Reinickendorfer Str. 77
Reinickendorfer Str. 77
This property, built in 1875/76, was just a few minutes’ walk away from the Jewish hospital on Iranische Straße (named Exerzierstraße until 1934) and the Jewish home for the elderly on the opposite side of the road. It was originally owned by the company Neue Häuser Ausbau. Around 1934, the real estate company CASA took it over. Adolf Hauser opened a shoe store on the first floor in around January 1938. He died at home on March 16, 1939.
Apartments
Street-facing building, 2nd floor
Apartment Barkowsky/Petzall
Julius and Helene Barkowsky, née Heymann, and their son Adolf moved into a 3-room apartment on the second floor on February 15, 1941. Julius Barkowsky had run a clothes store at Reinickendorfer Straße 48 for ten years, which was attacked during the antisemitic November pogrom in 1938 and forced to close a short time later. The Barkowskys lived in their new apartment for only a few months. They were deported on November 17, 1941, to the Kovno ghetto, where they were murdered as soon as they arrived.
A month after the Barkowsky family was deported, the General Building Inspector (GBI) allocated their apartment to Dr. Louis Petzall and his family. Louis Petzall ran a dental practice just a few minutes’ walk away at Badstraße 44. His wife Golia Petzall, née Goldberg, worked as a dental assistant in the practice. The Petzalls had a young daughter, Charlotte, who lived with them in the 2-room apartment.
“On orders from the General Building Inspector, the Jewish apartment J.I. Barkowski, Reinickendorfer Str. 77, was vacated in late November 1941. […] As instructed by the General Building Inspector, this apartment has now been leased, as of December 15, 1941, to Dr. Louis Israel Petzall.”
It is likely that Louis Petzall’s mother Maria Petzall, née London, lived in the apartment with them. The Petzall family also sublet a room to Emil and Meta Landsberg, née Oppenheim, and their adolescent son Günter for Reichsmark 20 per month. On October 3, 1942, 68-year-old Maria Petzall was deported to the Theresienstadt ghetto. After enduring the catastrophic conditions of the ghetto for one-and-a-half years, she was deported on May 18, 1944, to Auschwitz and murdered.
From May 1933 on, Jewish dentists were only permitted to treat Jewish patients. In directory lists, Jewish dental practices were marked out by the addition of compulsory names – Israel for men and Sara for women – and a “Jewish star”.
Two weeks after Maria Petzall was deported, Louis, Golia, and nine-year-old Charlotte Petzall were deported to Riga. They were murdered as soon as they arrived. The Landsberg family lived here some months longer. All three members of the family were deported on March 3, 1943, to Auschwitz and murdered. Hearing that the Petzalls had been deported, an acquaintance of the building’s residents tried to acquire the furnishings they had left behind. By that time, the Petzalls had been murdered.
“In the Jews’ apartment … there are some items that would be of great use to me [for moving into a larger apartment]. I am especially interested in the beds, including a child’s bed.”
Apartment Bragenheim
Oskar Bragenheim, his wife Lotte, née Abraham, and their eleven-year-old son Klaus moved into a small 2-room apartment on the second floor on October 4, 1940. Both partners performed forced labor: Lotte Bragenheim at the Siemens-Schuckert works in Spandau, Oskar Bragenheim for Lufthansa. They were deported along with their son and the Petzall family who lived next door to Riga and murdered upon arrival on October 22, 1942.
Side building, 1st floor
Apartment Rosenfeld
Olga Rosenfeld lived on the first floor of the side building. The monthly rent for one room with a kitchen was Reichsmark 21.38. It was probably paid by Artur Rosenfeld, for whom Olga Rosenfeld worked as a housekeeper for a monthly wage of Reichsmark 50. Whether she was related to Artur Rosenfeld is not known. Olga Rosenfeld was made to complete her declaration of assets on July 7, 1942, indicating that she was shortly to be deported. Nine days later, she was found dead in her apartment. She had poisoned herself.
Side building, 3rd floor
Apartment Dietmann
Rosa Dietmann, née Neumann, moved into her small apartment on the third floor of the side building sometime in 1940. She worked as a forced laborer for the I.G. Farben group in Lichtenberg. She was deported during the Nazis’ “Factory Action”, on March 2, 1943, to Auschwitz, where she was murdered.
Neighborhood
At the Reichstag election of March 1933, the German Communist Party (KPD) won almost 40 percent of the votes in Wedding – despite being banned – clearly ahead of the Nazi Party, which gained 26 percent. Major industries were located in the district, such as the electrical engineering company AEG, the machine engineering company Schwartzkopff, and the chemical and pharmaceutical manufacturers Schering. As local industries expanded, the population grew. In 1930, almost 400,000 people lived in Wedding. But the housing situation and health and welfare system did not develop at the same pace, resulting in a housing shortage and widespread poverty.
The building at Reinickendorfer Straße 77 was close to the Jewish hospital on Iranische Straße. The hospital was one of the few remaining facilities where Jewish physicians could work and Jewish people could receive medical attention. Later, the Gestapo gradually turned the hospital into an assembly camp, from which almost 1,000 Jewish people were deported.
Author
Bethan Griffiths
Adolf Barkowsky
Born December 20, 1923, in Berlin
Deported November 17, 1941, to the Kovno ghetto, murdered November 25, 1941
Helene Barkowsky, née Heymann
Born February 18, 1896, in Berlin
Deported November 17, 1941, to the Kovno ghetto, murdered November 25, 1941
Julius Barkowsky
Born December 24, 1887, in Friedland (Prawdinsk)
Deported November 17, 1941, to the Kovno ghetto, murdered November 25, 1941
Lotte Bragenheim, née Abraham
Born November 29, 1897, in Schweiding
Deported October 19, 1942, to the Riga ghetto, murdered October 22, 1942
Klaus Bragenheim
Born April 29, 1929, in Berlin
Deported October 19, 1942, to the Riga ghetto, murdered October 22, 1942
Oskar Bragenheim
Born March 7, 1891, in Güstrow
Deported October 19, 1942, to the Riga ghetto, murdered October 22, 1942
Rosa Dietmann, née Neumann (divorcée Warkow)
Born July 12, 1891, in Gerickensberg
Deported March 2, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Emil Landsberg
Born February 25, 1899, in Berlin
Deported March 3, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Günter Bernhard Landsberg
Born July 7, 1925, in Berlin
Deported March 3, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Meta Landsberg, née Oppenheim
Born October 21, 1903, in Berlin
Deported March 3, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Charlotte Petzall
Born June 26, 1933, in Berlin
Deported October 19, 1942, to the Riga ghetto, murdered October 22, 1942
Golia Petzall, née Goldberg
Born December 2, 1901, in Grodno
Deported October 19, 1942, to the Riga ghetto, murdered October 22, 1942
Louis Petzall
Born December 25, 1898, in Kreuzburg (Krustpils)
Deported October 19, 1942, to the Riga ghetto, murdered October 22, 1942
Maria Petzall, née London
Born June 2, 1874, in Lautenburg (Lidzbark)
Deported October 3, 1942, to the Theresienstadt ghetto; May 18, 1944, to Auschwitz, murdered
Olga Rosenfeld
Born July 24, 1873, in Paprotzan
Suicide July 16, 1942
Adolf Tauber
Born March 10, 1894, in Wohyń
Died March 16, 1939