Alte Schönhauser Str. 4
Alte Schönhauser Str. 4
The property at Alte Schönhauser Straße 4 was owned by Leo Blatt, who lived in one of the apartments with his wife Cyrel (Cilly) from 1920 on. When Leo Blatt was expropriated in 1939, it passed to Feodora Hirtz, who was not Jewish. Leo and Cyrel Blatt continued to live in the building – as tenants – until they were deported to the Warsaw ghetto in 1942.
Five other buildings on Alte Schönhauser Straße are known to have been used as compulsory accommodation. Jewish tenants were forcibly housed in the two neighboring buildings and the building opposite at number 58. A total of 176 people were verifiably deported from these four houses.
Apartments
Street-facing building, 2nd floor
Apartment Manasse/Toczek
The Manasse family were the main tenants of this 5.5-room apartment on the second floor. Werner Manfred Manasse moved in here with Felizia and Paul Manasse – probably his parents – on March 31, 1939. They shared the apartment with several subtenants: Berta Lewitz, née Bukofzer, moved in sometime after May 1939; Eduard and Lotte Tarnowski, née Nadel, moved in on February 1, 1941. The apartment became even more cramped when Erich Bluth moved into another of the rooms with his mother Handel Bluth, née Breitbart, in May 1941. Three years after moving in, Werner, Paul, and Felizia Manasse were deported together with Berta Lewitz, on March 28, 1942, to the Piaski ghetto.
In this letter, property manager Curt Walter falsely names the Wand and Libowski families as subtenants of Paul Manasse when in fact they lived in Leo Blatt’s apartment, and lists the Tarnowskis and Bluths as subtenants of Leo Blatt, although they lived with the Manasse family.
Some five months later, Max and Henriette Toczek, née Urbanski, seem to have taken over the lease on the apartment. Recha Urbanski, who was related to Henriette Toczek, and seven-year-old Regina Kreisel, whom the Toczeks probably fostered, moved in at the same time. They had previously lived together at Frankfurter Allee 255. By the time the new main tenants moved in here in August 1942, all the subtenants, apart from Erich Bluth, had been deported – Handel Bluth just three days before the Toczeks’ arrival. On January 7, 1943, Dyna Schreiber, née Hollaender, and Lene Tener, née Aschheim, moved into the apartment as subtenants. The household soon changed again when, a few days later, Regina Kreisel was deported to Auschwitz. By the end of the month, all the Jewish occupants of the apartment had been deported to Auschwitz, where all of them were murdered.
Apartment Abrahamson
Dr. Hermann Abrahamson, a dentist, was probably forced to move from his home at Kaulbachstraße 71 in Lankwitz to Alte Schönhauser Straße 4 in 1941. His wife Adele Abrahamson, née Cohn, emigrated around that time. Hermann Abrahamson shared the apartment with the subtenants Herbert Pollnow and Cäcilie Popiol, who each occupied a furnished room for Reichsmark 29 and Reichsmark 20, respectively. They both worked as forced laborers: Cäcilie Popiol at the Siemens-Schuckert elecrical engineering company in Spandau; Herbert Pollnow in a waste disposal facility in Schmargendorf. On May 8, 1942, Hermann Abrahamson died in the apartment. Herbert Pollnow and Cäcilie Popiol remained alone until they were deported on March 4, 1943, to Auschwitz, where they were murdered.
Street-facing building, 3rd floor
Apartment Blatt/Cohn
Leo Leiser and Cyrel (Cilly) Blatt, née Pilpel, lived on the third floor of the building that they had owned from 1920 to 1939. They sublet two rooms of the 5.5-room apartment to Dora Wand, née Markus, and her adult son Erwin. Another room was occupied by Leo and Jenny Libowski, née Teckel. The Blatts stated in their declaration of assets that they lived only in one room and a walk-through room, suggesting that they had another subtenant, of whom there is no record. Leo and Cyrel Blatt were deported on April 14, 1942, to the Warsaw ghetto and murdered. In May or June 1942, Leo Libowski was arrested and imprisoned in Sachsenhausen concentration camp. In October he was deported from there to Auschwitz and murdered. Dora Wand was also deported in October 1942 to the Riga ghetto and murdered on arrival.
After Leo Libowski was imprisoned in Sachsenhausen concentration camp, his wife Jenny Libowski made several attempts to find out where her husband was. By the time she wrote this letter, he had already been murdered in Auschwitz. In January 1943, she was finally informed that her husband had been deported to Auschwitz, but not that he was already dead.
After the Blatts were deported, Alfred Cohn took over the lease. He and his wife Rosette, née Richter, and his adopted daughter Gerda had been forced to move to Alte Schönhauser Straße 4 from their home in Karlshorst. On February 19, 1943, Gerda Cohn was deported to Auschwitz. Her parents Alfred and Rosette Cohn were deported a week later, evidently from the house next-door at number 5. For a few weeks, the only remaining occupants were Erwin Wand and Jenny Libowski, who worked as forced laborers in the Kurt Seidel arms factory. Erwin Wand was deported on March 2, 1943; Jenny Libowski two days later. They were both murdered in Auschwitz.
In this letter, Martha Mosse, head of the housing advice office, writes to the Chief of Finance to request the speedy clearance of the apartments so that new Jewish tenants can be housed there.
Apartment Struck
The 5.5-room apartment opposite the Blatts’ apartment was occupied by Rosa Struck, née Broh. She moved in here in April 1939. Her brother Arthur Broh lived in one room for a monthly rent of Reichsmark 25. In late August 1940, their mother Doris Broh, née Schreiber, also moved into a furnished room in the apartment. They shared the apartment with several subtenants: Gertrud Hanff moved in on March 22, 1939, as she stated in her declaration of assets; another room was sublet for Reichsmark 50 per month to Ludwig and Bertha Beiersdorf, who lived here with Ludwig’s adult daughter from his first marriage, Gretel Jung.
Leo Blumenthal and Franz Wertheim each occupied another room of the apartment. Rosa Struck wrote in her declaration of assets of November 14, 1942: “Apart from the 3 in parentheses [Leo Blumenthal, Franz Wertheim and Artur Broh] I also care and cater for 2 other single men who are deployed as laborers.” It is unclear who these two men were and whether they lived in the apartment. All the known occupants of the apartment were deported between June 1942 and March 1943 and later murdered, with the exception of Gretel Jung. She managed to escape the building when the Gestapo came to search it on March 10, 1943.
Street-facing building, 4th floor
Apartment Haasz
Moritz and Ernestine Haasz, née Guttfeld, moved into a 3-room apartment on the fourth floor in 1935. In May 1941, husband-and-wife Leopold and Selma Abraham moved into a partly furnished room of the apartment as subtenants. The Abrahams were deported on January 26, 1943, to the Theresienstadt ghetto and in October 1944 to Auschwitz. They were both murdered. Moritz and Ernestine Haasz were deported seven weeks later to the Theresienstadt ghetto. They both lived to see the liberation of the ghetto. However, Moritz Haasz died just a month later, on June 19, 1945. In 1947, Ernestine Haasz, then aged 74, was registered as resident in the Jewish home for the elderly at Iranische Straße 3.
Street-facing building, 5th floor
Apartment Grosse
Werner and Hildegard Grosse moved into a fifth-floor apartment with three rooms, a bathroom and a kitchen in 1940. Their son Gad was born two years after they moved in. The Grosse family and Herta Brandt, Hildegard Grosse’s mother, evidently lived in just two of the rooms. The third room was occupied from March 1941 on by William Kellermann. He was categorized as a “privileged Jew” due to his “mixed marriage” to a non-Jew, Clara Morgen, according to information Werner Grosse gave in his declaration of assets. However, the couple had divorced – possibly under the growing pressure of antisemitic persecution – and lived separately from May 1939 on.
According to Werner Grosse’s declaration of assets, completed on January 15, 1943, William Kellermann’s rental agreement expired at the end of the month. William Kellermann died in unclear circumstances on January 17, 1943. His body was found at Wendenstraße 3 in Kreuzberg. On January 29, 1943, the other occupants of the apartment were deported to Auschwitz, where they were murdered.
Apartment Posner
Hermann and Jenny Posner lived opposite the Grosse family with their three adolescent daughters Anita, Ruth, and Waltraut. They moved into the 3-room apartment on the other side of the landing in May 1941. It seems that the family of five lived in two rooms while the third room was occupied by Hedwig Kaul, née Mücke. She had already lived in the apartment when the Posners moved in. On April 2, 1942, Hedwig Kaul was deported to the Warsaw ghetto. 17-year-old Ruth Posner was deported on January 12, 1943, and murdered in Auschwitz. Her parents and sisters were deported two weeks later, along with their neighbors in the apartment opposite, to Auschwitz, where they were all murdered.
Rear building, 1st floor, left
Apartment Aschkinasy
Sara Aschkinasy moved into one of the more modest apartments in the rear building in 1936. The apartment had 2.5 rooms and a kitchen. From 1940 on, she sublet one room and a closet to Walter and Thea David, née Libowski, and their small children Margot and Wolfgang. They had previously lived at Prenzlauer Straße 18. It is likely that Thea David earned the Reichsmark 41 rent by working at home as a seamstress – a Singer sewing machine was among the few belongings they owned. Sara Aschkinasy was deported first. She was taken away on December 15, 1942, to the Theresienstadt ghetto and from there to Auschwitz, where she was murdered in May 1944. On March 1, 1943, Thea David and the children were separated from Walter David and deported to Auschwitz. Walter David’s name appears on a deportation list that was drawn up two days later. They were all murdered in Auschwitz.
Unknown location
Dr. Martin Krayn
Very little is known about the physician Dr. Martin Krayn and his apartment. In 1939, he was registered as resident at Binzstraße 44 in Pankow but his practice was at Alte Schönhauser Straße 4. Jakob Ehrlich and his wife Frieda Ehrlich, née Lewin, were registered as subtenants of Dr. Krayn in 1939, but there is no evidence to suggest that they or any others were forcibly housed there. Jakob and Frieda Ehrlich were among the first Jewish people to be deported from Berlin. They were taken away to the Minsk ghetto on November 14, 1941, and both murdered. Dr. Martin Krayn had died eight months previously.
The Lebzelter family
When the national census was taken on May 17, 1939, Debora Lebzelter, née Andermann, lived at Alte Schönhauser Straße 4 with her daughters Susanne, Amalie, Ida, and Sabine. Her husband Ignaz had been separated from them during the Nazis’ so-called “Polish Action” in October 1938. In June 1939, eight-year-old Ida and her little sister Sabine were able to flee on a Kindertransport to the United Kingdom. They would never see their family again. Nine-year-old Amalie and twelve-year-old Susanne stayed with their mother. On April 1, 1942, they moved into a room in Helene Jekel’s small apartment in the rear building of the neighboring house, number 5a. In January 1943, all three were deported to Auschwitz and murdered.
“The above apartment remains, however, a Jew home which must be registered and knowledge of it becoming vacant […] reported to me.”
Ignaz Lebzelter was arrested on December 19, 1944, in Tschenstochau (Częstochowa, Poland). Five days later, he was imprisoned in Buchenwald concentration camp. Although he had been expelled from Germany back in 1938, the concentration camp administration noted his address as Alte Schönhauser Straße 5a. Ignaz Lebzelter died on March 29, 1945, 13 days before Buchenwald concentration camp was liberated by soldiers of the US army.
Tana Mamlok and Berl Kohn
Very little is known about Tana Mamlok and Berl Kohn. Tana Mamlok was three years old when she was deported to Auschwitz and murdered; Berl Kohn was just two. They had lived in the Jewish children’s home at Schönhauser Allee 162. It seems that Berl Kohn was born in Kassel and his parents, Irma Kalmar and Alfred Hammerschlag, were deported from there in December 1941 to the Riga ghetto. Tana Mamlok was the daughter of the resistance fighter Eva Mamlok. Tana and Berl were deported on November 29, 1942, from Alte Schönhauser Straße 4, although they were registered as resident in the orphanage at Schönhauser Allee 162. Most of the home’s children and carers had been deported to the Riga ghetto by that time. It is not known who looked after the two little children at Alte Schönhauser Straße. They were the only residents of the building to be deported that day.
Author
Bethan Griffiths
Leopold Abraham
Born April 30, 1881, in Sellnow (Zieleniewo)
Deported January 26, 1943, to the Theresienstadt ghetto; October 9, 1944, to Auschwitz, murdered
Selma Abraham, née Gappe
Born September 15, 1888, in Koronowo near Bromberg (Bydgoszcz)
Deported January 26, 1943, to the Theresienstadt ghetto; October 9, 1944, to Auschwitz, murdered
Hermann Abrahamson
Born July 9, 1886, in Danzig (Gdańsk)
Died May 8, 1942
Kurt Adler
Born September 24, 1912, in Berlin
Deported March 4, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Sara Aschkinasy
Born February 26, 1872 (or February 16, 1872) in Novy Wisnicz
Deported December 15, 1942, to the Theresienstadt ghetto; May 5, 1933, to Auschwitz, murdered
Bertha Beiersdorf, née Schneider
Born October 24, 1884, in Straßburg (Strasbourg)
Deported March 12, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered March 13, 1943
Ludwig Beiersdorf
Born January 16, 1876, in Pirmasens
Deported March 12, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered March 13, 1943
Sander Bengis
Born August 31, 1884, in Krementschug
Deported January 29, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Zella Bengis, née Abraham
Born August 21, 1890, in Simferopol
Deported January 29, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Cyrel (Cilly) Blatt, née Pilpel
Born October 8, 1878, in Lemberg (Lviv)
Deported April 14, 1942, to the Warsaw ghetto, perished
Leo Leiser Blatt
Born February 8, 1873, in Lemberg (Lviv)
Deported April 14, 1942, to the Warsaw ghetto, perished
Leo Blumenthal
Born May 5, 1889, in Schulitz (Solec Kujawski)
Deported March 3, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Erich Bluth
Born April 22, 1893, in Berlin
Deported January 29, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Handel Bluth, née Breitbart
Born March 15, 1860, in Klein Dombrowka (Dąbrówka Mała)
Deported August 7, 1942, to the Theresienstadt ghetto, died January 3, 1943
Herta Brandt, née Schmitt
Born October 18, 1891, in Pleschen
Deported January 29, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Arthur Broh
Born July 31, 1877, in Rampitz (Rąpice)
Deported December 14, 1942, to Auschwitz, murdered
Doris Broh, née Schreiber
Born March 11, 1857, in Neutomischel
Deported September 7, 1942, to the Theresienstadt ghetto, died January 31, 1943
Georg Broh
Born March 4, 1906, in Rampitz (Rąpice)
Fled October 12, 1939, to Palestine
Survived
Alfred Cohn
Born September 25, 1885, in Berlin
Deported February 26, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Gerda Cohn
Born April 23, 1926, in Berlin
Deported February 19, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Rosa Cohn, née Schrubski
Born February 21, 1860, in Gniewkowo
Deported July 31, 1942, to the Theresienstadt ghetto; September 26, 1942, to Treblinka extermination camp, murdered
Rosette Cohn, née Richter
Born September 28, 1891, in Berlin
Deported February 26, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Margot David
Born December 7, 1931, in Berlin
Deported March 1, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Thea David, née Libowski
Born January 2, 1908, in Ebenrode
Deported March 1, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Walter David
Born May 18, 1894, in Schloppe
Deported March 3, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Wolfgang Saif David
Born March 5, 1937, in Berlin
Deported March 1, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Ascher Jonas Drucker
Born January 2, 1895, in Tarnow
Imprisoned September 13, 1939, in Sachsenhausen concentration camp, died August 11, 1940
Frieda Ehrlich, née Lewin
Born September 16, 1892, in Stettin (Szczecin)
Deported November 14, 1941, to the Minsk ghetto, perished
Jakob Ehrlich
Born September 7, 1878, in Beuthen O.S. (Bytom)
Deported November 14, 1941, to the Minsk ghetto, perished
Ida Flatow
Born November 24, 1910, in Danzig (Gdańsk)
Deported January 29, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Gad Grosse
Born February 12, 1942, in Berlin
Deported January 29, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Hildegard Auguste Grosse, née Cohn
Born May 22, 1916, in Posen
Deported January 29, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Werner Grosse
Born March 10, 1920, in Kabel
Deported January 29, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered February 9, 1943
Ernestine Haasz, née Guttfeld
Born February 10, 1873, in Zawada
Deported March 17, 1943, to the Theresienstadt ghetto
Survived
Moritz Haasz
Born May 25, 1878, in Magyarsók
Deported March 17, 1943, to the Theresienstadt ghetto, died June 19, 1945
Gertrud Hanff
Born April 4, 1883, in Berlin
Deported June 13, 1942, to Sobibor extermination camp, murdered
Gretel Jung, née Beiersdorf
Born August 12, 1911, in Pirmasens
Survived
Hedwig Kaul, née Mücke
Born September 27, 1875, in Strasburg (Brodnica)
Deported April 2, 1942, to the Warsaw ghetto, perished
William Kellermann
Born January 5, 1871, in Berlin
Died January 17, 1943
Berl Kohn
Born May 28, 1940 (or April 28, 1940), in Kassel
Deported November 29, 1942, to Auschwitz, murdered
Martin Krayne
Born March 7, 1889, in Pobiedziska
Died March 13, 1941
Regina Kreisel
Born July 1, 1935, in Berlin
Deported January 12, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Amalie Lebzelter
Born November 15, 1929, in Kiel
Deported January 12, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Debora Lebzelter, née Andermann
Born July 20, 1899, in Podluze
Deported January 12, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Ida Lebzelter
Born February 14, 1931, in Kiel
Kindertransport June 13, 1939, to the United Kingdom
Survived
Ignaz Lebzelter
Born October 24, 1898, in Troscianiec
Deported December 24, 1944, to Buchenwald concentration camp, died March 29, 1945
Sabine Lebzelter
Born March 6, 1938, in Berlin
Kindertransport June 13, 1939, to the United Kingdom
Survived
Susanne Lebzelter
Born July 27, 1927, in Stanislau
Deported January 12, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Berta Lewitz, née Bukofzer
Born September 14, 1879, in Nakel
Deported March 28, 1942, to the Piaski ghetto, murdered
Jenny Libowski, née Teckel
Born March 24, 1896, in Wongrowitz
Deported March 4, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Leo Libowski
Born November 12, 1893, in Schirwind
Detained in May or June 1942 in Sachsenhausen concentration camp, deported October 22, 1942, to Auschwitz, murdered November 5, 1942
Tana Mamlok
Born September 3, 1939, in Berlin
Deported November 29, 1942, to Auschwitz, murdered
Felizia Manasse, née Leerhaupt
Born February 14, 1897, in Berlin
Deported March 28, 1942, to the Piaski ghetto, perished
Paul Manasse
Born April 16, 1898, in Berlin
Deported March 28, 1942, to the Piaski ghetto, perished
Werner Manfred Manasse
Born June 28, 1923, in Berlin
Deported March 28, 1942, to the Piaski ghetto, perished
Herbert Pollnow
Born December 24, 1902, in Berlin
Deported March 4, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Cäcilie Popiol
Born June 4, 1906, in Berlin
Deported March 4, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Anita Posner
Born May 10, 1924, in Krojanke (Krajenka)
Deported January 29, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Hermann Posner
Born September 3, 1889, in Tarnowke
Detained January 27, 1939, in Sachsenhausen concentration camp, deported January 29, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Jenny Posner, née Luft
Born February 18, 1896, in Krojanke (Krajenka)
Deported January 29, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Ruth Posner
Born August 19, 1925, in Krojanke (Krajenka)
Deported January 12, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Waltraut Posner
Born October 11, 1928, in Krojanke (Krajenka)
Deported January 29, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Berthold Salomon
Born possibly April 6, 1935
Deported December 9, 1942, to Auschwitz, fate unknown
Dyna Schreiber, née Hollaender
Born November 13, 1879, in Tarnow
Deported January 29, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Rosa Struck, née Broh
Born April 28, 1880, in Rampitz (Rąpice)
Deported December 14, 1942, to Auschwitz, murdered
Eduard Tarnowski
Born September 10, 1869, in Klempin
Detained until December 2, 1938, in Sachsenhausen concentration camp, deported June 26, 1942, to the Theresienstadt ghetto, died December 7, 1942
Lotte Tarnowski, née Nadel
Born September 24, 1884, in Küstrin (Kostrzyn)
Deported June 26, 1942, to the Theresienstadt ghetto; May 16, 1944, to Auschwitz, murdered
Lene Tener, née Aschheim
Born October 14, 1893, in Berlin
Deported January 29, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Henriette Toczek, née Urbanski
Born September 22, 1909, in Neumark
Deported January 29, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Max Toczek
Born January 19, 1913, in Ratibor
Deported January 29, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered February 18, 1943
Recha Urbanski
Born April 5, 1905, in Neumark
Deported February 26, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Else Walter, née Weissenberg
Born February 26, 1907, in Königshütte
Deported October 19, 1942, to the Riga ghetto, murdered October 22, 1942
Helga Walter
Born September 8, 1937, in Greifswald
Deported October 19, 1942, to the Riga ghetto, murdered October 22, 1942
Dora Wand, née Markus
Born February 10, 1883, in Schmiedeberg
Deported October 19, 1942, to the Riga ghetto, murdered October 22, 1942
Erwin Wand
Born November 8, 1912, in Berlin
Deported March 2, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Franz Wertheim
Born September 4, 1913, in Berlin
Deported March 2, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered April 5, 1943