Zwangsräume
Antisemitische Wohnungspolitik in Berlin 1939–1945
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16.10.2023
Schlüterstraße 54
Schlüterstraße 54
Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf
This elegant house in the middle-class neighborhood of Charlottenburg contained at least three apartments, including a boarding house, that were used as compulsory accommodation between 1939 and 1945. At least 36 of the Jewish residents were deported from here. Many non-Jewish people also lived in the building. One of them gave a rare statement on how her Jewish neighbors were arrested prior to deportation.
The property containing twelve apartments belonged to Grete Bilgrey, née Swaap, who was categorized as Jewish and emigrated to The Netherlands some time before 1939.
Many Jewish people lived in the Pension Phiebig boarding rooms. After 1939, Jewish people were also forcibly housed here.
Until around 1940 there was another boarding house in the building, Familienheim Schlesinger, used mostly by Jewish people. After its closure, most of the residents were forced to move out of the building. Schlüterstraße 54 was their last voluntary place of residence. Of the 20 stumbling stones laid outside the building, most therefore commemorate former residents of the Familienheim Schlesinger boarding rooms.
Apartments
Street-facing building, 2nd and 5th floor
2nd
Pension Phiebig
The boarding house Pension Phiebig was run by Rosa Phiebig. It comprised eight rooms on the second floor and ten rooms on the fifth floor. Gertrud Abramczyk worked in the boarding house and lived with her husband Wilhelm in two rooms on the fifth floor.
Gertrud and Wilhelm Abramczyk, undated, photo: A. Wertheim, Rosenthalerstraße, Berlin. Source: Regionaal Archief Zuid-Utrecht, Wijk bij Duurstede. Archief Werner Abernau
After 1939, Jewish people were also forced to move into the boarding rooms. Gertrud Friedländer, a long-term resident, wrote to her nephew on November 18, 1941:
“Our rooms [were] once again inspected [by employees of the Berlin Jewish Community’s housing advice office] and it now seems we will get co-tenants; that’s something we’re more willing to accept these days if it only means we don’t have to get out.”Quoted from: Letter Gertrud Friedländer, November 18, 1941, BHLA, Rep. 36A (II) Nr.10314
Rosa Phiebig’s daughter, Susan Phillips, who emigrated to England in 1939, later stated that her mother had rented out 15 rooms, mostly to wealthy Jewish pensioners. When she left Germany, some 18 people had lived in the boarding rooms. Between 1942 and 1943, 27 people were deported from the boarding house. Only six of them were under 60, most were older.
Street-facing building, 4th floor
4th
Levi
Siegfried Levi, a urological surgeon, moved into a well-appointed five-room apartment on the fourth floor on April 16, 1940. His wife and a surgical nurse were named in the rental agreement as cohabitants. Siegfried Levi also ran his practice in the apartment.
Sachs
Another apartment on the fourth floor was occupied by husband-and-wife Hans and Hedwig Sachs after 1939. It is not known when exactly they moved in or how large the apartment was. In 1939 they had been resident in Oranienburg. In May 1940 thy were joined by a subtenant: Johanna Isenthal, who had previously lived at Windscheidstraße 34, occupied a half-room in the Sachs’ apartment.
Unknown location
Eight people were deported from Schlüterstraß whose rooms in the building were not documented, mostly because they were subtenants.
Dr. Alexander and Else Cohn
Husband-and-wife Dr. Alexander and Else Cohn moved from Schillerstraße 9 in Berlin-Charlottenburg to an unfurnished room at Schlüterstraße 54 in 1942. They were forced to move in the course of an eviction campaign ordered by the General Building Inspector in the Reich Capital, Albert Speer.
When Alexander Cohn later filed for compensation, his lawyer wrote: "As he [Alexander Cohn] has explained, he had inhabited a 4 ½-room apartment in Berlin-Charlottenburg, Schillerstr. 9, which he was forced to vacate at only a few days’ notice following the so-called ‘Speer tenancy termination’ of May 1942.”
Quoted from: Entschädigungsantrag Dr. Alexander Cohn, March 4, 1969, LABO Berlin, BEG-Antrag, Reg.-Nr. 6 770, S. 3
Else and Alexander Cohn were deported on January 28, 1943, to the Theresienstadt ghetto. Both survived.
Käte Binner, mariée Klein, and her daughters Ruth Klein and Juliane Binner
Käte Binner probably moved into the building on Schlüterstraße following the arrest of her ex-husband Martin Klein on January 1, 1938. She was categorized as “of mixed Jewish race (first degree)”. She obtained a divorce on paper from her Jewish husband, Martin Klein, in a bid to protect herself and her daughters from Nazi persecution. But the couple continued to live together in an apartment at Kurfürstendamm 217 after their divorce. Käte Binner was deported along with her children on January 29, 1943. At the time of their deportation, Ruth Klein was 13 and Juliane Binner was eight years old. All three were murdered in Auschwitz.
Neighborhood
Alongside the Jewish residents, many non-Jewish people also lived at Schlüterstraße 54. In late 1942, deportations from the building suddenly increased. Eleven people were deported on January 28 and 29, 1943, alone. Their non-Jewish neighbor Frieda Reimer remembered:
“I can’t say the exact year but I suppose it was before 1943. I can remember what happened because I saw it with my own eyes. That evening I came home from work and when I entered the building, I noticed that all the Jewish residents, some of whom I was acquainted with, were waiting in the hallway. Most had small pieces of hand luggage with them. They were being guarded, presumably by the SS, and waiting to be transported away. The house warden, a certain Herr Burgau, signalled to me to move on when I tried to talk to the children, who they were going to take away, too.”
Quoted from: Aussage Frieda Reimer, 24. Juli 1959, LABO Berlin, BEG-Akte Rosa Phiebig, Reg.-Nr. 276 150
Juliane Binner and Ruth Klein were the only children to be deported from the building. Their date of deportation (contrary to what their neighbor remembered) was January 29, 1943.
Author
Johanna A. Kühne
In remembrance of the Jewish residents of Schlüterstraße 54
Gertrud Abramczyk, née Arnheim
Born October 22, 1877, in Berlin
Deported October 3, 1942, to the Theresienstadt ghetto, died October 30, 1942
Wilhelm Abramczyk
Born July 9, 1864, in Potsdam
Deported October 3, 1942, to the Theresienstadt ghetto, died December 19, 1942
Fritz Behrens
Born March 31, 1872, in Berlin
Deported July 30, 1942, to the Theresienstadt ghetto, died November 28, 1942
Margarete Behrens, née Maass
Born November 9, 1878, in Berlin
Deported July 30, 1942, to the Theresienstadt ghetto, died there
Hedwig Bernhard
Born July 23, 1888, in Berlin
Suicide February 26, 1943, in Berlin
Elsbeth Bernstein, née Mollheim
Born September 5, 1883, in Köthen
Emigrated October 16, 1942, to Ecuador
Survived
Julius Bernstein
Born October 19, 1879, in Wilczowo
Emigrated October 16, 1942, to Ecuador
Survived
Juliane Binner
Born April 20, 1934, in Berlin
Deported January 29, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Ester Blank, née Samter
Born June 26, 1873, in Berlin
Deported June 12, 1942, to the Theresienstadt ghetto, died January 23, 1943
Bianca Brasch, née Lazarus
Born October 25, 1877, in Zempelburg (Sępólno)
Deported January 29, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered in March 1943
Artur Brock
Born January 28, 1874, in Berlin
Emigrated October 1, 1940, to the United States
Survived
Else Brock, née Hirsch
Born January 29, 1880, in Berlin
Emigrated October 1, 1940, to the United States
Survived
Clara Bry, née Rosendorff
Born January 31, 1887, in Usch (Ujście)
Deported January 19, 1942, to the Riga ghetto, died February 5, 1942
Leo Bry
Born January 20, 1881, in Schrimm (Śrem)
Deported January 19, 1942, to the Riga ghetto, died February 5, 1942
Dr. Alexander Cohn
Born September 4, 1876, in Königsberg (Kaliningrad)
Deported January 28, 1943, to the Theresienstadt ghetto
Survived, died April 7, 1951, in Berlin
Else Cohn, née Hiller
Born January 22, 1885, in Königsberg (Kaliningrad)
Deported January 28, 1943 to the Theresienstadt ghetto
Survived
Samuel Cohn
Born April 1, 1874, in Wünnenberg
Deported January 28, 1943, to the Theresienstadt ghetto, died August 16, 1943
Frieda Cohn, née Müller
Born June 4, 1878, in Berlin
Deported January 28, 1943, to the Theresienstadt ghetto, died June 16, 1943
Dagobert David Dannenbaum
Born February 4, 1875, in Rimbeck
Deported July 30, 1942, to the Theresienstadt ghetto, deported September 26, 1942, to Treblinka extermination camp, murdered
Mathilde Dannenbaum, née Walter
Born November 20, 1888, in Schlüchtern
Deported July 30, 1942, to the Theresienstadt ghetto, deported September 26, 1942, to Treblinka extermination camp, murdered
Walter Dannenbaum
Born September 10, 1919, in Rimbeck
Deported March 28, 1942, to the Piaski ghetto, died there
Ida Elsbach, née Rosenberg
Born February 15, 1871, in Hanover
Deported August 17, 1942, to the Theresienstadt ghetto, died August 29, 1942
Gertrud Friedlaender, née Goldberger
Born April 30, 1875, in Breslau (Wrocław)
Deported April 2, 1942, to the Warsaw ghetto, died there
Emma Geiger, née Silberberg
Born March 2, 1867, in Saarlautern
Emigrated July 23, 1941, to the United States
Survived
Salomo Samuel Goldstein
Born December 16, 1866, Klein Silkow
Emigrated March 15, 1940, to Norway, imprisoned November 26, 1942, returned to Berlin
Deported November 29, 1942, to Auschwitz, murdered December 1, 1942
Adolf Grünthal
Born December 5, 1859, in Pless (Pszczyna)
Died August 7, 1941, in Berlin
Hermann Guttmann
Born June 3, 1868, in Radostowitz (Radostowice)
Died January 4, 1943, in Berlin
Ernst Elieser Moses Heimann
Born December 25, 1927, in Berlin
Deported February 3, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered February 22, 1943
Hans Heimann
Born March 31, 1894, in Berlin
Imprisoned November 26, 1938, in Sachsenhausen concentration camp, deported February 3, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Johanna Isenthal
Born December 18, 1889, in Halle/Saale
Deported February 26, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Gertrud Jacoby, née Hirschfeld
Born February 13, 1860, in Kulm (Chełmno)
Named in the list of residents and the national census, later whereabouts unknown
Gertrud Katzenstein, née Michalsky
Born August 20, 1866, in Graudenz (Grudziądz)
Deported August 17, 1942, to the Theresienstadt ghetto, died September 2, 1942
Ruth Klein
Born July 31, 1929, in Berlin
Deported January 29, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Käte Klein, née Binner
Born February 23, 1903, in Berlin
Deported January 29, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Charlotte Levi, née Israel
Born July 25, 1884, in Berlin
Deported December 16, 1942, to the Theresienstadt ghetto, deported October 9, 1944, to Auschwitz, murdered
Dr. Siegfried Levi
Born March 2, 1877, in Berlin
Deported December 16, 1942, to the Theresienstadt ghetto, died February 21, 1944
Olga Liepmann, née Mendelsohn
Born December 22, 1863, in Hamburg
Emigrated August 27, 1939, to the United Kingdom
Survived
Marie Lion, née Stern
Born August 8, 1865, in Berlin
Deported October 3, 1942, to the Theresienstadt ghetto, died February 27, 1943
Betty Marcus, née Cohn
Born October 3, 1874, in Berlin
Deported May 16, 1944, to Auschwitz, murdered
Liselotte Meier, née Schlesinger
Born September 24, 1909, in Berlin
Emigrated 1938 to the United States
Survived
Elsbeth Ernestine Meyer, née Behrendt
Born June 10, 1879, in Berlin
Named in the list of residents and the national census, later whereabouts unknown
Georg Meyer
Born January 22, 1859, in Berlin
Named in the list of residents and the national census, later whereabouts unknown
Else Moser, née Pacully
Born April 13, 1876, in Stettin
Deported April 2, 1942, to the Warsaw ghetto, died there
Rosa Phiebig, née Grunwald
Born December 12, 1881, in Stolzenhagen
Deported January 29, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Otto Rathe
Born May 4, 1875, in Berlin
Suicide April 1, 1942, in Berlin
Paul Rathe
Born February 6, 1873, in Berlin
Suicide April 1, 1942, in Berlin
Margarethe Reichenberger, née Lesser
Born January 14, 1876, in Berlin
Died April 1, 1942, in Berlin
Frieda Robert
Born August 10, 1888, in Graudenz (Grudziadz)
Deported September 24-26, 1942, to Raasiku, murdered
Fanny Rosenbaum, née Hant
Born November 11, 1870, in Witten
Emigrated July 23, 1941, to the United States
Survived
Alfred Sachs
Born May 30, 1871, in Leipzig
Deported June 12, 1942, to the Theresienstadt ghetto, died March 1, 1943
Flora Sachs, née Gradenwitz
Born February 6, 1879, in Breslau (Wrocław)
Deported June 12, 1942, to the Theresienstadt ghetto, died March 14, 1944
Hans Simon Sachs
Born November 18, 1883, in Berlin
Deported January 29, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Hedwig Sachs, née Berju
Born May 3, 1889, in Hamburg
Deported January 29, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Gertrud Sackur, née Ambramczyk
Born March 22, 1869, in Breslau (Wrocław)
Emigrated November 11, 1939, to Argentina
Survived
Adolf Selowsky
Born November 12, 1868, in Grünberg
Deported August 28, 1942, to the Theresienstadt ghetto, deported September 29, 1942, to Treblinka extermination camp, murdered
Margarete Selowsky, née Friedländer
Born June 8, 1878, in Breslau (Wrocław)
Deported August 28, 1942 to the Theresienstadt ghetto, deported September 29, 1942, to Treblinka extermination camp, murdered
Käthe Törkott, née Bremer
Born February 17, 1898, in Berlin
Deported December 14, 1942, to Auschwitz, murdered January 3, 1943
Carl Weigert
Born August 12, 1860, in Breslau (Wrocław)
Died March 21, 1942, in Berlin