13 driver's licenses - thirteen Jewish fates

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Exhibition poster

The title 13 driving licenses - thirteen Jewish fates describes a history project of the Meranier-Gymnasium in Lichtenfels ( Upper Franconia ), which has received international media attention. A German and English language exhibition or touring exhibition that resulted from this project bears the same title and can be booked in Germany and the United States.

Historical background

Thirteen German citizens of Jewish descent were deprived of their valid driver's licenses after the cynically so-called " Reichskristallnacht " at the end of 1938 by the Lichtenfels District Office (today: District Office ) , and at about the same time the motor vehicles that were in their private ownership. Corresponding enforcement lists were drawn up and filled out successively.

The driving licenses of those Jewish citizens who had already emigrated at this point in time could be officially recorded, but not (no longer) confiscated , for example the driving license of the first driver of the city of Lichtenfels, Henriette "Jetta" Bamberger (1891–1978), widow of the Lichtenfels entrepreneur, art collector and patron Otto Bamberger and co-owner of the company D. Bamberger based in Lichtenfels and Coburg .

A total of 22 Jewish drivers license holders were on the list to be worked through. These lists, drawn up nationwide, were based on a decree issued by the head of the German police and Reichsführer SS , Heinrich Himmler , on December 3, 1938. Jews are "unreliable and unsuitable for keeping and driving vehicles". Driving licenses and motor vehicle licenses for Jews of German nationality living in Germany were to be handed in to the registration offices or police stations immediately, by December 31, 1938 at the latest . Their driving license will be withdrawn with immediate effect, and the keeping of passenger cars and motorcycles will be prohibited.

“[...] With this defensive measure against Jewish arrogance, too, the National Socialist state expressed the healthy sense of justice of the German people. Germans have long felt it as a provocation and a threat to public life when Jews drive a car in the German streets or even co-users of the streets of Adolf Hitler's created by German workers' fists . This state of affairs, which the German people had previously endured with unheard of long-suffering, has now also come to an end. Jews have no place in Germany at the wheel of a motor vehicle. [...] The Jew does not belong in this National Socialist traffic community . [...] "

- Heinrich Himmler

From archive finds to school seminar projects

In the course of digitizing the archive of the Lichtenfels District Office, an old envelope was found in February 2017. This contained thirteen driver's licenses with the insignia of the German Empire . As soon became apparent when they were sighted, it was the confiscated driving licenses of Germans of Jewish origin, two women and eleven men, from the then district and today's district, which were confiscated at the end of 1938. The incumbent District Administrator Christian Meißner decided to make these archive materials accessible in order to make their background transparent.

For this purpose he handed over these contemporary documents to the local Meranier-Gymnasium; In the 2017/18 school year, director of studies Manfred Brösamle-Lambrecht, together with a project seminar on study and career orientation ( P seminar ), took on the challenging task of researching the biographies of the driver's license holders and reconstructing them as far as possible. This work took around nine months and thirteen students were involved: Clara Aumüller, Luise Aumüller, Markus Betz, Luise Birkner, Dennis Brosig, Lukas Franke, Jan Höppel, Laura Kolenda, Julia Mehrmann, Sophie Rauh, Francesca Schütz, Victoria Thiel and Antonia Voll.

Relatives or descendants of eleven of the thirteen drivers license holders could be found internationally, in Argentina, Israel and the United States (Florida, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Texas), for example the political scientist Walter SG Kohn, who was born in Lichtenfels .

The project by the German students was later picked up by international media, including in Germany itself, of course.

Public presentation

In order to be able to make the research results accessible to the public, an exhibition was designed after the research and the elaboration of a digital and printed scrapbook . The exhibition was supported by the Lichtenfels District Office and the KOINOR Horst Müller Foundation . Ten descendants of the license holders traveled to the exhibition opening on November 5, 2018. Finally, in a symbolic act, the district administrator handed them the originals of their ancestors' driving licenses.

The exhibition moves to other venues, especially in the Franconian region.

Exemplary district inspector

Wilhelm Aumer (1883–1958) is to be mentioned as the one whose active assistance contributed to the fact that many of the former Jewish fellow citizens of the then district and today's district of Lichtenfels were able to emigrate from the Nazi state in good time . Aumer was responsible in the Lichtenfels district office for issuing their passports. In doing so, he generously and very consciously deviated from the applicable Nazi service instructions and ordinances in order to improve the chances of his Jewish fellow citizens of being able to find a state that would give them refuge, because that was usually not easy. He issued their passports in such a way that they were valid for several countries (see also: Walter Samuel Gerst ). The applicable Nazi regulations only stipulated a specific country, which considerably limited the chances of emigration.

Wilhelm Aumer looked for Henriette "Jetta" Bamberger conspiratorially at night through the eastern side entrance (winter garden) of her villa " Sonnenhaus " in Lichtenfelser Adolf-Hitler-Strasse 21 (today: Kronacher Strasse 21) in order to prevent her from an impending confiscation of all Jewish passports To warn fellow citizens. The villa “Sonnenhaus” was diagonally across from the NSDAP district leadership and the district office, a few steps away within sight, which is how Aumer's risk can be measured. The confiscation order sent from the capital of the Reich was already on Aumer's desk in the district office. However, he withheld the letter for a few days to enable “Jetta” Bamberger to flee the German Reich beforehand. "Jetta" Bamberger reached the United States in September 1938 with a visitor visa issued by the US consulate there in Stuttgart and was able to stay there due to further political developments.

Awards

The Meranier-Gymnasium was commissioned for the project by the Bavarian Minister of Culture Michael Piazolo in the presence of the President of the Jewish Community of Munich and Upper Bavaria , Charlotte Knobloch , and the representative of the Bavarian State Government for Jewish life and against anti-Semitism, for remembrance work and historical heritage, Minister of Education a. D. Ludwig Spaenle , awarded the Bavarian P-Seminar Prize and the Study Prize of the bcj.Bayern .

Videos

Exhibitions (excerpt)

Web links

  • 13 driving licenses - thirteen Jewish fates , scrapbook for the exhibition of the same name. Project of the P-seminar History of the Meranier-Gymnasium Lichtenfels under the direction of Study Director Manfred Brösamle-Lambrecht on the initiative of District Administrator Christian Meißner, school year 2017/18, 2nd, corr. and exp. Edition (PDF file; 11.8 MB), Lichtenfels 2019.

References and footnotes

  1. ↑ 13 Driving Licenses - Thirteen Jewish Fates , on: meranier-gymnasium.de
  2. ^ Claude P. Bamberger: Breaking the Mold - A Memoir . C. Bamberger Molding Compounds Corp., Carlstadt, New Jersey, USA, 1996, ISBN 0-9653827-0-2 , p. 64.
  3. ↑ Directory of Jews who have a driver's license (issued by the Lichtenfels district office) , Lichtenfels district office, December 30, 1938. In: 13 driving licenses - thirteen Jewish fates , scrapbook for the exhibition of the same name. Project of the P-seminar 2-pg history of the Meranier-Gymnasium Lichtenfels under the direction of study director Manfred Brösamle-Lambrecht, school year 2017/18, 2nd, corr. and exp. Edition, Lichtenfels 2019, PDF file, p. 99.
  4. ↑ a b General driving ban for the Jews - Another defense measure of the German people . In: Völkischer Beobachter , No. 262, December 4, 1938, p. 2. In: Austrian National Library , on: anno.onb.ac.at
  5. ↑ 13 Driving Licenses - Thirteen Jewish Fates , on: lkr-lif.de
  6. ↑ SPECIAL TOPIC Satisfaction - 13 Driving Licenses 13 Fates # 30 , on: coburger-magazin.de
  7. ↑ Holocaust Survivor Reconnects with Her Hometown - and Forges New German Relationships , on: tapinto.net
  8. ↑ Herbert Mackert ( dpa ): 13 lives in 13 driving licenses . In: Bayerische Staatszeitung , November 6, 2018, at: bayerische-staatszeitung.de
  9. ^ Johanna R. Ginsberg: Research on 13 Driver's Licenses' in Germany leads to New Jersey . In: New Jersey Jewish News , January 23, 2019
  10. ↑ Betina Kraus. 13 Registros de conducir. 13 Destinos Judios , on: puntoseguido.com
  11. ^ Marc Shapiro: 13 Driver's Licenses . In: Baltimore Jewish Times , December 19, 2018
  12. ↑ Tonyia Cone: Austin Family Helps Build Peaceful Future Through 13 Driver's Licenses . In: Jewish Outlook , February 1, 2019, at: thejewishoutlook.com
  13. ↑ 13 driver's licenses, thirteen Jewish fates: historical exhibition on the biographies of thirteen people whose driver's license was revoked in the Lichtenfels district office in 1938 because they were Jews: Scrap book . In: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum , at: ushmm.org
  14. ↑ Israel Schwierz: "13 driving licenses - 13 Jewish fates" , on: hagalil.com
  15. ↑ Pupils trace Jewish fates with driving licenses . In: Süddeutsche Zeitung , November 3, 2018, on: sueddeutsche.de
  16. ↑ Pupils trace Jewish fates with driving licenses . In: Die Welt , November 3, 2018, on: welt.de
  17. ↑ 13 Drivers' Licenses Exhibit Panels to Loan . In: Holocaust & Human Rights Education Center , at: hhrecny.org
  18. ↑ a b Exhibition “13 driving licenses” in the Burgkunstadt town hall hall (PDF file; 178 kB), on: burgkunstadt.eu
  19. ↑ a b traveling exhibition "13 Jewish Driving Licenses - 13 Jewish Fates" , on: frankenwald-gymnasium.de
  20. ^ The district office inspector Wilhelm Aumer (born January 22, 1883 in Regensburg, † August 22, 1958 in Lichtenfels) was responsible for passport and registration in the Lichtenfels district office. He recognized the illegality of the Nazi official instructions from the Reich capital early on and acted in such a way that he issued various Jewish citizens of Lichtenfels with identification papers that enabled them to emigrate to various countries. In doing so, he acted from a humane point of view against the applicable Nazi service instructions and also took a considerable professional risk. Aumer, who last worked in the rank of senior government inspector, was married to Margarete (born May 19, 1892 - August 30, 1968), née Frank. This marriage resulted in three sons: Hubert (* 1921), Walter (* August 3, 1923; † April 27, 2015) and Hans-Werner (* May 15, 1926; † January 30, 1995). Quoted from: Written information from grandson Reinhard Aumer, Munich, from September 20, 2019, with individual photographic evidence of the family grave at the Lichtenfels cemetery; Quoted from: Susanne Troche: Resistance against Hitler - individual examples from the Lichtenfels area , Chapter 6.4.3 - Wilhelm Aumer .
  21. ↑ Susanne Troche: Resistance against Hitler - individual examples from the Lichtenfels area , on: mgl-obermaingeschichte.de, Chapter 6.4.3 - Wilhelm Aumer .
  22. ↑ Dr. Siegfried Rudolph: A Mitwitzer art collector . In: Mitteilungsblatt - Official Journal for the Administrative Community Mitwitz , No. 25 (1992), June 19, 1992.
  23. ^ Klaus Bamberger: From the history of the Bamberger family. Childhood memories of Lichtenfels (= Kleine CHW-Schriften , Colloquium Historicum Wirsbergense, Issue 2; Lichtenfelser Hefte zur Heimatgeschichte , special issue 3), ed. v. Lichtenfels City Archives, HO Schulze, Lichtenfels 2005, ISBN 3-87735-177-8 , pp. 44–46.
  24. ↑ Ramona Popp: Historically important house will Hort , March 29, 2019, on: infranken.de [The article does not mention the profiteers and subsequent users of the property from 1939, Striwa co-owner Conrad Wagner († 1959) with his wife Grete (1892–1986) and son Siegfried († 2013), contains factual inaccuracies and fuzziness as well as a serious false statement with regard to the whereabouts of Otto Bamberger's art collection despite the underlying preparatory work of the Lichtenfels City Archives.]
  25. ^ Letter from Henriette "Jetta" Bamberger to her son Klaus in Neuchâtel dated August 21, 1937, typewritten, unpublished, contains a reference to Wilhelm Aumer, who processed Klaus Bamberger's passport in the Lichtenfels district office.
  26. ^ Claude P. Bamberger: History of a Family - The Bambergers of Mitwitz and Lichtenfels 1770-1992 . Self-published, Tenafly, New Jersey, USA, 1993, pp. 9-11.
  27. ↑ MGL wins the Bavarian P-Seminar Prize and the Study Prize of the bcj.Bayern , on: meranier-gymnasium.de
  28. ↑ Gerda Völk: Exhibition opening "13 Driving Licenses - Thirteen Jewish Fates" in the MGL . In: Obermain-Tagblatt , November 6, 2018, on: obermain.de
  29. ↑ Herbert Mackert: 13 lives in 13 driving licenses . In: Mittelbayerische , November 8, 2018, at: Mittelbayerische.de
  30. ^ Exhibition "13 Driving Licenses - Thirteen Jewish Fates" , on: landkreis-kronach.de
  31. ↑ Heike Schülein: Kronach Synagogue shows the exhibition "13 driving licenses - 13 Jewish fates" . In: Sonntagsblatt - 360 ° Protestant , on: sonntagsblatt.de
  32. ↑ 13 Driver's Licenses: 13 Jewish Lives (PDF file; 739 kB), on: fedweb.org
  33. ↑ 13 Licenses - Holocaust Council Speaker & Exhibit , on: jfedgmw.org
  34. ^ Johanna R. Ginsberg: Project by German students drives home narrative of Shoah . In: New Jersey Jewish News , July 24, 2019, at: timesofisrael.com
  35. ↑ A Miraculous Discovery Leads to Greater MetroWest , on: jfedgmw.org
  36. ^ Manhattanville College and Holocaust & Human Rights Education Center- “13 Licenses” Lecture and Exhibition . In: River Journal , on: riverjournalonline.com
  37. ↑ 13 Drivers' Licenses Exhibit , on: z2systems.com
  38. ↑ Exhibition in Lichtenfels recalls the dark part of our history , on: infranken.de
  39. ^ Exhibition in the main office of the Sparkasse in Lichtenfels . In: Obermain-Tagblatt , November 17, 2019, on: obermain.de