Jewish old people's homes under National Socialism

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Under the pressure of the National Socialist policy to separate Jewish and "Aryan" city dwellers, which culminated in the law on tenancy agreements with Jews of April 30, 1939, numerous German communities set up around 140 euphemistically "Jewish retirement homes" between 1939 and 1942 . Such an old people's home was used in the Nazi injustice state to accommodate older Jews under the application of direct coercion and then for the further deportation of those initially deported to these houses.

Until the ban on the emigration of Jews issued by the National Socialists on October 1, 1941, only around 60 percent of German Jews were able to flee the country. Even before that, the younger Jews who remained in Germany had been forced to move into so-called Jewish houses or Jewish ghettos since the beginning of the war . The Jewish old people's homes, which were set up in 1939, were used to accommodate Jewish seniors and older members of those Jewish families whose younger members had already emigrated. At the same time, the deportation of Jews from Germany to ghettos and concentration camps in Eastern Europe and the murder of the residents there were to be initiated centrally from these forced old age homes .

Establishment of forced retirement homes

In the course of the Nazi policy of ghettoization and the so-called “liberation of the cities”, many cities and municipalities actively pursued expulsion policies against Jews. There was a real competition for "Jew-free" circles and the "de-Jewification" of the cities. Using the example of Württemberg at the time of National Socialism, it can be understood that since 1939, with the support of the Württemberg Ministry of the Interior, the Gauleitung and the Gestapo , the communities have been looking for accommodation for the Jewish senior citizens far outside the cities and densely populated communities. Large, vacant buildings such as castles in need of renovation, country school homes or offices in remote communities with rail connections were selected and the old people's homes were set up there. In Württemberg, this was also done with the aim of forcibly relocating Jews from the previously existing, free Jewish old people's homes in Stuttgart and Heilbronn.

Life in the forced retirement homes

It is known from the Jewish retirement homes in Württemberg that the living conditions were socially and hygienically poor. The residents of the home had little privacy as they were accommodated in one room with several people. As a result of the forced resettlement in the homes and enforced bans on going out, those affected lost their remaining family and social contacts outside the home. Poor hygienic conditions, scarce food, no right to new clothes and insufficient heating were the order of the day. The elderly were looked after by Jewish nurses who had to live under the same conditions. All Jews were recorded in the Jewish files.

Fate of the home residents

Sick or frail residents were admitted to sanatoriums and nursing homes on the instructions of the Gestapo, where they were murdered as part of the T4 campaign . The Jewish old people's homes in Württemberg were closed in August 1942 and the remaining Jews were taken by train to Stuttgart's Killesberg , from where on 22/23 August 1942 a total of 1078 Jews from Baden and Württemberg were deported to the Theresienstadt concentration camp , many of them from the Württemberg forced retirement homes. Theresienstadt was portrayed in Nazi propaganda as an alleged “old age ghetto” for German Jews, but served as a transit camp on the way to the large extermination camps such as Auschwitz . Of the 1,078 people on this transport, only 49 survived the Holocaust . The “Signs of Remembrance” memorial at Stuttgart North Station commemorates those who were murdered.

When the old people's homes were cleared, some of the residents' belongings were auctioned off to the public. The profits from this exploitation flowed to the tax offices, which had previously tried to collect the highest possible taxes and duties from the Jewish pensioners using instruments such as the “ Jewish property tax ”.

Forced old age homes in Württemberg

A comprehensive appraisal or historical analysis of the Nazi forced old age homes has not yet been carried out. For Württemberg at the time of National Socialism , in some cases a region-specific review of the seven Jewish old people's homes that existed there, some of which were explicitly called “forced old age homes”.

Herrlingen

The Jewish old people's home in Herrlingen was the first of the homes to be set up in 1939. On April 27, 1939, the Jewish trustees of the empty Herrlinger Schullandheim received approval from the Gestapo in Stuttgart to set up a Jewish retirement home. The planned Jewish retirement home was converted into a system-compliant forced retirement home. By the end of September 1939, the home was already fully occupied with 70 residents. Further forced admissions followed, so that at the end of 1941 a total of 93 residents had to live in the Herrlingen Jewish old people's home. From the beginning of December 1941, residents and nursing staff were deported individually or in small groups, including to Riga and the Jewish Ghetto Izbica , which served as a transit camp for the Belzec , Majdanek and Sobibor extermination camps . The remaining residents were on 22./23. Deported to Theresienstadt in August 1942.

Eschenau Castle

In December 1941 the SS confiscated the vacant Eschenau Castle and set up the Eschenau Compulsory Retirement Home there. Around 100 older Jews from Stuttgart were brought to Eschenau. The castle was not suitable for this number of people plus nursing staff, which is why the space was extremely cramped. Most of the admissions to the forced retirement home took place from December 20, 1941 to January 7, 1942. In the course of 1942, other Jews from Heilbronn were forced to admit them. A total of 116 people were accommodated in the palace from December 1941 to August 1942. From January to August 1942, twelve of the residents died. They were buried in the Jewish cemetery in Affaltrach . The remaining residents were also on 22./23. Deported to Theresienstadt in August 1942.

Weissenstein Castle

The end of 1941 which made the Gestapo leadership Stuttgart the white stone castle in Lauterbrunnen Steiner district Weissenstein to a nursing home. At least 58 Jewish people were forcibly committed to the Weissenstein Jewish old people's home. From here, on December 1, 1941, some people were transported to Riga, on April 24, 1942 more people were transferred to the Izbica ghetto and with the transport on 22/23. August 1942 the remaining people were deported to Theresienstadt.

Dellmensingen Castle

In March 1942, another Jewish retirement home was set up in Dellmensingen Castle . Between March and August 1942, around 120 Jews from Württemberg, most of them from the Stuttgart area, were housed here. The residents from Dellmensingen were also deported to Theresienstadt in August 1942 .

Oberstotzingen Castle

Beginning in 1942, Oberstotzingen Castle in Niederstotzingen served as a Jewish retirement home.

Tiger field

In the Tigerfeld district of Pfronstetten, a Jewish retirement home was also set up in the old Zwiefalten administrative building by the Stuttgart Stapo Control Center from 1942 onwards , which was operated until the residents were deported in August 1942.

Buttenhausen

A total of 125 people were forcibly accommodated in the Tigerfeld Jewish old people's homes and in the nearby Buttenhausen and later deported. The last Jewish resident of the old people's home in Buttenhausen was also on 22./23. Deported to Theresienstadt in August 1942. None of the Buttenhausen Jews survived the Holocaust.

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Susanne Wein: Review of: Ulmer, Martin; Ritter, Martin (Ed.): The Jewish forced old age home Eschenau and its residents. Horb 2013 , in: H-Soz-Kult, December 12, 2013, accessed on May 11, 2019.
  2. ^ Gerd Blumberg, Flight of German Jews across the border . In: Katharina Stengel, Before the Destruction: The State Expropriation of the Jews in National Socialism , Campus Verlag, 2007, ISBN 978-3-593-38371-2 , pp. 94–113. P. 105 .
  3. ↑ Martin Ulmer, Martin Ritter (ed.): The Jewish forced retirement home Eschenau and its residents . Barbara Staudacher Verlag, Horb-Rexingen 2013, ISBN 978-3-928213-20-2 . , P. 8f. and 28.
  4. ↑ a b Holocaust.cz database: Transport XIII / 1 (August 23, 1942 Stuttgart -> Theresienstadt) , accessed on May 11, 2019.
  5. ↑ a b c d Ingrid Bauz, Sigrid Brüggemann, Roland Maier (eds.): The Secret State Police in Württemberg and Hohenzollern . Stuttgart Schmetterling-Verlag 2013, ISBN 3-89657-145-1 , p. 289ff.
  6. ↑ Martin Ulmer, Martin Ritter (ed.): The Jewish forced retirement home Eschenau and its residents . Barbara Staudacher Verlag, Horb-Rexingen 2013, ISBN 978-3-928213-20-2 . , Pp. 145f.
  7. ↑ Christoph Raichle: The financial administration in Baden and Württemberg under National Socialism . Kohlhammer Verlag, Stuttgart 2019, ISBN 978-3-17-035281-0 . , P. 634f.
  8. ↑ Ulrich Seemüller, The Jewish old people's home in Herrlingen and the fate of its residents , 2nd edition, Ulm 2009.
  9. ↑ Ulrich Seemüller: Herrlingen in the focus of history , Moments 2008, No. 4., pp. 2–7.
  10. ↑ Martin Ulmer, Martin Ritter (ed.): The Jewish forced retirement home Eschenau and its residents . Barbara Staudacher Verlag, Horb-Rexingen 2013, ISBN 978-3-928213-20-2 .
  11. ↑ Martin Ulmer, Martin Ritter (ed.): The Jewish forced retirement home Eschenau and its residents . Barbara Staudacher Verlag, Horb-Rexingen 2013, ISBN 978-3-928213-20-2 . Pp. 343-345.
  12. ^ Polish cultural association at the Polish Catholic Community in Ludwigsburg eV, Memorials in Baden-Württemberg , p. 66 speaks of eleven deceased.
  13. ↑ Alemannia Judaica - Working group for research into the history of Jews in southern Germany and the neighboring area alemannia-judaica.de Weißenstein (City of Lauterstein, District of Göppingen) Jewish History , accessed on May 11, 2019.
  14. ↑ State Center for Political Education Baden-Württemberg (ed.): "We as Jews can never forget this time". The Jews of Buttenhausen - On the life and fall of a rural community in Württemberg . Renningen 2013, PDF , p. 17 and p. 56.