Schönhauser Allee 185–186
Schönhauser Allee 185–186
In June 1938, Malka Goldwasser, née Koscizki, and her son Hermann (Hirsch) Goldwasser inherited the property at Schönhauser Allee 185–186 from Süssmann Goldwasser, Malka’s husband. Malka Goldwasser lived in the building before fleeing to the United Kingdom. Hermann Goldwasser also lived here until 1938. The building was confiscated by the German state in 1939. At least eight apartments in the building were used as compulsory accommodation. Jewish tenants had also lived in other apartments in the building for many years.
Apartments
Street-facing building, 2nd floor
Apartment Neiß/Kniebel
In May 1939, the Neiß family – Margarete Neiß, née Marcus, her husband David Neiß, and their sons Artur and Herbert – moved into the 4.5-room apartment on the first floor as subtenants. Artur’s wife Herta Neiß, née Heim, and their small son Rolf also lived in the apartment. Later, Luise Neiß, née Riczker, moved in with them. How or whether Luise was related to the others is not known. In May 1941, Dorothea Baer also moved into one room as a subtenant, paying Reichsmark 45 per month. At an unknown point in time, Artur Neiß took over the lease and became the main tenant. David Neiß died on May 23, 1939, in the apartment. The other members of the family were deported on November 27, 1941, to Riga and shot on arrival.
Rolf Neiß’s school-leaving date is noted in red as November 27, 1941, – the day of his deportation. Under “new school”, it says “Riga evacuated”.
After the Neiß family had been deported, Dorothea Baer evidently lived alone in the apartment until she herself was deported, on April 2, 1942, to the Warsaw ghetto. The other rooms were probably sealed. It took about three months for Dorothea Baer’s room to be cleared out and reopened. The proceeds from the sale of her belongings were seized by the state.
On April 23, 1942, Rosa Kniebel signed a new tenancy agreement for the apartment, and moved in with her sister Henriette and mother Minna, née Kasprowicz. By that time, the rightful owners of the property, Malka Goldwasser and her son, had already been expropriated. The non-Jewish property manager Hans-Joachim Götz signed Rosa Kniebel’s rental contract.
“This contract only gains validity when approved by the relevant authorities (General Building Inspector, Main Trustee Office for the East).”
In June 1942, Ella Chraplewsky and her 21-year-old daughter Edith moved into a 37m²-large room as subtenants. Edith worked as a forced laborer for the pharmacist Hans Starke under the IG Farben group. Rosa Kniebel sublet another room, which was 20m² large, to Lucie Juliusburger. Like Rosa Kniebel, she performed forced labor for Siemens & Halske. With six occupants, the 4.5-room apartment was rather cramped. Minna Kniebel was the first to be deported. She was taken away on September 14, 1942, to the Theresienstadt ghetto, where she died a short time later. On November 29, 1942, Rosa and Henriette Kniebel were deported to Auschwitz. Lucie Juliusburger was deported with her neighbor Edith Chraplewsky during the Nazis’ “Factory Action” on March 1, 1943, to Auschwitz. Edith’s mother Ella Chraplewsky was deported two days after her daughter to Auschwitz and murdered.
Apartment Coper
Julius Coper and his non-Jewish wife Hedwig Coper, née Kuhn, moved into a second-floor apartment sometime around May 1939. They sublet a furnished room to husband-and-wife Heinz and Irma Bilski, née Seif, who had previously lived separately: Irma Bilski had been registered as resident in Bocholt on the Dutch border. Julius Coper and Heinz Bilski already knew each before Heinz Bilski moved in: In May 1939, they had both been registered as resident at Wichertstraße 40. This suggests that there was scope for taking personal relations into account when allocating housing, despite it being compulsory. Heinz Bilski worked as a forced laborer for the Reich railroads, Irma Bilski for Siemens & Halske. Their son Joel was born on March 18, 1942. About two weeks before his first birthday, Irma Bilski was deported to Auschwitz; her husband Heinz Bilski and son Joel three days later. All three were murdered. Julius and Hedwig Coper remained in the apartment at Schönhauser Allee 185–186 for the rest of their lives – until the 1950s. Most probably their “mixed marriage” saved Julius Coper from being deported.
Apartment Schaller/Dobriner
Samuel and Anna Schaller, née Henich, moved into a 2-room apartment on the second floor on October 1, 1937. There was no kitchen. The Schallers paid to have a gas stove installed after moving in. They shared a toilet on the landing with their neighbors. Samuel Schaller died on July 7, 1939, in the apartment. Soon afterwards, Anna Schaller sublet one room to sister-and-brother Julia and Bruno Dobriner. From 1940 on, they shared the apartment with Gertrud Kahn, née Dobriner, and her ten-year-old son Norbert. They had been released from Radinkendorf labor camp. Whether or how they were related to the Dobriner siblings is not known. The apartment on Schönhauser Allee was the last known place of residence of Gertrud and Norbert Kahn before they were deported on April 14, 1942, from Potsdam to the Warsaw ghetto.
Anna Schaller was deported on August 10, 1942, to the Theresienstadt ghetto, where she only survived for a few weeks. Six months later, the Dobriner siblings took over the lease on the apartment. Unlike Anna Schaller, who had signed a rental contract with Süssmann Goldwasser, the Dobriners concluded a contract with the acting property manager, who had been appointed after the building had been confiscated. Julia Dobriner managed to evade deportation by going into hiding. She survived. After the war, she lived at Oderberger Straße 34 under the name Julia Perske. Her brother Bruno wrote in his declaration of assets that he did not know where his sister was. Whether this was the truth or whether he was protecting his sister in hiding is not known. Bruno Dobriner was deported on March 12, 1943, to Auschwitz, where he was murdered a month later.
Street-facing building, 4th floor
Apartment Elkeles
Theodor and Regina Elkeles, née Kohn, became tenants of this apartment on January 1, 1940. They were forced to leave their previous apartment at Kopenhagener Straße 72. Their new home had two rooms, a coal closet, and a kitchen. Their children Ruth and Rudi were able to flee to Palestine. Theodor and Regina Elkeles were deported on October 19, 1942, to Riga and murdered on arrival.
Apartment Margolinski
Albert and Else Gotthilf, née Margolinski, and their children Gertraud, Eva, and Wolfgang occupied 1.5 rooms on the fourth floor. They moved in sometime before or around May 1939. Else’s parents Benjamin and Hulda Margolinski held the lease on the apartment. Else’s brother Siegfried Margolinski, who was also registered as resident at Schönhauser Allee 185–186, probably lived in the same apartment. Another brother of Else’s, Ascher Margolinski, also lived in the apartment for a time after his release from Buchenwald concentration camp on April 14, 1939. Later he married Margot, née Brock, and moved with her and Margot’s daughter Ruth Brock to Linienstraße 220. Their daughter Chana was born in November 1942. Just three months later, the family of four was deported to Auschwitz and murdered. Else Gotthilf died on April 27, 1941, of a stroke. Albert Gotthilf and his children Wolfgang and Gertraud were deported on March 1, 1943, during the Nazis’ “Factory Action”, to Auschwitz. Siegfried Margolinski was deported to Auschwitz the next day. Eva Gotthilf was the only member of the family to survive.
Apartment Glindmeyer
Betty Glindmeyer, née Rosenthal, and her non-Jewish husband Arthur Glindmeyer moved in at Schönhauser Allee 185–186 with their children Günther and Ellen before July 1939. Betty’s sister Gertrud Meyer, née Rosenthal, also lived with her family at this address, in an apartment in the rear building. On July 1, 1939, Isidor and Regina Rosenthal, née Brzcyniski – Betty’s and Gertrud’s parents – moved from Schwiebus (now Świebodzin) into this apartment, too, with their youngest daughter Dora Rosenthal and granddaughter Margot Meyer. Margot was Gertrud Meyer’s daughter, but lived with her grandparents in her aunt’s apartment.


In August 1941, Isidor Rosenthal took in another child, Stephan Pagel, who had lived in an orphanage since May 1939. On November 29, 1942, seven-year-old Stephan was deported alone to Auschwitz, where he was murdered. Just over a week later, Isidor and Regina Rosenthal were also deported to Auschwitz and murdered.
Dora Rosenthal managed to flee to the United Kingdom in 1939. Ellen and Günther, who were categorized as “of mixed race, first degree” under the Nazi’s race laws because their father was not Jewish, survived Nazi persecution. Betty Glindmeyer and her niece Margot Meyer also survived. Betty and Arthur Glindmeyer had declared that Margot was their own child to protect her.
Street-facing building, 5th floor
Apartment Treiger/Schweigel
Moses Treiger signed a rental contract for a small apartment in the building on April 1, 1941. It consisted of a kitchen-cum-living-room and a small supply closet. Despite the lack of space, Moses Treiger shared the apartment from June 1941 on with Edith Schweigel, née Heine. She lived in the supply closet, which Moses Treiger described as a “sleeping place” in his declaration of assets. Two weeks after completing this “declaration”, on March 28, 1942, he was deported to the Piaski ghetto.
“Jew homes [are] utilized to house Jewish tenants evicted from Aryan property. This is a temporary measure to which objection is fruitless.”
Edith Schweigel was to stay in the apartment for only five months. She worked as a forced laborer in the Pertrix battery factory for a weekly wage of RM 15-18. The monthly rent of RM 11.95 took up a large part of her earnings. On May 4, 1942, the Berlin Jewish Community’s housing advice office – supervised by the General Building Inspector – issued authorization for Edith Schweigel to take over the lease on the apartment. Three months later she was deported to Riga and murdered on arrival.
Rear building, 1st floor
Apartment Meyer
Alfred and Gertrud (Trudy) Meyer, née Rosenthal, probably moved in here in 1938. They lived with their two infant sons Denny (born 1938) and Berl (born 1940). Their daughter Margot lived with Gertrud Meyer’s sister Betty Glindmeyer on the fourth floor of the street-facing building.

Alfred Meyer died on October 19, 1942, officially of a brain tumor. His daughter Margot later stated that he was murdered by the Gestapo. Gertrud Meyer and her sons were due to be deported in February 1943 but went into hiding shortly beforehand. Nevertheless, they did not survive. All three were deported on May 26, 1944, to the Theresienstadt ghetto. Gertrud sent Margot a postcard from Theresienstadt, with the words: “You are my sunshine”. On October 12, 1944, Gertrud, Berl, and Denny were deported from Theresienstadt to Auschwitz and murdered. The only one of the Meyer family to survive was Margot, who was taken in and hidden by her aunt Betty Glindmeyer.
Apartment Zelechow
Malka Zelechow moved into her small apartment, consisting only of one small room and a kitchen, in November 1938. There is no indication that it was compulsory accommodation. On July 7, 1942, Malka Zelechow was deported to the Theresienstadt ghetto. From there she was taken on September 6, 1943, to Auschwitz and murdered.
Rear building, 2nd floor, right
Apartment Steinberg
Leo and Gertrud Steinberg, née Seidel, moved into a 2-room apartment in the rear building on November 25, 1941, from Woldenberger Straße 28 (now Dietrich-Bonhoeffer-Straße), where they had moved in May 1939. They sublet a furnished room for Reichsmark 5 to Gerhard Budzyslawski, who worked as a forced laborer for the arms factory Deutsche Waffen- und Munitionsfabriken (DWM). Gertrud Steinberg was the first occupant to be deported. She was taken to Auschwitz on March 2, 1943. Her husband Leo and their lodger Gerhard Budzyslawski were deported two days later to Auschwitz. They were all murdered.
Rear building, 4th floor
Apartment Kaphan
In July 1941, Leopold Kaphan, a butcher, moved into a 1-room apartment in the rear building. The rent cost Reichsmark 13.15 per month. The property manager Hans-Joachim Götz had written to the local housing office on June 9 to request permission to rent out the apartment to him. One year after moving in, Leopold Kaphan was deported to the Theresienstadt ghetto, where he died.
The District Mayor’s housing office granted the property manager permission to rent out an apartment (kitchen-cum-living-room) to Leopold Kaphan – on condition that “all persons who move into the apartment in future must be Jews.”
Unknown location
Apartment Goldwasser
Malka Goldwasser, née Koscizki, and her son Hermann (Hirsch) Goldwasser owned the property at Schönhauser Allee 185–186. Malka Goldwasser lived in the building until she fled to the United Kingdom. Hermann Goldwasser also lived here until 1938. He was arrested by the Gestapo in 1942. By the time he was liberated three years later, he had survived several concentration camps.



Despite their intensive efforts, the family could not find out what had happened to Malka Goldwasser’s second son Dawid Goldwasser, who had also lived here. In 1946, Hermann Goldwasser wrote to the Berlin city council, asking for information about Dawid and the property stolen from his mother. The authority’s apparent disinterest prompted him to reply:
“I am severely disconcerted by the disinterest with and indifferent manner in which my letter to the Mayor was handled […]. As I see from your reply, you have not made the slightest effort to look into the matter a little more closely. […] I therefore feel justified in writing to demand that you provide information about the whereabouts of the assets stolen from us by making intensive and extensive inquiries with the relevant authorities.”
Apartment Kolbauer-Nadel/Gorbate
Hermann Nadel, a clockmaker, and his wife Margarete, née Stolz, lived at Lottumstraße 27 in Prenzlauer Berg in May 1939. They moved to Schönhauser Allee with their twelve-year-old daughter Ruth in September 1939. Hermann Nadel changed his name to “Kolbauer” at an unknown point in time. Shortly after moving in, on September 13, 1939, Hermann was arrested and jailed in Sachsenhausen concentration camp. He died there on January 3, 1940. Margarete and Ruth Kolbauer were deported on March 28, 1942, to the Piaski ghetto, where they were murdered.
In April 1943, the property manager Hans-Joachim Götz wrote to the Chief of Finance to claim the outstanding rental payments since the tenants had been deported. It emerges from this letter that the small apartment briefly occupied by the Kolbauer family had remained empty for almost the entire year. The rent of Reichsmark 26.29 was paid for one month – September 1942 – by Mordechaj Max Gorbate and his wife Gerda. On September 26, 1942, they were deported to Raasiku, where they were murdered.


Neighborhood
The apartment building at Schönhauser Allee 185–186 was located in a district with a mixed working-class and middle-class population and a lively Jewish Community, as indicated by the Jewish cemetery on the same road, synagogue on nearby Rykestraße, and Jewish children’s home further up Schönhauser Allee.
Author
Bethan Griffiths
Dorothea Baer
Born December 1, 1875, in Landeck
Deported April 2, 1942, to the Warsaw ghetto, murdered
Heinz Bilski
Born October 28, 1915, in Berlin
Deported March 4, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Irma Bilski, née Seif
Born April 14, 1920, in Schrimm (Śrem)
Deported March 1, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Joel Bilski
Born March 18, 1942, in Berlin
Deported March 4, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Gerhard Budzyslawski
Born September 17, 1898, in Berlin
Deported March 4, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Sara Paula Chelekhower, née Chikow
Born October 11, 1889, in Jerusalem
Deported June 13, 1942, to Sobibor extermination camp, murdered
Edith Chraplewsky
Born November 19, 1921, in Kallies (Kalisz Pomorski)
Deported March 1, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Ella Chraplewsky, née Lippmann
Born January 29, 1893, in Kallies (Kalisz Pomorski)Deported March 3, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Julius Coper
Born November 19, 1878, in Berlin
Survived
Bruno Dobriner
Born October 22, 1893, in Märkisch Friedland
Detained in Sachsenhausen concentration camp until December 20, 1938, deported March 12, 1943 to Auschwitz, murdered April 1943
Julia Dobriner
Born May 31, 1898, in Märkisch Friedland
Survived
Regina Elkeles, née Cohn
Born April 9, 1886, in Obersitzko (Obrzycko)
Deported October 19, 1942, to the Riga ghetto, murdered October 22, 1942
Theodor Elkeles
Born December 21, 1887, in Posen (Poznań)
Deported October 19, 1942, to the Riga ghetto, murdered October 22, 1942
Erna Fleskes, née Koppel
Born December 19, 1900, in Berlin
Fled June 1, 1940, to Shanghai
Survived
Berta Ginz, née Jaffé
Born July 4, 1871, in Posen (Poznań)
Deported August 7, 1942, to the Theresienstadt ghetto, died November 21, 1942
Betty Glindmeyer, née Rosenthal
Born October 8, 1907, in Skampe (Skąpe)
Survived
Ellen Glindmeyer
Born March 29, 1939, in Berlin
Survived
Günther Glindmeyer
Born June 27, 1927, in Schwiebus (Świebodzin)
Survived
Dawid Goldwasser
Born April 2, 1916, in Kattowitz (Katowice)
Fate unknown
Hermann (Hirsch) Goldwasser
Born August 6, 1911, in Auschwitz (Oświęcim)
Deported June 1943 to Fünfteichen, a subcamp of Groß-Rosen concentration camp
Survived
Malka Goldwasser, née Koscizki
Born October 16, 1878, in Kattowitz (Katowice)
Fled to the United Kingdom
Survived, died November 15, 1955, in London
Süssmann Goldwasser
Born November 15, 1877, in Chrzanów
Died May 7, 1938
Mordechaj Max Gorbate
Born March 6, 1909, in Berlin
Deported September 24, 1942, to Raasiku, murdered
Gerda Gorbate, née Levitt
Born June 24, 1914, in Cottbus
Deported September 24, 1942, to Raasiku, murdered
Albert Gotthilf
Born January 10, 1891, in Turza
Deported March 1, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Else Gotthilf, née Margolinski
Born October 11, 1891, in Krojanke (Krajenka)
Died April 27, 1941
Eva Gotthilf
Born September 6, 1919, in Schneidemühl (Piła)
Survived
Gertraud Gotthilf
Born June 11, 1922, in Schneidemühl (Piła)
Deported March 1, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Wolfgang Gotthilf
Born January 18, 1933, in Schneidemühl (Piła)
Deported March 1, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Fritz Gross
Born May 29, 1894, in Berlin
Fate unknown
Lucie Juliusburger
Born April 9, 1895, in Berlin
Deported March 1, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Gertrud Kahn, née Dobriner
Born August 10, 1900, in Märkisch Friedland
Detained in Schneidemühl provisional prison and Radinkendorf labor camp, deported April 14, 1942, to the Warsaw ghetto, perished
Norbert Kahn
Born April 25, 1935, in Märkisch Friedland
Detained in Radinkendorf Jewish labor home, deported April 14, 1942, to the Warsaw ghetto, murdered in Trawniki
Leopold Kaphan
Born July 15, 1868, in Schroda (Środa Wielkopolska)
Deported July 6, 1942, to the Theresienstadt ghetto, did not survive
Malke Katz, née Zelechow
Born January 22, 1886, in Warsaw (Warszawa)
Deported July 7, 1942, to the Theresienstadt ghetto; September 6, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Henriette Kniebel
Born July 27, 1893, in Schwersenz (Swarzedz)
Deported November 29, 1942, to Auschwitz, murdered
Minna Kniebel, née Kasprowicz
Born September 2, 1857, in Schwersenz (Swarzedz),
Deported September 14, 1942, to the Theresienstadt ghetto, died November 1, 1942
Rosa Kniebel
Born August 22, 1891, in Schwersenz (Swarzedz)
Deported November 29, 1942, to Auschwitz, murdered
Margarete Kolbauer, née Stolz (mariée Nadel)
Born October 4, 1888 (or October 7, 1888), in Posen (Poznań)
Deported March 28, 1942, to the Piaski ghetto, perished
Hilda Erna Lewin
Born January 1, 1929, in Schneidemühl (Piła)
Deported January 29, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Ascher Margolinski
Born November 19, 1901, in Krojanke (Krajenka)
Deported February 3, 1942, to Auschwitz, murdered
Benjamin Margolinski
Born May 9, 1865, in Passenheim (Pasym)
Deported August 7, 1942, to the Theresienstadt ghetto, died October 23, 1942
Hulda Margolinski, née Findling
Born May 11, 1865, in Passenheim (Pasym)
Died June 27, 1940
Siegfried Margolinski
Born October 25, 1892, in Krojanke (Krajenka)
Deported March 2, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Alfred Meyer
Born February 10, 1912, in Berlin
Died October 19, 1942
Berl Meyer
Born November 21, 1940, in Berlin
Deported May 26, 1944, to the Theresienstadt ghetto; October 12, 1944, to Auschwitz, murdered
Denny Meyer
Born October 16, 1938, in Berlin
Deported May 26, 1944, to the Theresienstadt ghetto; October 12, 1944, to Auschwitz, murdered
Gertrud Meyer, née Rosenthal
Born August 2, 1914, in Schwiebus (Świebodzin)
Deported May 26, 1944, to the Theresienstadt ghetto; October 12, 1944, to Auschwitz, murdered
Margot Meyer
Born January 17, 1935, in Schwiebus (Świebodzin)
Survived
Hermann Nadel (alias Kolbauer)
Born May 18, 1886, in Auschwitz (Oświęcim)
Detained September 13, 1939, in Sachsenhausen concentration camp, murdered January 3, 1940
Ruth Nadel (alias Kolbauer)
Born November 16, 1927, in Berlin
Deported March 28, 1942, to the Piaski ghetto, murdered
Artur Neiß
Born July 25, 1908, in Berlin
Deported November 27, 1941, to the Riga ghetto, murdered November 30, 1941
David Neiß
Born April 30, 1876, in Berlin
Died May 23, 1939
Herbert Neiß
Born June 7, 1910, in Berlin
Deported November 27, 1941, to the Riga ghetto, murdered November 30, 1941
Herta Neiß, née Heim
Born January 22, 1909, in Kletzko (Kłecko)
Deported November 27, 1941, to the Riga ghetto, murdered November 30, 1941
Luise Neiß, née Riczker
Born December 11, 1912, in Berlin
Deported November 27, 1941, to the Riga ghetto, murdered November 30, 1941
Margarete Neiß, née Marcus
Born September 13, 1880, in Schneidemühl (Piła)
Deported November 27, 1941, to the Riga ghetto, murdered November 30, 1941
Rolf Neiß
Born January 2, 1935, in Berlin
Deported November 27, 1941, to the Riga ghetto, murdered November 30, 1941
Stephan Pagel
Born January 10, 1935, in Berlin
Deported November 29, 1942, to Auschwitz, murdered
Braune Pardes, née Goldwasser
Born November 15, 1903, in Auschwitz (Oświęcim)
Fled April 19, 1943, to Belgium, deported from Mechelen to Auschwitz, murdered
Markus Pardes
Born October 16, 1910, in Berlin
Fate unknown
Rebecka Pardes
Born June 16, 1938, in Berlin
Fate unknown
Dora Rosenthal
Born January 25, 1920, in Schwiebus (Świebodzin)
Fled to the United Kingdom
Survived
Isidor Rosenthal
Born February 18, 1882, in Skampe
Detained in Sachsenhausen concentration camp until December 12, 1938, deported December 9, 1942 to Auschwitz, murdered
Regina Rosenthal, née Brzcyniski
Born January 21, 1883, in Hohensalza
Deported December 9, 1942, to Auschwitz, murdered
Liba Rosenzweig, née Schmiedler
Born November 4, 1893, in Chrzanow
Fled June 12, 1939, to Poland, later fate unknown
Anna Schaller, née Henich
Born November 3, 1875 (or October 3, 1875), in Kolomea
Deported August 10, 1942, to the Theresienstadt ghetto, died August 29, 1942
Samuel Schaller
Born October 1, 1864, in Kolomea
Died July 7, 1939, in his apartment
Edith Johanna Schweigel, née Heine
Born October 21, 1908, in Berlin
Deported August 15, 1942, to the Riga ghetto, murdered August 18, 1942
Gertrud Steinberg, née Seidel
Born March 25, 1885, in Saaben (Żabno)
Deported March 2, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Leo Steinberg
Born June 2, 1880, in Stettin (Szczecin)
Deported March 4, 1943, to Auschwitz, murdered
Moses Treiger
Born March 26, 1906, in Berlin
Deported March 28, 1942, to the Piaski ghetto, perished
Heinrich Warschawski
Born May 15, 1925, in Berlin
Fled October 10, 1942, to Belgium, deported from Mechelen to Cosel, murdered