Alex Deutsch (concentration camp inmate)

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Alex Deutsch showing the concentration camp number tattooed on his left forearm

Alex Deutsch (born August 7, 1913 in Berlin ; died February 9, 2011 in Neunkirchen - Wiebelskirchen ) was a Jewish prisoner in the Auschwitz concentration camp and an educator against National Socialism . He was awarded the Cross of Merit on Ribbon in 1986 , the Saarland Order of Merit in 2002 and the First Class Federal Cross of Merit in 2007 .

biography

Family, childhood and youth

Alex Deutsch was born as the eighth child of master tailor Josef Deutsch (April 7, 1874– April 9, 1922) and his wife Rosa Deutsch (née Hahn) in Berlin. His siblings were: Ilona (born 1902), Bela (born 1904), Zoltan (born 1905), Therese (born 1907), Herrmann (born 1908), Ignatz (born 1910) and Moritz (born 1911).

Since his father, who was loyal to the emperor, was drafted into the First World War in 1914, the family's got worse and worse, also due to his mother's partial paralysis. In 1923 he and his youngest brother Moritz were admitted to the Second Orphanage of the Jewish Community in Berlin , as a result of which relations with his family were interrupted for some time. Despite the materially better situation, the time in the orphanage made Deutsch a closed and rather unpopular person.

In 1928 he began an apprenticeship as a baker, despite his desire to become a hairdresser. He was often beaten by his supervisor and his mental health deteriorated, but he kept the job after completing his apprenticeship. It was at this time that he internalized obedience. He learned to work without resistance and to carry out his tasks despite mental instability. According to his own statement, this circumstance later gave him the advantage in the concentration camp that he was prepared for any humiliating situation.

National Socialism

Stumbling block in front of the house, Blücherstraße 61b, in Berlin-Kreuzberg

After the takeover of power on January 30, 1933, Deutsch helped a Jewish association that was anxious to organize emigration for those who wanted to emigrate, especially for young people. Nevertheless, at that time he did not think at all that "Germans would be exterminated in Germany". While working for the association, he met his future wife Thea Cohn (born December 18, 1913 in Czempiń ). They married on June 29, 1938.

In 1935 the National Socialists passed laws banning Jews from working in the food industry on the pretext that they could poison food. So Deutsch lost his job as a baker and from then on worked as an errand boy or street cleaner. In 1937, when the diplomatic quarter in Berlin was demolished, he was forced to do anything because Jews were forbidden to do anything except forced labor.

From 1923 to 1939 his siblings Bela, Moritz, Ilona, ​​Herrman and his mother and their families left Germany. Ignatz and Therese stayed in the country, but took protective measures. Zoltan stayed in Berlin with his family. They were later deported to the Warsaw ghetto and killed in Trawniki .

At the turn of the year from 1938 to 1939, Deutsch was forced to work in a coal company.

His son Dennis was born on October 12, 1940. It did not mean a greater burden for Alex Deutsch, but gave him new hope. Their non-Jewish neighbors repeatedly gave them food and clothing, at the risk of being arrested. Not only did Deutsch derive material benefit from this, it also gave him a sign of the kindness that still resided in some Germans.

Arrest and deportation

On February 27, 1943, Alex Deutsch, his wife Thea and his child Dennis were arrested by the SS . On March 1st they were all taken away in freight wagons and after three days they arrived with more than 1,700 people in Auschwitz-Birkenau . It was only two weeks later that he found out that his wife and son, who had come on the previous transport, had been gassed as soon as they arrived. At that moment, Deutsch decided to survive the concentration camp in order to get revenge.

He was assigned to the men fit for work and taken to Auschwitz III Monowitz concentration camp . As in all camps, the arbitrariness and brutality of the SS prevailed there. The kapos could beat and kill without having to give an account . During working hours, however, when Deutsch had to unload machines and machine parts, the foreman Josef Ungeheuer forbade the kapos from beating the prisoners. In fact, he wanted to help them to save his workforce, so that the most bearable time was the working hours. The inmates were often harassed and severely punished for smuggling or insulting - many of the kapos were corrupt themselves.

On January 18, 1945, those who were still able to work were forced to go on a death march to Gliwice , which meant the end for many. Once there, they were transported in freight wagons to Buchenwald and from there to the Langenstein-Zwieberge subcamp .

Flight and emigration

On April 15, the alarm was given and the SS fled. On April 20, Deutsch was found by the Americans with three comrades. They were now released, but Deutsch did not know where to turn. Berlin was out of the question for him because it was occupied by the Red Army.

They decided to flee on foot to the sister of their comrade Karl Loeb, who lived in Luxembourg . The sister's husband brought the refugees to Belgium , where they found accommodation with private individuals with the help of Jewish associations. However, as Germans, they were not wanted by the authorities and therefore went to France after a few days . But even there they fared no better on the part of the government and they tried to get permission to enter the USA , which German received; his comrade Karl Loeb, however, was not given a certificate due to a serious illness and he had to stay in France. On June 25, 1946, Deutsch arrived in New York , where he was picked up by his brother Herrmann and drove with him to St. Louis .

He took up his job as a baker again and tried to build a new life. He himself said that he had to give up the feelings of revenge that he had until then. He was also a part owner and later sole owner of a supermarket called Dutch Boy Supermarket . In 1951, he was granted US citizenship despite missing papers. Until 1948 he attended a school where he learned the English language and Dvora Spiller (* December 18, 1909, † May 29, 1977) met; they married that same year. In 1953 they adopted a three year old boy. In the course of the murder of civil rights activist Martin Luther King , riots broke out in St. Louis. B. expressed in broken window panes. Despite the payment of protection money, Deutsch's shop was repeatedly devastated and looted. He drew the following parallel: "The Nazis had mistreated me because I was Jewish, the blacks terrorized me now because I was white." He gave up his business in late 1972 and worked for the Mount City Trust Company until he retired in 1978 .

Return to Germany

Alex Deutsch's grave site

Deutsch returned to Germany in August 1978, married the widowed Doris Loeb and has lived with her in Neunkirchen-Wiebelskirchen ever since.

As a contemporary witness, he had made it his life's task to tell young people in schools and youth groups about his fate as a German Jew during the National Socialist era. It was never about collective blame, but about a credible transmission of his message for more humanity and tolerance. He succeeded again and again in captivating the young people through his lectures. Precisely because of his bad experiences and experiences, his request was understood when he said in the words of the former Federal President Richard von Weizsäcker:

“Do not let yourself be driven into enmity and hatred against other people! Learn to live together and not against each other! "

In September 2001, the advanced secondary school in Wellesweiler was named after him. Stumbling blocks were laid in front of the house, Blücherstraße 61b, in Berlin-Kreuzberg for Alex Deutsch and his family .

Alex Deutsch died on February 9, 2011 in Wiebelskirchen . He was buried in the Jewish cemetery in Neunkirchen .

Honors

His wife Doris Deutsch continues his job as a contemporary witness and was also awarded the Saarland Order of Merit on February 22, 2017.

literature

  • Thomas Döring: ... to simply tell it. The life of contemporary witness Alex Deutsch . Saarbrücken: Conte Verl., 2014. 218 p., (Libri Vitae; 19) ISBN 978-3-956020-02-5

Movie

  • Alex Deutsch - I survived Auschwitz , 2007, commentary film about his life.

Web links

Commons : Alex Deutsch  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ "Contemporary witness Alex Deutsch was 97 years old", on www.landkreis-neunkirchen.de
  2. ^ Announcement of awards of the Saarland Order of Merit . In: Head of the State (ed.): Official Journal of the Saarland Part I . No. 10 . Saarbrücker Zeitung Verlag und Druckerei GmbH, Saarbrücken March 9, 2017, p. 305 ( saarland.de [accessed June 28, 2017]).
personal data
SURNAME German, Alex
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Holocaust survivor
DATE OF BIRTH August 7, 1913
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin
DATE OF DEATH February 9, 2011
Place of death Neunkirchen - Wiebelskirchen