Willy Victor

Willy Victor (born January 20, 1876 in Posen , † April 2, 1956 in Magdiel ) was a German lawyer .

Live and act

Willy Victor moved to Wandsbek in 1904 with his wife Lisbeth, née Rinteln , where he opened a law firm. He worked as a lawyer at the local district court and the district court of Altona and from 1909 also as a notary in the jurisdiction of the Kiel Higher Regional Court . Victor, who was of Jewish faith but was not regarded as religious, was involved in the Jewish community in addition to his legal work. In 1905 he co-founded the Jewish People's Association and one year later became a board member of the local Zionist group in Hamburg . Probably from 1912 he worked for many years in the Association of Jewish Communities in Schleswig-Holstein and the Hanseatic Cities. In 1913 Victor wrote The Emancipation of the Jews in Hamburg . In it he described problems of the Jews living in Schleswig-Holstein, which were most likely the reason for his commitment to the Jewish communities. However, this did not prevent him from criticizing what was happening in the community itself: in 1920 he lodged an objection to the magistrate of the Jewish community in Wandsbek against elections in which, in his opinion, formal errors had been committed. The elections were then repeated.

Victor belonged to the SPD and in 1914 became the party's city councilor in Wandsbek. During the First World War he did military service and then took over an office as a city councilor, albeit without pay. Around 1930 Victor worked together with Walter Jacobsen in a law firm. He employed six people in his office, including an office manager. Victor received orders from the Rheinisch-Westfälische Bodenkreditbank, the city of Wandsbek and the Stormarn district . After the seizure of power , the SA persecuted Victor because of his faith and the SPD membership. From May 1933 he was no longer allowed to practice law. Since he feared he would be arrested, Victor hid with relatives in Altona and did not return to his apartment at 36 Claudiusstrasse. Walter Jacobsen initially kept the joint partnership running, while Victor managed to escape to Switzerland . In August 1933 he was followed by his wife and three adult children. From there they traveled together to Palestine .

Together with Leopold Landau, Victor opened a financial consultancy in Tel Aviv on November 1, 1933 , to which he brought in funds saved from Germany. Landau and Victor were also among the editors of newsletters for people who had emigrated from Germany. The joint venture failed in 1937; Victor was thus almost destitute. He tried unsuccessfully to make a living from growing vegetables and flowers. Victor fell ill and had to undergo several operations. At the end of his life he was almost blind. In 1954 Victor received financial compensation from the FRG , which alleviated his financial problems during the last two years of his life.

literature

• Astrid Louven: Victor, Willy . In: Franklin Kopitzsch, Dirk Brietzke (Hrsg.): Hamburgische Biographie . tape 4 . Wallstein, Göttingen 2008, ISBN 978-3-8353-0229-7 , pp. 357 .

Web links

• Astrid Louven: Victor, Willy DasJuedischeHamburg.de