Chotzen family

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Stumbling stone in front of the house, Johannisberger Strasse 3, in Berlin-Wilmersdorf

The Chotzen family was a family of Jewish faith in Berlin . Elsa Chotzen kept a household book from 1937 to 1946 , in which all expenses and income of the family are entered over the period mentioned. This household book is the only surviving household book of a German-Jewish family that was kept over the entire period of the Second World War . There are also other records of family life, such as photos, postcards, and interviews, making the Chotzen family one of the best-documented Jewish biographies.

history

Shortly before the beginning of the First World War , Josef Chotzen (1883-1942) and Elsa Arndt (1887-1982) married. Both came from Cottbus . Her oldest son Josef "Eppi" Chotzen (1907-1992) was born in 1907. Since Josef was a Jew and the son of a rabbi and Elsa was a Protestant, there had been resistance in both families to the wedding, which therefore only took place in 1914, seven years after the birth of the first child. After marriage , Elsa converted to Judaism. The family moved to Berlin. Three other sons followed, Hugo-Kurt (1915-1945), Erich (1917-1942) and Ullrich Joachim (1920-1945). The couple ran a linen business until 1929, after which Josef Chotzen became an employee of the Central German Textile Purchasing Company. The sons played various sports in the club and shared a love of photography with their father. Although the family officially belonged to the Jewish religious community, they were not religious and were not subjected to any discrimination during the Weimar Republic . "Eppi" joined the newly founded Reichsbanner Schwarz-Rot-Gold in 1924 as a commercial apprentice in Gera . Later he was a member of the Communist Party .

During the time of National Socialism , the family, like all Jewish families, was exposed to considerable repression. The sons were classified as valid Jews under the National Socialist race laws . The politically and unionized businessman "Eppi" was arrested as early as 1933, but released after a few weeks. Since he lost his job, he had to make do with casual work. The younger brothers had to leave school in 1933 and the sports club in 1937. In 1936 the father lost his job. From 1939 father and sons had to do forced labor. The budget book documents the financial worries of these years. Despite this, the family managed to maintain a normal life for a long time and even went on trips. In 1941 the three younger sons married. All three daughters-in-law were Jewish. "Eppi", on the other hand, did not marry his Czech girlfriend Bohumila, called Bozka, with whom he had been in a relationship since 1928, in order not to endanger her through his political activities.

In 1942 Josef Chotzen, who had been seriously ill since 1940, died of the consequences of forced labor. Six times Elsa succeeded in getting her sons and daughters-in-law, who had already been deported to assembly camps, released. She also took part in the Rosenstrasse protest . Ultimately, however, she could not prevent the deportation of her children: Erich Chotzen and his 18-year-old wife Ilse voluntarily accompanied Ilse's mother Käthe Schwarz to the Riga ghetto a few weeks after the wedding in January 1942 , where they were murdered that same year. The other two young married couples were deported to Theresienstadt in 1943. Hugo-Kurt and Ullrich died in a satellite camp of the Dachau concentration camp in 1945 and Hugo-Kurt's wife Lisa died in Bergen-Belsen in 1944 . Elsa tried to support her with almost daily parcels. She also looked after hidden Jewish friends. "Eppi" went into hiding with the help of his girlfriend Bozka; In the final years of the war, his work in the removal of bombs protected him from arrest.

Only Elsa and "Eppi" and Ruth Chotzen, Ullrich's wife, survived the Nazi era . "Eppi" married Bozka. From 1946 he worked in the denazification commission in Berlin-Wilmersdorf. He retired in 1948 because of health problems caused by forced labor. Ruth emigrated to America in 1946, where she later married the Holocaust survivor Fred Weinstein and had three children. On October 18, 2014 , five stumbling blocks for the Chotzen family were laid in front of their former home in Berlin-Wilmersdorf , Johannisberger Straße 3 .

swell

At the beginning of the month, all income is recorded in the household book, broken down according to the income of each individual family member. This is followed by the monthly fixed costs of rent, light, gas, health insurance, welfare and newspaper. Then every single day is listed exactly with every penny spent.

Correspondence and five photo albums in which the four sons documented their lives before and during the Nazi era have also been preserved. The son Josef ("Eppi") put his memories on paper in the 1980s and bequeathed the family's correspondence to the house of the Wannsee Conference .

The chronicle of the family has been published by the German Historical Museum and the Federal Agency for Civic Education with the support of the House of the Wannsee Conference Memorial, both on DVD and on the Internet. The budget book was published in spring 2008.

literature

  • Slide, Barbara: Message from Chotzen - "Whoever hopes, dies singing". Berlin: Edition Hentrich 2000, 286 pages, ISBN 3-89468-261-2
  • Pieken, Gorch / Kruse, Cornelia (ed.), Elsa Chotzen's budget book. Destiny of a Jewish Family 1937-1946 , Berlin: Nicolai 2008, 216 pages, ISBN 978-3-89479-298-5

Movie

  • el Bitar, Sönke and Pieken, Gorch: "Chronicle of an ordained death - The annihilation of a German family" , Dt. 2004, 50 'documentary about the Chotzen family

Web links

Commons : Familie Chotzen  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ First World War and Weimar Republic
  2. ↑ "Blonde, sporty men"
  3. ^ Eppi Chotzen
  4. ↑ Bozka Chotzen
  5. ↑ "A completely normal family"
  6. ↑ Elsa Chotzen
  7. ↑ Erich Chotzen
  8. ^ Resistance and arrest
  9. ↑ Life after
  10. ↑ "A completely normal family"
  11. ^ Memorial and Educational Center House of the Wannsee Conference, Vol. 9, available on request from the Federal Agency for Civic Education, Berlin Office, Multimedia Department, www.chotzen.de, Friedrichstrasse 50 / Checkpoint Charlie, 10117 Berlin