Jewish population in Ermsleben during the Nazi era

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The Jewish population in Ermsleben during the Nazi era describes the fate of the Jewish residents of Ermsleben during the National Socialist era . It is a contribution to regional historical research and to the elucidation of a chapter that has largely remained unnoticed for many decades. It is also intended to preserve the memory of Jewish families for whom there is no or almost no place of remembrance.

Settlement of the Jewish population in Ermsleben

Ermsleben is a place in the northern Harz foreland . The history of the small Jewish community of Ermsleben began at the beginning of the 19th century. The first known Jewish resident of Ermsleben was Gerson Heinemann in 1810, who had settled here as a bookbinder and was granted citizenship. Two years later, Raphael Hess moved from Wippra . In 1815 the merchants Joseph Jacob Rosenthal (from Gernrode ), Moses Morgenstern (from Harzgerode ) and Baruch Heß (from Ballenstedt ) moved to Ermsleben. They were followed by Mendel Kramer and Marcus Löwenthal (from Frose ). Joseph Jacob Rosenthal's son Heinemann (Hermann) was born on January 18, 1825. After completing his medical degree in Berlin in 1848, he went to Magdeburg as a military doctor. He particularly distinguished himself through his studies of hygiene, with which he fought against cholera. He is buried in the Israelite cemetery in Magdeburg .

Chanterelle family

Markus Chanterelle

Markus Pfifferling in front of his house on Siederstrasse.

Markus Pfifferling was born on December 15, 1855 in Datterode , Eschwege-Hessen. He was the son of Josef Pfifferling and a born Hesse (mother's first name unknown). He spent his childhood in Arnstadt. With his wife Fanny Pessel he had the children Georg (born December 30, 1884, died August 29, 1885), Leopold (born May 6, 1894), Johanne (born April 1, 1886), Arthur (born. December 5, 1887), Friedrich (born February 9, 1889) and Margarete. At Konradsburger Strasse 140 E, today Konradsburgerstrasse 120, he ran a textile goods business that he had taken over from his father-in-law Leopold Pessel. He owned another house on Siederstrasse, next to his daughter Margarete Coffeld. Markus Pfifferling died on June 4, 1937 at the age of 81 in Ermsleben.

Markus Pfifferling business card
Markus Pfifferling's house on Konradsburger Strasse

Fanny Pessel

Fanny Pessel was born on April 11, 1856 in Ballenstedt and was the daughter of the merchant Leopold Pessel and Johanne, née. Reichenbach. She and her husband Markus Pfifferling had children Leopold, Georg, Johanne, Arthur, Friedrich and Margarete Pfifferling. She and her family lived at Konradsburger Strasse 140 E, today Konradsburger Strasse 120. They owned another house on Siederstrasse. There was a prayer room in the Pfifferling family home. Fanny Pessel died on September 23, 1934 at the age of 78 in Ermsleben.

Metis / Simonsohn family

Albert Simonsohn

Albert Simonsohn was born on July 8, 1862 in Sinsleben (today a district of Ermsleben). He was with Kathinka Simonsohn, geb. Strauss, married and had a son with her named Lothar, geb. September 30, 1896. The businessman lived in Frankfurt am Main around 1939 and was deported from there on August 18, 1942 to the Theresienstadt ghetto . He died at the age of 80 in the Treblinka extermination camp on September 26, 1942. What happened to his wife Kathinka and his son Lothar is still unknown.

Pauline Metis

Business price list

The Simonsohn's second child, Albert's sister, was Pauline and was born on August 19, 1864 in Sinsleben. She was married to I. Metis (exact first name unknown). She lived with him at Langen Strasse 21 in Ermsleben. Contemporary witnesses tell that Pauline Metis was taken out of the house, beaten and abducted by the National Socialists during the Night of the Reichspogrom "while still wearing felt slippers". She lived as a widow in the old people's home "Großes Berlin 9", where she only stayed for a short time, since around 1939 she was brought to a so-called old people's home at today's Dessauer Strasse 24 in Halle (Saale). On September 20, 1942, she was deported from Leipzig to Theresienstadt in the ghetto . She died there on October 5, 1942 at the age of 78.

Theodor Simonsohn

The Simonsohn's youngest child was Theodor, who was born on August 11, 1866 in Ermsleben. After 1933 he moved to Berlin, from where he was deported to Theresienstadt in the ghetto in 1942. After a month he died there at the age of 76.

Lothar Simonsohn

Lothar Simonsohn was born on September 30, 1896 in Ermsleben. His parents were Albert and Kathinka Simonsohn.

It is not known whether there are still descendants. What is certain, however, is that the Metis and Simonsohn families together had a shop for “plaster, tapestry, white and woolen goods”. This was located at Konradsburgerstrasse 135a. There was probably a second one in today's Ascherslebener Strasse.

Neurath family

Isidor Neurath

Isidor Neurath lived on the Berlinger Plan and worked as a master shoemaker at the Wassertor, where he had his workshop. He was born on March 29, 1879 in Mödling ; There is a stumbling block in front of his parents' house there at 8axisaugasse . He married Marie Neurath (birth name unknown), who was not Jewish, and had two children with her: Paul and Sonja. Isidor Neurath was murdered on August 10, 1943 in the Auschwitz extermination camp . His son Paul was sentenced to labor camp imprisonment, which he survived; he later moved to Neuplatendorf .

Coffeld family

Benno Coffeld

Benno Coffeld's house (middle)

Benno Coffeld was born in Poznan on October 25, 1885 . His parents were Karl Coffeld and Minka, geb. Fügemann. Before his wedding, he lived in Berlin, Bötzowstrasse 42. How he met Margarete Pfifferling from Ermsleben is unknown. Both married on June 5, 1912 in Ermsleben. At Siederstrasse 96, today Siederstrasse 30, he ran a hat and haberdashery shop. The Coffelds had three daughters: Margot (born May 26, 1914), Ruth Fanny (born May 4, 1913) and Lieselotte Edith (born August 19, 1920). Her apartment was above her business.

Benno Coffeld's in-laws were also Jews. There must have been a connection through the gardens of the house that led to the Chanterelle house.

Benno Coffeld was awarded the Iron Cross, First Class, for his services in the First World War . He is described as a very helpful person and he helped many customers, even when he could not pay. But this was, so the statement, also exploited.

On the night of November 9-10, 1938, the family's business was looted. Neighbors Benno had helped now stabbed him in the back. A truck was waiting on the market square, on which Jewish residents were being transported away. Benno Coffeld's last known address is Konstanzerstraße 59 in Berlin. On the 32nd transport on March 2, 1943, the 58-year-old was deported to the Auschwitz extermination camp and murdered.

Margarete Coffeld

Margarete Coffeld, b. Chanterelle, was born on December 3, 1883 in Ermsleben. She was the firstborn of six children from parents Fanny Pessel and Markus Pfifferling. Margaret's nickname was Gretchen. On June 5, 1912, she married Benno Coffeld in Ermsleben, the owner of a hat and haberdashery shop, and had three children with him: Margot Coffeld, Ruth Fanny Coffeld and Lieselotte Edith Coffeld. They lived at Siederstrasse 96, today's Siederstrasse 30, where her husband's business was also at the same time. In the early 1920s they converted to the Protestant faith. Margarete and her husband had a close friendship with Anna and Richard Wittkopf.

When the gradual harassment of the Jewish population also began in Ermsleben, they were not allowed to continue their business. Thereupon Anna Wittkopf, who ran a chocolate shop with her husband in Ermsleben, illegally sold the hats of the Coffelds under the counter to help her friend. In the November pogrom night from November 9th to 10th, 1938, her family was also affected. A contemporary witness tells that Margarete was pulled out of the house by the hair by men of the SA, herded into the market place and taken away in a truck. The woman, Else Blog, complained about this procedure: “What a mess! Real mess! ”Thereupon two of the SA men came up to them. She quickly said: "It's mean that German men get their hands dirty."

Margarete Coffeld's last known address is Konstanzerstr. 59 in Berlin. On March 2, 1943, she and her husband were taken to the extermination camp on the 32nd transport to Auschwitz , where they were murdered.

Ruth Fanny Coffeld

Ruth Fanny Coffeld was born on May 4, 1913 in Ermsleben and died a month later on June 2, 1913 in Ermsleben.

Left picture: 8-year-old Lieselotte Edith Coffeld (left) with District Court Judge Boette and his daughter
Right picture: Lieselotte Edith Coffeld (left) with wife Boette and her daughter. Photo taken on November 27, 1928

Margot Coffeld

Margot Coffeld was born on May 26, 1914 in Ermsleben. She was the second daughter of Benno and Margarete Coffeld. She lived with her family at Siederstrasse 96, today's Siederstrasse 30, and was unmarried. Like all Jewish girls, she had to use the first name Sarah from 1938. In 1947, when its bearer was probably no longer alive, this first name was officially deleted again. When the Reichspogromnacht took place in Ermsleben, she, like her parents, was brought onto a truck that transported the Jewish residents away. Her last known address is Berlin-Mitte, Elisabethstrasse 30. On April 19, 1943, she was brought to Auschwitz on Transport 37 and is considered missing.

Liselotte Edith Coffeld

Lieselotte Edith Coffeld was born on August 19, 1920 in Ermsleben and was the third daughter of Margarete and Benno Coffeld. She was friends with the daughter of the district judge Boette and played with her. She lived at Siederstrasse 96, today's Siederstrasse 30, where her father ran a hat and haberdashery shop. When the persecution of the Jews began in Germany, they were taken to the Amsterdam youth concentration camp in the Netherlands. Lieselotte was later deported to Auschwitz and is considered missing there.

The old Jewish cemetery in Ermsleben

View of the Jewish cemetery today

The former Jewish cemetery of Ermsleben is located at the intersection of Meisdorfer Straße and Pechhüttenweg. The fenced area is green, but there are no more gravestones on it. They were probably destroyed during the Nazi era and built elsewhere. An exact processing of these processes is still pending.

There is a memorial stone in the cemetery, as it was placed on many Jewish cemeteries during the GDR .

The memorial stone on the Jewish cemetery in Ermsleben

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Horst-Peter Wolff: Rosenthal, Hermann. In: Magdeburg Biographical Lexicon. 2005, accessed July 16, 2017 .
  2. ↑ Dr. Hermann Rosenthal (obituary). (PDF) In: Allgemeine Zeitung des Judentums 70: 9, Gemeindebote, supplement p. 3, right column. March 2, 1906, Retrieved July 16, 2017 .
  3. ↑ a b c d e Information from Mr. Werner Träger, Synagogue Community Magdeburg
  4. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n registry office Falkenstein Harz
  5. ↑ a b c d e f g h Information from local chronicler Helene Krätzig, Ermsleben
  6. ↑ Marcus Pfifferling & Fanny Peisel. (No longer available online.) In: synagoge-eisleben.de. Archived from the original on April 25, 2017 ; accessed on March 22, 2017 .
  7. ↑ a b Albert Simonsohn. (No longer available online.) In: synagoge-eisleben.de. Archived from the original on April 14, 2016 ; accessed on March 14, 2017 .
  8. ↑ a b (?) Metis & Pauline Simonsohn. (No longer available online.) In: synagoge-eisleben.de. Archived from the original on April 25, 2017 ; accessed on March 14, 2017 .
  9. ^ Theodor Simonsohn. (No longer available online.) In: synagoge-eisleben.de. Archived from the original on April 14, 2016 ; accessed on March 15, 2017 .
  10. ↑ a b c d e f g h i Information from contemporary witness and local chronicler Rosemarie Gierth, Ermsleben
  11. ^ State Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau (ed.): Auschwitz death books, Volume 2: List of names AZ, reprint 2012 (first 1995), Verlag De Gruyter, Berlin / Boston, p. 860.
  12. ^ Förderverein Sixtus-Kirche Ermsleben eV (ed.): Chronicle 975 years Ermsleben (1045 to 2020), written by Helene Krätzig and Stephan Wendenburg, March 17, 2020, p. 102.
  13. ^ Isidor Neurath & Marie (Neurath). (No longer available online.) In: synagoge-eisleben.de. Archived from the original on January 30, 2016 ; accessed on June 9, 2020 .
  14. ↑ Lieselotte Coffeld. (No longer available online.) In: synagoge-eisleben.de. Archived from the original on April 21, 2017 ; accessed on March 22, 2017 .