Elisabeth Block

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Elisabeth Block (called Lisi; * February 12, 1923 in Niedernburg ; † uncertain: 1942 ) was a schoolgirl from Niedernburg near Rosenheim who fell victim to the Holocaust . From the age of ten in 1933 until March 8, 1942, she wrote a diary that survived the Second World War and the post-war period and was published in 1993. This diary made it possible for her fate and that of her family, which is considered exemplary for that of other Jewish families in southern Upper Bavaria during the time of National Socialism , to be widely publicized and the memory of them remains anchored in the public.

Life

Elisabeth Block was the first of three children to be married to Fritz and Mirjam Block, nee. Frensdorff, born on February 12, 1923 in Niedernburg. The father bought a 2.77 hectare property there in December 1921 and set up a gardening business on it. Lisi had a sister named Gertrud, born on October 28, 1927, and a brother named Arno, born on November 23, 1928. The father was a qualified engineer who was no longer able to do this job because of an injury he had suffered in the First World War. The mother came from a middle-class family and had an education in arts and crafts. In addition to gardening, agricultural and handicraft activities contributed to the family income. The father also worked as a translator and painter.

Lisi Block is characterized as an "adapted, happy child who has a special sense for nature and animals, who maintains many good contacts with other children and who takes loving care to her younger siblings Gertrud and Arno". She had read a lot and enjoyed reading what emerged from a reading and book list at the end of one of her diaries.

After the " seizure of power " in 1933 , the living conditions for this population group deteriorated noticeably in Upper Bavaria, where comparatively few people of the Jewish faith were at home in the villages . In 1938 Elisabeth was no longer allowed to go to school. In 1940 her father Fritz Block was obliged to do forced labor in the track construction. From May 1941, she and her sister were called up for labor services on a farm.

Relatives of the family managed to leave, which Fritz Block, after hesitating for a long time, also considered for his family. An entry permit to Argentina was refused in April 1941. Later attempts were prevented.

In March 1942 the family finally had to leave their home and were sent to the Milbertshofen Jewish camp in Munich. From there they were deported to the Piaski camp in Poland on April 3 . After three letters and a postcard arrived in Niedernburg from there, their trace is lost. They were probably murdered in the Belzec extermination camp or the Sobibor extermination camp . Elisabeth Block was over 19 years old a few months and is one of 9086 Jewish victims known by name from the area of ​​today's Bavaria.

The diaries

Elisabeth Block wrote six diaries within nine years. In her notes she prefers to describe harmonious family life, celebrations such as Christmas, Easter, Mother's Day and birthdays, excursions and hikes, school festivals and Bavarian customs. It does not appear from this that Jewish festivals played a role in her parents' home. Only in a few places is their fear of the future, which results from political developments, evident.

After the forced departure to Milbertshofen, the diaries remained in Niedernburg with the long-time housekeeper and friend of the family, Kathi Geidobler, who also carefully kept other utensils of the Block family. The diaries were taken to Israel in 1985 by Asher Frensdorff, a cousin of Elisabeth Block , where they are kept today.

In the course of research for an exhibition in Nuremberg on the subject of the history and culture of the Jews in Bavaria , the historian Manfred Treml became aware of these records. The exhibition, in which only a photo and an excerpt from her diary were shown, first drew public attention to the girl and her story. There has already been talk of a “Bavarian Anne Frank ”. However, such a comparison is incorrect. “Her diaries do not make any literary claims, they rarely reflect their own situation, hardly mention any political events.” Nevertheless, they are considered to be a valuable historical document.

Treml delved into the topic, collected further documents and background information, and tried to publish the diaries. Together with Peter Miesbeck he wrote articles on it. The work with the title Memento - The Diaries of Elisabeth Block appeared in 1993 in the series Sources and representations on the history of the city and the district of Rosenheim . In addition to the diaries, it also contains poems by Elisabeth Block's sister and letters and poems from her parents, as well as photographs and other documents.

Street in Niedernburg

Appreciations

literature

  • House of Bavarian History , Historical Society Rosenheim (Hrsg.): Memories - The diaries of the Elisabeth block . With contributions by Peter Miesbeck and Manfred Treml. Rosenheim 1993.
  • Marita A. Panzer, Elisabeth Plößl: Bavarias Töchter - portraits of women from five centuries . Verlag Friedrich Pustet, Regensburg 1997, ISBN 3-7917-1564-X , pp. 237-240.

Web links

References and comments

  1. ↑ Memory signs , p. 18 (the date of birth in Panzer, Plößl, p. 237 is February 23, 1923 and is incorrect)
  2. ^ Panzer, Plößl, p. 237.
  3. ↑ http://www.stadtarchiv.de/index.php?id=409
  4. ↑ http://www.rijo.homepage.t-online.de/pdf/DE_BY_JU_by.pdf
  5. ↑ Reminder signs , p. 17.
  6. ↑ Contains incorrect date of birth and incorrect age as of April 8, 2012
personal data
SURNAME Block, Elisabeth
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Block, Lisi
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German diary writer and Holocaust victim
DATE OF BIRTH February 12, 1923
PLACE OF BIRTH Niedernburg
DATE OF DEATH uncertain: 1942