A. & S. Segall

A. & S. Segall
legal form	one-man business
founding	1868
resolution	1938
Reason for dissolution	" Aryanization ", handover to a non-Jewish owner
Seat	Berlin
Branch	Tobacco shops , fur clothing

A. & S. Segall was a renowned tobacco and fur clothing company in Berlin, founded in 1868 by the brothers Adolf Segall and Samuel (Salomon?) Segall .

Company history

The address book from 1860 already lists a merchant KL Segal (in the spelling with an “l”), selling “skins and smoked goods”, at Alexanderstraße 50 , before the founding date mentioned later . M. Segall mentions that from 1870 the private address at Kommandantenstrasse 40 and the business premises in Berlin's ready-to-wear district around Hausvogteiplatz on Niederwallstrasse 33. In 1885, the A. & S. Segall company is listed on Berlin's Niederwallstrasse, now no. 17, in addition to being a fur factory and a factory for trimmings , a common type of closure for certain uniforms and also often for fur coats. An advertisement from 1920 named the range of stoles, fur jackets, women's coats with fur linings and men's fur for the wholesale and retail business, now on Kommandantenstrasse 20/21 . In the address book from 1933, the company is entered at Adlerstrasse 6, the street, which has since been abandoned, was also near Hausvogteiplatz.

Philipp Manes , the Jewish fur commissioner and chronicler of the fur industry who was murdered by the Nazis in 1944, got to know the two founders Adolf and Samuel Segall personally:

“They were men who had apparently erred in the calculation of time for a few decades, described their business entirely in the old style and made progress despite everything. Honorable, hardworking men who only knew their job and certainly did not have much joys in life because they did not know how to enjoy it. "

- Philipp Manes: The German fur industry and its associations . Volume 4, p. 36.

When the young Paul Poser , “coming from Vienna, came into the company to modernize and manage the manufacturing, it was a little different in the house”. In 1908 the founders retired and the business was taken over by Moritz Liebmann's son-in-law (born April 1, 1878 in Groß-Zimmer ; † 1932; son of the fur trader Heÿum and Mathilde Liebmann , née Oppenheimer ). Liebmann had married Malli Segal in March of that year, both of whom were of the Mosaic faith. He was "half an American". From 1898 to 1908 he resided in Mexico City , where he was a partner and representative for North America of the well-known export house Herz und Schaberg . In that capacity, he traveled all over the United States, experiences that benefited his new line of work. In 1909 he moved the company to Kurstraße 47-48 in larger and more modern rooms.

Company brochure “The Peter Pan collar ” from A. & S. Segall

The company "ASSEGA" had registered as a trademark and quality mark. In 1925 and 1926 Moritz Liebmann traveled to America with his wife to do some shopping. Manes described him as “a thoroughly modern businessman who first released the outdated company from the darkness of impossible premises and moved it to a large, modern, bright floor” (Kommandantenstrasse 20/21). As one of the first in fur clothing, he sent elaborately designed catalogs to his customers, as a novelty even "with the help of color". Philipp Manes continued:

“The company expanded and expanded there and was soon one of the first in the industry. Then, even during the war, he took one of the most capable travelers as an employee, Hermann Wolff , who worked for Mayer & Co. , who had previously gained a wide range of knowledge in the Brussels business. In 1921 he became a partner.

A short, energetic, purposeful man who knew how to gain reputation and popularity in the circles of Brühl . It was by no means cut from the wood from which the traders usually slowly grew. He came from other circles in which the humanities were cultivated. He was very fond of art; his house contained beautiful old pictures, furniture and books.

His demeanor corresponded to this milieu. Briefly, clearly and decisively, he said his opinion, rarely that he had to change it. He let himself be spoken to, was not stubborn in his views. Wherever he went - London - Paris - Moscow - he was considered a man to be expected. "

- Philipp Manes: The German fur industry and its associations . Volume 4, p. 37.

Moritz Liebmann died suddenly and unexpectedly of a heart attack in 1932. Hermann Wolff continued to run the company on his own until Fritz Steiner , Moritz Liebmann's son-in-law, took over the sales trips abroad. Liebmann's only son, Alfred Liebmann , joined the company as an apprentice in 1924. After completing his training, he traveled around the world and managed the very important branch in Milan until it was closed. A well-established staff of employees, some of whom had been with the company for over 30 years, ensured the prosperous clothing and fur trade departments.

After the great inflation , Hermann Wolff turned very intensively to the manipulation of tobacco products, that is, the purchase of raw hides , their dressing (tanning) and possibly refining , to the division into needs-based furrier assortments and fur bundles and their sale. The raw material came from Russia or from the London intermediate trade with its auctions. The Zickelfabrikation "was very large wound."

Philipp Manes, who remained in Germany despite the exodus of his industry colleagues, cautiously described the expulsion of the Jewish owner before Manes was murdered in the concentration camp:

“It was infinitely difficult for Hermann Wolff to hand over the management of the company in 1938, he was wholeheartedly attached to what he and his employees had created. He hesitated for a long time and kept hoping for an extension of the deadline.

In vain - he had to say goodbye to the company and everyone who always worked with him in harmony.

In London he set up a furrier shop that developed well and for which he worked tirelessly to bring it up from the smallest beginnings.

The company A. & S. Segall was taken over by Erich Bernd Reichow and moved - relocated - to Seydelstrasse [No. 8-9, fur goods manufacture, tobacco goods]. "

- Philipp Manes: The German fur industry and its associations . Volume 4, pp. 38-39

Stumbling block:
"Alfred Liebmann
Jg lived here,
arrested in 1909 1939
Berlin-Tegel prison
deported Oct. 18, 1941
Lodz / Litzmannstadt
murdered May 24, 1944"

On the occasion of the laying of a stumbling block for Moritz Liebmann's son Alfred Liebmann (January 2, 1909; † May 24, 1944), a short biography was published for him. Alfred was born on January 2, 1909 in Berlin as the son of the factory owner Moritz Liebmann and his wife Malli, née Segal (also spelled Segall). According to this biography, his mother divorced and subsequently married the fur manufacturer Abraham Tausk (born February 28, 1874 in Kolmar ; † March 7, 1942 in the Łódź ghetto ). It is not mentioned that Moritz Liebmann had already died about two years at the time of remarriage; in the marriage certificate she is referred to as a widow. The furrier Alfred Liebmann lived with his mother and stepfather at Sybelstrasse 35 since 1939. From 1933 to 1935 he was listed in the Berlin address book as a merchant with the address Alexandrinenstrasse 105/106. This building complex in Kreuzberg, also known as Sandmannshof, housed numerous commercial enterprises, commercial agencies, small factories and offices, including for a long time the A. & S. Segall company, fur goods factory and tobacco shop. Alfred Liebmann was run as a co-owner.

In 1939 Alfred Liebmann was arrested and taken to the Berlin-Tegel prison. Neither the reason nor the length of his imprisonment are known. In any case, he then had to do forced labor in the uniform factory Gebr. Pluskiewitz , Grosse Frankfurter Strasse 101. In his declaration of assets was "wage earner". When he had to fill out his property declaration on October 12, 1941 in the Levetzowstrasse synagogue, at the time the assembly camp for Jews destined for deportation, he had a 20-volume Meyer's lexicon "complete" and two volumes of world history entered as his property by Georg Weber as well as a typewriter, a boatman's piano and, in addition to six street suits, also a ski suit. When asked about his assets, he gave accounts at Commerzbank and a private bank at Ritterstrasse 38 and added, verbatim like his stepfather Abraham Tausk, “Given the short time available to me, especially Commerzbank on Saturday from 2 a.m. is closed, I am not able to indicate the amount of my bank account and my securities which are in the depot. ”He has 196 Reichsmark cash. All his possessions were auctioned publicly on October 28, 1941, along with those of his mother and stepfather. The apartment was "cleared" on November 3, 1941. The tax office appropriated all the securities and by 1944 earned a “surplus from the sale” of 12,984.20 marks. The responsible reporter, Tax Councilor Müller, put Alfred Liebmann's fortune at 68,697 Reichsmarks.

On October 18, 1941, Alfred Liebmann, together with Abraham and Malli Tausk, were deported to the Litzmannstadt ghetto on the first transport to the east from platform 17 of the Grunewald train station with 1,013 people. He was murdered there on May 24, 1944 at the age of 35.

• Segall models
• 
• 

  1912

• 

  1915

Personal details

Advertisement of the successor Erich Bernd Reichow "Former A. & S. Segall" (1943)

• Malli Liebmann , (born April 19, 1883 in Berlin; † July 17, 1942 in Ghetto Łódź ), née Segal, married again in 1934 after her husband Moritz Liebmann died in 1932 and was now called Tausk . On October 18, 1941, Malli was from Berlin; Pale way 4, deported. She died on July 17, 1942 in the Łódź ghetto. Foot gangrene was given as the cause of death .
• The fur trader Salomon Liebmann (born February 2, 1871 in Groß-Zimmer; † July 27, 1950 in New York) from Aschaffenburg, a brother of Moritz Liebmann, married Mathilde Oppenheimer, both of Israelites , in Höchst in the Odenwald on January 25, 1899 . Her father was the fur trader and gelatine manufacturer Max Oppenheimer, her mother Rosa, a née Grünkorn. On May 14, 1941, Salomon emigrated to the USA. Salomon and Mathilde Liebmann had a daughter and two sons, and two children died at the age of 5 and 6, respectively. Her son Manfred Liebmann died on July 9, 1997 in New York.
• → Main article : Adolf Feldmann

The furrier Adolf Feldmann (born April 4, 1860 in Unruhstadt , † late 1933) was with his uncle in Unruhstadt after his apprenticeship and after his wanderings via Ratibor (Schareck Company), via Breslau and Zwickau to Leipzig (Theodor Pfeiffer Company) Detour to Hildesheim, finally moved to Berlin. He took his master's degree and got married.

He found employment with A. & S. Segall, where he became a foreman. At the same time, he began to get significantly involved in the industry. Before that he had already joined the furrier movement that was just beginning and became a member of the newly founded “Fachverein der Kürschner”. He resigned from the professional association and founded the Association of the Cap Industry, which still existed in 1942.

In 1900 he went into business for himself. Nevertheless, he spent a lot of time working for his colleagues. In the big Berlin tariff and organizational struggles of 1905, he pushed through his intention to furrier Zwischenmeister to summarize in a separate organization to better represent their special interests to the fur factory owners and the journeyman and called for the club independent furrier to life . Following his example and with his support, similar associations followed in Leipzig, Schkeuditz and Weißenfels , and the related hat industry followed with similar organizations. In 1919, Feldmann succeeded in uniting all the individual associations in the Reich Association of Independent Furriers and Cap Makers in Germany . At the same time he founded the Berliner Kürschner-Zeitung and played a decisive role in founding a death benefit fund, the pension subsidy fund and the purchasing cooperative for independent furriers and the establishment of the Reich Association of the German Wage Industry . On the occasion of the worldwide unique event of the fur industry, the International Fur Trade Exhibition - IPA in 1933 in Leipzig, he prepared a conference for all house traders, piece masters and chambermen of the fur industry.

At the age of 70, Adolf Feldmann was still actively involved in his own business, now supported by his son. He continued to work in the associations, he still led the collective bargaining and other negotiations of his professional associations and chaired the meetings of his colleagues. His association work ended with the restructuring of the craft organizations after the National Socialists came to power in 1933: “With the dissolution of the associations, his life's work fell into ruins. He did not long survive this sudden turning away from this completely engaging and fulfilling activity. On his 70th birthday, the hall in the teachers' club house, the old arena, could not hold those who appeared when he, the chairman, was given a banquet. - Only a few people followed his coffin in the cemetery. "

• Paul Poser came from a Krakow furrier family, all five sons left their hometown after their training. Josef Poser († 1926), the oldest, founded a fur trading company in Leipzig, supported by his second brother Siegfried Poser until his untimely death . Paul did further training as a furrier in Vienna and Paris and finally came to A. & S. Segall, now as a clothing manufacturer , at the time still managed by the two old founders. He restructured the completely outdated business and brought out a tasteful collection. He was just about ready to become a partner when his brother brought him to Leipzig.

In Leipzig, "the far-sighted Josef Poser had built up a company on a solid foundation over many years of intense activity, which in its well-planned design had no equal in the Brühl". The tobacco shop now fed three of the brothers. In London, however, they set up their own business, which reports to their youngest brother, Jack Poser , and which also quickly developed positively. The property at Brühl 45 was acquired in Leipzig. The fifth brother, Heinrich Poser , was now a fur buyer in the Nordic countries. The top management of all enterprises, recognized by his brothers, was with Elder Joseph. Of them, he was "the coolest, most self-confident and most knowledgeable person who knew how to predictively judge people and things".

After Josef Poser's death, the company was discontinued. Siegfried, Paul and Heinrich separated and each established their own company. They modernized the property on the Brühl. The part going through Richard-Wagner-Straße was increased to a high-rise building at the expense of the tenant Alex Reschofsky , one of the oldest German fur manufacturers at the time (founded in 1865). Paul Poser, who was active in many areas, took the lead. During the First World War he had a large, far-reaching position in the Austrian army directorate. There he had made great contributions to logistics through his organizational talent. In Leipzig he used these skills for the professional association, he created a credit information center and was a member of the board. Paul collected valuable paintings and owned a collection of books covering all areas of knowledge. He played a key role in setting up the international fur exhibition IPA : "He created the» Meistersaal «, the focus of the exhibition, as his own work".

Siegfried and Heinrich were more sober but very reliable business people. Jack supplied the three fraternal businesses from the London fur market. Paul Poser bought a large fur processing company in Taucha . The management of such a company as a "sideline" proved to be too difficult, however, very soon he sold it to Felix Rosenfelder , who continued it under the name Tarag , and dyed rabbit fur and then foal skins .

As before, also with the approach of National Socialism, which threatened the Jewish owners, “the posers knew how to interpret the signs of the times”. Siegfried was the first to leave the Brühl, followed a year later by Paul and finally Heinrich. "They had prosperous business in London, and their many customers from all over the world were now able to buy their usual goods from London from their old suppliers."

• Willy Preis was acquainted with Paul Poser, who helped him get on in business. In the Kurstrasse, Preis became a manufacturer in larger rooms. After a few years, however, after several suspensions of payments, there was no more capital and he owed Poser around 185,000 marks. However, this did not give up the amount lost. He appointed Preis as his sole representative for Berlin, guaranteed him a certain income, everything above that he had to deliver, which helped Paul Poser to an even more bearable loss.

“After the Poser company ceased to exist, Preis became the sole agency of Gebr. Felsenstein with a large Berlin warehouse. When this 100-year-old house dissolved, Preis, who had been a lifelong Zionist , went to Tel Aviv and from there went to London twice a year to go shopping until the outbreak of war. "

- Philipp Manes: Willy Price .

• Ms. Seibel and her sister served in the fur industry for two generations. Margarete Seibel , her younger sister, first worked for the J. Biermann company on Wilhelmstrasse , then at Heymann Felsenburg on Spittelmarkt , where she received power of attorney during the war and was involved in furnishing, issuing and selling and was responsible for the fur department. After the company was dissolved, she came to Brager & Janowski , where she managed the entire production. The older woman, Ms. Seibel, was an accountant at Levy & Salinger for many years , where she handled the extremely difficult foreign exchange accounts . At A. & S. Segall, she then took on the same work for 25 years.
• Ms. Flake was in charge of the entire office at A. & S. Segall for over 25 years, "a brilliant achievement given the vast number of these branched connections." In 1942 she was an authorized signatory in the Hanns Bisegger company .

Web links

Commons : Fur A. & S. Segall  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b c d e} Philipp Manes : The German fur industry and its associations 1900-1940, attempt at a story . Berlin 1941 Volume 4. Copy of the original manuscript, pp. 36–39 ( → table of contents ).
2. ↑ The first name Salomon for the founder seems to be found only in the annals of Philipp Manes. Presumably Manes is wrong.
3. ^ A. & S. Segall . In: Allgemeiner Wohnungs-Anzeiger together with address and business manual for Berlin , 1860, p. 706. “Kürschner, Rauch- und Pelzwaaren-sales”.
4. ^ A. & S. Segall . In: Allgemeiner Wohnungs-Anzeiger together with address and business manual for Berlin , 1870, p. 747. “Segall, B, Linienstraße 32 and others”.
5. ^ Telephone book Berlin 1885, p. 988.
6. ^ A. & S. Segall . In: Berliner Adreßbuch , 1885, p. 988. “A. & S. Segall, Pelzwrfbrk u Passamenten, Niederwallstraße 17 “.
7. ^ Advertisement in: Deutsches Reichsadressbuch 1920 . Secondary source: Dina Gold: Stolen Legacy - Nazi Theft and the Quest for Justice at Krausenstrasse 17/18, Berlin . 2nd revised and expanded edition. Ankerwycke Books, USA 2016, p. 118. ISBN 978-1-63425-427-4 .
8. ^ A. & S. Segall . In: Berliner Adreßbuch , 1933, 2, p. 102. “A. & S. Segall, Adlerstrasse. 6 “(also: A. Segall jr., Königin Augustastr. 28).
9. ↑ ^{a b} marriage certificate No. 254/1934, registry office Berlin VI, from March 26, 1908, businessman Moritz Liebmann, residing in Berlin, Oranienstrasse 103; and Malli Malke Segal (without profession), living in Berlin, Alte Jakobstraße 78.
10. ↑ Birth certificate No. 464/1883 of April 24, 1883, birth register, registry office Berlin II. According to a note, she married a second time in 1934 (marriage certificate No. 254/1934, registry office Berlin VI).
11. ^ In: Fur Trade Review , Volume 37, 1909 . Last accessed September 10, 2018.
12. ↑ Advertisement from A. & S. Segall: "Assega" means quality - A & S. Segall means performance ; M. Liebermann: Letter to the editor “Z. Zt. New York ”, February 1925. In: Die Pelzkonfektion , No. 1, March 1925, pp. 72-74.
13. ↑ According to the Hamburg Passenger Lists, 1850-1934: 1) On January 16, 1925, together with his wife Malli, on the steamship " Albert Ballin " 1st class to New York, Source: Hamburg State Archives, inventory: 373-7 I, VIII (Emigration Office I), Volume 322, right-hand side entry 40 and 41 and 2) on February 12, 1926 together with his wife Malli on the steamship " Deutschland " 1st class to New York. Source: Hamburg State Archives, holdings: 373-7 I, VIII (Emigration Office I), volume 332, right-hand side entry 64 and 65.
14. ^ Philipp Manes : The German fur industry and its associations 1900-1940, attempt at a story . Berlin 1941 Volume 1. Copy of the original manuscript, p. 190. Literally: "[...] A. & S. Segall, which color used [...]". ( G. & C. Franke collection ).
15. ^ Letterhead from A. & S. Segall, 1925.
16. ↑ In: Der Rauchwarenmarkt No. 28, Leipzig, July 12, 1944, p. 8.
17. ↑ Abraham Tausk in Poland, register books from the Łódź Ghetto, 1939–1944 (USHMM)
18. ↑ Abraham Tausk in Poland, last letters from the ghetto in Łódź (Lodsch), 1941 (JewishGen.org)
19. ↑ Abraham Tausk in Holocaust: Records from Ten Ghettos (JewishGen.org)
20. ↑ ^{a b c} Helmut Lölhöffel: Stumbling blocks in Berlin - Alfred Liebmann . Coordination Office Stolpersteine ​​Berlin Dr. Silvija Kavčič (head). Last accessed September 10, 2018.
21. ↑ Malli-M.-S. Tausk in Holocaust: Death Records of the Hospital in the Ghetto of Łódź (Poland), 1941–1944.
22. ↑ Malla Tausk in Poland, register books from the Łódź ghetto (Poland), 1939–1944 (USHMM).
23. ↑ Malla Tausk, in Holocaust: Notes from Ten Ghettos.
24. ↑ Marriage register entry No. 4.
25. ↑ Miscellaneous Lists and Registers of German Concentration Camp Inmates, Originated or Collected by the International Tracing Service (Arolsen) . (National Archives Microfilm Publication A3355, Reel 3, Item 1); National Archives Collection of Foreign Records Seized, Record Group 242; National Archives, Washington, DC
26. ^ Philipp Manes: The German fur industry and its associations . Volume 4, pp. 72-75.
27. ^ ^{A b c d e} Philipp Manes: The German fur industry and its associations . Volume 4, pp. 206-209.
28. ^ Philipp Manes: The German fur industry and its associations. Volume 4, p. 80.
29. ^ Philipp Manes: The German fur industry and its associations. Volume 4, p. 139.
30. ^ Philipp Manes: The German fur industry and its associations . Volume 4, pp. 101, 128, 389-390.
31. ^ Philipp Manes: The German fur industry and its associations . Volume 4, pp. 389-390.