Julius Edelstein

Julius Isaak Edelstein (born November 9, 1882 in Groß Kummetschen, Goldap district ; † November 30, 1941 in Riga ) was a German entrepreneur and founder of the Edelstein porcelain factory .

Ascent

Julius Edelstein was active as a porcelain and glass wholesaler in Berlin-Charlottenburg from 1912 at the latest . He married Margaretha Pagel (born November 19, 1892 in Soldin , Neumark ), whose father Max Pagel ran the German Precision Chain Factory (DPK) in Soldin. The couple had the children Werner and Marianne, a second daughter died early.

In 1919 Julius Edelstein and his partner Isidor Grünebaum (1871–1942) bought the Upper Franconian porcelain factory in Küps, founded by Friedrich Ohnemüller and Emil Speiser . It was renamed Porzellanfabrik Edelstein, modernized according to plan and converted into a stock corporation in 1923. Initially slowed down by inflation and a major fire in 1921, Edelstein developed into a leading brand in Germany. The modern production facilities and the high-quality porcelain received great recognition in the specialist press. Edelstein was able to compete with Philipp Rosenthal on the market . The original sales area of ​​Edelsteinschen Handelsgesellschaft Glas-, Porzellan- und Steingut-Handels AG , based in Berlin, Alexandrinenstrasse 95/96, was East Prussia , where Edelstein owned another porcelain factory in Allenstein . There was also a porcelain wholesaler in Eidelstedt . In addition to these four locations, there was a permanent representative office in the Mädlerpassage at the decisive trade fair location Leipzig .

At the same time as the Küps porcelain factory, Edelstein had acquired the neighboring wicker factory Fritz Stock in 1919 , but he sold it again around 1922. In addition, Julius Edelstein was chairman of the supervisory board of his father-in-law's precision chain factory and sat on the supervisory board of the Beyer & Bock porcelain factory.

bankruptcy

In 1926 Grünebaum withdrew from the business. In the following year Edelstein entered into a loan deal with the Colditz stoneware factory and its director Otto Zehe. As a result of the global economic crisis, Colditz was able to force Edelstein-AG into bankruptcy on September 20, 1932, although the loans were regularly serviced. As compensation for outstanding claims, the Küpser factory and the Berlin trading company became the property of Colditz.

Julius Edelstein was only partially compensated by Zehes shares in Beyer & Bock, whose plant in Rudolstadt-Volkstedt in Thuringia he took over in 1933. The family found shelter on the company premises. A former employee from Soldin, Emil Knolleisen, became co-owner of Beyer & Bock. The company announced its 80th anniversary in 1933, referring to the porcelain painting that Ferdinand Beyer and Theodor Bock had founded in 1853.

Expropriation, persecution, murder

When the National Socialists came to power , the Jewish entrepreneur Edelstein no longer had any prospects of influencing the bankruptcy proceedings in his favor. On the contrary, Gauleiter Fritz Sauckel urged more and more to expropriate Jewish entrepreneurs . In 1936/37 Edelstein had to sell well below its value to Knolleisen. Since the proceeds would have been confiscated by the Nazi authorities as a bank deposit , Edelstein quickly acquired the Paul Lüdersdorf Nachf. Alfred Schindler pottery wholesaler in Berlin-Lichtenberg .

The children had meanwhile been brought to safety abroad: Werner emigrated to Palestine soon after 1933 , Marianne lived with relatives in Zurich , Rome and finally London . Julius was briefly imprisoned during the November pogroms in 1938 and had to hide for several weeks. In the same year, the DAF forced the "Aryanization" of Paul Lüdersdorf Nachf. The employee Voss paid a minimal amount, which was immediately confiscated. In 1941 Julius and his wife Margaretha lived in a Jewish house at Güntzelstrasse 62 in Berlin-Wilmersdorf . From there they had to go to the Levetzowstraße assembly camp ( Berlin-Moabit ) and were deported from Grunewald train station to Riga on November 27, 1941 . The entire transport with 1,053 people was murdered in the forest of Rumbula immediately upon arrival on November 30, 1941 .

Father-in-law Max Pagel died in 1943 in the Theresienstadt ghetto , mother-in-law Rahel in 1944 in Auschwitz . Business partner Isidor Grünebaum died in 1942 in the Theresienstadt ghetto.

literature

• Bernd Wollner, Achim Bühler: 170 years of porcelain. How Küps made history . Küps 2001, ISBN 3-00-007759-6 .
• The New York Community Trust (Ed.): Marianne Edelstein Orlando 1918–1990. New York no year (online version PDF)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Wolfgang Scheffler , Diana Schulle: Book of memories. The German, Austrian and Czechoslovak Jews deported to the Baltic States . Munich Reprint, 2011, p. 206 f. See also memorial book . Wollner / Bühler mistakenly state Kummetschen in the Pillkallen district as the place of birth .
2. ↑ Festschrift for the fortieth anniversary of the Association of German Bicycle Manufacturers. Berlin 1928, p. 103. Online version PDF
3. ↑ Bernd Wollner, Achim Bühler: 170 years of porcelain. How Küps made history . Küps 2001, p. 70.
4. ↑ Festschrift for the fortieth anniversary of the Association of German Bicycle Manufacturers. 1928, p. 103.
5. ↑ Wollner, Bühler: 170 years of porcelain. 2001, p. 72.
6. ↑ Wollner, Bühler: 170 years of porcelain. 2001, p. 73.
7. ↑ Inventory 20912 Steingutfabrik Colditz AG. Detailed introduction of the Saxon State Archives, accessed on January 25, 2015.
8. ↑ Wollner, Bühler: 170 years of porcelain. 2001, p. 73. See also Marianne Edelstein Orlando 1918–1990 , PDF The New York Community Trust, accessed on January 25, 2015, p. 3.
9. ↑ Wollner, Bühler: 170 years of porcelain. 2001, p. 150.
10. ↑ Wolfgang Scheffler, Diana Schulle: Book of memories. P. 206 f.
11. ^ Alfred Gottwaldt, Diana Schulle: The "Deportations of Jews" from the German Reich 1941–1945. An annotated chronology. Marix, Wiesbaden 2005, ISBN 3-86539-059-5 , p. 121.
12. ^ Marianne Edelstein Orlando 1918–1990. P. 6.
13. ↑ Max Pagel Memorial Book. Rahel Pagel, b. Karo Memorial Book.
14. ↑ Isidor Grünebaum Memorial Book.