Konstanzer Str. 3
Konstanzer Str. 3
The apartment building at Konstanzer Straße 3 was owned by Regina Deutsch. She was Jewish and occupied an apartment in the building from 1934 on, or perhaps from 1938 on. Before 1939 there were already 26 Jewish residents registered in the building. Eleven of them fled abroad between 1939 and 1941. After 1939, 60 more Jewish people were forced to move in. For 74 people, this was their last address before they were deported. After owner Regina Deutsch was deported in September 1942, the Berlin-Brandenburg Chief of Finance claimed the property “for the benefit of the German Reich”.
Apartments
Street-facing building, raised 1st floor
Apartment May
In October 1942, Jewish married couple Dr. Jacob und Alice May moved into the 3-room apartment on the raised ground floor. They shared it with subtenants: the family of three Meinhard and Ursula Gumpel and their 1938-born son Denny. Denny was one of the few names Jewish parents were still permitted to give their children under the Law on Name Changes of August 1938. All the occupants of the apartment were deported in March 1943 to Auschwitz and murdered.
Apartment Lewin
Therese and Gustav Lewin moved into this 4-room apartment in early 1939. Gustav Lewin died here on November 27, 1939. After 1939, subtenants were forced to move into three of the rooms: Marie Hüttel, née Schlüssel, occupied one room. Alice Schönheimer, née Meyerheim, lived in another until her deportation in July 1942. The third room was occupied by Hedwig Schindler, who performed housekeeping and caretaking work in the apartment instead of paying rent. She took her own life in July 1942.
On August 1, 1942, husband-and-wife Simon und Elsbeth Looser moved into one of the rooms that had become vacant. They had previously lived in the building opposite at Konstanzer Straße 63. SS Obersturmführer Hermann Müschen took their apartment. Before he moved in, the apartment was renovated. By the time it was ready for occupation, in October 1942, Simon and Elsbeth Looser had already been deported to the Theresienstadt ghetto. They both died shortly after arriving. The apartment’s other occupants were also deported to the Theresienstadt ghetto. Marie Hüttel was the only one to survive the ghetto.
Street-facing building, 2nd floor
Apartment Brünn
Alfons and Edith Brünn took over the tenancy of this 4-room apartment in December 1942. They had previously lived 200 meters down the road at Konstanzer Straße 8. They were deported after less than two months at Konstanzer Straße 3, in late January 1943, to Auschwitz. The Brünns had two subtenants, who were probably both already living in the apartment when they moved in. Ruth Pick had occupied one room since August 1941 and was deported in March 1943. Rudolf Caspary occupied another; it is unclear since when. He was not deported until March 9, 1944, which suggests that he managed to go into hiding in Berlin for some months. All of them were murdered in Auschwitz.
Apartment Deutsch
The property’s owner, Regina Deutsch, very likely moved into the well-appointed 4-room apartment on the second floor in 1934. From 1936 on, she was the proprietor of a sack-lending business on Luisenufer. She had lived with her non-Jewish housekeeper Ida Neumann since 1915. In June 1941 Clara Wedel was forced to move into one room as a subtenant. In December 1941 the married couple Selmar and Bertha Ballin also moved in. The Ballins were deported from here in July 1942. Paula Cohn moved into their now vacant room. Regina Deutsch was deported in September 1942. Prior to her deportation, she promised her furniture and household goods to her housekeeper. Paula Cohn and Clara Wedel were deported in early 1943. Their rooms were sealed and housekeeper Ida Neumann applied for permission to retrieve the furniture.
“The C. of F. gave clearance of the furniture from the Deutsch rooms to Miss Neumann, as of November 11, 1942. However, the release of the furniture was prevented by the Gestapo officers who took away the Jewess Wedel.”
Street-facing building, 3rd floor
Apartment Levi
Regina Levi, née Altmann, moved into this 4.5-room apartment in 1934. After 1939, her mother Meta Steinberg, née Wasser, moved in with her. Anna Aron, née Stern, took the subtenancy of one room in March 1941. Ismar Goldstein, Dora Rossert and sisters Clara and Elsbeth Süskind also moved in; it is unclear when. All seven probably did not live in the apartment at the same time. Clara Süskind died in February 1941, her sister Elsbeth in May 1942. Dora Rossert and Anna Aron were deported in summer 1942.
In September 1942, Mr & Mrs Kamnitzer moved into one of the now vacant rooms. Alfred Kamnitzer had been the proprietor of a pharmacy in Eydtkuhnen, East Prussia, until he was forced to sell it in 1936. Like many other Jewish people, the Kamnitzers then moved to Berlin. The couple’s three daughters fled abroad with their husbands before 1939. Else and Käte went to the United States, Eva to Palestine. In Berlin, Alfred and Meta Kamnitzer had initially lived in a large apartment at Wilmersdorfer Straße 93. In 1940 they were forced to move in as subtenants of one room at Xantener Straße 16 in Wilmersdorf. In September 1942 they were forced to move again: For a few months Alfred and Meta Kamnitzer lived 200 meters down the road at Konstanzer Straße 3. Meta Kamnitzer performed forced labor for Tornado at Müllerstraße 30 in Wedding. Alfred and Meta Kamnitzer were the last remaining occupants who had been forced to move in. They were deported on January 29, 1943, to Auschwitz and murdered there.
Apartment Schwarz
Pauline Schwarz, née Salomon, moved into a 3rd-floor apartment here in 1935. She lived with her daughter Ilse Schwarz and her sons Ernst and Heinrich Schwarz. Ilse Schwarz worked for the Berlin Jewish Community. Her brothers were made to perform forced labor at the Siemens-Schuckert works. By 1942 at the latest, they were forced to take in subtenants. In March 1942 Arthur and Käthe Lewandowski moved in. They were deported in July 1942. In October, Martin and Horst Wohlmann moved into one room. A month later, Lotte Engel also moved in. The new subtenants were deported together with Ilse, Ernst, and Heinrich Schwarz on January 29, 1943, to Auschwitz. Pauline Schwarz was the last to be taken away. She was deported to the Theresienstadt ghetto. Nobody from the apartment survived.
Courtyard building, first floor
Apartment Briske
Frieda and Heinz Briske moved into a 1-room apartment in the courtyard building in June 1938. They had three children, Reha, Tana and Klaus, who were all born between 1938 and 1941. After 1939, Leonie Saulmann, Heinz Briske’s sister, moved in with them. On December 21, 1942, Heinz Briske was imprisoned in Sachsenhausen concentration camp for unknown reasons. In April 1943 he was deported to Auschwitz and later to Buchenwald concentration camp and murdered there. Frieda Briske was deported with her children on January 29, 1943, to Auschwitz; Leonie Saulmann a few days later. None of them survived.
Apartment Pless
Ida Pless, née Moses, took over the tenancy of this 3-room apartment on February 6, 1942. She lived here with her adult children Karl and Lilli Pless. After 1939 Paul Lonnerstädter also lived in the apartment as a subtenant. Another room was sublet to Max Freund. He died on January 10, 1943, in the Jewish hospital. The apartment’s other occupants were deported between September 1942 and March 1943 to different ghettos and extermination camps. None of them survived.
Courtyard building, 2nd floor
Apartment Aronheim/Moses
Frieda Friederike Aronheim, née Moses, took over the tenancy of this 3.5-room apartment on July 1, 1939. A short time later she signed a sublease agreement with Richard and Elisa Moses. It is likely she was related to Richard Moses.
“I [agree to] lease two rooms in my apartment to Mr & Mrs Richard and Elise Moses of Crossen, unfurnished as viewed, as of August 1, 1939, for a rent of M 75.00 per month […] the subtenants shall also bear half the cost of the telephone, gas, and electric light.”
On November 1, 1939, Sofie Tausinger moved into another room in the apartment. Like the Moses, she had not been allocated accommodation there; she had made a sublease agreement with Frieda Friederike Aronheim. Tenants needed the authorization of the Berlin Jewish Community’s housing advice office to privately organize subleases such as this.
“Authorization is hereby granted for the leasing of 1 room of the apartment to Mrs Sofie Sara Tausinger, currently resident at Sächsischestr. no. 42, as of November 1, 1941.”
Lastly, Irene Schwarz moved into a room in December 1942. By that time, Frieda Friederike Aronheim had already been deported and Richard and Elisa Moses had taken over the tenancy of the apartment. On January 1, 1943, Sofie Tausinger committed suicide. The remaining occupants who had been forced to move in were deported on January 29, 1943, to Auschwitz and murdered.
Courtyard building, 3rd floor
Apartment Hirsch
The Hirsch family had moved into this apartment with their son Harry Walter before 1939. Isidor Hirsch was categorized as Jewish; his wife Bertha Hirsch, née Sänger, was not. In June 1941 Siegmund and Eva Heymann were forced to move into the apartment. They were deported in late November 1942. Isidor Hirsch died in the apartment on December 22, 1942. Harry Walter Hirsch was deported in February 1943 to Auschwitz. In his declaration of assets, he stressed that his mother was not Jewish in a bid to gain recognition of his status as a “person of mixed race”. His efforts were in vain; he was murdered in Auschwitz. By the time the Berlin Main Planning Office sought to collect his belongings in April 1943, Berta Hirsch was living alone in the apartment. She lived there until her death on June 12, 1945, of a shrapnel injury.
Unknown location
Apartment Wertheim
Juliane Wertheim was the main tenant of an apartment at Konstanzer Straße 3. Four people named her as such in their declaration of assets. However, her identity and the location of the apartment she occupied remains unclear. She cannot be identified with any certainty in the national census, the commemorative book, or any deportation list. Her subtenants were Rosa Labischin, née Cohen, who moved in on June 1, 1939, and Martha Engel, née Hannes. In March 1941, Friederike Bernstein also moved in. Two months later, they were joined by another subtenant, Helene Wald, née Aronsohn. All four women were deported between March and August 1942 to different ghettos. They either died there or were sent on to extermination camps.
Neighborhood
In 1933, 26,607 Jewish people lived in the Berlin district of Wilmersdorf. That amounted to almost 16 percent of the population of Wilmersdorf; a larger proportion than in any other part of Berlin. The number of Jewish residents continued to rise until 1935. It is likely that many Jewish people moved to Wilmersdorf from other areas during this period because of its large Jewish Community. Between 1935 and 1939, however, the number fell drastically here, too. In June 1941, shortly before the deportations from Berlin started, only 11,700 Jewish residents remained in Wilmersdorf; less than half the number in 1933 but still more than in any other district of Berlin. Jewish and non-Jewish people had, then, lived next-door to one another here for some years. Though many Jewish people were forced to move into the house at Konstanzer Straße 3 after 1939, many of them had previously lived in Wilmersdorf, too.
Author
Johanna A. Kühne
Martha Abraham, née Pelz
Born November 24, 1876, in Wirsitz (Wyrzysk)
Deported September 8, 1942, to the Theresienstadt ghetto, died May 4, 1944
Anna Aron, née Stern
Born September 23, 1864, in Aachen
Deported August 13, 1942, to the Theresienstadt ghetto, died January 20, 1943
Friederike Frieda Aronheim, née Moses
Born June 2, 1870, in Stralsund
Deported August 13, 1942, to the Theresienstadt ghetto, September 26, 1942, to Treblinka extermination camp, murdered
Bertha Ballin, née Sommerfeld
Born February 13, 1879, in Plock
Deported July 24, 1942, to the Theresienstadt ghetto, May 16, 1944, to Auschwitz, murdered
Selmar Ballin
Born March 9, 1870, in Ellrich
Deported July 24, 1942, to the Theresienstadt ghetto, died December 23, 1943
Friederike Bernstein
Born February 24, 1877, in Barmen Elberfeld
Deported March 28, 1942, to the Piaski ghetto, died
Frieda Briske, née Spier
Born February 14, 1903, in Sontra
Deported January 29, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Heinz Briske
Born January 29, 1905, in Hamburg
Deported April 19, 1943, to Auschwitz, February 10, 1945, to Buchenwald concentration camp, murdered February 22, 1945
Klaus Briske
Born July 19, 1938, in Berlin
Deported January 29, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Reha Briske
Born July 26, 1941, in Berlin
Deported January 29, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Tana Briske
Born July 7, 1940, in Berlin
Deported January 29, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Alfons Brünn
Born March 20, 1888, in Hamburg
Deported January 29, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Edith Brünn, née Cohn
Born March 15, 1895, in Dresden
Deported January 29, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Rudolf Caspary
Born April 17, 1893, in Berlin
Deported March 9, 1944, to Auschwitz, murdered
Paula Cohn, née Sembrutzki or Jendritzky
Born December 8, 1889, in Königsberg (Kaliningrad)
Deported January 13, 1943, to the Theresienstadt ghetto, January 23, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Regina Deutsch, née Wagner
Born December 26, 1872, in Frankenstein
Deported September 9, 1942, to the Theresienstadt ghetto, September 29, 1942, to Treblinka extermination camp, murdered
Paula Ehrlich, née Schwersenz
Born March 16, 1898, in Berlin
Escaped October 13, 1939, to the United States
Survived
Lotte Engel
Born December 29, 1908, in Widminnen
Deported January 29, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Martha Engel, née Hannes
Born July 24, 1871, in Breslau (Wrocław)
Deported August 13, 1942, to the Theresienstadt ghetto, died March 24, 1943
Max Freund
Born November 15, 1876, in Breslau (Wrocław)
Died January 10, 1943, in the Jewish hospital Berlin
Lotte Johanna Fuchs
Born August 7, 1899, in Fraustadt
Deported March 9, 1944, to Auschwitz, murdered
Ismar Goldstein
Born September 28, 1880, in Lipine (Lipiny)
Deported October 19, 1942, to the Riga ghetto, murdered October 22, 1942
Denny Gumpel
Born August 23, 1938, in Berlin
Deported March 1, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Meinhard Gumpel
Born July 1, 1914, in Berlin
Deported March 1, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Ursula Gumpel, née Wohlmuth
Born September 11, 1925, in Berlin
Deported March 1, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Eva Heymann, née Saul
Born December 16, 1880, in Fordon
Deported November 20, 1942, to the Theresienstadt ghetto, May 16, 1944, to Auschwitz, murdered
Siegmund Heymann
Born May 25, 1876, in Berlin
Deported November 20, 1942, to the Theresienstadt ghetto, died January 16, 1944
Harry Walter Hirsch
Born March 20, 1912, in Berlin
Deported February 19, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Isidor Hirsch
Born January 19, 1875, in Breslau (Wrocław)
Died December 22, 1942, in Berlin
Lilli Hirschland, née Maass
Born April 5, 1889, in Berlin
Deported August 14, 1942, to the Theresienstadt ghetto, died April 15, 1943
Marie Hüttel, née Schlüssel
Born December 27, 1868, in Lipnica Murowana
Deported September 23, 1942, to the Theresienstadt ghetto
Survived
Gertrud Isenburg, née Cassirer
Born August 16, 1893, in Breslau (Wrocław)
Escaped May 18, 1939, to France
Luise Isenburg
Born December 5, 1918, in Berlin
Escaped May 18, 1939, to France
Max Isenburg
Born December 21, 1920, in Berlin
Escaped May 18, 1939, to France
Alfred Kamnitzer
Born May 4, 1878, in Lyck
Deported January 29, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Meta Maria Kamnitzer, née Liebenthal
Born November 24, 1880, in Insterburg (Tschernjachowsk)
Deported January 29, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Rosa Labischin, née Cohn
Born May 8, 1868, in Posen (Poznań)
Deported August 13, 1942, to the Theresienstadt ghetto, died January 24, 1943
Betty Lesser, née Becker
Born March 23, 1880, in Lyck
Deported September 5, 1942, to the Riga ghetto, murdered September 8, 1942
Doris Lesser, née Hennoch or Hirsch
Born July 20, 1861, in Nakel (Nakło)
Deported September 8, 1942, to the Theresienstadt ghetto, died March 8, 1944
Otto Lesser
Born March 21, 1871, in Essen
Deported August 14, 1942, to the Theresienstadt ghetto, died September 15, 1943
Regina Levi, née Altmann
Born February 1, 1887, in Berlin
Deported December 9, 1942, to Auschwitz, murdered
Arthur Lewandowski
Born March 11, 1884, in Berlin
Deported July 31, 1942, to the Theresienstadt ghetto, October 9, 1944, to Auschwitz, murdered
Käthe Lewandowski, née Bärnkopf
Born October 19, 1882, in Ostrowo (Ostrów Wielkopolski)
Deported July 31, 1942, to the Theresienstadt ghetto, October 9, 1944, to Auschwitz, murdered
Gustav Lewin
Born November 1, 1869, Grätz (Grodzisk)
Died November 27, 1939, in Berlin
Therese Lewin, née Alter
Born March 6, 1871, in Danzig (Gdańsk)
Deported August 20, 1942, to the Theresienstadt ghetto, died January 7, 1943
Jenni Lieber, née Meyrowski
Born March 2, 1976, in Guttstadt
Deported April 2, 1942, to the Warsaw ghetto, died there
Paul Lonnerstädter
Born January 23, 1900, in Mellrichstadt
Deported October 26, 1942, to the Riga ghetto, murdered October 29, 1942
Elsbeth Looser, née Saenger
Born July 11, 1876, in Culm (Chełmno)
Deported September 25, 1942, to the Theresienstadt ghetto, died October 13, 1942
Simon Looser
Born February 20, 1864, in Samter (Szamotuły)
Deported September 25, 1942, to the Theresienstadt ghetto, died October 23, 1942
Alice May, née Eschelbacher
Born January 30, 1904, in Neuwied
Deported March 12, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Dr. Jakob May
Born November 19, 1890, in Mayen
Deported March 12, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered March 27, 1943
Karoline Meyerhof
Born June 28, 1887, in Hildesheim
Deported January 25, 1942, to the Riga ghetto, died there
Elise Moses, née Portheim
Born August 2, 1873, in Fürstenberg
Deported January 29, 1943, to the Theresienstadt ghetto, May 16, 1944, to Auschwitz, murdered
Richard Moses
Born November 13, 1872, in Altenwedel
Deported January 29, 1943, to the Theresienstadt ghetto, died there January 11, 1944
Ruth Pick
Born July 9, 1902, in Brodnica
Deported March 2, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Ida Pless, née Moses
Born April 2, 1871, in Altenwedel
Deported September 14, 1942, to the Theresienstadt ghetto, died January 20, 1943
Karl Pless
Born December 30, 1892, in Reetz
Deported January 29, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Lilli Pless
Born May 9, 1900, in Ball
Deported March 2, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Rica Rifka Poisson, née Lehmann
Born August 18, 1877, in Obernzenn
Escaped June 6, 1941, to the United States
Balbina Radt, née Lachmann
Born July 23, 1869, in Labischin (Labiszyn)
Deported August 13, 1942, to the Theresienstadt ghetto, died September 11, 1942
Dora Rossert, née Hirschberg
Born November 29, 1891, in Posen (Poznań)
Deported July 22, 1942, to the Theresienstadt ghetto, died there
Karoline Roth
Born June 11, 1889, in Schrimm (Śrem)
Deported January 25, 1942, to the Riga ghetto, died there
Paula Rubensohn, née Glück
Born November 17, 1877, in Oldenburg
Escaped June 21, 1941, to the United States
Survived
Lotte Schiller
Born November 8, 1886, in Berlin
Deported September 5, 1942, to the Riga ghetto, murdered September 8, 1942
Hedwig Schindler
Born June 4, 1873, in Nikolei (Mikołów)
Suicide July 14, 1942, in Berlin
Robert Schloss
Born August 31, 1881, in Felsberg
Escaped to Palestine
Survived
Erna Schnabel, née Breslauer
Born March 20, 1880, in Jarotschin (Jarocin)
Deported March 6, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Alice Schönheimer, née Meyerheim
Born December 7, 1873, in Berlin
Deported July 17, 1942, to the Theresienstadt ghetto, died August 10, 1942
Margarete Schulz
Born February 15, 1893, in Hamburg
Deported October 18, 1941, to the Łódź ghetto, died March 12, 1943
Ernst Schwarz
Born November 16, 1896, in Berlin
Deported January 29, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Heinrich Schwarz
Born December 23, 1899, in Berlin
Deported January 29, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Ilse Schwarz
Born August 27, 1896, in Berlin
Deported January 29, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Irene Johanna Schwarz
Born August 23, 1905, in Berlin
Deported January 29, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Pauline Schwarz, née Salomon
Born January 15, 1865, in Berlin
Deported February 2, 1943, to the Theresienstadt ghetto, died February 10, 1943
Gerda Simon
Born April 14, 1920, in Königsberg (Kaliningrad)
Escaped July 7, 1939, to the United Kingdom
Survived
Ruben Robert Simon
Born July 18, 1882, in Königsberg (Kaliningrad)
Escaped July 7, 1939, to the United Kingdom
Survived
Irma Simon, née Levy
Born December 24, 1887, in Bochum
Escaped July 7, 1939, to the United Kingdom
Survived
Walter Simon
Born August 29, 1926, in Königsberg (Kaliningrad)
Escaped July 7, 1939, to the United Kingdom
Meta Steinberg, née Wasser
Born March 30, 1887, in Posen (Poznań)
Deported December 9, 1942, to Auschwitz, murdered in January 1943
Clara Süskind
Born July 24, 1870, in Breslau (Wrocław)
Died February 7, 1941, in Berlin
Elsbeth Süskind
Born May 29, 1872, in Breslau (Wrocław)
Died May 20, 1942, in Berlin
Sofie Tausinger, née Zielski
Born September 27, 1883, in Hohensalza (Inowrocław)
Suicide January 1, 1943, in Berlin
Selma Todtenkopf, née Lauter
Born February 10, 1875, in Berlin
Deported July 17, 1942, to the Theresienstadt ghetto, May 16, 1944, to Auschwitz, murdered
Helene Wald, née Aronsohn
Born March 1, 1875, in Memel
Deported July 8, 1942, to the Theresienstadt ghetto, September 19, 1942, to Treblinka extermination camp, murdered there
Clara Wedel
Born May 8, 1898, in Berlin
Deported January 29, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Juliane or Julie Wertheim
Date of birth and death not known
Horst Wohlmann
Born Februray 24, 1919, in Berlin
Deported January 29, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Martin Wohlmann
Born June 8, 1889, in Breslau (Wrocław)
Deported January 29, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Käthe Wolff, née Jacoby
Born February 11, 1868, in Berlin
Deported August 14, 1942, to the Theresienstadt ghetto, September 26, 1942, to Trebinka extermination camp, murdered
Lilli Wolff
Born June 16, 1896, in Berlin
Deported September 5, 1942, to the Riga ghetto, murdered September 8, 1942