Rudolf von Hirsch

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Rudolf von Hirsch (born November 7, 1875 in Munich , † May 25, 1975 in Planegg ) was a German physicist and landowner in Schloss Planegg . Hirsch was a survivor of the Holocaust . Rudolf Freiherr von Hirsch belonged to the Planegger branch of the Bavarian noble family of Jewish faith von Hirsch .

Life

Hirsch, who came from a banking family, studied after completing his Abitur (1894) at the Wilhelmsgymnasium in Munich and Berlin and completed his studies with a doctorate in the field of natural sciences . In Munich he became a member of the Catholic student union Rheno-Bavaria (in KV ). Hirsch managed the family estate in Planegg and was the author of scientific articles in the physical field. From 1916 he took part in the First World War and retired from the army in 1919 as a lieutenant in the Landwehr. He was awarded the Iron Cross II. Class and the Military Merit Order of Bavaria with Swords.

Hirsch was initially married to Elisabeth, née McDonald, and his second marriage to Elisabeth von Kobell. He had three children from his first marriage.

During the November pogroms of 1938 , SS men in civil under the leadership of the district council president of Upper Bavaria Christian Weber carried out an arson attack on Planegg Palace . The background to this was Hirsch's refusal to cede hunting rights on his estate to Weber. Some rooms of the castle burned out because the fire brigade was prevented from extinguishing the fire by force of arms. Hirsch was taken into protective custody that night and was later forced to surrender his castle to the city of Munich. Weber finally received the hunting rights.

Hirsch was deported with his brother Karl von Hirsch to the Theresienstadt ghetto , where he arrived on June 4, 1942. There he was considered a so-called "celebrity". In Theresienstadt he worked in agriculture, a chemistry laboratory and finally in the library. At the beginning of May 1945 he was liberated by the Red Army in Theresienstadt . Hirsch, who was committed to the common good, became an honorary citizen of Graefelfing and Planegg and received the Cross of Merit (Steckkreuz) of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1953. Hirsch died in Planegg in 1975 at the age of 99.

literature

  • Elena Makarova (Ed.): University Over The Abyss. The story behind 489 lecturers and 2309 lectures in Theresienstadt concentration camp 1942–1975 , Verba Publisher Ltd., Jerusalem 2000
  • Elsa Bernstein : Life as a Drama. Memories of Theresienstadt , Edition Ebersbach, Dortmund 1999
  • Institute Theresienstadt Initiative (ed.): Theresienstädter Gedenkbuch: The victims of the transports of Jews from Germany to Theresienstadt 1942–1945 , Academia-Verlag, Prague 2000

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Annual report from the K. Wilhelms-Gymnasium in Munich. ZDB ID 12448436 , 1893/94
  2. ^ Martin Broszat / Elke Fröhlich / Falk Wiesemann / Anton Grossmann / Klaus Schönhoven / Hartmut Mehringer: Bavaria in the Nazi era. Social situation and political behavior of the population as reflected in confidential reports , Volume I, Oldenbourg-Verlag, Munich / Vienna 1977, ISBN 3-486-48361-7 , p. 476
personal data
SURNAME Hirsch, Rudolf von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German baron and survivor of the Holocaust
DATE OF BIRTH November 7, 1875
PLACE OF BIRTH Munich
DATE OF DEATH May 25, 1975
Place of death Planegg