a "half-Jew” ("Halbjüdin”) and belonged to the Protestant church; both daughters were baptized. Nevertheless, the marriage of the Glasers was considered Jewish, for "half-Jews” ("jüdische Mischlinge”) married to Jews were treated like Jews.

From the reports of a close friend of the family, which he wrote in the course of the restitution proceedings, emerges a clear picture of Dr. Glaser as a general practitioner in St. Pauli:

"He was and was universally considered an especially capable and conscientious physician, who was extremely popular in St. Pauli because of his sociable personality. His consulting hours were always fully booked and often we had to wait for a long time with supper because patients still awaited treatment. Frequently, by the way, these also included sailors paying in foreign currency, whom innkeepers, hoteliers, and businessmen of St. Pauli sent to him … As I have already mentioned, he was extraordinarily good-natured and willing to help. Not only did he treat patients claiming they were unable to pay free of charge, but he often gave them gifts of money. These may have been smaller sums but he also loaned larger sums to companies in St. Pauli.”

According to information by a niece, the Glaser family lived in well-to-do circumstances. Their home was described as "above-average valuable and high-quality,” with the property also including a car, an "Opel Olympia.” The vacations were spent "in St. Moritz and Baden-Baden at the best hotels.” One friend recalled that it was suggested to Olga ("Olly”) Glaser to get divorced from her husband "in order to evade deportation.” However, Olga stood by her husband and as a member of the Protestant church was liable to pay dues to the Jewish Community as well from 1939 onward.

Like all "non-Aryan” doctors, Dr. Glaser also had his license as a physician revoked as of 30 Sept. 1938, which meant he had to give up his medical practice on Reeperbahn – it seems that he had not considered emigration abroad, a move some three quarters of all Jewish physicians from Hamburg had undertaken in order to escape the impending deportation. Perhaps due to his advanced age, he had not entertained much hope for a promising fresh start abroad. Perhaps he also banked on the privilege of being able to continue working as a "treater of the sick” ("Krankenbehandler”) – exclusively for Jewish patients. This permit to treat patients was valid only until further notice and excluded numerous doctor’s competencies, such as preparing vaccines and sera. From the payment of dues to the Jewish Community, one can see that until his deportation to Theresienstadt in July 1942, he worked as a doctor at changing locations of the Israelite Hospital, at the very end at Johnsallee 68.

Until the end of Mar. 1942, Friedrich and Olga Glaser continued to live on Reeperbahn, then having to move to the "Jews’ house” ("Judenhaus”) at Grossneumarkt 56. They only had a few months left there until their "evacuation” to Theresienstadt on 15 July 1942. According to testimony by a female relative, they "had already been picked up twice before their final deportation and sent home again.” The two daughters of the Glaser couple had been sent to Ireland on a "children transport” ("Kindertransport”) as early as July 1939, thus escaping deportation.

Olga Glaser died on 19 Apr. 1943 in Theresienstadt; her husband Friedrich was deported further on Transport "Es-907” to the Auschwitz extermination camp on 19 Oct. 1944. This transport was comprised of 1,500 Jewish men, women, and children, of whom 169 women and 173 men were committed to the camp after the "selection.” The other 1,158 persons were killed in the gas chambers.

It is not known whether Friedrich Glaser was also killed immediately after arriving in Auschwitz or whether he was, due to his profession as a doctor, possibly used in the camp, thus surviving in the extermination camp for a short while. Likewise, it is no longer possible to clarify whether he was still killed in one of the gas chambers or whether he perished on one of the so-called "death marches” moving westward from Jan. 1945 onward after the dismantling of the camp.

The two children of the Glaser couple survived the war in Ireland. The older daughter Ilse moved back to Hamburg in the 1960s; Ingeborg kept her residence in London.

Translator: Erwin Fink

Kindly supported by the Hermann Reemtsma Stiftung, Hamburg.

© Gunhild Ohl-Hinz

Quellen: 1; 2; 4; 7; StaH 351-11 AfW, Abl. 2008/1, 120888 Glaser, Friedrich; StaH 351-11 AfW, Abl. 2008/1, 170992 Glaser, Olga; StaH, 214-1 Gerichtsvollzieherwesen, 288; StaH 314-15 OFP, Abl. 1998/1, J 6/249-50; StaH 314-15 OFP, R 1938/3563; StaH 522-1 Jüd. Gemeinden, 992 d Band 9, Steuerakte 30151; Czech, Kalendarium, 1989; Mosel, Johnsallee, http://www1.uni-hamburg.de/rz3a035//johnsallee3.html (2.3.2009).
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(2) Bundesarchiv Berlin, R 1509 Reichssippenamt, Ergänzungskarten der Volkszählung vom 17. Mai 1939