Alexander Haas (businessman)

Alexander Haas (born April 3, 1906 in Darmstadt ; † May 29, 1980 ibid) was a businessman .

Life

Alexander Haas was born in April 1906 as the son of the merchant Sigmund Haas (1864–1927) and his wife Henriette Haas. Reader (1869–1943) born in Darmstadt. The Jewish Haas family was a merchant family based in Darmstadt since 1815. Since 1830, his ancestors had a small furniture store in Darmstadt's old town, Kleine Ochsengasse No. 9. A few months after his birth, his parents moved into the house at Kleine Ochsengasse No. 5, as the parent house fell victim to the breakthrough in the old town. Due to the serious illness of his father, Alexander Haas had to leave the secondary school early and complete a commercial apprenticeship in a Darmstadt company. His inclinations were actually literature and music. He wrote short stories and poems.

After his father's death in 1927, he took over the family business. Shortly after the Nazis came to power, Haas married the Christian Luise Baßler, who was the daughter of Gottfried Baßler (1877-1946), the managing director of AOK Darmstadt, an active SPD member and friend of Wilhelm Leuschner . Alexander Haas and his wife were personally denounced and the business was economically excluded and boycotted. Despite the transfer of the business to the mother-in-law, the furniture business continued to be viewed as "Jewish". Alexander Haas and his mother were not allowed to enter the shop. In order to be able to continue operating the workshop, Alexander Haas's wife trained as a carpenter. During the so-called “ Reichskristallnacht ” on November 9th, 1938, the shop was attacked by an SA troop and completely destroyed. Luise Haas was seriously injured in the back by an ax blow. In the following years the family tried to make a living by working at home and running errands from Alexander Haas.

On May 4, 1943, Haas was arrested together with a number of other Darmstadt citizens living in mixed marriages (e.g. Ernst Mayer , Eduard Wolfskehl ) and deported to the "labor education camp" in Frankfurt-Heddernheim . On August 2, 1943, he was deported to Buchenwald concentration camp and recorded as Jewish political prisoner No. 2336. He was used at times at the Wilhelm Gustloff Works . Haas had to take part in the death march to Flossenbürg , which began on April 7, 1945 . Haas was able to avoid the announced march to Dachau and the threat of being shot by tearing the yellow Star of David off his prisoner's clothes and hiding in a group of foreign slave laborers. He was liberated by the US Army in late April 1945.

Haas returned to Darmstadt in August 1945, where he found his former property in Darmstadt's old town completely destroyed by the bombing of September 11, 1944. He initially tried to rebuild the furniture business, but gave up his business in 1950 and became the manager of a sawmill in Ober-Modau .

He was instrumental in building up the Jewish community in Darmstadt. He also worked on the board of the regional association of Jewish communities in Hesse. In November 1954 he was also a co-founder of the Society for Christian-Jewish Cooperation in Darmstadt. From January 1957 to 1977 he was a managing member and engine of this society. In addition, he developed numerous voluntary activities in his hometown.

Alexander Haas was a passionate collector of Judaica . He bequeathed his more than 4,000 books to the Society for Christian-Jewish Cooperation in Darmstadt. This formed the basis of the Alexander Haas Library, which has been open to the public since 1980.

Alexander Haas died on May 29, 1980 at the age of 74 in Darmstadt. He was buried in the Jewish cemetery in Darmstadt . He had been married to Luise Bäßler since July 10, 1933. The daughters Ursula (born 1937) are married. Dörflein, Paula (born 1942) married. Walz and Angelika (born 1947) emerged.

Honors

• Bearer of the Federal Cross of Merit
• Bronze plaque of merit of the city of Darmstadt
• Ben Gurion Gold Medal from the State of Israel
• Honorary citizen of the city of Michelstadt

literature

• Article Alexander Haas , in: Stadtlexikon Darmstadt, Stuttgart 2006, p. 338.
• Stumbling blocks in Darmstadt, Justus von Liebig Verlag, Darmstadt 2013.
• Albrecht Heinzerling: Alexander Haas, True Christian-Jewish Community in Darmstadt, in: Eckhart Franz: Juden als Darmstädter Bürger, Darmstadt 1994, pp. 297–304.
• Thomas Lange: Alexander Haas and his library, in: "Don't go back the old way!". Festschrift for the 60th anniversary of the Society for Christian-Jewish Cooperation Darmstadt 1954–2014, pp. 50–68.
• Carlo Schneider: Die Friedhöfe in Darmstadt, Darmstadt 1991, p. 115