Zwangsräume
Antisemitische Wohnungspolitik in Berlin 1939–1945
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16.10.2023
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The building at what was then Klopstockstraße 30 contained a total of 20 apartments. 12 or 13 of them were occupied by Jews. Records name 37 Jewish people who moved in here after after May 1939.
The street has now been largely rebuilt. The house at Klopstockstraße 30 stood roughly at what is now Bartningallee 7.
The property was owned by the Jewish businessman Emil Scharlinsky, who also lived in the building. In 1938 he was forced to sell it to Elfriede Bergmann, a non-Jew, but the sale was not entered in the land register until 1940. For that reason, the property was deemed to be “in Jewish ownership” on May 5, 1939, and qualified as a place to forcibly rehouse Jewish people.
Emil Scharlinsky died at home on October 7, 1940. His wife Hertha and sons Heinz and Herbert were forced to move out after his death. They were all deported and murdered.
Where were the forced homes?
Street-facing building, 1st floor
4.5 rooms
Street-facing building, 1st floor
3 rooms
Street-facing building, 3rd floor
3 rooms
Side wing, 1st floor, right
3 rooms
Side wing, 2nd floor, right
3 rooms
Rear building
3 rooms
Rear building, 1st floor
3.5 rooms
Rear building, 1st floor
3 rooms
Rear building, 2nd floor, left
3 rooms
Rear building, 3rd floor, left (presumably)
3 rooms
Rear building, 5th floor
3.5 rooms
13 forced homes
2 in unknown locations in the property
Husband-and-wife Amandus and Meta Hirsch lived in the 4.5-room apartment on the first floor of the street-facing building. When exactly they moved in is not clear but they were both registered as resident here on May 17, 1939. In 1940, another couple, Paul and Pauline Jaroczynski, were forcibly housed here. They had previously lived nearby at Thomasiusstraße 5. On September 15, 1942, Margarete Winterfeld, a widow, moved in as a subtenant. She was likely related to Hertha Scharlinsky, née Winterfeld, the wife of the former property owner, Emil Scharlinsky.
Leo and Frieda Silberstein were also housed in the apartment before their deportation on July 15, 1942. Amandus Hirsch died here on January 31, 1942. The other occupants were deported on February 3, or March 17, 1943, and murdered in concentration camps.
Eva Lehrhaupt and her husband Alfred moved into this 3-room apartment in 1934. They lived with their little daughter Gabriele and Alfred Lehrhaupt’s mother, Karoline Lehrhaupt, née Amigo. Alfred Lehrhaupt was the proprietor of a wholesale shoe store, LEVY & LEHRHAUPT. After he was forced to close down the business in 1938, the family decided to emigrate. Alfred Lehrhaupt left for the United Kingdom in June 1939. His wife, daughter, and mother planned to join him there before emigrating altogether to Palestine. But after the outbreak of war in September it became much harder to leave the country. In January 1940, Erna and Siegfried Jalowitz moved into the apartment with their 15-year-old son Kurt.
In August 1942, Nathan and Elsbeth Graetz moved into one room with their adult son Alfred and his daughter Gittel. In the early 1930s, Nathan Graetz had been a jeweler and lived with his wife and children, Hans, Rosy and Alfred, in an 8-room apartment at Westarpstraße 3 in the Bayrischer Viertel neighborhood of Schöneberg. Hans died in 1936 of a brain tumor. Rosy emigrated in 1939 to London. Alfred had lived at Altonaerstraße 10 with his young daughter Gittel. His wife had died a few days after Gittel’s birth. In early January 1940, Nathan and Elsbeth Graetz moved in with Alfred so that Elsbeth could look after her granddaughter. It is unclear why they moved out from there and became subtenants of Eva Lehrhaupt.
"We are well, keeping house together in harmony. Little Gittel our pride and joy. Everyone sends regards."Nathan Graetz to his daughter Rosy Levy in London, September 18, 1942. Source: Graetz family correspondence 1939–1943, Norbert Schweizer private collection
"Why haven’t we heard from you, Rosy, love? Hope you are well. We are all fine and hoping the best."Nathan Graetz to his daughter Rosy Levy in London, November 19, 1942 (the day before he was deported). Source: Graetz family correspondence 1939–1943, Norbert Schweizer private collection
Karoline Lehrhaupt was the first to be deported, on July 23, 1942. Three weeks later, on August 15, 1942, Kurt Jalowitz was deported to Riga. Nathan and his wife Elsbeth Graetz were deported on November 20, 1942, to Theresienstadt. They both died in 1943 of diseases contracted in the ghetto. The remaining occupants of the Lehrhaupt’s apartment, including Alfred and Gittel Graetz, were deported on February 3, 1943, to Auschwitz, where they were murdered.
Simon Beiser took the lease on this 3-room apartment on April 1, 1936. He moved out of the apartment he had shared with his wife as he planned to get a divorce. His non-Jewish maid Ottilie Boelter also lived here. After 1939, three subtenants moved in as well: husband-and-wife Rudi and Else Pottlizer, at an unknown point in time, and Siegmund Hirschberg, on April 1, 1942. The Pottlitzers were deported on January 25, 1942. Simon Beiser was deported some two months later, on April 2, 1942. The housing advice office arranged for Arthur Kosterlitz to move into the apartment and transferred the lease to him. He was joined by the subtenants Elisabeth and Amalie Perls, née Rud. Arthur Kosterlitz, Elisabeth Perls, and Amalie Perls were deported on September 7, 1942. Siegmund Hirschberg remained alone in the apartment for several months until he, too, was deported, on January 14, 1943.
After the Jewish occupants were deported in 1942, their rooms were sealed. In this letter, Martha Mosse requests the apartments’ clearance so that new Jewish tenants can be housed there.
Rosa Ziegler held the lease on this apartment. From 1938 to 1940, she lived here with her husband Richard Ziegler, who died in 1940 in the Jewish hospital. In December 1940 her daughter Herta moved in with her husband Herbert Jakobsthal. They both worked in the Jewish Community kindergarten. It is likely that Rosa Ziegler’s elder daughter, Margarete Adler, née Ziegler, also lived for a time in the apartment but nothing is known of her later whereabouts. Herta and Herbert Jakobsthal were deported on November 29, 1942, and Rosa Ziegler on December 17, 1942.
Husband-and-wife Heinz and Elly Liebmann moved into this apartment with three rooms, a maid’s chamber, and a kitchen some time before 1939. They sublet one room even before the Law on Tenancy with Jews was introduced: Betty Horwitz moved in on January 1, 1939. She was deported on July 23, 1942. Around the same time, the Liebmanns moved in with Heinz Liebmann’s mother at Klopstockstraße 24. They were all deported from there in 1943. Theodor and Friederike Scheyer took over the Liebmann's lease. On November 1, 1942, Ernst and Doris Eilenberg moved into two of the rooms with their twelve-year-old son Rudolf, having been evicted from their spacious 4-room apartment at Altonaer Straße 16. Mr and Mrs Scheyer were deported one month after the Eilenbergs moved in. The Eilenbergs remained in the apartment until their deportation on January 12, 1943.
This apartment had three rooms and a kitchen. Elsa Neustadt moved in here with her husband Karl in 1917. Karl Neustadt died on August 9, 1939. On September 11, 1942, Erna Meyer moved into one room of the apartment. She and Elsa Neustadt were both deported on February 3, 1943.
Leontine Sperber held the lease on this apartment. A widow, she ran her late husband’s shoe store at Dragonerstraße 31 until 1934. After 1941 she was made to perform forced labor. She lived with her three children, Fanny, Ruth, and Hans Sperber. The Gestapo jailed Hans Sperber in 1938. Ruth Sperber emigrated, aged 17, to London. Fanny Sperber lived with her mother until late 1940. She was due to be deported on January 20, 1941, to Ravensbrück concentration camp but managed to go into hiding and survived underground in Berlin. Leontine Sperber was deported in August 1942. Her daughter Fanny later testified, in a statement for the family's compensation file, that her mother had physically suffered under the hostile circumstances, falling severely ill in 1939. Only one subtenant is named in the records: Lydia Adler moved into one room in April 1942. She lived there until she was deported on February 3, 1943.
Gertrud and Martin Sadunischker and their 14-year-old son Alfred moved into this 3-room apartment on October 13, 1941. They were evidently not the first Jewish tenants of the apartment as their subtenant Alice Abraham stated in her declaration of assets that she had lived there since 1940. Being Jewish herself, she would not have been able to rent from non-Jewish tenants by that point. The Sadunischker family were likely forced to sublet to her. In October 1942, Alice Abraham’s fiancé Ismar Engel also moved in. Gertrud and Martin Sadunischker were the last to be deported from the apartment, on February 19, 1943. All the other occupants were deported on February 3, 1943, to Auschwitz.
Margarete Hartstein took the lease on this apartment in 1932. In 1939, her adult children Hans Hartstein and Ruth Wall, née Hartstein, were also registered as resident here. In 1942, Ruth Wall gave birth to a daughter, Bela, who also lived here. Ruth Wall’s husband, Bertram Wall, is mentioned only in his wife’s declaration of assets. It is not clear whether he, too, lived in the apartment for a time or what happened to him later. All the members of the Hartstein/Wall family were deported on February 3, 1943, and murdered. The deportation list of November 29, 1942 names a Joel Hartstein, born in 1939, but he is not mentioned in any other document. There were also two subtenants in the apartment. The name of only one of them, Siegfried Gutfeld, can be verified. He moved into a room in 1936, where he lived until February 1943. He escaped his impending deportation by going underground – and survived.
Martha Rewald took the lease on this apartment on August 1, 1942. She lived here with her 14-year-old son Ralf. Their subtenants Harry and Ella Atlas and Sallo Basch moved in at the same time. They all lived in the apartment for only about six months before being deported on February 3, 1943.
Abraham Reich evidently moved into this apartment in 1893. His unmarried daughter Lotte Reich lived with him and took over the lease after his death. Their 69-year-old non-Jewish housekeeper Auguste Süßenbach also lived in the apartment. In March 1942, the subtenant Rida Moritz moved in. Lotte Reich was deported in June 1942 and Rida Moritz in January 1943.
“A wardrobe, which contained her clothes but is my property, was sealed. Having vacated the apartment on the 30th of the month as required, I hereby request the wardrobe’s release as soon as possible.”
Little is known about Ernst and Alice Mendelsohn, who took the lease on an apartment at Klopstockstraße 30 after 1939. Records mention Eva Mendelsohn, who was barely 14 years old at the time of her deportation and likely their daughter. Ruth Adler lived with them as a subtenant. She was the daughter of Lydia Adler, who sublet a room in another apartment in the building. In 1939, they were both registered as resident at this address. Ruth Adler was deported in February and the Mendelsohns in March 1943.
Cäcilie Levy (Lewy), a widow, held the lease on an apartment at Klopstockstraße 30, which she had probably occupied for many years. Her six sons all emigrated abroad, probably before 1939. Nothing more is known about her life here. She was deported on September 14, 1942.
Gittel Littwack was born on January 23, 1939. Her declaration of assets was completed on December 5, 1942, by Ernst Berger. Alongside her name, he wrote: “Child, aged 4”. It is not clear in whose apartment 4-year-old Gittel lived at Klopstockstraße 30. Ernst Berger does not appear to have been a resident, and no-one else is named in her declaration of assets. Records show that Herta Jakobsthal had a room for an adopted child. Perhaps the child was Gittel. Gittel was deported on December 9, 1942, to Auschwitz, where she was murdered. On January 28, her room on Klopstockstraße was cleared out and the following belongings removed:
"1 tied-up parcel of child’s clothing, 1 briefcase containing a child’s shoes, 1 small stroller."Source: Inventory and Evaluation, Littwack, Gittel, January 28, 1943, BLHA, Rep. 36A (II), Nr. 23821
Very little is known about the neighborly relations at Klopstockstraße 30. But the house wardens’ activities are well documented. Mr & Mrs Gent shared the house warden duties. They lived on the first floor of the street-facing building – right next-door to the Hirsch and Lehrhaupt families. The Gents not only took over the keys to apartments that had been sealed but also items that the deported Jews had left behind in their apartments. They evidently acted as supervisors within the building and witnessed at close quarters how their Jewish neighbors were cooped up together and deported.
Johanna A. Kühne
Born November 21, 1900, in Labischin (Labbiszyn)
Deported February 3, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Born March 21, 1886, in Breslau (Wrocław)
Deported February 3, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Born January 26, 1904, in Mittel-Lagiewnik
Resident at this address according to the 1939 national census, later whereabouts unknown
Born August 30, 1919, in Stettin (Szczecin)
Deported February 3, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Born February 20, 1891, in Reichwalde
Deported February 3, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Born March 9, 1892 (or Septmebr 3, 1892), in Berlin
Deported February 3, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Born December 27, 1879, in Posen (Poznań)
Deported February 3, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Born December 9, 1875, in Kolomea (Kolomyja)
Deported April 2, 1942, to the Warsaw ghetto, died there
Born January 4, 1901, in La Chaux de Fonds
Resident at this address according to the 1939 national census, later whereabouts unknown, possibly escaped to Switzerland
Deported October 24, 1888, in Tremessen (Trzemszno)
Deported January 12, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Born February 17, 1890, in Jaroschin (Jarocin)
Deported January 12, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered February 7, 1943
Born October 9, 1920, in Posen (Poznań)
Deported January 12, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Born February 19, 1895, in Berlin
Deported February 3, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Born March 20, 1919, in Berlin
Imprisoned in Sachsenhausen concentration camp (date unknown), died May 7, 1942
Born February 13, 1906, in Berlin
Deported February 3, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Born May 31, 1878, in Berlin
Deported November 20, 1942, to the Theresienstadt ghetto, died August 5, 1943
Born October 24, 1939, in Berlin
Deported February 3, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Born March 9, 1870, in Landsberg an der Warthe (Gorzów Wielkopolski)
Deported November 20, 1942, to the Theresienstadt ghetto, died May 8, 1943
Born July 10, 1898, in Gollub (Golub)
Deported September 10, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Born January 13, 1927, in Berli
Deported February 3, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Born July 15, 1939, in Berlin
Deported November 29, 1942, to Auschwitz, murdered
Born October 13, 1864, in Berlin
Resident at this address according to the 1939 national census, later whereabouts unknown
Born January 21, 1877, in Forst (Lausitz)
Died January 31, 1942, in Berlin
Born April 29, 1884, in Berlin
Deported February 3, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered in March 1943
Born March 21, 1865, in Mewe (Gniew)
Deported January 14, 1943, to the Theresienstadt ghetto, died February 11, 1943
Born August 3, 1870, in Berlin
Deported July 23, 1942, to the Theresienstadt ghetto, died before September 9, 1942
Born July 24, 1905, in Kahla
Deported November 29, 1942, to Auschwitz, murdered January 3, 1943
Born January 17, 1910, in Hohenlinde (Łagiewniki)
Deported November 29, 1942, to Auschwitz, murdered
Born December 23, 1894, in Schroda (Środa)
Deported February 3, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Born May 24, 1925, in Berlin
Deported August 15, 1942, to the Riga ghetto, murdered August 18, 1942
Born October 17, 1895, in Kletzko (Kłecko)
Deported February 3, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Born September 25, 1873, in Zduny
Deported March 17, 1943, to the Theresienstadt ghetto, died there
Born December 12, 1874, in Landsberg an der Warthe (Gorzów Wielkopolski)
Deported March 17, 1943, to the Theresienstadt ghetto, died there
Born March 28, 1870, in Breslau (Wrocław)
Deported September 14, 1942, to the Theresienstadt ghetto, died February 12, 1943
Born April 27, 1867, in Cosel
Deported September 29, 1942, to Treblinka extermination camp, murdered
Born January 16, 1902, in Berlin
Escaped June 1939 to the United Kingdom
Survived
Born July 6, 1905, in Berlin
Deported February 3, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Born October 6, 1934, in Berlin
Deported February 3, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Born May 12, 1863, in Temsevár
Deported July 23, 1942, to the Theresienstadt ghetto, died there
Born May 3, 1911, in Berlin
Escaped March 6, 1935 to Palestine
Survived
Born January 10, 1866, in Pudewitz (Pobiedziska)
Deported September 14, 1942, to the Theresienstadt ghetto, died January 10, 1945
Born January 23, 1939, in Berlin
Deported December 9, 1942, to Auschwitz, murdered
Born February 22, 1900, in Berlin
Deported March 2, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Born April 1, 1887, in Berlin
Deported March 2, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Born March 6, 1929, in Berlin
Deported March 2, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Born October 26, 1886, in Stendal
Deported March 2, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Born February 18, 1874, in Braunschweig
Deported January 13, 1943, to the Theresienstadt ghetto, died March 28, 1944
Born July 14, 1885, in Breslau (Wrocław)
Deported February 3, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Born February 14, 1857, in Krotoszyn (Krotoschin)
Died August 9, 1939, in Berlin
Born June 26, 1889, in Posen (Poznań)
Deported September 5, 1942, to the Riga ghetto, murdered September 8, 1942
Born November 29, 1858, in Laurahütte (Siemianowice)
Deported September 7, 1942, to the Theresienstadt ghetto, died October 7, 1942
Born January 20, 1891, in Berlin
Deported September 7, 1942, to the Theresienstadt ghetto; October 16, 1944, to Auschwitz, murdered
Born April 29, 1880, in Mortschen (Mrocza)
Escaped August 19, 1941, to the United States
Survived
Born January 4, 1904, in Bamberg
Deported January 25, 1942, to the Riga ghetto, died there
Born April 27, 1894, in Bromberg (Bydgoszcz)
Deported January 25, 1942, to the Riga ghetto, died there
Born July 10, 1857, in Duschnik (Duszniki)
Died December 15, 1941, in Berlin
Born January 31, 1896, in Berlin
Escaped April 20, 1941, to the United States
Survived
Born March 27, 1889, in Berlin
Deported June 13, 1942, to the Sobibor extermination camp, murdered
Born December 29, 1898, in Berlin
Deported February 3, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Born September 14, 1928, in Berlin
Deported February 3, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Born August 25, 1914, in Berlin
Deported June 16, 1943, to the Theresienstadt ghetto; February 6, 1945, to Flossenbürg concentration camp, murdered March 4, 1945
Born April 6, 1874, in Breslau (Wrocław)
Deported October 3, 1942, to the Theresienstadt ghetto, died June 2, 1943
Born April 20, 1893, in Memel
Deported February 19, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Born June 8, 1927, in Berlin
Deported February 3, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Born June 22, 1884, in Vilnius (Wilno)
Deported February 19, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Born August 17, 1905, in Wörrstadt
Deported December 9, 1942, to Auschwitz, murdered
Born December 12, 1907, in Gleiwitz (Gliwice)
Deported December 9, 1942, to Auschwitz, murdered
Born May 10, 1869, in Grätz (Grodzisk)
Deported July 15, 1942, to the Theresienstadt ghetto; May 18, 1944, to Auschwitz, murdered
Born July 20, 1872, in Grätz (Grodzisk)
Deported July 15, 1942, to the Theresienstadt ghetto; May 18, 1944, to Auschwitz, murdered
Born January 19, 1889, in Berlin
Deported September 5, 1942, to the Riga ghetto, murdered September 8, 1942
Born August 10, 1975, in Vienna
Resident at this address according to the 1939 national census, later whereabouts unknown
Born December 21, 1914, in Berlin
Escaped April 15, 1941, abroad
Survived
Born July 4, 1887, in Krakau (Kraków)
Deported August 15, 1942, to the Riga ghetto, murdered August 18, 1942
Born November 30, 1919, in Berlin
Escaped abroad
Survived
Born November 21, 1942, in Berlin
Deported February 3, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Born May 4, 1920, in Berlin
Deported February 3, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Born April 20, 1864, in Peterkau
Deported November 20, 1942, to the Theresienstadt ghetto, died December 20, 1943
Born April 3, 1890, in Berlin
Deported February 3, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Born January 19, 1866, in Kupp
Died October 27, 1940, in Berlin
Born March 20, 1873, in Lagiewnik
Deported December 17, 1942, to the Theresienstadt ghetto, died January 31, 1944
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