Author: richardbrook@bruckfamilyblog.com

POST 188: WALKING IN MY FATHER AND UNCLE’S FOOTSTEPS, VISITING A HOUSE IN RIESENGEBIRGE (KARKONOSZE, POLAND) THEY STAYED IN 90 YEARS AGO

Note: In this post, I discuss my quest to find and visit a very distinctive house my father and uncle stayed in between Christmas 1934 & New Year’s Eve 1935, located in pre-WWII Germany, now in southwest Poland.

Related Posts:

POST 15: BERLIN & MY GREAT-AUNTS FRANZISKA & ELSBETH BRUCK

POST 17: SURVIVING IN BERLIN IN THE TIME OF HITLER: MY UNCLE FEDOR’S STORY

Among my father’s surviving photos are a sequence of pictures (Figures 1a-e) he took between Christmas 1934 and New Year’s Eve 1935 when he and his brother stayed at the so- called Haus Gotzmann in Kiesewald, Germany (today: Michałowice, Poland) in Riesengebirge (today: Karkonosze, Poland; Krkonoše, Czech Republic). In English these are often referred to as the Giant Mountains, and they are in what is today southwest Poland, straddling the border with the Czech Republic.

 

Figure 1a. Page 1 of my father’s photos taken in 1934/35 at the Haus Gotzmann in Kiesewald (today: Michałowice, Poland)

 

Figure 1b. Page 2 of my father’s photos taken in 1934/35 in Riesengebirge

 

Figure 1c. Page 3 of my father’s photos taken in 1934/35 in Riesengebirge

 

Figure 1d. Page 4 of my father’s photos taken in 1934/35 in Riesengebirge

 

Figure 1e. Page 5 of my father’s photos taken in 1934/35 in Riesengebirge

 

My father was typically very good at labeling his photos but in this instance, he merely provided the name of the house and its location in Riesengebirge. None of the principals were named, although I obviously recognized my father, Dr. Otto Bruck (1907-1994) (Figure 2), and uncle, Dr. Fedor Bruck (1895-1982). (Figure 3)

 

Figure 2. My father, Dr. Otto Bruck, as a young dentist

 

Figure 3. My uncle, Dr. Fedor Bruck, in his dental practice in Liegnitz, Germany (today: Legnica, Poland)

 

Like my father, my uncle was a dentist, and prior to Hitler’s rise to power in 1933 he had his own dental practice in Liegnitz, Germany (today: Legnica, Poland), a distance as the crow flies of about 100km (62 miles) from Michałowice. (Figure 4) In 1933, the Nazi regime passed the “Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service,” which was the first major piece of legislation to exclude Jews from public life. While not a total ban, this law served as a foundation for hundreds of later decrees designed to systematically marginalize and persecute Jews. Shortly after passing this law, my uncle was forced to shutter his dental practice in Liegnitz.

 

Figure 4. Map showing the distance between Liegnitz (Legnica) and Kiesewald (Michałowice)

 

Rightfully assuming he could continue working under the auspices of an Aryan dentist in Berlin, he relocated there hoping to lose himself in the anonymity of the larger city. This subterfuge worked until 1941, when he was told to report to “an old age transport,” which effectively meant deportation to a concentration camp. As I’ve previously written in Post 17, he went underground at this point and miraculously survived hiding in Berlin for the remainder of the war with the help of friends and family, at great personal risk to them. Only about 5,000 Jews in all of Germany survived in this manner.

Let me digress for a moment and talk briefly about Riesengebirge. Years ago, when my uncle’s illegitimate son Wolfgang Lutze (1928-2014) (Figure 5), my first cousin, was still alive, we were discussing our great-aunt, Elsbeth Bruck (1874-1970). Following the Second World War, Elsbeth, who was the subject of Post 15, became a high-ranking apparatchik in the Communist East German government. (Figure 6) Like many of my Bruck family, she was born in Ratibor, Germany (today: Racibórz, Poland), and apparently worked when young in the family hotel-restaurant there, the Bruck’s “Prinz von Preußen” Hotel. My father who also later briefly worked there as a sommelier told me many of the staff were Polish workers. According to family lore, Elsbeth had an affair with one of the Polish cooks and became pregnant. I’ve seen the small headstone of her son buried in the Weißensee Jewish Cemetery in East Berlin so there is no question Elsbeth had a child who died in infancy in 1908. (Figure 7)

 

Figure 5. My uncle’s illegitimate son, Wolfgang Lutze, in Hurghada, Egypt in October 2005

 

Figure 6. My great-aunt, Elsbeth Bruck, a Communist apparatchik, being given an award by a high-ranking official of the former German Democratic Republic in 1965

 

Figure 7. My wife in 2018 Ann standing by the small, numbered headstone of Elsbeth Bruck’s son, Wolfgang Bruck, buried in the Weißensee Jewish Cemetery in East Berlin

 

In any case, in talking about our great-aunt, my first cousin Wolfgang used a German proverb which I understood to mean something to the effect that Elsbeth was sent away to Riesengebirge by her family after they discovered she was pregnant for a “change of scenery” or “to clear her head.” Artificial Intelligence notwithstanding I’ve been unable to source the saying. Still, I learned other things about Riesengebirge that provide some colorful background.

During the 18th century the Giant Mountains (Riesengebirge, Krkonoše, Karkonosze) became a favorite destination for tourists from the German states and the Austrian Empire. At the time the mountains were favorably compared with the Alps. I could find no widespread proverbs related to Riesengebirge (Giant Mountains). Rather, the sayings are based on the mountains’ ancient folklore, particularly the legend of the mountain spirit, Rübezahl. The aphorisms are less like traditional proverbs and more like warnings or common wisdom related to the whimsical and powerful mountain spirit (e.g., calling his name is forbidden; beware his unpredictable mood; a “test” for travelers; the origin of weather).

While there is no common German adage about going to Riesengebirge for a change of scenery or to clear one’s head, as was apparently suggested for Elsbeth, the German concept of Fernweh describes a strong yearning for distant places and a desire to travel, and Wanderlust (“wanderlust” is a German loanword) describes a general love of wandering and exploring. These words capture the feeling of wanting to go somewhere new to get away from the familiar. This said there is no evidence to suggest Elsbeth ever spent time or even visited Riesengebirge.

Let me resume my narrative. Knowing my wife and I would be visiting Racibórz and southwestern Poland, we decided to incorporate a visit to the Giant Mountains. I was curious whether the very distinctive house my father and uncle visited in Kiesewald (Michałowice) still exists. I’ve amassed a considerable amount of information looking into this question.

Fatefully, almost immediately after starting my research into Haus Gotzmann, I stumbled on a genealogist named Marta Maćkowiak (Figure 8) living in nearby Jelenia Góra, known in the German era as Hirschberg or Hirschberg im Riesengebirge. Translated as “deer mountain,” Jelenia Góra is only about 18km (11 miles) from Michałowice. (Figure 9) Marta is a professional genealogist who specializes in researching Polish and Polish Jewish genealogy. Knowing I had nothing to lose, I contacted her and explained my interest in finding the house where my father and uncle had stayed in 1934/35. She kindly responded and told me to forward my father’s pictures so that she could investigate.

 

Figure 8. Marta Maćkowiak, a professional Polish genealogist, who graciously aided me in my search to locate the Haus Gotzmann

 

Figure 9. Map showing the distance between Jelenia Góra and Michałowice

 

While waiting for Marta to reply, I asked my teacher/historian friend Jan Krakczok (Figure 10) from Rybnik, Poland, who I also met for the first time during my recent visit to Poland, whether he could track down any additional information on the Haus Gotzmann. In a 1937 Hirschberg Address Book (i.e., “Adressbuch – Einwohnerbuch fur den Landkreis Hirschberg, 1937”) (Figure 11), Jan discovered that by 1937 a lady named Ida Mattner owned or leased the house though the home was still referred to as the “Haus Gotzmann.” By way of clarification, the 1937 Landkreis Hirschberg address book includes listings for nearby Kiesewald-Petersdorf (see explanation below about the physical relationship between these two places). Curiously, the 1937 address book does not provide an address, so the German street name was at this point still unknown to me.

 

Figure 10. Jan Krajczok from Poland on a viewing tower overlooking the Moravian Gate

 

Figure 11. Page from the 1937 Hirschberg Address Book showing Ida Mattner living in the Haus Gotzmann

 

Based on the current owner or lessee in 1937, I erroneously concluded the owner, known to me at this point only as “Gotzmann,” was Jewish. I assumed he had had his home confiscated or been forced to sell by the Nazis. More on this below. 

Several days later Marta wrote telling me she had located the house. She explained that the house is in fact described as Haus Gotzmann and Haus Mattner, so the information Jan had found matched what Marta uncovered. Marta also sent me a link with historic postcards. (Figures 12-14)

 

Figure 12. Historic postcard of the Haus Gotzmann purportedly taken between 1920 and 1930; these years predate the known construction year of 1933

 

Figure 13. Historic postcard of the Haus Gotzmann taken between 1935 and 1940

 

 

Figure 14. Historic postcard of the Haus Gotzmann taken in 1968

 

Marta happily reported the house still exists, and that its current address is 16 ulica Sudecka in Piechowice. (Figures 15-16) Marta helpfully explained that before the war Piechowice was called Petersdorf, and that Michałowice or Kiesewald, as it was formerly known, was and is still part of Piechowice. (Figure 17) Marta also reported she was able to match some of my father’s photos with a viewpoint near Michałowice called Złoty Widok, located not far from Haus Gotzmann.

 

Figure 15. The Haus Gotzmann as it looks today without the summer foliage

 

 

Figure 16. Google map showing the current address, 16 ulica Sudecka in Piechowice, and photo of the Haus Gotzmann at it looks today

 

Figure 17. Map showing the proximity of Michałowice (Kiesewald) to Piechowice (Petersdorf), of which Michałowice is a part

 

Prompted by the information Marta uncovered, I continued my investigations. I tripped over another database I’d curiously never come across, “Kartenmeister.” This is described as an online gazetteer and genealogy tool for locating towns and places that were historically in eastern Prussia and other German-speaking areas especially, but not exclusively, east of the Oder and Neisse rivers. It helps users find the current name of a place and provides historical details such as alternate names, geographical location, church parish affiliations, and population records from specific names. The database includes over 100,000 entries for towns, villages, and other points of interest like mills, battlefields, and cemeteries. 

Helpfully, the Kartenmeister database includes a listing for Petersdorf (Figure 18), which as Marta explained includes Michałowice where the Haus Gotzmann was located. Conveniently, the listing included the names AND emails of six people also researching Petersdorf. (Figure 19) Unabashedly, I started working my way through the list. I struck gold when I reached a German gentleman named Holger Liebig.

 

Figure 18. Listing for Petersdorf (Piechowice) in the “Kartenmeister” database

 

Figure 19. List of names and email addresses of people found in the Kartenmeister database also researching Petersdorf

 

Initially, I was interested in uncovering the German street for modern-day ulica Sudecka. I thought the German street name in conjunction with owner names from contemporary address books might provide clarification on the sequence of owners; this never panned out because I never found the contemporary address books from the 1930s. Regardless, in a so-called “Häuserbuch,” Holger found some very useful information. A Häuserbuch is described as a German-language term for a “house book.” In a genealogical context, it is a historical record that documents the history of properties and the families who have lived in them. A Häuserbuch can be a valuable resource for tracing a family’s lineage. 

By way of clarification, a Häuserbuch is to be distinguished from a “Grundbuch,” a land register, something I’ve alluded to in some earlier posts. A Grundbuch is an official public land register with legal authority over property rights, while a Häuserbuch is a historical or informal private record of a household or family. The Grundbuch (land register) is a formal, public register maintained by a special division of the local court (Grundbuchamt) in Germany. I would later learn from Marta Maćkowiak that the Grundbuch for the Haus Gotzmann was destroyed during the war.

In any case, Holger found the Haus Gotzmann listed in the Häuserbuch under Kiesewald (Kw 73; Agnetendorfer Straße; Haus No. 136). (Figure 20) Significantly, the German street name and number are given. The Häuserbuch provides other information. It indicates that the Haus Gotzmann was built in 1933 by a man named Leo Gotzmann, a dentist from Weißwasser, a town in Upper Lusatia in eastern Saxony, Germany. Weißwasser is located about 130km (80 miles) from Piechowice. (Figure 21) Additionally, Holger learned that Dr. Gotzmann sold the house to Ida Mattner in 1940 (she first rented the house, then later bought it). Though ultimately a dead-end, the Häuserbuch further tells us that Ida Mattner was born in 1896 in Wronke (today: Wronki, Poland), about 50km (31 miles), northwest of Posen (today: Poznań, Poland).

 

Figure 20. Haus Gotzmann listed in the “Häuserbuch” under Kiesewald (Kw 73; Agnetendorfer Straße; Haus No. 136)

 

Figure 21. Map showing the distance between Weißwasser, Germany and Piechowice, Poland

 

Holger Liebig sent me a link to an old prospectus of Kiesewald showing the “Landhouse” Gotzmann as lot “Nr. 31b.” (Figure 22a) To be clear, this number is not to be confused with the regular house number but rather corresponds to the number on the prospectus identifying the lot. Note that five of the homes on the list of houses shown in the prospectus were connected to members of Holger Liebig’s family. (Figure 22b)

 

Figure 22a. Old prospectus of Kiesewald showing the “Landhouse” Gotzmann as lot “Nr. 31b” (circled)

 

Figure 22b. List of owners from the old brochure of Kiesewald corresponding to lot numbers, including the names of five Liebigs

 

Having ascertained that Dr. Leo Gotzmann was, like my father and uncle, a dentist, I surmised that perhaps a professional relationship had evolved into a friendship. Having determined that Dr. Gotzmann was from Weißwasser, Saxony, I checked for address books from there from the 1930s, to no avail. I similarly checked address books from Hirschberg-Petersdorf for Dr. Gotzmann from this period, again in vain. 

However, I struck gold again when I checked in ancestry.com. I found several German military cards for a Dr. Leo Johannes Gotzmann showing he was killed in action on the 6th of December 1941 in Russia. (Figure 23) What convinced me this is the same man my father and uncle was friends with is that he was born in Ratibor on the 24th of December 1892. Additionally, another card in the German military records indicated Leo was from Weißwasser, matching information found in the Kiesewald Häuserbuch. (Figure 24) He was less than three years older than my uncle, born in August 1895, and less than 15 years older than my father born in April 1907. Clearly, my family’s familiarity with Dr. Gotzmann ran through my father’s birthplace.

 

Figure 23. Card from German military record for Dr. Leo Johannes showing he was born in Ratibor in December 1892 and was killed in Russia in December 1941

 

Figure 24. Another card from Dr. Gotzmann’s military record indicating he was from Weißwasser

 

While I was convinced that Leo Gotzmann was Jewish, unlikely given that he died fighting for the Wehrmacht in Russia, I learned from Jan and another friend from Racibórz that even today there are non-Jewish Gotzmanns, possibly of German descent, living nearby. As we speak, I’m working on trying to obtain Leo Gotzmann’s 1892 birth certificate to confirm that he was in fact not Jewish. 

I initially had difficulty reading and tracking down the place where Dr. Gotzmann was killed in action, but eventually deciphered he died at Yukhnov, Russia (German: Juchnow) (Figure 25), likely as the Germans were retreating from Russia following their rout at Stalingrad.

 

Figure 25. Page from Wikimedia Commons about Yukhnov, Russia where Dr. Gotzmann was killed in December 1941

 

One of the German military cards provided Dr. Gotzmann’s wife’s forename, “Lilly” (Figure 26), but so far, I’ve been unable to track down her surname. She was shown living at Berliner Straße 2 in Weißwasser.

 

Figure 26. Another page from Dr. Gotzmann’s military record giving “Lilly” as his wife’s forename

 

After learning all I was able to by resort to historic directories and documents, I tried something I’ve attempted in the past with mixed results. I wrote a “cold” letter addressed to the unknown current owner of the Haus Gotzmann. Knowing the modern-day address of the home, I merely addressed my letter to “Owner,” included my father’s sequence of photos, explained I was going to be in the area in a few weeks and expressed a hope that I could stop by and take a few pictures of the house; I also provided my contact information. More than two weeks passed before I received a gracious email from the current owner, Ms. Wiola Trybalska, telling me how touched she was by my letter and seeing my father’s old photos of her house. Not only were my wife and I invited to visit, but Wiola cordially asked us to come for lunch. 

Our much-anticipated meeting took place on the 30th of August 2025. Along with Wiola, two of her three daughters, Ania and Alexandra, and a family friend Marek were present. (Figure 27) Since all our email exchanges had taken place in English, I mistakenly assumed Wiola was fluent in English. It was Ania, however, who is most fluent in English and translated.

 

Figure 27. Sisters Alexandra & Ania Trybalska, family friend Marek, Wiola Trybalska, and me

 

The history of ownership of Haus Gotzmann following Ida Mattner’s proprietorship is unclear. I presume that Ms. Mattner was forced to flee once the Russians occupied Poland, as most Germans did. Possibly a Communist apparatchik occupied the house until the fall of the Soviet Union in 1989, at which point perhaps the home reverted to private ownership. What is clear is that Wiola’s husband inherited the house from his father, a noted Polish painter, Paweł Trybalski (1937-2023). His studio and some of the props and souvenirs brought back by Pawel’s friends on their travels used by him in some of his paintings are intact. 

Wiola showed me a few old photos of people taken at the Haus Gotzmann, and in one of them I recognized a few of the same people my father photographed, presumably Leo Gotzmann and his wife Lilly. (Figure 28) The unknown person could be Ida Mattner, though this is conjecture since I’m uncertain what her relationship was to the Gotzmanns and how she came to lease and eventually own Leo and Lilly Gotzmann’s house.

 

Figure 28. Historic photo shown to me by Wiola Trybalska believed to show Lilly Gotzmann (left), Leo Gotzmann (middle), and possibly Ida Mattner

 

One thing I had the opportunity to do during my visit with Wiola and her family at the Haus Gotzmann was to recreate photos my father took in 1934/35. Remarkably, those parts of the house inside and outside that my father pictured have hardly changed. The very distinctive alternating brown and white horizontal stripes painted on the outside still exist. I sat on the same steps where my father stood (Figures 29a-b), and in the same place he and his brother once stood. (Figures 30a-b) I also sat on the interior steps where partying guests participated in a masked ball on New Year’s Eve 1935. (Figures 31a-b) Given that Michałowice is 9300km (5,780 miles) from where I now live, I find this haunting. On only one previous occasion have I stood in the same spot I knew my father to have stood thousands of kilometers away and many years ago.

 

Figure 29a. 1934/35 picture from top to bottom: unidentified man, Lilly Gotzmann, Leo Gotzmann, my father
Figure 29b. 2025 picture of me sitting on the same steps where my father stood in his 1934/35 picture

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 30a. 1934/35 picture of my father (left) arm-in-arm with his brother in front of the Haus Gotzmann
Figure 30b. 2025 picture of me with Alexandra and Ania Trybalska standing where my father and uncle stood in 1934/35

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 31a. From New Year’s Eve 1935 revelers sitting on steps leading upstairs
Figure 31b. 2025 picture from top to bottom of Marek, Alexandra & Ania Trybalska, Wiola Trybalska, and my wife Ann seated on the same steps as the revelers in 1934/35

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A few final thoughts. (Figure 32) While Wiola and I could not directly communicate with one another save for the intervention of her daughter, we made an immediate connection. I think it’s fair to say we both had this odd sense of having previously “met” and it being “fated” that we should meet again in this life. Wiola and other thoughtful and intelligent people I’ve encountered in my years of doing forensic genealogy convince me that my work transcends my own family history. Given the existential danger that the divisions in our current body politic pose to democracies around the world, a quote attributed to Cicero comes to mind, “To be ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain always a child.” My recent trip to Europe, particularly the time spent in Poland, made it clear how real and worrisome the ghosts and horrors of the past are for people living in the shadow of the war in the Ukraine and the dangers posed by an aggressive neighbor.

 

Figure 32. Saying our goodbyes to Wiola and her friend and family

 

Readers will rightly perceive that my search to relocate a house my father and uncle visited 90 years has yielded some productive and unexpected discoveries. For readers who may find themselves in similar circumstances, I encourage persistence. I do not pretend this is exclusive to my forensic searches because I’ve occasionally come across others who’ve achieved far more impressive results using old films, photos, diaries and ancestral accounts, and documents related to places their Jewish ancestors lived.

POST 187, POSTSCRIPT: EIGHT COUNTRIES IN THIRTY-FIVE DAYS (PHOTOS FROM A DEVOTED READER)

Note: This is a very brief postscript to Post 187.

Related Post:

POST 187: EIGHT COUNTRIES IN THIRTY-FIVE DAYS

 

With increasing frequency, subscribed and/or casual readers of my blog send me photos related to topics I’ve covered in my posts or images of their forebears. They rightfully assume I’m interested, or they hope to find remote relatives just like DNA testing might reveal. In the past month alone, I’ve had no fewer than three readers send me historic or recent photos connected to topics or places I’ve written about. What is particularly gratifying is when readers correct misidentifications I’ve inadvertently made. In some cases, readers are astonished to discover I have posted images of their ancestors they had no awareness existed.

Related to Post 187, my good friend Peter Albrecht sent me three photos from 1983 when he and his family visited Miramare Castle outside Trieste, Italy standing literally in the same place my wife and I were photographed a few short weeks ago. (Figures 1-3) For my amusement, I attach these three images.

 

Figure 1. Peter Albrecht with his sister at Miramare Castle outside Trieste, Italy in 1983

 

Figure 2. Peter Albrecht with his sister and parents at Miramare Castle outside Trieste, Italy in 1983

 

Figure 3. Miramare Castle in 1983 when Peter Albrecht visited with his family

 

 

 

POST 187: EIGHT COUNTRIES IN THIRTY-FIVE DAYS

Note: This brief post is a prelude to upcoming posts where I will talk about thrilling events that took place during a five-week European vacation my wife and I recently took.

Related Posts:

POST 11: RATIBOR & BRUCK’S “PRINZ VON PREUßEN“ HOTEL

POST 11, POSTSCRIPT: RATIBOR & BRUCK’S “PRINZ VON PREUßEN” HOTEL

POST 11, POSTSCRIPT 2: RATIBOR & BRUCK’S “PRINZ VON PREUßEN” HOTEL

POST 105: FEDOR LÖWENSTEIN’S NAZI-CONFISCATED ART: RESTITUTION DENIED

POST 132: FATE OF THE BRUCK’S “PRINZ VON PREUßEN“ FAMILY HOTEL IN RATIBOR (RACIBÓRZ): GEOPOLITICAL FACTORS

POST 155: HISTORY OF THE PROPERTY WHERE THE BRUCK’S “PRINZ VON PREUßEN” HOTEL IN RATIBOR CAME TO BE BUILT

POST 160: UPDATE ON COMPENSATION CLAIM AGAINST THE FRENCH MINISTRY OF CULTURE INVOLVING NAZI-CONFISCATED FAMILY ART

 

My wife Ann and I recently returned from a five-week trip to Europe that had us leaving from San Diego and traveling to or through parts of Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria, Slovenia, Italy (Figure 1), and France. We visited multiple out-of-the-way places connected to my Jewish family’s history. This required renting a car and driving long distances through often unfamiliar territory and on small backroads. This occasionally led to unexpected adventures and mishaps. Suffice it to say, our vacations are not conventional and are in some ways reminiscent of the semi-structured travel we took through Europe in our youth. Realistically, our advancing age makes it unlikely we’ll take more such trips in the future.

 

Figure 1. My wife Ann and me at Miramare Castle, a 19th-castle located on the Gulf of Trieste in northeastern Italy. The castle was built from 1856 to 1860 for Austrian Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian and his wife, Charlotte of Belgium

 

Notwithstanding the pace of our vacation, I had two primary aims during this trip. The first was to revisit the town where my father, Dr. Otto Bruck, was born in 1907, Ratibor, Germany [Racibórz, Poland]. As I’ve frequently discussed, my family owned a hotel restaurant in the town from ca. 1850 to 1925 known as the Bruck’s “Prinz von Preußen” Hotel. The hotel survived the Second World War intact save for the burned roof, but sadly following their rise to power the Communist authorities dismantled the establishment to “harvest” bricks to rebuild Warsaw. I have old cutlery monogrammed with the three generations of my Bruck family that owned the hotel and decided to donate them to the local museum. I also bequeathed a small briefcase of my father’s surviving dental tools. (Figure 2) While my father never practiced dentistry in his birthplace, coincidentally, the Muzeum w Raciborzu has an entire floor of its exhibit space devoted to old dental machines and equipment so donating my father’s dental instruments there made sense.

 

Figure 2. Examining the family memorabilia I donated to the “Muzeum w Raciborzu”

 

The second purpose of my trip to Europe was to attend a restitution ceremony in Paris to retrieve three paintings from the French Ministry of Culture that were seized by the Nazis at the Port of Bordeaux in December 1940 from my father’s first cousin, a man named Fedor Löwenstein. (Figure 3) Following their confiscation, the three surviving paintings, among 25 originally expropriated, were shipped to the Jeu de Paume in Paris where they remain unrecognized as seized works until the early 2010s. Over the years, I’ve written multiple posts about my compensation claim originally filed in 2014. After 11 long contentious and litigious years, I finally achieved the goal of reclaiming the paintings. (Figure 4) The restitution ceremony took place on the 16th of September 2025 at the soon-to-be renovated and now empty Centre Pompidou in Paris, and my wife and I participated in this event where I delivered a formal speech in French, a language I speak passably well. (Figure 5)

 

Figure 3. My father’s first cousin Fedor Löwenstein (photo credit: Damien Carles/SIPA Press)

 

 

Figure 4. Standing between two of the three paintings rendered by Fedor Löwenstein that I recovered from the Centre Pompidou (photo credit: Damien Carles/SIPA Press)

 

 

Figure 5. Delivering my speech at the restitution ceremony with the French and European Union flags as backdrop (photo credit: Damien Carles/SIPA Press)

 

In upcoming posts, I will tell readers more about these two events.

Sandwiched between these happenings, which occurred towards the beginning and end of our vacation, my wife and I met a great many other people I’ve encountered through my blog or developed a friendship with over the years. These rendezvous will be the source of additional forthcoming posts. I look forward to relating to readers some delicious little tales connected to our vacation that expand on posts I’ve previously written or that explore new topics.

POST 186: THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN A GERMAN “DENTIST” AND A GERMAN “ZAHNARZT” AND WHAT IT TELLS US ABOUT HITLER’S DENTIST AND HITLER’S FATE

Note: In this post I consider the differences between a German “dentist” and a German “Zahnarzt,” both of which confusingly translate into English as dentist. This provides an opportunity to assess the dental work that Dr. Hugo Blaschke, Hitler’s dentist, performed on him. Though bestowed with the title of “Doctor” by Hitler, Blaschke was nothing more than an unlicensed practitioner and his dental techniques a reflection of his “old-fashioned” work, work that Blaschke’s ever-present dental assistant, Käthe Heusermann, was easily able to identify for the Russians immediately after WWII ended. As my uncle Dr. Fedor Bruck’s former dental assistant, Käthe confided her knowledge of Hitler’s fate to him, a fate that many conspiracy theorists have ever since tried to refute.

 

Related Posts:

POST 17: SURVIVING IN BERLIN IN THE TIME OF HITLER: MY UNCLE FEDOR’S STORY

POST 31: WITNESS TO HISTORY, “PROOF” OF HITLER’S DEATH IN MY UNCLE FEDOR’S OWN WORDS

POST 40: ELISABETH “LISA” PAULY NEE KRUGER, ONE OF MY UNCLE FEDOR’S “SILENT HEROES “

 

Coming from a line of distinguished and accomplished dentists, including some with riveting life stories, I thought I would explain to readers a distinction between a so-called German “dentist” and a German “Zahnarzt.” This is a distinction that did not formally exist in America as it did in Germany. However, if readers watched some of the same American westerns I did as a child, they may recall scenes in which so-called “barber-surgeons” performed dental extractions. They were equipped with tools for shaving and cutting, utensils that could also be used for pulling teeth. This practice was common due to the lack of specialized dentists and the barber’s access to sharp implements. Similar “specialists” also performed dental work in Germany though under a more formal structure as I will explain.

But I’m getting ahead of my skis. My interest in exploring this topic stems from something I will explain before discussing the differences between a “dentist” and a “Zahnarzt.” My uncle, known in Germany as Dr. Fedor Bruck, has been the subject of multiple earlier posts. In Post 31, I discussed my uncle’s understanding of Adolf Hitler’s fate and how he obtained such knowledge as the Nazi regime collapsed, and the Russians encircled and captured the Reichstag and Reich Chancellery where Hitler was hiding and ultimately killed himself.

Below I will not only discuss the “dentiste” (plural) and “Zahnärzte” (plural) but I will also weave in some of what my uncle had to say on some of the topics discussed.

Following the forced closure of his dental practice in Liegnitz, Germany (today: Legnica, Poland) after Hitler’s ascension to power in 1933, my uncle decamped for Berlin hoping to lose himself in the anonymity of a larger city and work under the auspices of an Aryan dentist. My uncle’s dental assistant in Liegnitz was a non-Jew named Käthe Heusermann (Figure 1), a well-known personage historically. She followed my uncle to Berlin perhaps because they were romantically involved. Regardless, Käthe wound up being hired by Hitler’s dentist, Dr. Hugo Blaschke (Figure 2), as his dental assistant. This is significant because Käthe was always in attendance when Dr. Blaschke performed dental work at the Reichstag or on the Obersalzberg estate on Hitler, who incidentally was known to be deathly afraid of having dental work done. Käthe’s presence on these occasions meant she was intimately familiar with and recognized Dr. Blaschke’s distinctive and, as it happens, “old-fashioned” dental work. This would become significant following the discovery of Hitler’s presumed skeletal and cranial remains shortly after the Russians occupied the Reichstag and Käthe’s positive identification of his dental jaws.

 

Figure 1. Käthe Heusermann with my uncle Dr. Fedor Bruck in his dental office in Liegnitz

 

Figure 2. Adolf Hitler’s dentist, Dr. Hugo Blaschke

 

On this topic my uncle wrote the following: 

“The main person in this connection is Mrs. Käthe Heusermann, née Reiss regarding whom I must mention more details, because of the importance attached to her in this matter.  She was born in 1909, and I trained her as a dental assistant in my office in Liegnitz, Silesia, in the year 1926.  She practiced in this profession until 1945, for at least 15 years.  Over this time, she worked with me for three-and-a-half years, and from 1937 on, that is for over eight years, she worked with Blaschke, Hitler’s dentist.  She quickly advanced to the position of first assistant, and, during the last years, she was mostly present during Hitler’s treatments, whether they took place in the Reich Chancellery or on the Obersalzberg estate.  She was very much interested in her profession and possessed great experience.  She had the special gift to remember very well the peculiarities of the patients’ mouths . . .” 

As I explained in Post 17 my uncle Fedor Bruck miraculously managed to survive underground in Berlin during the entire war. He hid in greenways and was occasionally sheltered by non-Jewish family members. Also, with the help of Otto Berger, a man later bestowed the honorary title of “Righteous Among the Nations,” he even managed to obtain false identity papers in the name of Dr. Friedrich Burkhardt, a name matching his own initials. His earlier relationship with Käthe Heusermann meant she also hid him on occasion, likely at great personal risk. Based on my uncle’s own account, it is clear he was in regular contact with Käthe during his time underground. My uncle came in search of Käthe shortly after Berlin was captured by the Russians: 

“On April 26, 1945, Steglitz, in the southwestern part of the city [Berlin], was occupied by the Russians.  Behind the advancing troops, I arrived, on May 4th, in the apartment of my former assistant Käthe Heusermann.  This apartment was situated at Pariserstrasse 39-40 near Kurfürstendamm.  A friendship of twenty years tied my person and the family of Käthe Heusermann.  Käthe was alone in the bomb-damaged apartment and was very upset and confused.  She had only returned to her apartment the day before, May 3rd, having spent the time before that in the Air Shelter in the Reich Chancellery.” 

The problem with understanding and explaining to an English-speaking audience the difference between a “dentist” and a “Zahnarzt” is that both words translate into English as “dentist.” The primary bibliographic reference discussing the differences between the two is written in German, so constant reference back to the original German text is necessary to accurately understand and explain the distinctions. I will attempt to do so along with providing some historical background. 

The primary source of the information for the following discussion comes from an article written in 2015 by a gentleman named Dr. Dominik Groß for a German magazine named “ZM (Zahnärztlichen Mitteilungen).” Coincidentally, several years ago I was contacted by Dr. Groß in connection with a “Lexikon,” an encyclopedia, he was developing on Jewish dentists persecuted during the Nazi period for which he requested information on my father and uncle. Conveniently, I was able to communicate with Dr. Groß while writing this post to have him explain certain nuances, though I take full responsibility for any misinterpretations. 

According to Dr. Groß, as recently as the mid-19th century, there were few Zahnärzte in Germany; in 1850, it is estimated that no more than 250 of them were registered in the German states that in 1872 became the German Empire, 103 of which practiced in Prussia, the largest of the states. For ease, I will alternately refer to Zahnärzte as “pure” or licensed dentists. The key reason for the slow development of the profession was the existence of so-called “contemporary surgeons,” basically non-academic surgeons working at the same time who performed dental treatments. 

The “Prussian Medical Regulations” did not list pure dentists as medical practitioners until 1825. At the time, to stand for the dental examination, someone who was not a physician or surgeon had to provide evidence of having attended lectures on anatomy, general and special surgery, operative theory, pharmacology, and surgical clinical practice. Regulations from 1836 supplemented these requirements. However, the only educational prerequisite was a “tertiary” entrance qualification from a grammar school, a “Gymnasium.” This would have been the equivalent to the completion in Germany of the so-called “Obertertia” (Latin) (Upper Tertia), corresponding to the ninth grade in United States, thus students as young as 15 or 16! 

Astonishingly, it wasn’t until 1909, 73 years later, that the so-called “Abitur” became a prerequisite for studying dentistry. In the United States, the Abitur is most closely comparable to a combination of a high school diploma and a college transcript, specifically from a college preparatory program, and potentially including Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate (IB) courses. Suffice it to say, there is no direct equivalent been an Abitur and a single U.S. degree or certificate. 

In 1869, Prussia enacted new dental examination regulations requiring completion of the 12th -13th grades and two years of university education; however, unlike medical students, they were classified as “immature” meaning not regularly enrolled students because they did not have a university entrance qualification, a so-called “Matura,” closely equivalent to an Abitur. As I understand, even today, medical practitioners in Germany tend to look down on Zahnärzte, no doubt a relic of the past and the disparate educational requirements. 

As Dr. Groß notes, “At the time, there were other dental practitioners besides [pure] dentists who had not undergone regular training. Although lay practitioners had been explicitly banned from practicing dentistry in Prussia since 1825 (a ‘courier ban’), unlicensed practitioners repeatedly attempted to practice dentistry, particularly in regions where there was no strict control. They were often disparagingly referred to as ‘quacks’ by the contemporary dental profession, and in fact, these practitioners generally possessed low qualifications: quite a few had originally worked as barbers or bath attendants before later shifting their attention to the treatment of dental diseases. Other unlicensed dental practitioners had gained experience in skilled trades such as instrument makers, goldsmith, or mechanics and then specialized in the manufacture and insertion of dentures. In addition, dentistry was originally also practiced by ‘wandering healers’ who appeared as tooth breakers, traveling journeymen or market criers—but by the 19th century at the latest, these had clearly lost importance.” 

Without getting too lost in the weeds, the so-called Trade Regulation Act was enacted into law in October 1869 in the Northern German Federation, the core territory of what would later become the German Empire. This law basically liberalized medicine and astonishingly stipulated that henceforth anyone would be permitted to practice medicine, although the use of medical titles was dependent on proof of qualification. As Groß notes, “It soon became apparent that the introduction of lay treatment was causing enormous damage to the reputation of licensed practitioners.” 

Following liberalization of medicine, the total number of practitioners grew exponentially. Dentistry was particularly affected. By 1890, there were three unlicensed practitioners for every pure dentist. The majority soon called themselves “dental artists.” To cement their newly found legal standing, they organized themselves into powerful interest groups. In 1880, this resulted in the establishment of the first central organization of unlicensed dental practitioners, the “Association of German Dental Artists” (VdZ), to more effectively counter attacks by licensed dentists. Striving to demonstrate a standardization of training, the dental artists established the first “Dental Technical Training Institute” in Berlin, a hallmark of which became holding of final examinations for dental artists. 

Though dental artists became increasingly better organized, as Dr. Groß notes, they were a diverse lot: “. . .at the beginning of the 20th century, non-licensed dental practitioners still represented a very heterogeneous group. Statistics published in 1909 show that only 31.4 percent of 1,060 non-licensed practitioners examined could prove that they had completed a regular apprenticeship as a dental artist. 58.4 percent had previously worked as barbers, and a further 10.2 percent had no professional training whatsoever. But even the trained dental artists did not provide evidence of a uniform apprenticeship period. In any case, many of their statements were difficult to verify. The quantitative importance of dental artists, however, was undisputed: their number rose from 735 to 6,171 between 1878 and 1909/10, a more than eightfold increase. In contrast, in 1909/10, only 2,667 [pure] dentists were registered.” 

The liberalization of dentistry was opposed by the dental profession from the outset. To obfuscate matters, many unlicensed practitioners, contrary to the provisions of the 1869 Trade Regulation Act, adopted professional titles ranging from “dental artist” to “dental surgeon” to “specialist for dental sufferers” to “dentist.” Dental organizations filed complaints against every professed misappropriation of titles to no avail. 

According to Dr. Groß, the issue about professional titles became even more contentious when dubious U.S. institutes began selling the title of “Doctor of Dental Surgery” (D.D.S.) to German dental practitioners. Many dental artists acquired these sham diplomas without proving they were professionally qualified, nor even without traveling stateside. As the dispute intensified, Prussia issued a decree in 1897 requiring all future foreign doctorates awarded to be approved. 

This did not resolve the problem as unlicensed practitioners had already switched to using the professional title “dentist.” Pure dentists indignantly countered that according to Latin and Anglo-Saxon usage the terms “dentiste” and “dentist” respectively referred to a licensed dentist and vehemently opposed the use of the title “dentist” by unlicensed practitioners. Nevertheless, an expert in foreign languages concluded that “. . .someone who calls themselves a dentist is a dental technician practicing a free trade, who does not claim a title and is not entitled to one. Those who claim and are entitled to the title and who have passed an exam are Zahnärzte or, depending on their university, doctors of dental practice. Therefore, neither foreigners nor nationals can confuse a Zahnarzt with a dentist.” 

With this favorable expert opinion, in 1908 the “Association of German Dental Artists” renamed their organization the “Association of Dentists in the German Empire.” In the ensuing years the term “dentist” entered common parlance despite protests from Zahnärzte. It would take until 1952 for what Dr. Groß refers to as the “dualism in dentistry” to be overcome and for practicing “dentiste” (plural) to be integrated into the dental profession. 

The reason I’ve gone to such lengths to explain the distinction between a “dentist” and a “Zahnarzt” relates to Hitler’s dentist, Dr. Hugo Blaschke. His Wikipedia entry tells us that he studied dentistry in Berlin and at the University of Pennsylvania and trained as a “dental surgeon” in London before opening his own practice in late 1911. Dr. Groß’s article hints that Blaschke’s training as a dental surgeon meant he was a “dentist,” not a “Zahnarzt.” His title, though, implies he was a “Zahnarzt.” Dr. Groß explained, however, that Hitler bestowed the honorary title of doctorate on Blaschke and that he was in fact a “dentist,” an unlicensed practitioner. 

My uncle also addressed this point: 

“. . .He [Blaschke] studied at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia before the first World War, from which he graduated.  Since he had not passed any examination in Germany, he was only rated a dental technician there.  Having joined the [Nazi] Party early, he had a membership number below 40,000.  He had already treated Hitler before 1933.  Upon a decree by Goebbels, he was awarded the title of dentist, without having to pass any examination, and was later given the professor title by Hitler.  His knowledge was that of an average dentist . . .”

Ever since Hitler committed suicide in the Reichstag or the Reich Chancellery, conspiracy theorists have nonsensically speculated that he escaped to South America. The empirical evidence suggests otherwise. Let me review some of what I discussed in Post 31 again quoting from my uncle’s own words. (I recommend readers read Post 31 in tandem with the current post to get a fuller picture.) 

Regarding the outmoded dental work Käthe recognized as the work of Dr. Blaschke, she told the Russians the following upon being questioned by them: 

“On a front tooth there was a so-called rim-crown, furthermore there was a cut-off bridge in his mouth, since the molar, which would have served as support, had to be removed.  She gave them more details regarding some crowns and other treatments . . .She furthermore declared that the written data regarding Hitler’s treatments were kept in a box which was either still at the Chancellery, or which Blaschke had taken with him to Obersalzberg.” 

Let me attempt to explain this to readers. 

A “cut-off bridge” in dentistry, also known as a cantilever bridge, means the bridge is only anchored on one side. Instead of having crowns on extant teeth adjacent to the gap on both sides, a cantilever bridge utilizes a crown on only one side to support the replacement tooth (pontic). Cantilever bridges are designed for situations where there are teeth available for support on only one side of the gap. This means the pontic, the replacement tooth, is essentially “hanging” off the single supporting tooth. 

After doing some research on the question of rim crown usage on front teeth, I conclude based on what my uncle wrote that this is not the most common or ideal choice for anterior restorations. The primary concern with rim crowns on front teeth is their aesthetic impact. The thickness of the crown material can sometimes result in a less natural and bulkier appearance, especially if the original tooth requires minimal reduction. Porcelain, ceramic, and zirconia crowns, which offer a more natural, translucent appearance that blends with adjacent teeth, are usually preferred for front teeth restorations. 

The significance from my point of view of Dr. Blaschke’s use of a cut-off bridge and a rim crown on Hitler’s front teeth is that they would easily have been recognizable by Käthe given her involvement and presence when Hitler was having dental work done. They reinforce the belief that the jaws found in the Reichstag were those of Hitler. In my uncle’s words: 

“. . .The peculiarities of Hitler’s jaws are very extraordinary ones.  Rim-crowns are seen very rarely only, since present-day dentists do not make them any longer, and cut-off bridges are not frequent either . . . 

I had pointed out to correspondents a rim-crown as being ‘old-fashioned’ which, because of its comparative rarity, necessarily constituted an important factor [in the identification of Hitler’s jaws]. 

The fact that Dr. Blaschke knowingly performed ‘old-fashioned work’ on ‘his Führer,’ seems to me, as expert, rather ridiculous.  On the other hand, he does not owe his title of professor, nor his various other titles, to the fact that he was an ace in his profession, but only to the fact that he was a faithful Nazi having a party membership number somewhere around 36,000 . . .” 

Käthe Heusermann suggested that my uncle apply to the Russians to take over Dr. Blaschke’s intact dental office, which he was eligible to do as a surviving dentist; Dr. Blaschke’s office was in the Russian occupation zone and my uncle was granted permission to take possession of his premises located at Kurfürstendamm 213 (Figure 3), as postwar Berlin address directories confirm. (Figure 4)

 

Figure 3. Entrance of Dr. Blaschke’s dental office building as it looks today, located at Kurfürstendamm 213, Berlin

 

Figure 4. Page from a 1946 Berlin phone directory showing the name and address of my uncle Dr. Fedor Bruck’s dental practice at Kurfürstendamm 213

 

Following my uncle’s occupancy of Dr. Blaschke’s dental office, as I noted in Post 31, events took place that seemed to confirm Hitler’s fate. Quoting again from my uncle: 

“Then, during the days following . . . happenings took place which I believe to be proof that Hitler actually died.  On Wednesday, May 9th, 1945, I met a Russian Lieutenant Colonel in the building, as well as woman in uniform and a gentleman in mufti, as they inquired from the Superintendent as to the whereabouts of Blaschke.  As I learned later, they were the deputy military governor of Berlin, a female agent of the Russian secret police, and a certain Doctor Arnaudow, who had been assistant at the Berlin Charité with “Geheimrat Sauerbruch” [“Geheimrat Sauerbruch” is a successful and respected physician].  The latter was a Bulgarian and had brought the Russians who were looking for Hitler’s dentist . . .; furthermore, he acted as interpreter, although the agent of the Russian Secret Police, who called herself ‘Lola,’ spoke a little German.” 

I think “Lola,” as I implied in Post 31, was a 26-year-old Jewish woman named Elena Rzhevskaya, born Elena Moiseyevna Kagan in Belarus in 1919. She was traveling with the Soviet vanguard when they entered the center of Berlin on April 29, 1945. She was a military interpreter for SMERSH, the Soviet counter-intelligence agency. As the Soviet forces advanced through Berlin, Rzhevskaya’s unit was tasked with finding people who could provide information on Hitler’s whereabouts. 

The Soviets predictably showed up at Blaschke’s dental office, now occupied by my uncle, shortly after he took possession of the premises. My uncle was asked to get Käthe. She was taken away and questioned by the Soviets. Upon her return two days later, she related to my uncle what had transpired during her questioning: 

“First of all, they asked that she give as detailed as possible a description of Hitler’s teeth, with pertinent sketches.  Then she was shown a number of skulls and parts of jaws, on which there was still some flesh, which in some instances were charred or burned.  Among these, she definitely recognized the jaws of Hitler, with the aid of the details written down, and the peculiarities she had noted.  One jaw, which contained a bridge made from Palapont (i.e., artificial colophonium on a colloidal base), was identified as that of Eva Braun, who had received this bridge only a few weeks previously.  She declared, upon questioning that the technical work had been done by Fritz Echtmann, Blaschke’s technician.  This fact most probably was the reason for later on picking up Fritz Echtmann. 

During the entire time, the Russians took down in writing the proceedings, which Käthe had to sign on each page.  She also had to swear that she would not speak of the identification of the remains of Hitler, until the Russian Press and the Radio would have published same.  Lola, of whom Käthe only had heard . . . that she was an agent of the Russian Secret Service, said to her ‘Mrs. Käthe, you will be a very famous woman, you are the only person who not only knows, but also can prove that Hitler is really dead’” 

In the current environment of vast misinformation and disinformation, it’s unrealistic to believe that hard evidence will convince conspiracy theorists that Hitler killed himself in the Reichstag but such are the facts. 

REFERENCES 

Groß, D. (2015 Oct 31). Der Dentist setzt sich durch. ZM (Zahnärztlichen Mitteilungen) (21/2015).

https://www.zm-online.de/artikel/2015/falsches-spiel-oder-sinnhafte-neue-regel/der-dentist-setzt-sich-durch

Rzhevskaya, Elena. (2018) Memoirs of a Wartime Interpreter: From the Battle of Rzhev to Hitler’s Bunker. Greenhill Books. London.

 

POST 185: SILVERWARE FROM THE HISTORIC FAMILY ESTABLISHMENT IN RATIBOR [TODAY: RACIBÓRZ, POLAND], THE BRUCK’S “PRINZ VON PREUßEN” HOTEL

Note: This post though of limited interest is broadly speaking about “metadata,” data about data. Essentially, it’s structured information that acts as a “catalog” or “index” for other data, making it easier for me to find, understand, and use that information. Given that I plan to donate the silverware from the Bruck’s Hotel to the Muzeum w Racibórz (Museum in Racibórz), the town where my father was born, I want a record of this donation. While I hope my posts will be of use and interest to readers, I often refer to earlier articles to remind myself how and what I learned during my ancestral investigations.

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POST 11: RATIBOR & BRUCK’S “PRINZ VON PREUßEN“ HOTEL

POST 11, POSTSCRIPT: RATIBOR & BRUCK’S “PRINZ VON PREUßEN” HOTEL

POST 11, POSTSCRIPT 2: RATIBOR & BRUCK’S “PRINZ VON PREUßEN” HOTEL

POST 132: FATE OF THE BRUCK’S “PRINZ VON PREUßEN“ FAMILY HOTEL IN RATIBOR (RACIBÓRZ): GEOPOLITICAL FACTORS 

POST 146: MY GRANDFATHER FELIX BRUCK’S (1864-1927) FINAL MONTHS OWNING THE BRUCK’S HOTEL IN RATIBOR, GERMANY

POST 155: HISTORY OF THE PROPERTY WHERE THE BRUCK’S “PRINZ VON PREUßEN” HOTEL IN RATIBOR CAME TO BE BUILT 

 

The Bruck’s “Prinz von Preußen” Hotel (Figures 1-2), the family establishment my family owned in Ratibor, Germany [today: Racibórz, Poland] for about 75 years between roughly 1850 and 1925, has been the subject of multiple earlier articles. In these prior posts, I’ve discussed its location (Post 11), historically when the hotel was likely to have been built (Post 155), the family members linked to it (Post 11, Post 11, Postscript, & Post 11, Postscript 2), the layout of the building (Post 11), the police oversight of the business (Post 11, Postscript), various events hosted and dignitaries who stayed there (Post 11, Postscript), the final months of the family’s ownership of the hotel (Post 146), the various owners of the business after it left family hands (Post 11), its condition following WWII (Post 11), and its ultimate fate (Post 132).

 

Figure 1. The Bruck’s “Prinz von Preußen” Hotel

 

Figure 2. Entrance of the former Bruck’s “Prinz von Preußen” Hotel

 

Much of what I learned, and the associated documents and contemporary advertisements came from my dearly departed friend, Mr. Paul Newerla (Figure 3), who took a keen interest in researching the history of the hotel. Another Polish friend from Rybnik, Poland, Ms. Malgosia Ploszaj (Figure 4), was also instrumental in unearthing a historic portfolio on the Bruck’s Hotel at the Archiwum Państwowe w Katowicach Oddział w Raciborzu, The Polish State Archives in Racibórz.

 

Figure 3. My wife Ann and I with Mr. Paul Newerla in Racibórz in 2018

 

Figure 4. My Polish friend Malgosia Ploszaj in 2014

 

Through Paul, I learned the hotel was largely intact at the end of WWII save for the bombed-out roof. (Figure 5) However, occupying Russian forces allowed it to burn to the ground after it was “accidentally” set on fire by drunken soldiers who prevented the local firefighters from extinguishing the flames. The reason the building was allowed to burn is rooted in geopolitics. Following the end of WWII, the ruling and occupying Communists expected that the border between Poland and Germany would be established along the Oder-Neisse River. Situated as the hotel was on the west bank of the Oder River, the Communists fully expected that Ratibor would remain in German hands. The Communists had no interest in turning over to the Germans anything useable or salvageable.

 

Figure 5. A worker’s demonstration on Racibórz’s main square in the late 1940s-early 1950s with a view in the background of the still-standing Bruck’s “Prinz von Preußen” Hotel

 

One telling historical document dated March 1950 Paul found in the archives and shared with me was a letter written to local authorities setting out a “quota” of 5 million bricks the town was expected to provide for Warsaw for its reconstruction. (Figure 6) The Bruck’s Hotel built constructed as it was out of bricks was an obvious and plentiful source of this material, particularly since it was expected to remain part of Germany. Sadly, the hotel which could easily and would likely have been restored was instead dismantled.

 

Figure 6. A letter dated March 1950 from Racibórz’s city administration establishing a “quota” of 5 million bricks the city was expected to provide for the reconstruction of Warsaw

 

Given the reality that the hotel no longer exists, which could have been a fixture for a vibrant and historic downtown Racibórz, all that remains are scattered artifacts in my possession, specifically, some hotel silverware. As I am preparing to donate these heirlooms to the Muzeum w Racibórz in the coming months, I thought I would write a brief post about them and link them to the specific Bruck ancestors to whom I think they’re connected. Some of the markings on the silverware are monograms specific to the owners, others name the hotel. Hallmarks can be found on some pieces which are official stamps or marks that indicate the purity, manufacturer, and origin of the precious silver metal. They are too difficult to decipher, however. 

My great-great-grandparents Samuel Bruck (1808-1863) (Figure 7) and his wife Charlotte Bruck, née Marle (1811-1861) (Figure 8) were the original family owners of the Prinz von Preußen. Arguably I have one piece of silverware that belonged to Samuel Bruck. It simply has the initial “S.” so may have been from his time. (Figure 9)

 

Figure 7. My great-great-grandfather Samuel Bruck (1808-1863), first owner of the Bruck’s “Prinz von Preußen” Hotel

 

Figure 8. My great-great-grandmother Charlotte Bruck, née Marle (1811-1861), Samuel’s wife

 

 

Figure 9. Silver soup spoon bearing the letter “S,“ possibly Samuel Bruck’s monogram

 

Silverware from the next two generation of owners are more clearly identifiable. Fedor Bruck (1834-1892) (Figure 10) and his wife Friederike Bruck, née Mockrauer (1836-1924) (Figure 11) were the second-generation owners. Silverware from this generation is marked by “Fe. Bruck’s Hôtel” (Figure 12) or “F. Bruck’s Hôtel.” (Figure 13) And, finally, my grandparents Felix (1864-1927) (Figure 14) and Else Bruck, née Berliner (1873-1957) (Figure 15) owned the hotel following Fedor Bruck’s death in 1892. Their beautiful interwoven monogram, while intricate, is clearly identifiable by the initials “EFB,” Else & Felix Bruck. (Figure 16)

 

Figure 10. My great-grandfather Fedor Bruck (1834-1892), second-generation owner of the Bruck’s “Prinz von Preußen” Hotel

 

Figure 11. My great-grandmother Friederike Bruck, née Mockrauer (1836-1924), Fedor’s wife

 

Figure 12. Silverware marked “Fe. Bruck’s Hôtel”

 

Figure 13. Silverware with the monogram “F. Bruck’s Hôtel”

 

Figure 14. Last generation family owner of the Bruck’s Hotel, my grandfather Felix Bruck (1864-1927)

 

Figure 15. My grandmother Else Bruck, née Berliner (1873-1957), Felix’s wife

 

Figure 16. The beautiful interwoven monogram “EFB,” my grandparents Else & Felix Bruck

 

Other silverware that cannot positively be connected to any specific generation is labeled simply as “Prinz von Preussen” (Figure 17), “Br. (for Bruck)” (Figure 18), or “Bankowsky Ratibor.” (Figure 19) Bankowsky, for which I can find no reference, is likely the local silversmith that produced the hotel’s silverware.

 

Figure 17. Bruck’s Hotel knife handle stamped “Prinz von Preussen”

 

Figure 18. Bruck’s Hotel spoon handle stamped “Br. (for Bruck)”

 

Figure 19. Bruck’s Hotel knife blade stamped “Bankowsky Ratibor,” likely local silverware manufacturer

 

The monogram on a set of forks I’ll be donating is particularly intriguing. (Figure 20) Thinking I had possibly misread the letters in the monogram on this silverware as “SUB,” possibly for Samuel Bruck, I asked my German friend Peter Hanke, the “Wizard of Wolfsburg,” to confirm or refute my interpretation.

 

Figure 20. Matching Bruck’s Hotel forks I’ll be donating to the Muzeum w Racibórz with a very intricate “Bruck’s Prinz von Preußen” monogram

 

According to Peter, the monogram has the letters “B,” “P,” “V,” and another “P,” which obviously stands for “Bruck’s Prinz von Preussen.” Even with Peter’s explanation, I had great difficulty visualizing the letters, so he highlighted them using his grandchildren’s colored pens.

Comparing the forks side-by-side, here is what readers should look for. The monogram is written in a script font called “Kunstler Script.” On Figure 20, readers can see the letter “v” (what really looks like a large “U”) which is marked in red. Then, in red AND blue, there are two “Ps,” the left one facing backwards and the right one facing forwards. Finally, in brown the letter “B” is evident. 

The monogram on a large soup spoon of the same vintage appears to read “T.B.” I know of no Bruck ancestor with these initials. (Figure 21)

 

Figure 21. Large soup spoon possibly from the Bruck’s Hotel bearing the unidentified monogram “TB”

 

Another unique coffee spoon that I initially mistook as silverware from the Bruck’s Hotel reads “O.B.,” which clearly stands for my father Otto Bruck. (Figure 22) This is the only example of this style of spoon. My father came from a secular Jewish family, so may have been christened or baptized upon birth. I surmise my father was given this silver spoon on this occasion. The tradition of gifting silver, particularly spoons, dates back as early as the Middle Ages. Initially, silver was seen as an investment in the child’s future, a financial asset to help cover costs or contribute towards significant life events. Interestingly, the phrase “born with a silver spoon in your mouth” originates from this period, referencing those born into wealthy families who could afford silvery cutlery.

 

Figure 22. Silver spoon bearing the monogram “OB,” likely given to my father Otto Bruck upon his birth

 

In the Middle Ages, silver was believed to have protective properties against evil spirits. Its antibacterial qualities were also recognized, and it was thought that using silver utensils could reduce infections and promote better health, especially for babies.

POST 184: TIPS ON USING THE “HEIMATORTSKARTEI” DIRECTORY FOR DANZIG-WESTPREUßEN: A CASE STUDY

Note: This post will admittedly be of interest to a limited audience, mostly ancestral researchers looking for records related to their non-Jewish German ancestors displaced from West Prussia by the advancing Red Army towards the end of WWII. However, since people of Jewish descent were obviously embedded in their communities and invariably interacted with their non-Jewish counterparts as friends, lovers, neighbors, business associates and clients, etc., before many of these people turned on them, some Jewish readers may be interested, as I was, what may have happened to their ancestors’ contemporaries. This post provides tips on using the so-called “Heimatortskartei” directory for Danzig-Westpreußen. I show readers how to find records using as an example a family my father was friends with he originally met in Tiegenhof, giving a brief family history and discussing some vital documents I found along the way.

 

Related Posts:

POST 67: THE SUSPICIOUSLY BRUTAL DEATHS OF MY FATHER’S PROTESTANT FRIENDS FROM DANZIG, GERHARD & ILSE HOPPE (PART I) 

POST 67: THE SUSPICIOUSLY BRUTAL DEATHS OF MY FATHER’S PROTESTANT FRIENDS FROM DANZIG, GERHARD & ILSE HOPPE (PART II) 

POST 182: THE JEWISH ANKER FAMILY FROM DANZIG AS THE SOURCE OF INFORMATION ABOUT MY FATHER DR. OTTO BRUCK

POST 183: FATE OF SOME OF MY FATHER’S FRIENDS FROM THE FREE CITY OF DANZIG

 

My German friend Peter Hanke first made me aware of the “Heimatortskartei (HOK)” directory for Danzig-Westpreußen in 2018 when I was researching people from Tiegenhof my father knew as acquaintances and friends during the five years he lived there. Heimatortskartei literally translates as “home town index.” HOK is a systematic directory that lists the German population in the former German eastern settlement areas according to their place of residence in September 1939. Heimatortskartei was set up in post-WWII Germany for the purpose of identifying and locating people in the aftermath and destruction of the war. It helped displaced Germans to figuratively find their way back to their original home areas or connect with those from their former regions. Individuals from a particular “Kreis” (county or district) would register their names, addresses, and other relevant information with the Heimatortskartei, creating a sort of “social network” for those who shared the same origin.

When I originally looked at the HOK cards I was specifically searching for former residents of Tiegenhof [today: Nowy Dwór Gdański, Poland], so Peter sent me links to two HOK microfilm rolls from there.

Link to the first part of Tiegenhof:
https://www.familysearch.org/search/film/008301757?cat=232907

Link to the second part of Tiegenhof and Neuteich [today: Nowy Staw, Poland]:

https://www.familysearch.org/search/film/008301758?cat=232907

The available microfilms reside on the familysearch.org platform. Organized alphabetically, using the Tiegenhof directory was seamless. I revisited these microfilms in writing the previous Post 183. Aware that some of my father’s friends and acquaintances from his years living in Tiegenhof were not in the HOK directory, it naturally occurred to me they might have lived in Danzig or elsewhere in West or East Prussia.

When I began looking at the Danzig-Westpreußen directory, I immediately realized it would be much more challenging to find HOK records for these areas. Unlike the HOK cards for former residents of Tiegenhof, the ones from Danzig-Westpreußen are organized by street address under each of the municipalities in West Prussia. I feared that finding addresses specifically for former Danzig city residents might require knowing which “borough” they formerly lived in, like when searching vital records for people who lived in Berlin. Daunted by the prospect of finding anyone absent an address and city sector, I again turned to my friend Peter for tips on how best to search the directory.

A brief digression. I was first introduced to my friend Peter Hanke through the online archive “forum.danzig.de” when researching my father’s friend from Tiegenhof who at the time I only knew by her sobriquet, “die Schlummermutter.” As I discussed in the previous post, Peter helped me discover her real identity, Margarete “Grete” Gramatzki. The forum.danzig is focused on researching and writing about people and places in the Free City of Danzig, discussing and answering members and reader questions broadly related to the area, and more. I’ve infrequently made use of the forum’s talents because the exchanges are primarily in German though members are very willing to help non-German speakers answer questions.

Returning to the subject of this post, when I asked Peter for advice on how best to search the HOK directory, I learned another very useful service the forum provides, namely, developing indices for finding records in various archives and directories. Peter sent me two links. The first link (Figure 1) is to all the phone and/or address directories since these were first produced for the municipalities in the Free City of Danzig; often multiple jurisdictions or towns are included in the back of the Danzig city directories: 

https://momente-im-werder.net/01_Offen/01_Adressbuecher/Adressbuecher.htm

 

Figure 1. The portal page from the “Momente in Danziger Werder. . .” listing the various address and phone directories available for towns in the Free City of Danzig

 

The second link (Figure 2) lists the names of all the streets by municipalities in the Free City of Danzig. This link also identifies by microfilm number and page numbers where HOK records for people who lived on those streets can be found. 

https://momente-im-werder.net/01_Offen/80_Werkzeug/Heimatortskartei/0_HOK.htm to get a first impression

 

Figure 2. The portal page from the “Momente in Danziger Werder. . .” listing all the municipalities (circled) which link to the microfilms and page numbers by street for each town

 

The top left item under this link is “Dzg. Stadt” (Danzig Stadt), city of Danzig. Clicking on this provides an alphabetical list of the former German-named streets of Danzig. (Figures 3a-b) Likewise, clicking on the other municipalities at the top provides a list of street names from former times for those towns. (see Figure 2)

 

Figure 3a. The portal page for “Dzg Stadt” listing microfilms and page numbers by street starting with letter -A-

 

Figure 3b. List of all the streets in the city of Danzig that once started with the letter -O-, including Ostseestrasse discussed in this post

 

As readers can see, the instructions are in German. I suggest readers translate them using the “Immersive Reader” function. Readers will notice that Address Books for some years are shaded in yellow. (Figure 4) These can only be read using the “DjVu Reader” which will need to be downloaded to your computer. Instructions are provided on forum.danzig.

 

Figure 4. List and links to all the address and phone directories available for the city of Danzig; those shaded in yellow can only be read using the “DjVu Reader”

 

Let me make a few points about the HOK directory. While HOK directories exist for areas other than Danzig-Westpreußen where Germans were expelled from following the end of WWII, this is the only area where the records have been digitized and are available online. To appreciate how daunting it would be to narrow one’s search for HOK cards for just Danzig-Westpreußen without the forum’s user tools, this directory alone includes 265 rolls of microfilm containing 1,000,000+ records! 

The HOK directory is based on the 1939 census. While forum.danzig has uploaded many pre-1939 address and phone directories for Danzig and surrounding municipalities, readers searching the HOK directory should concentrate on those from 1939 to 1942. 

A challenge the forum.danzig’s user tools can’t obviously address is when one does not know which jurisdiction in the city-state of the Free City of Danzig the person being researched may have lived. According to AI Overview, the Free City of Danzig (1920-1939) (Figure 5) included the city of Danzig (Gdańsk), and the towns of Zoppot (Sopot), Oliva (Oliwa), Tiegenhof (Nowy Dwór Gdański), and Neuteich (Nowy Staw). In addition to these towns, it also encompassed 252 villages and 63 hamlets. When searching for someone in the HOK directory, it makes sense to begin by assuming the person lived in the city of Danzig proper, the largest municipality in the Free City, though clearly this will not always be the case.

 

Figure 5. 1940-41 map of the Free City of Danzig showing the major towns mentioned in this post

 

It’s worth pointing out that the HOK records for nearby East Prussia, which included the city of Königsberg [today: Kaliningrad, Russia], outside the Free City of Danzig, which had a population in 1940 of about 375,000 compared to Danzig’s approximately 400,000 at the time, have not been digitized. In 1940, Königsberg was considered one of Germany’s 10 largest cities. I suspect some of my father’s friends and acquaintances resided there as his albums include photos taken there. 

The people who will be the focus of this post are Kurt Lau and his wife, Käthe Lau, née Pluskat, who my father first encountered in Tiegenhof, probably shortly after he moved there in April 1932. (Figure 6) My father also knew their sons, Peter (1923-2022) and Rudolf (1920-1944), though Rudolf was killed near Breslau [today: Wrocław, Poland] in 1944. My father remained friends with the Lau family throughout his life (Figure 7), a friendship my wife Ann and I continued until the death of Peter and his wife several years ago. (Figure 8)

 

Figure 6. Kurt and Käthe Lau at the beach in Steegen [today: Stegna, Poland] in 1935
Figure 7. From left to right: Paulette Brook, Lolo Lau, Christian Lau, Trixie Lau, Käthe Lau, and Kurt Lau in June 1963 in Deggendorf, Germany

 

Figure 8. In May 2012 in Oberhausen, Germany, me with Lolo and Peter Lau, Kurt and Käthe Lau’s daughter-in-law and son

 

I began my ancestral research around 2011, following my retirement, prompted by seven albums left to me by my father capturing moments in his life from the 1910s until around 1948. At the time I tried to make sense of who was pictured and their names, Peter and his wife, Hannelore “Lolo” Lau, nee Gross, both born in Danzig, were still alive. They were very instrumental in identifying people in my father’s pictures and relating stories about some. 

Peter also told me about his parents, my father’s dear friends. I will briefly recap this and supplement it with what I learned or confirmed through my own documentary research. While I met both Peter and Lolo once as a child, it was obviously long before I developed an interest in ancestry. 

The paterfamilias Kurt Lau (Figure 9) was born on the 25th February 1892 in the West Prussian town of Thorn [today: Torun, Poland], located near the Vistula River. Kurt’s father was a customs house inspector who moved to Danzig following his retirement. Kurt worked for a bank before WWI. While fighting in Verdun, France he was twice wounded. I found evidence of this in ancestry. (Figures 10a-b, 11a-b) Following his second injury, he was transferred back to West Prussia to a town called Graudenz [today: Grudziądz, Poland], only about 40 miles north of Thorn where he’d been born. (see Figure 5)

 

Figure 9. Kurt Lau

 

Figure 10a. Ancestry cover page of WWI German Casualty List dated 18 May 1916 listing Kurt Lau as wounded

 

Figure 10b. WWI German Casualty List dated 18 May 1916 with Kurt Lau’s name circled

 

 

Figure 11a. Ancestry cover page of WWI German Casualty List dated 24 December 1917 listing Kurt Lau as wounded

 

Figure 11b. WWI German Casualty List dated 24 December 1917 with Kurt Lau’s name circled

 

In Graudenz, Kurt met his future wife, Kathe Pluskat (Figure 12) who was then working in a bookshop. A 1913 Graudenz Address Directory lists Kathe’s sister Ella and widowed mother Anna, with Ella appearing to be the owner of the bookstore. (Figure 13) The Pluskat family had previously lived in Gumbinnen in East Prussia [today: Gusev, Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia]. (Figure 14)

 

Figure 12. Käthe Lau, née Pluskat

 

 

Figure 13. Page from 1913 Graudenz Address Book listing Käthe Lau, née Pluskat’s widowed mother Anna and sister Ella

 

 

Figure 14. Map showing the distance from Gumbinnen (Gusev, Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia) to Graudenz (Grudziądz, Poland)

 

Following Kurt and Kathe’s marriage in 1919, they moved to Danzig where Kurt went to work for the still existing Deutsche Bank. Their two sons were born in Danzig. The bank offered Kurt the job of managing the “Tiegenhofer Ölmühle” in Tiegenhof, which produced oil from the widespread rapeseed plant growing in the Großes Werder. The experience gained managing the mill in Tiegenhof allowed Kurt and a Polish partner to buy a different mill in Danzig-Neufahrwasser in 1937 (Figure 15), at which point the family returned to Danzig. As I mentioned in the previous post, as the Russians were approaching Danzig, Kurt shipped parts of the oil mill equipment from Danzig to Hamburg, and in 1948/49, from there to Deggendorf in Bavaria where the mill was reconstructed.

 

Figure 15. 1940-41 map showing Danzig and its surrounding suburbs, including Danzig-Neufahrwasser

 

More could be said about the Lau family but I’m merely trying to illustrate how I tracked down their HOK cards. Until I reviewed the notes I’d taken following my get-together with Peter and Lolo in 2012, I’d forgotten the Lau family had returned to Danzig in around 1937 so that their HOK cards would not have been filed under Tiegenhof. I’d also forgotten that I’d recorded the address of the home where they lived in Danzig, namely, Ostseestrasse 6. (Figures 16-17) Contemporary address books from 1939-1942 list Kurt Lau at this address (Figure 18), so had I not found my notes, I could still have retrieved his address. With the index that forum.danzig has developed cross-referencing street names and microfilm numbers, I quickly located the corresponding pages and their HOK card numbers. (Figures 19a-b) Absent this user guide, I would have had to scan multiple microfilms.

 

Figure 16. Painting of the Lau home in Danzig located at Ostseestrasse 6 done in 1972

 

Figure 17. 2012 photo of the still-standing former Lau home in Gdansk, Poland

 

Figure 18. 1942 Address Book listing Kurt Lau as the factory manager of the “Tiegenhofer Ölmühle” living at Ostseestr. 6

 

Figure 19a. Page 1 of the HOK directory card for Kurt Lau

 

Figure 19b. Page 2 of the HOK directory card for Kurt Lau

 

I already knew most of the information on Lau’s HOK cards. Often this is not the case. For example, in Post 67, Parts I & II and Post 183, I discussed the premature and tragic deaths of Gerhard & Ilse Hoppe, one-time friends of my father. The 1940 Danzig Address Book lists two addresses for Gerhard, presumably one of which was his work address. It required checking both addresses in the HOK directory to find the family’s cards. This is how I learned about the existence of their daughter Gisela, raised by Gerhard’s parents following his death, and how I managed to eventually speak with her and learn what little she’d been told about her parents’ deaths.

 

Admittedly much of the information in the HOK directory is now dated but, that said, can still provide ancestral researchers clues on possible towns to check for descendants. 

A gentleman from Los Angeles whose Anker ancestors from Danzig were the subject of Post 182 had a great-uncle who had an affair with his cleaning lady. She lived in Zoppot in the Free City of Danzig. A child was a result of that affair. The LA gentleman has the former address and surname of the cleaning lady, but ironically, the HOK records for that specific street on which she lived were never scanned or destroyed. While ancestral research can at times be frustrating, it is the possibility that success is just around the corner that makes it so addictive.

 

 

POST 183: FATE OF SOME OF MY FATHER’S FRIENDS FROM THE FREE CITY OF DANZIG

Note: This post is primarily a discussion about the fates, where I’ve been able to learn them, of some of my father’s closest friends from his time living in the Free City of Danzig. Knowing that some of these friends were Mennonites provides an opportunity to expand on the discussion begun in Post 121 on the connection of this religious community to the Holocaust, particularly to the notorious concentration camp in nearby Stutthof [today: Sztutowo, Poland].

 

Related Posts:

POST 3: DR. OTTO BRUCK & TIEGENHOF: THE “SCHLUMMERMUTTER”

POST 3, POSTSCRIPT: DR. OTTO BRUCK & TIEGENHOF: THE “SCHLUMMERMUTTER”

POST 4: DR. OTTO BRUCK & TIEGENHOF: HANS “MOCHUM” WAGNER 

POST 4, POSTSCRIPT: OTTO BRUCK & TIEGENHOF: HANS “MOCHUM” WAGNER 

POST 5: DR. OTTO BRUCK & TIEGENHOF: “IDSCHI & SUSE” 

POST 7: DR. OTTO BRUCK & TIEGENHOF: THE CLUB RUSCHAU

POST 67: THE SUSPICIOUSLY BRUTAL DEATHS OF MY FATHER’S PROTESTANT FRIENDS FROM DANZIG, GERHARD & ILSE HOPPE (PART I) 

POST 67: THE SUSPICIOUSLY BRUTAL DEATHS OF MY FATHER’S PROTESTANT FRIENDS FROM DANZIG, GERHARD & ILSE HOPPE (PART II) 

POST 76: MY FATHER’S FRIEND, DR. FRANZ SCHIMANSKI, PRESIDENT OF TIEGENHOF’S “CLUB RUSCHAU” 

POST 77: MY FATHER’S FRIEND, DR. HERBERT HOLST, VICE-PRESIDENT OF TIEGENHOF’S “CLUB RUSCHAU” 

POST 78: MY FATHER’S FRIEND, KURT LAU, JAILED FOR “INSULTING THE NAZI GOVERNMENT”

POST 121-MY FATHER’S ENCOUNTERS WITH HITLER’S MENNONITE SUPPORTERS

POST 121, POSTSCRIPT: MY FATHER’S ENCOUNTERS WITH HITLER’S MENNONITE SUPPORTERS—FURTHER HISTORICAL OBSERVATIONS 

 

If my father were alive, I’ve no doubt he would characterize the years that he lived and worked in the Free City of Danzig between ~1930 and 1937 as the halcyon days of his life. When he opened his dental practice in the nearby Mennonite farming community of Tiegenhof [today: Nowy Dwór Gdański, Poland] in April 1932, he was only 25 years old. He quickly developed a thriving business and joined various civic, community, and sports organizations in town. He had many friends and acquaintances, and an active social life. Never a practicing Jew, he nevertheless converted from Judaism to Protestantism while living there to “fit in.” Growing up, I remember my father telling me this was also the reason he drank so much during his years living in Tiegenhof.

It’s safe to say that the larger city of Danzig [today: Gdańsk, Poland], where my father apprenticed, while still staunchly conservative was a more cosmopolitan metropolis than Tiegenhof and had a more diverse mix of ethnic and religious groups. While I’ve been able to learn little about the social and religious background of his friends from Danzig, I’m sure they came from a mix of backgrounds including Jewish. By contrast, his closest friends in Tiegenhof were mostly Mennonites.

Given the widespread support for the Nazi Party among Mennonites in the Free City of Danzig that helped them gain a majority of seats (38 out of 72) in the 1933 parliamentary elections, it’s inevitable that my father was quickly “blacklisted” following the National Socialists’ electoral victory. Periodically, I contemplate how disconcerting and upsetting it must have been for my father and many persecuted Jews to suddenly be ignored or worse by Germans who’d only the day before been cordial, if not friendly.

Among my father’s closest friends during his years in the Free City of Danzig were people he commonly referred to as “the Schlummermutter,” “Idschi and Suse” (Figure 1), “Mochum” (Figure 2), and “Gerhard and Ilse.” (Figure 3) I had to work hard to figure out their surnames since my father was typically silent on this matter.

 

Figure 1. My father with Suse, the “Schlummermutter,” and Idschi in Tiegenhof

 

Figure 2. My father with his erstwhile friend “Mochum,” probably at the beach in Steegen [today: Stegna, Poland]

 

Figure 3. My father in Danzig with Ilse and Gerhard in the early 1930s

 

The Schlummermutter (Figure 4), most often mentioned to me growing up, was an enormous woman, weighing over 200kg (~440lbs). She was a revered figure and like a surrogate mother to my father. He never once referred to her by name, only by her sobriquet. Knowing her date of birth from pictures my father had taken on her birthday in 1937, thanks to the help of my friend, “the Wizard of Wolfsburg,” I eventually discovered her real identity, Margaretha “Grete” Gramatzki (1885-1942). Because of her size, she was referred to locally as “Grete dicke,” “fat Grete.” Gramatzki is considered a Mennonite surname. The Schlummermutter ran a boarding house in Tiegenhof, co-owning the building where my father had both an apartment and his dental practice, at Marktstrasse 8. (Figure 5)

 

Figure 4. The Schlummermutter in Spring 1933 in Tiegenhof

 

 

Figure 5. The building in Tiegenhof located at Markstrasse 8 where my father both lived and had his dental practice

 

The Schlummermutter, born on the 13th of June 1885, died on the 24th of February 1942 at 56, relatively young by today’s standards. In one of my father’s last known photos of her, taken following his departure from Tiegenhof, she appeared to have suffered a stroke, probably not unexpected given her obesity.

Two very close friends of my father, Suse (Figure 6) and Idschi (Figure 7), lived in Tiegenhof in the same apartment building owned by Grete Gramatzki. I discovered from a day planner I found among my father’s surviving papers that they were related, that’s to say, the oldest and youngest sisters in their family. Their surname “Epp” is yet another traditional Mennonite name. I discussed the sisters long-ago in Post 5, so refer readers to that publication for more background.

 

Figure 6. Suse Epp in Tiegenhof in 1933 with her and her sister’s dog “Quick”

 

Figure 7. Idschi Epp in Tiegenhof in 1933 with her and her sister’s dog “Quick”

 

A 1943 Tiegenhof Address Book lists Ida Epp (Figure 8) as the owner of a “werderkaffeegesch.,” a coffee and tea shop located at street level in the building then owned by the Epp sisters at Adolf Hitler Strasse 8, previously known as Marktstrasse. As I discussed in Post 3, Postscript, a 1930 Tiegenhof Address confirms that one or both Epp sisters were business partners of Grete Gramatzki (Figure 9), rather than simply boarders in the building Grete owned.

 

Figure 8. Ida Epp listed in the 1943 Tiegenhof Address Book as the owner of a “werderkaffeegesch.,” a coffee and tea shop located at Adolf Hitler Strasse 8

 

Figure 9. A 1930 “Kreis Grosses Werder” Address Book showing Grete Gramatzki and Epp in business together at Markstrasse 8

 

As the Red Army was approaching Tiegenhof in 1945, Suse and Idschi fled by ship to Denmark along with thousands of other Germans. They lived there in prison-like conditions, and that’s where Suse (1877-1948) passed away in 1948, at the age of 71.  Idschi (1893-1975) eventually went to live in Munich with her nephew, Rupprecht Braun, and died there in 1975. 

Given the close friendship my father had with the Epp sisters, he was naturally included in their social circle. One event he attended and took pictures at was hosted by Susie and Idschi’s brother, Gerhard Epp (1884-1959), at his home in Stutthof [today: Sztutowo, Poland]. (Figure 10) Originally a Mercedes dealer in Russia, following the 1917 Russian Revolution, Gerhard moved with his first wife, Margarete Epp, née Klaassen, to Stutthof. There, he founded and operated an engineering workshop, where among other things, he provided electricity for the village and serviced agricultural equipment. (Figures 11a-b)

 

Figure 10. Gerhard Epp with his first wife Margaretha Epp, née Klaassen with their Great Dane “Ajax” in Stutthof

 

Figure 11a. Leadership of the Mennonite-owned Gerhard Epp firm

 

Figure 11b. Gerhard Epp and his daughter Rita Schuetze, née Epp from the leadership team photo

 

Let me digress and explain to readers how a recent query from a reader led me to learning more about Gerhard Epp and his connection to the notorious nearby Stutthof concentration camp. I think readers will agree that this is far more interesting than learning about the fates of my father’s friends. The recent query came from a historian researching the background of a Mennonite man named Johannes Reimer, an SS member from 1933 and an SS guard at Stutthof from 1939 to 1944. The researcher is trying to counter a not-so-uncommon narrative by descendants that their German ancestors were “reluctant” SS members and committed no war crimes. 

I’ve never previously come across the “Reimer” surname so out of curiosity did an Internet query in combination with “Stutthof.” In the process, I stumbled upon a well-researched article entitled “Mennonites and the Holocaust: From Collaboration to Perpetuation” written by Gerhard Hempel in October 2010 with multiple mentions of Reimer; it’s not clear all references are to Johannes Reimer, though I’m inclined to think most are. The author is or was a professor of history emeritus at Western New England College. 

The collaboration of the Mennonites with the Nazis and their often-brutal treatment of inmates as camp guards was previously known to me, and, in fact, I delved into this topic in Post 121, specifically in connection with Gerhard Epp. The reader who contacted me found this earlier post. The reason I’m revisiting the topic of the Mennonites and the Holocaust is that Rempel’s lengthy article mentions Gerhard Epp several times and provides more detail than I previously knew. 

Let me begin by telling readers a little about the prison camp at Stutthof. This was a Nazi concentration camp established by Nazi Germany in a secluded, marshy, and wooded area near the village of Stutthof 34km (~21 miles) east of Danzig in the territory of the German-annexed Free City of Danzig. This was the first concentration camp to be constructed outside of Germany. It was established in 1939 by the Waffen-SS (Schutzstaffel), an armed unit of the Nazi Party under the control of Heinrich Himmler. As an early stronghold of the National Socialists, Danzig had a contingent of 6,000 SS stationed within the area as early as 1933. This was expanded following a clandestine visit by Himmler in 1939 with the creation of the so-called “SS Heimwehr Danzig” and the “SS-Wachsturmbann Eimann.” The latter organization was tasked with developing plans for prison camps to accommodate anticipated arrests. 

An isolated and secluded spot surrounded by water and swamps close to the village of Stutthof near the East Prussian border was selected. The initial barracks were begun and constructed by Polish inmates from the nearby Danzig prison in August 1939, with the first 200 prisoners arriving by September. The number of barracks was quickly expanded so that by January 1940, the camp held 4,500 prisoners. Eventually, the Stutthof complex included 200 outlying camps, so-called Aussenlager, and external commando units. The camp was under the command of SS Standartenführer Max Pauly. 

A brief aside. My Bruck family is related by marriage to the Pauly family. I’m in touch with several Pauly cousins, so I asked one of them how and if we’re related to Max Pauly. He does not know. Suffice it to say that when one discovers odious war criminals with a surname like one’s own, sometimes one prefers not to look too closely into possible connections. 

The prisoners at Stutthof included victims from 25 countries, including many Jews. Appalling sanitary conditions prevailed in the camps, with inmates suffering extreme malnutrition, disease, and torture. Many succumbed from the living conditions and the slave-like work; others were summarily executed through various means. 

As noted, some of the Stutthof camp guards were Mennonites. It is worth noting that Stutthof was in an area with the highest density of Mennonite residents of any place in the world. Some Mennonite apologists have tried to minimize the role that people of Mennonite heritage played in the atrocities committed at Stutthof, but it has become clearer over time they played a significant role in the number of people killed there. Rempel writes: “Horst Gerlach [EDITOR’S NOTE: a prolific German Mennonite writer] emphatically denies. . .that any gas chambers ever existed at Stutthof, despite ample evidence to the contrary. Furthermore, his optimistic estimate that only 9,000 people were killed at Stutthof is a huge miscalculation—the most recent research concludes that at least 65,000 victims died at Stutthof.” (P. 512) 

Regarding one of Stutthof’s auxiliary slave-camps, Rempel notes the following: “The SS owned the factory, and the guard contingent was made up largely of a group of ordinary criminals and rowdies, many of them recruits from ethnic German communities in Croatia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary. But the worst characters were from Germany itself, among them two Mennonites.” (p. 518) 

Very briefly, the larger context for the Mennonite participation in the Holocaust stems from the fact that many had earlier joined the counterrevolutionary forces of the former Tsar in Russia. With his defeat, the “Mennonites now found themselves on the losing side of the conflict as enemies of the new communist government.” (Rempel, p. 509) Stalin’s emergence and the period known as the “Great Terror” or the ”Great Purge” brought about a campaign to rid the Soviet Union of the so-called undesirable class. Mennonites were among the first to be targeted in the late 1920s, which led to a fraying of Mennonite communal life. As Rempel notes, “A decade later this trend [“moral and lawless indifference”] blinded many to the inherent evil of the carriers of National Socialism who came to Communist Russia in German uniforms as purported liberators.” (Rempel, p. 511) 

Stutthof began as a camp for political opponents of the Nazi regime and socially undesirable minorities. Since the SS organization provided no financial support for expansion of the camp, the local SS command staff was determined to profit from the incarcerated inmates. Initially, land was allotted to grow vegetables and for animal husbandry, allowing the camp to quickly become self-sufficient. However, once it began to engage in local trade it started to generate profits. It became even more profitable when the SS command began to lease out inmates to work in public and private enterprises throughout the region. This resulted in the expansion of subcamps and special command units, all whose economic activities became SS-specific enterprises. 

From 1939 until December 1944, Stutthof grew from 1.2 acres to 296 acres. It goes without saying that the establishment of additional subcamps was the result of an increase in the number of inmates. By 1944 Stutthof had become the destination of choice for transport from other camps and for those arrested after the Warsaw uprising. It is estimated that between 110,000 and 120,000 prisoners passed through Stutthof between 1939 and 1945. If the estimate that 65,000 victims died at Stutthof is accurate, clearly more than 50 percent of prisoners who passed through were murdered. 

Theoretically Stutthof was a political prison, that’s to say, a forced labor camp for various industries owned by the SS or other government agencies. Holocaust scholars have tended to use “slave labor” and “forced labor” interchangeably, though some make a distinction. Slave labor included Jews working in concentration camps, death camps, and other work camps with the intent by Nazis to work these Jews to death. By contrast, forced laborers included anyone “who was compelled to leave his or her home in order to work for Nazi Germany.” As Rempel notes, however, “In any case, compulsory physical labor. . .was no less deadly than mass murder by gas or poison pellets.” (p. 516) 

In June 1944, Stutthof was converted from a slave labor camp to an extermination camp. Outdoor furnaces were constructed to dispose of bodies. The crematoria were justified to eliminate dead bodies, but by 1944 Stutthof was nothing less than a killing center. Proof of this could be found in barracks built to “house” Jewish men and women transferred from eastern camps overrun by the Soviet Army that were merely walls with no internal furnishings. Clearly, arriving inmates were immediately sent to the gas chambers. (Rempel, p. 515-516) 

Stutthof was liberated on May 9, 1945, the first camp established outside Germany and the last to be freed. The camp was dissolved on January 25, 1945, and the inmates forced to slog west on a death march that by some accounts resulted in the death of one-third to one-half of the inmates. 

I’ve told readers more about Stutthof than I planned but let me move now specifically to a discussion of Gerhard Epp’s connection to Stutthof. 

The direct involvement of Mennonites as guards at Stutthof has been well established by Holocaust scholars. What has also become clearer is the extent to which Mennonite farmers and businessmen exploited the inexpensive labor available from Stutthof. The inmates were particularly in demand during the hard work associated with harvest time. They received no salaries, although they appear to have been reasonably well fed and decently housed. The farmers had to pay the camps for use of prison labor, likely at a rate less than the going rate for unskilled labor. 

As to Gerhard Epp’s role, Gerhard Rempel remarks the following: “A Mennonite builder, Gerhard Epp, for example, not only leased 300 Jewish slave laborers at Stutthof to build a new factory near the camp but also served as some sort of general contractor to the SS in assuming responsibility for the construction of all buildings on the premises. It is not much of an exaggeration to say that a Mennonite built the barracks for the first concentration camp on non-German soil.” 

Epp’s stepson, Hans-Joachim Wiebe (Figures 12-13), whom I once met in Lubeck, Germany, was interviewed by the Mennonite researcher mentioned earlier, Horst Gerlach, to gather information about Gerhard Epp’s industrial machine factory. Quoting: “According to Wiebe, the inmates marched the two kilometers to the building site every morning and back again at night. Meals were delivered to the site from the camp kitchens.” (p. 523)

 

Figure 12. Gerhard Epp’s stepson and Rita Schuetze’s half-brother, Hans Joachim “Hajo” Wiebe, in 2013 in Lübeck, Germany

 

Figure 13. Hajo Wiebe in 2013 surrounded from left to right by his great-niece Paula Schuetze, his partner Gunda Nickel, and his niece Angelika Schuetze

 

Gerhard is mentioned yet again: “Gerhard Epp’s machine factory in the village of Stutthof was certainly the largest Mennonite employer of slave labor. Epp had endeared himself to the regime by building a home for Hitler Youth in Tiegenhof. His main factory employed some 500 prisoners from at least 1942 to the end of the war and focused on the production of various kinds of armaments such as small firearms. Epp’s factory, along with others, evacuated machinery and stock supplies to the West to continue producing armaments in a place safe from the advancing Russian Army.” (Rempel, p.525) Today, Epp & Wiebe GmbH continues to be a thriving business in the field of heating and air conditioning in Preetz, Germany. 

Rempel’s mention that Gerhard Epp’s armaments-producing machinery was shipped West as the Red Army was approaching is the second case that I’ve come across that this took place. I don’t mean to suggest that the evacuation of industrial equipment from West Prussia was uncommon, quite the contrary. I mention this because the other case involved a good friend of my father, Kurt Lau (Figure 14), who came to purchase the rapeseed oil production factory in Tiegenhof. I’ve come across no evidence or accounts that implicate or connect Kurt Lau to the lease or use of slave labor. In any case, prior to the arrival of the Russian Army, Kurt evacuated his machinery to Hamburg Germany which was eventually reconstructed in Deggendorf, Germany.

 

Figure 14. My father (right) in Koenigsberg, East Prussia [today: Kaliningrad, Russia] with Kurt Lau (middle)
 

Kurt Lau and his wife Käthe were lifelong friends of my father, who he first met in Tiegenhof. They were Protestants but unlike other purported friends never distanced themselves from him after the Nazis came to power. In fact, Post 78 is the story of how Kurt Lau was jailed for three months for “insulting” the Nazis. I became friends with their surviving son, Juergen Peter Lau (1923-2022), who identified many of my father’s friends and acquaintances from his pictures. 

One couple who were at one time my father’s excellent friends were Gerhard (1908-1941) and Ilse Hoppe, nee Grabowsky(i) (1907-1941). My father met them in Danzig when he and Gerhard were dental apprentices. Gerhard opened his own dental practice in Neuteich [today: Nowy Staw, Poland], located a mere 13km (~8 miles) SSW from Tiegenhof, but eventually relocated to Danzig. Both tragically died young under gruesome circumstances. I wrote about their deaths in Post 67 (Part I) & Post 67 (Part II). They had a son named Rudi and a daughter named Gisela. With the help of my friend Peter Hanke, I eventually was able to track down Gisela (her brother Rudi committed suicide in 1965). She explained what she knew of her parents’ deaths, and, while tragic, they appear to have been self-inflicted in Ilse’s case and an accident in Gerhard’s instance. 

Peter Lau identified another of my father’s very good friends who I knew only as “Mochum,” but whose full name was Hans “Mochum” Wagner (1909-1942). My father’s photo albums include many photos of him, and at one time they were likely extremely close. He was a physical education teacher in the primary school in Tiegenhof. 

I located the Wagner family’s “Heimatortskartei (HOK),” literally translated as “hometown index.” Heimatortskartei was set up in post-WWII Germany for the purpose of identifying and locating people in the catastrophic aftermath and destruction of the war. From this I learned Mochum was killed or went missing on February 11, 1942, in Volkhov, Russia [German: Wolchow], 76 miles east of St. Petersberg, formerly Leningrad. He may have died during the Russian offensive launched in January 1942 against the Germans around the Wolchow River. I recorded his story in Post 4 and Post 4, Postscript. 

My father was a member of a social and sports club called the “Club Ruschau.” (Figure 15) My father’s pictures enabled the local museum in Nowy Dwor Gdanski to locate one of the surviving structures of this club, now privately owned. I wrote about this in Post 7. My father spent many hours socializing with its members, swimming, playing pool, bowling, ice boating, drinking, and partying. His friends included the club president Dr. Franz Schimanski (?-1940) (Figure 16), the vice president Dr. Herbert Holst (1894-?) (Figure 17), as well as Herbert Kloss and Kastret Romanowski (Figure 18), and likely other club members.

 

Figure 15. My father recreating at the Club Ruschau

 

Figure 16. Club Ruschau President Dr. Franz Schimanski

 

Figure 17. Club Ruschau Vice-President Herbert Holst

 

 

Figure 18. My father standing alongside two of his good friends, Herbert Kloss (left) and Kastret Romanowski (middle) at the beach in Steegen [today: Stegna, Poland] in June 1932
 

Franz Schimanski is often pictured holding a cane. Records indicate he was wounded during WWI. He was a lawyer and notary by profession. He died in 1940 according to his HOK card. The surname Schimanski is a Germanized form of the Polish surname Szymanski, suggesting the family had a Polish cultural heritage. 

Herbert Holst was a high school teacher who, according to Peter Lau’s wife, taught in the Langfuhr district of Danzig after leaving Tiegenhof. His fate is unknown, and I’ve learned little about him. 

Herbert Kloss’ destiny is similarly unknown to me. “Kloss” or “Kloß” is a common enough surname that without an HOK card for him or his family, it is difficult to determine his fate. He appears to have been about the same age as my father so was likely drafted into the German army. If this in fact happened, he could easily have died in battle. 

Similarly, I’ve learned nothing about Kastret Romanowski. Using names of members found in the index to the “Tiegenhofer Nachrichten,” an annual monograph once published for former Tiegenhof residents and/or their descendants, I wrote a letter to a woman listed named Clara Romanowski; her connection was through marriage so she could offer no clues as to Kastret’s fate. Romanowski appears to be another surname of Polish origin. 

As I mentioned at the outset, my father’s circle of friends and acquaintances in Tiegenhof and Danzig was extensive. I’ve chosen to highlight a few of his best mates. My father’s photo albums include pictures of other good friends, but unfortunately there are no captions to help with their identifications. 

As I touched on earlier, I often ponder how his relationship with non-Jewish friends and acquaintances devolved once the Nazis applied pressure on them to sunder their social connections and business associationswith people of Jewish heritage. I can only imagine this was initially shocking to my father until he realized how personally at risk he was. 

REFERENCE 

Rempel, G. Mennonites and the Holocaust: From Collaboration to Perpetuation. The Mennonite Quarterly Review, 84 (October 2010), 507-550. https://www.goshen.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/75/2016/06/Oct10Rempel.pdf

 

 

POST 182: THE JEWISH ANKER FAMILY FROM DANZIG AS THE SOURCE OF INFORMATION ABOUT MY FATHER DR. OTTO BRUCK

“First, they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.”

Martin Niemoller (1892-1984)

 

Note: This post is the result of a recent contact with a gentleman living in Los Angeles whose Anker family, like my father, once lived in the Free City of Danzig. Due to Nazi persecution, both of our families left there around the same time in 1937. Coincidentally, our ancestors were both singled out in a contemporary Nazi-era newspaper, “Zweischen Weichsel und Nogat.”

Related Post:

POST 181: JOE POWELL, ESCAPEE FROM A GERMAN STALAG WITH MY FATHER’S FIRST COUSIN HEINZ LÖWENSTEIN

Followers of my blog understand many of my posts discussing snippets of information acquired about members of my family emanate from casual or regular readers. The previous post about the British RAF airman Joe Powell who, along with my father’s first cousin Heinz Löwenstein, escaped from a work camp connected to German Stalag VIIIB in 1943 is one such example. In that case, the particulars came from Joe’s son, John Powell; he highlighted some intriguing details about Joe’s capture after he and a fellow RAF airman were shot down by the Germans over the coast of the Netherlands, as well as facts his father told him about his and Heinz’s escape from Stalag VIIIB and recapture. It just happens they were retaken in Danzig [today: Gdańsk, Poland], a place my father had ties to as well the Anker family I’ll be talking about in this post.

The current post continues in the vein of presenting tidbits of family information acquired from blog readers. I was recently contacted by a Jewish gentleman from Los Angeles, George Jakob Fogelson. Having read about my father Dr. Otto Bruck’s connection to Danzig and Tiegenhof [today: Nowy Dwór Gdański, Poland] in the Free City of Danzig, George reached out to tell me about his own Anker family’s links there at the same time as my father lived and worked in the area. George’s mother was once a Danziger (i.e., resident of the Free City of Danzig, basically a city-state), as were his grandparents and great-grandparents. George’s great-grandparents were Simon and Henriette Anker, with Simon being on the Board of Directors of the Great Synagogue there for 15 years. 

In conjunction with a family history George is currently writing, among his family’s papers he came across a copy of an article from a Nazi-era newspaper entitled “Zwischen Weichsel und Nogat” (“Between the Vistula and Nogat Rivers”), dated June 1937. (Figures 1a-b) This is believed to have been an insert to the “Der Danziger Vorposten,” a National Socialist journal. George’s mother donated the original paper to the Leo Baeck Institute. On page 2 (Figure 2) was an article which singled out George’s great-uncle Arthur Anker by name under a very provocative headline, “How Much Longer Will the Jew Anker Own a Farm?” As George aptly notes, the article was “. . .a striking example of the antisemitic rhetoric that had become normalized under Nazi influence.”

 

Figure 1a. Cover page of the Nazi-era newspaper “Zwischen Weichsel und Nogat” (“Between the Vistula and Nogat Rivers”), dated June 1937, mentioning both the Anker and Bruck families

 

Figure 1b. Header of Nazi-era newspaper “Zwischen Weichsel und Nogat”

 

 

Figure 2. Page 2 of the July 1937 issue of “Zwischen Weichsel und Nogat” discussing Arthur Anker, George Fogelson’s ancestor

 

The article reads in part: 

“Now that Jews and their associates, at least those living in the Grosses Werder district, have either fled or are packing their suitcases, it may be time to make the Jew Anker aware that the population expects him to return land in the village of Gnojau, which he currently calls his own, to German hands. 

It is typical Jewish impudence not to have already drawn the necessary conclusions. It is a disgrace that elements alien to our land and our race are depriving native, down-to-earth German farmers of land cultivated by our ancestors—not by the Jews.” 

George spells out what the National Socialists were ultimately successful in doing: 

“This language—casually dehumanizing, racially charged, and threatening—illustrates how public pressure and propaganda were used to isolate Jewish citizens and drive them from economic and social life. Though phrased in the guise of communal interest, the article functions as a public denunciation, aimed at legitimizing expropriation and preparing the population to accept—or even assist in—the displacement of their Jewish neighbors.” 

Continuing:

“Arthur Anker, a respected member of the community and former board member of the local synagogue, was not merely criticized; he was targeted as a symbol of everything the Nazi movement wished to remove from German soil. The article reflects the broader campaign of intimidation and exclusion that escalated in the late 1930s, culminating in deportations and mass murder just a few years later.” 

Arthur Anker and his family owned the largest grain business in Danzig. In view of the deteriorating social and political climate in Danzig at the time, following a “family conference,” the family agreed to sell everything they had and take their money to America. According to a front-page New York Times article, dated October 7, 1938 (Figure 3), announcing the family’s arrival in New York headed to California, the grain elevators valued at $500,000 were sold for half of that; the family also sold all their buildings and land.

 

 

Figure 3. New York Times article, dated October 7, 1938, announcing the Anker family’s arrival in New York headed to California

 

Apropos the sale of property by Jews in Danzig, George notes the following: “In the final week of October [1937], a new decree was issued ordering the removal of all Jewish businesses and offices from the city’s main streets. Those who had been evicted were forbidden from reopening elsewhere. At the same time, a law was passed requiring special permission from the Senate for any Jew to sell personal property—effectively blocking any chance of a fair sale and ensuring that Jewish assets could be seized or devalued.” 

I know from my father’s compensation file, a copy of which I obtained from the German Embassy in conjunction with my ongoing efforts to obtain German citizenship, that my father’s forced sale of his own dental practice, resulted in a similar devaluation of the assets, equipment, and inventory with him getting pennies on the dollar. 

Readers may wonder about the relevance of the Anker family’s experience to my father’s own history. Surprisingly, on page 3 of the same newspaper targeting Arthur Anker, George found a blurb about my father (Figures 4a-b) that translated reads as follows: 

“We wish to inform our readers that the Jewish dentist, Dr. O. Bruck, has left Tiegenhof. The practice has now been assumed by Dr. Erich Kendziorra, a German-born dentist.” 

 

Figure 4a. Page 3 of the July 1937 issue of “Zwischen Weichsel und Nogat” with the blurb about my father, Dr. Otto Bruck

 

 

Figure 4b. The blurb about my father from the July 1937 issue of “Zwischen Weichsel und Nogat”

 

Clearly, the National Socialists felt the need to trumpet their success in forcing my father to sell his dental practice to a “German-born dentist,” though like many persecuted Jews he too was German-born. 

The lead story in the issue of the “Zwischen Weichsel und Nogat” targeting Arthur Anker and my father was titled “Four years ago, the absolute majority of National Socialists, today the constitutional majority.” I won’t include the translation but will just quote from George’s family history as to what the publication effectuated:

“By singling out Arthur Anker and Otto Bruck, both Jews, the publication shifted from abstract ideological rhetoric to a direct personal attack—contributing to the broader machinery of social exclusion, economic dispossession, and ultimately, the path toward deportation and genocide. The safety and future of Danzig’s Jews were now under serious and immediate threat.” 

Dr. Erich Kendziorra was previously known to me as the dentist who took over my father’s dental practice in Tiegenhof. Let me explain. The address of the office building where my father had both his dental clinic and where he lived was Markstrasse 8. Students of history know that during the Nazi era large cities as well as smaller towns and hamlets renamed their major streets as Adolf Hitler Strasse. Tiegenhof was no exception, Markstrasse became Adolf Hitler Strasse. A 1943 Address Book I have a digital copy of shows Dr. Erich Kendziorra occupying my father’s former office, then named and numbered Adolf Hitler Strasse 8. (Figure 5)

 

 

Figure 5. Page from the 1943 Tiegenhof Address Book showing Dr. Erich Kendziorra occupying the dental office at Adolf Hitler Strasse 8, formerly Marktstrasse 8, that my father had formerly occupied

 

Curious as to Dr. Kendziorra’s fate, I turned to ancestry.com and familysearch.org. A database I’d accessed back in 2018 when I first investigated this question are referred to as “Heimatortskartei (HOK),” literally translated as “hometown index.” Heimatortskartei was set up in post-WWII Germany for the purpose of identifying and locating people in the catastrophic aftermath and destruction of the war. It helped displaced Germans to figuratively find their way back to their original home areas or connect with those from their former regions. Individuals from a particular “Kreis” (county or district) would register their names, addresses, and other relevant information with the Heimatortskartei, creating a sort of “social network” for those who shared the same origin. 

While the need for the Heimatortskartei has obviously diminished over time, it continues to be an extremely valuable resource for genealogists and those interested in tracing their family history, especially in regions that were affected by displacement or significant population changes. Case in point, there is a Heimatortskartei for “Danzig-Westpreussen, 1939-1963.” Back in 2018, when checking this index, I happened upon an index card from Tiegenhof for an Erika Kendziorra, née Ganger. (Figures 6a-b) Usefully, it provides her date of birth as the 12th of July 1911. The back of the index card confirms that she was the widow of Dr. Erich Kendziorra, whose birth date is also provided, the 12th of September 1911.

 

Figure 6a. Front side of the Heimatortskartei card for Erika Kendziorra, née Ganger, Dr. Erich Kendziorra’s wife, showing she was born on July 12, 1911

 

Figure 6b. Back side of the Heimatortskartei card for Erika Kendziorra, née Ganger, identifying her husband as Dr. Erich Kendziorra, giving his date of birth as September 12, 1911, and the date and place of his death in Hungary during WWII

 

According to the Heimatortskartei, Dr. Kendziorra was killed in a place called Kaba, Hungary on the 17th of October 1944. Presumably drafted into the Wehrmacht despite being a dentist, I assumed he had been killed on the Eastern Front battling the advancing Red Army. Such happens to be the case. Kaba turns out to be less than 40km (~25 miles) from a place called Debrecen, Hungary. (Figure 7) In October 1944, the same month Dr. Kendziorra was killed, the Battle of Debrecen took place. The siege of Debrecen was a significant part of the overall Hungarian campaign. The battle involved German and Hungarian forces against the Red Army, and while Debrecen was the main target, the fighting extended to surrounding areas like Kaba.

 

Figure 7. Map showing the approximate distance from Debrecen, Hungary to Kaba, Hungary where Dr. Erich Kendziorra was killed in October 1944

 

It’s unclear when Dr. Kendziorra arrived in Tiegenhof, nor where he came from. I located a fleeting reference to a dentist by that name in a 1936 address book from a place called Arendsee in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt, some 721km (~448 miles) southwest of Tiegenhof, but am unsure whether this is the same person. (Figures 8a-b) What is certain is that his widow Erika died in 1998 in Berlin and is buried there in the Evangelischer Friedhof Biesdorf, interestingly alongside her husband. This information comes from Geneanet, and the date of birth and the name of Erika’s deceased husband confirm what I found on her Heimatortskartei. (Figures 9-10)

 

Figure 8a. Cover page from ancestry from a 1936 Arendsee, Germany Address Book listing a dentist named Dr. Erich Kendziorra living there

 

 

Figure 8b. Page from a 1936 Arendsee, Germany Address Book listing a dentist named Dr. Erich Kendziorra living there

 

 

Figure 9. Information from Geneanet showing that Erich Kendziorra’s wife died in 1998 in Berlin and is buried in the Evangelischer Friedhof Biesdorf alongside him

 

 

Figure 10. Headstone for Erika and Erich Kendziorra from the Evangelischer Friedhof Biesdorf in Berlin

 

Notwithstanding the fact that Arthur Anker, his siblings, and their children escaped Danzig, Leslie Anker, one of George’s cousins, estimates that no fewer than 28 descendants of Simon and Henriette’s extended family were murdered in the Holocaust. 

I encourage readers to contemplate this post in the context of our ongoing political divisiveness and Martin Niemoller’s quote at the outset of this post. I don’t think any of us want to find ourselves on the wrong side of history by our descendants or future generations. 

The Holocaust Encyclopedia notes three key facts about Niemoller’s statement, which begins “First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out. . . “: 

“(1) The quote that begins with the words ‘First they came for. . .’ continues to be used today in popular culture and public discourse. It has often been adapted to reflect current social issues and debates across the world. 

(2) There are different versions of the quotation because it originated from Martin Niemoller’s impromptu public speeches. 

(3) The quotation expresses Niemoller’s belief that Germans had been complicit through their silence in the Nazi imprisonment, persecution, and murder of millions of people. He felt this was especially true of the leaders of the Protestant churches, which were made up of Lutheran, Reformed, and United traditions.”

 

REFERENCE 

Fogelson, George Jakob (ND). “The Beginnings of Open Violence.”

POST 181: JOE POWELL, ESCAPEE FROM A GERMAN STALAG WITH MY FATHER’S FIRST COUSIN HEINZ LÖWENSTEIN

Note: The son of an English prisoner of war whose father Joe Powell escaped from German Stalag VIIIB with my father’s first cousin Heinz Loewenstein recently contacted me. He shared some firsthand facts told to him by his father about their escape and eventual recapture.

Related Posts:

POST 137: MY FATHER’S FIRST COUSIN HEINZ LÖWENSTEIN: DISCOVERING HIS WHEREABOUTS DURING WORLD WAR II

POST 137, POSTSCRIPT-MY FATHER’S FIRST COUSIN HEINZ LÖWENSTEIN, DISCOVERING HIS WHEREABOUTS DURING WWII—ADDITIONAL FINDINGS

POST 163: THE WARTIME ESCAPADES OF HEINZ LÖWENSTEIN, FEDOR LÖWENSTEIN’S BROTHER

POST 163, POSTSCRIPT: THE WARTIME ESCAPADES OF HEINZ LÖWENSTEIN, FEDOR LÖWENSTEIN’S BROTHER

 

Through my blog, I was recently contacted by an English gentleman named John Powell. His father, known familiarly as “Jack Powell,” but referred to as Joe Powell in a few books discussing prisoners of war from the English Commonwealth interned in German stalags, is a name I immediately recognized. In January 1943, Joe Powell escaped from a work camp connected to Stalag VIIIB in Lamsdorf [today: Łambinowice, Poland] with my father’s first cousin, Heinz Loewenstein. (Figure 1) Regular readers will recognize my father’s cousin name as I’ve discussed him in multiple posts. (Posts 137, 137-Postscript, 163, and 163-Postscript)

 

Figure 1. Group photo found by my friend Brian Cooper on Facebook of British POWs at Lamsdorf, astonishingly including my father’s first cousin Heinz Löwenstein

 

Naturally, John Powell contacting me provided an opportunity to obtain a few additional details about his father’s wartime escapades. Regrettably, Joe Powell left no memoir or diary of his experiences, and, like his comrades, rarely spoke of them. However, John mentioned a book by Chris Goss, entitled “It’s Suicide But It’s Fun: The Story of 102 (Ceylon) Squadron, 1917-1955,” that includes a few anecdotes his father related to the author, whom he knew. 

At my request, John sent me a picture of his father in his flying gear taken circa 1942. (Figure 2) John also shared copies of two letters he obtained from the United Kingdom’s Air Ministry. (Figures 3-4) They describe where his father and a fellow RAF airman named Brian Treloar were shot down over the Netherlands on the night of July 8/9, 1942, and the Dutch farm where they landed by parachute. Fascinatingly, one of the documents was from the local mayor in Pieterburen, Eenrum, the Dutch town where the airmen came down. According to the letter, after landing they handed the farmer a scrip of paper with their names which he promptly hid and that was only rediscovered in 1950. The farm is where they remained hidden for a short period before they were taken captive by the Germans.

 

Figure 2. Joe Powell in his airman’s uniform circa 1942

 

 

Figure 3. Cover letter from the United Kingdom’s Air Ministry enclosing letter from the mayor of the Dutch town of Pieterburen, Eenrum about the airmen Joe Powell and Brian Treloar’s parachute landing there during WWII

 

 

Figure 4. Letter from the mayor of the Dutch town of Pieterburen, Eenrum about the airmen Joe Powell and Brian Treloar’s parachute landing there during WWII

 

John learned that the farm where the two RAF airmen landed is still owned by the same family. When the plane Joe Powell was flying on was hit, he was wounded in the leg by shrapnel, the fragments of which were never removed and, surprisingly, never caused him any problems. The shrapnel came to light during a routine X-ray later in life and was a cause of great interest amongst the doctors who treated him. 

Suffice it to say, these letters John generously shared bring the past to life in a way that is especially intriguing to me as a retired archaeologist; rarely am I provided such an up-close glimpse into the past. 

In Post 137, I included an extensive passage from a book by Cyril Rofe entitled “Against the Wind” describing Joe and Heinz’s escape. I quote it again here: 

“The first pair to escape were Joe Powell and Henry Löwenstein. Tall and ginger haired, Löwenstein had been brought up in Danzig and spoke perfect German. They had already been on one working party, which had been no use from their point of view. They had managed to get themselves sent back to the Stalag and then volunteered to come to Tarnowitz. As soon as they arrived, they wanted to be away. They were not fussy about their clothes, and it was easy enough to collect together all they needed. By the end of February they were ready to go. [EDITOR’S NOTE: BASED ON HEINZ’S PERSONALKARTE, WE KNOW HEINZ AND JOE WERE READY TO MAKE THEIR ESCAPE ATTEMPT AT THE END OF JANUARY 1943 RATHER THAN THE END OF FEBRUARY 1943] 

On the morning of their escape they wore their civilian clothes under their battledress and overcoats. When groups left camp the men were always counted by the duty clerk, who handed them over to the guards, who also counted them. The guards were then responsible for the men until they handed them back to the duty clerk in the evening. The group to which Powell and Löwenstein belonged were working on the line just outside Beuthen station, about 10 miles from the camp, and travelled there and back by train each day. At the end of the day the Unteroffizier in charge always counted them before they got on the train for the return journey. 

Joe Powell and Löwenstein had no difficulty in getting away at Beuthen. [Figure 5] Finding a quiet corner they slipped out of their Army clothes and walked away as civilians. They boarded a tram outside the station and travelled to Gleiwitz, where they caught a train to Danzig. None of the guards noticed their absence during the day. When the train arrived in the evening the men fell in quickly, the Palestinian corporal counted them rapidly and gave the full number as present. Before the guards had a chance to check the count the men broke off and clambered on to the train.

 

Figure 5. A map showing the approximate route Heinz and Joe Powell would have traveled by train between Beuthen [today: Bytom, Poland], where they escaped, and Danzig [today: Gdańsk, Poland], where they were recaptured five days later
 

The Unteroffizier said nothing. Judging by his subsequent behaviour he had his suspicions but was not anxious to confirm them. He was a wily old fellow. When they reached camp he counted the men quickly, gave the same number as he had taken over in the morning and dismissed the men before the duty clerk had completed his check. The men broke off and entered the camp, while the clerk accepted the Unteroffizier’s figure as correct. The Unteroffizier had covered himself against blame. 

Every night there was Appell (roll-call) in each of the barracks, the men falling into five ranks to be counted. That night Kaplan came around as usual with the Feldwebel and a guard, whose duty it was to count the men by walking along in front of them, checking that there were five in each file. Kaplan had it all carefully arranged. When he and the two Germans entered the barrack in which Joe and Löwenstein had slept, the men in the front rank were standing close together to prevent the guard from noticing the two empty places at the end of the rear rank. Kaplan talked to the Feldwebel, blocking his view while the guard started his count. As soon as he had passed the first few files, two men in the rear rank ducked low, ran quietly long the back, fell in again at the other end, and were counted a second time. The guard reported the correct number present and the Feldwebel was satisfied. 

This was on Monday night. The next morning Kaplan, who arranged all the work lists for each day, marked the two escapees down on the light-duty list, so that they did not have to report for work at Beuthen. Kaplan kept them covered up until the following Friday, on which day I myself was working at Beuthen. During the lunch-hour the Unteroffizier came into the hut and asked for Löwenstein and Joe, the second by the name he had adopted. On being told they were sick he grinned all over his face and went out again. Apparently the Feldwebel had telephoned to ask if they were there. 

When we arrived back at camp we heard that during the morning a telephone call had come through to the Feldwebel enquiring whether he had had anybody escape from the camp. On his answering in the negative, he learned that the police in Danzig had picked up two men using those names who claimed to have escaped from Tarnowitz. When the Feldwebel checked up he found the two men were missing and nobody had the slightest idea when they had left or how. 

An officer came to investigate. The Feldwebel accused Kaplan of being responsible for this outrage, affirming that it was Kaplan’s duty to work with him, not against him and threatened to get even with him. This was right up Kaplan’s street. Not only did he inform the Feldwebel that he actually had helped the men to escape, but he added that he considered it his duty as a British solider to help anybody else who wished to escape and that he would do so whenever he could. Furthermore, he said, it was the Feldwebel’s job to guard us, not his, and the Feldwebel need expect no more cooperation from him until he apologized! Fortunately the officer agreed that Kaplan had only done his duty and managed to preserve the peace. 

Kaplan had told them that Joe and Löwenstein had escaped on Monday, although he did not tell them how, and that he had covered them up ever since. They flatly refused to believe such a thing was possible until Kaplan showed them how he had done it. 

There were no repercussions in the camp, except that thereafter the Feldwebel counted us himself at night, and for some days he and Kaplan were not on speaking terms. Kaplan refused to have anything more to do with the worklists. The result was chaotic, and within a week the Feldwebel was back begging to be ‘friends as before.’ This sounds fantastic, but it happened. Only a Kaplan could have brought it off, but knowing Kaplan one did not expect less. He was tall and bulky, and when one saw him ordering the Germans around he looked a veritable Gulliver among pygmies.” 

John provided a few more details about his father’s escapades. Apparently, the Germans did not detail RAF airmen to work camps. Knowing that escape from the work camps was easier and not wishing escaped RAF airmen to successfully rejoin the war effort, they were kept together in separate barracks and not assigned to work camps. Nonetheless, Joe Powell was successful in swapping identities with a regular English soldier, which allowed him to gain an outside assignment. He appears to have escaped on at least two occasions from work camps, including the one time he escaped with my father’s first cousin, Heinz Loewenstein. 

There appear to have been at least two things that worked in Heinz’s favor during his five or six escape attempts, unsuccessful ones mind you. He was born in Danzig [today: Gdańsk, Poland], and therefore spoke fluent and unaccented German. Secondly, according to various contemporary accounts, detailed in other posts about Heinz Loewenstein, he was a master forger able to authentically replicate official documents. 

Given Heinz’s familiarity with the Baltic port city of Danzig, Heinz forged papers saying they were Belgian dock workers. The Germans were known to use foreign non-Jewish nationals for various tasks, so these identities made sense. For obvious reasons, during the train ride to Danzig Heinz did all the talking. According to John Powell, his father and Heinz miraculously managed to infiltrate the docks in Danzig upon their arrival there. They were hiding and waiting to sneak onto a Swedish ship when they were discovered. 

I presume they were captured by a Wehrmacht soldier rather than by the Gestapo, the latter of whom were known to treat captured soldiers much more brutally and lethally. I say this because the German officer in charge burned their fake IDs, telling them they would otherwise be treated as spies, then tortured and killed. 

John’s mother recalled receiving a letter from her husband during his captivity. While she recognized the handwriting and knew the letter was from him, she did not recognize the addressee’s name, evidence Jack Powell had assumed a false identity. 

In closing, I will simply emphasize something I’ve previously alluded to, namely that gaining information about one’s ancestors may come from unexpected sources. What makes the kernels so intriguing is they enrich one’s understanding of the challenges our ancestors faced, particularly in uncertain and dangerous times.

 

POST 180: REICHSMARSCHALL HERMANN GÖRING: FROM TIEGENHOF’S MARKTSTRASSE TO PARIS’ JEU DE PAUME

Note: In this post, I draw a connection between two “encounters” my family had with the Nazi war criminal Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring. This gives me an opportunity to discuss where so-called “decadent art” confiscated in France by the Nazis, including from my father’s first cousin, wound up and explore Göring’s role as leader of the “artistic underworld” during the Nazi Occupation.

Related Posts:

POST 105: FEDOR LÖWENSTEIN ‘S NAZI-CONFISCATED ART: RESTITUTION DENIED

From the window of his dental office (Figure 1) in Tiegenhof (today: Nowy Dwór Gdański, Poland) in the Free City of Danzig, my father Dr. Otto Bruck witnessed and recorded increasingly large crowds of Danzigers (i.e., residents of the Free City of Danzig, basically a city-state) parading in support of Nazi candidates in 1933, 1934, and 1935. This culminated in the participation by Nazi Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring in the 1935 procession. (Figure 2) My father’s unique pictures of the event that took place on April 5, 1935, capture one “interaction” of my family with this psychopath who played a key role in issuing orders that led to the Final Solution.

 

Figure 1. The office building in Tiegenhof, Free City of Danzig where my father had his dental practice between 1932 and 1937

 

Figure 2. Photos my father took on April 5, 1935, when Nazi Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring paraded through Tiegenhof

 

I recently discovered another indirect interaction of Göring with my family, specifically to artworks that once belonged to one of my ancestors. Though a remote connection, I’ve chosen to link it to my father’s 1935 “encounter” with Göring because it represents the culmination of an almost 11-year journey to repatriate on behalf of my family artworks confiscated by the Nazis from my father’s first cousin in December 1940 at the Port of Bordeaux in France. As the closest and only surviving heir, the task of recovering the paintings in question has of necessity fallen to me. While I have finally prevailed in my quest to have the three surviving paintings returned, I grapple with the existential question of whether I’ve simply attained success at the expense of obtaining justice? I’ve not satisfactorily answered this question, though one of my lawyers characterizes my achievement as “nothing less than a miracle.” I would only say that since France is governed by a civil law system, obtaining justice would have been an impossible bar to clear and would have jeopardized the success I have achieved.

Let me provide more background. One of my father’s first cousins was named Fedor Löwenstein, the oldest of Rudolf Löwenstein and Hedwig Löwenstein, née Bruck’s three children; Hedwig Bruck was my father’s aunt and likely the one he was closest to. Fedor Löwenstein has been the subject of several previous posts. He passed away before I was born so I never met him. However, I met his two younger siblings, Jeanne “Hansi” Goff, née Löwenstein and Heinz Löwenstein as a young boy in Nice, France. (Figure 3)

 

Figure 3. Fedor Löwenstein (seated) with his sister Hansi, brother Heinz, and mother Hedwig on the balcony of their apartment in Nice, France in March 1946, several months before Fedor’s death in August 1946

 

As detailed in Post 105, in 2014 I uncovered a letter at the Stadtmuseum in Spandau, outside Berlin, that Hansi wrote in 1946 to another aunt, Elsbeth Bruck, following her older brother’s death earlier that year. She mentioned that one of his paintings had posthumously sold for 90,000 French Francs, a sizeable amount of money at the time. In the process I discovered Fedor had been an accomplished artist.

After further investigation, I learned that France’s ministère de la culture, the French Ministry of Culture had uncovered three paintings by Fedor Löwenstein at the Centre Pompidou in the early 2010s that had been confiscated by the Nazis at the Port of Bordeaux in December 1940 and sent to the Jeu de Paume (more on this below); the three paintings were among a cache of 25 of his works originally seized on their way to New York, the remainder presumed to have been destroyed by the Nazis as examples of so-called “decadent art.” According to the information I discovered in 2014, France’s ministère de la culture is looking to return rediscovered stolen art to surviving heirs.

Let me provide more context. In 2014 my wife and I spent 13 weeks in Europe driving from northeast Poland to south-central Spain visiting places associated with my Jewish ancestors’ diaspora. Coincidentally, that year, soon after the Centre Pompidou recognized Fedor Löwenstein’s works to be stolen art, they were exhibited at the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Bordeaux. (Figure 4) Given our extensive travels that year, had we known about Fedor Löwenstein and the exhibition, my wife and I would certainly have detoured there to see the artworks. Regrettably, I only learned of the exposition following my return stateside.

 

Figure 4. Cover page of the 2014 exhibition catalog from the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Bordeaux that featured Fedor Löwenstein’s three orphaned paintings

 

Online materials identified the curator of the exhibit, a Mme Florence Saragoza. Two days after learning about her, we were in communication. In her response, she wrote words that resonate with me to this day and probably will for the remainder of my life. Paraphrasing, she wrote words to the effect that learning that a descendant of Fedor Löwenstein survives brought tears to her eyes. While Florence and I have never met, a situation we hope to rectify at the upcoming restitution ceremony in Paris later this year, I consider her a friend who has aided and always supported my repatriation claim. I have tremendous admiration for her.

Given my background as an archaeologist, it was coincidental that at the time we first communicated Mme Saragoza was the Director of the Musée Crozatier in Le Puy-en-Velay, France, an archaeology, Velay crafts, fine arts, and science museum. (Figure 5) Today, Florence is the Director of the Toulouse-Lautrec Museum in Albi, France. Florence’s familiarity with Fedor Löwenstein’s art given her involvement as curator of the 2014 Bordeaux exhibition was exceedingly helpful when she offered to help me file my claim with France’s ministère de la culture’s CIVS. 

 

Figure 5. Mme Florence Saragoza when she was the Director of Musée Crozatier in le Puy-en-Velay, France

 

The CIVS, now called the Commission pour la restitution des biens et l’indemnisation des victimes de spoliations antisémites (Commission for the Restitution of Property and Compensation for Victims of Anti-Semitic Spoliation), has three distinct missions:

  • to recommend measures to compensate for material and bank-related anti-Semitic spoliations that occurred in France between 1940 and 1944, exclusively based on referrals from heirs;
  • to recommend measures to compensate for the anti-Semitic spoliation of cultural property in France between 1940 and 1944, at the request of any person concerned or on its own initiative;
  • to recommend the restitution of cultural property looted in the context of Nazi anti-Semitic persecution, including outside France, between 1933 and 1945, when this property is held in a public or similar collection. 

Let me shift gears and discuss the Jeu de Paume in Paris where works of art confiscated by Nazis from Jewish painters, private collectors, gallery owners, and art dealers living in France were shipped. 

According to their mission statement, today, the Jeu de Paume is “. . .an art center that exhibits and promotes all forms of mechanical and electronic imagery (photography, cinema, video, installation, online creation, etc.) from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. It produces and coproduces exhibitions but also organizes film programs, symposiums and seminars, as well as educational activities. Jeu de Paume also publishes a few art publications each year. With its high-profile exhibitions of established, less known, and emerging artists, this venue ties together different narrative strands, mixing the historic and the contemporary.” 

The Jeu de Paume, however, did not begin as an art center. It was constructed in 1862 in the Tuileries Garden as an area in which to play an early variant of tennis, the so-called jeu de paulme, literally the “palm game.” Nowadays, this sport is known as real tennis or court tennis, while in France it is called courte paume. Originally an indoor precursor of tennis played without rackets, thus the “game of the hand,” rackets were eventually introduced. 

The relevance of the Jeu de Paume for the purpose of the present post was its use from 1940 to 1944 as the place to store Nazi plunder looted by the regime’s Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg (ERR), the Reichsleiter Rosenberg Taskforce. This was the Nazi Party’s organization dedicated to appropriating cultural property during WWII. It was under the command of the Nazi Party’s chief ideologue, Alfred Rosenberg. The plundered works included masterpieces from the collections of French Jewish families like the Rothschilds, the David-Weills, the Bernheims, and noted dealers including Paul Rosenberg who specialized in impressionist and post-impressionist works. As mentioned above, the works of Fedor Löwenstein confiscated in December 1940 in Bordeaux were among those that wound up at the Jeu de Paume (Figure 6), 25 pieces of art according to the information gathered by Florence Saragoza from contemporary documents and included in my repatriation claim. 

 

Figure 6. Details from the “Database of Art Objects at the Jeu de Paume” about Fedor Löwenstein’s painting entitled “Composition (Landcape)” drawn from a list of “Cultural Plunder by the Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg”

 

Nazi Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring directed that the looted art would first be divided between Adolf Hitler and himself. Towards this end, Göring visited the Jeu de Paume twenty times between November 1940 and November 1942. (Figures 7-8) The art dealer Bruno Lohse (1912-2007), art historian and specialist in Flemish and Dutch masters of the 17th century, attracted Göring’s attention because of his art knowledge. (Figure 9) He essentially became Goring’s envoy in charge of enriching his collection by tracking down the most beautiful works in French art collections. (Polack & Prevet, 2014) In conjunction with each of Göring’s visits, Lohse staged special expositions of newly looted art objects, from which Göring is known to have selected at least 594 pieces for his own collection; the remaining pieces were destined for Adolf Hitler’s unrealized art museum, the so-called Führermuseum, in Linz, Austria.

 

Figure 7. Hermann Göring entering the Jeu de Paume on one of his twenty visits there (from the Collection Archives des musées nationaux)

 

 

Figure 8. Hermann Göring inside the Jeu de Paume (from the Collection Archives des musées nationaux)

 

 

Figure 9. Hermann Göring and Bruno Lohse seated on a sofa at the Jeu de Paume (from the Collection Archives des musées nationaux)

 

Figure 10 is a plan view of the Jeu de Paume. Salle 15, room 15, was specifically referred to as the “Salle des Martyrs,” the “Martyrs’ Room.” This is the room that was designated for so-called “degenerate art,” that’s to say modern art deemed “unworthy” in the eyes of the Nazis and slated for destruction. Much of the art dealer Paul Rosenberg’s professional and private collection wound up here, as did some, perhaps all, of Fedor Löwenstein’s paintings.

 

Figure 10. General view of the Jeu de Paume including room 15, the “Salle des Martyrs”

 

Joseph Goebbels was the chief propagandist for the Nazi Party, then Reich Minister of Propaganda from 1933 to 1945. He had privately decreed that the degenerate works of art should be sold to obtain foreign currency to fund the building of the Führermuseum and the wider war effort. Göring used this decree to personally appoint a series of ERR-approved dealers to liquidate the looted art and then pass the funds to him to enlarge his personal art collection. Much of the looted art designated as degenerate was sold via Switzerland. Unsold art, including works by Picasso and Dali, as well as my lesser-known relative Fedor Löwenstein, were destroyed in a bonfire on the grounds of the Jeu de Paume on the night of 27th of July 1942. This unparalleled vandalism was unfortunately not unprecedented; the Nazis had perpetuated a similar outrage in Berlin in 1939 when they destroyed 4,000 works of German “degenerate” art. 

In a March 2014 article entitled “Bruno Lohse and Herman Göring,” the authors Emmanuelle Polack and Alain Prevet, discuss the art market in Paris under the Nazi Occupation. They characterize it as undeniably flourishing, the “. . .euphoria (being) . . .a reflection of a massive influx of goods taken from people of Jewish faith and from all opponents of the Third Reich.” The authors characterize Göring as the true leader of this “artistic underworld.” They use the French word “rabatteur” to describe essentially the “beaters” and “canvassers” Göring surrounded himself with, people such as Bruno Lohse, to flush out collections of great value. 

I’ve included three photographs (Figures 7-9) in this post that immortalized at least two of the 20 twenty visits Hermann Göring made to the Jeu de Paume. They are attributed to German staff working for the ERR, either Rudolph Scholz or Heinz Simokat, both photographers at the Jeu de Paume. The one of Göring and Lohse is described as follows: “Comfortably installed on a sofa in a museum office, requisitioned for the benefit of the Parisian service of the ERR, under the satisfied gaze of Bruno Lohse, Hermann Goring carefully examines a monograph devoted to Rembrandt, most likely one of the publications of the German art historian Wilhelm R. Valentiner, a great painter’s specialist since his thesis in 1904.” 

Preserved in the Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (FR-MAE Centre des archives diplomatiques de La Corneuve, 20160007AC/7) are 14 negatives showing the rooms of the Jeu de Paume museum taken after November 1, 1940. This date corresponds to when the museum was made available to the ERR to store the confiscated works of art plundered by this organization in France. The shots were likely also taken by the photographers working at the Jeu de Paume. The photographs have been optimized thanks to a specific digitization of the details. This has allowed for the identification of 232 works of art. Among the 14 negatives are two photographs of room 15, the Salle des Martyrs. More on this below. 

A list exists of the works present at the Jeu de Paume at the beginning of 1942. The notes were compiled by Rose Valland (Figures 11a-f) and sent to her boss Jacques Jaujard on March 10, 1942; Rose Valland was an unpaid museum employee and the only one retained by the Nazis upon their takeover of the Jeu de Paume and was a clandestine member of the French resistance. The list translated into French, most probably surreptitiously, is an inventory drawn up by the ERR staff. It has the advantage of including a description of the looted works and providing the names of the people from whom they were plundered. The comparison of this list with the works visible on the two photographs of room 15 has made it possible for museum staff to identify many works that were previously unknown or poorly attributed. Figures 11b-c include a few details of some of Fedor Löwenstein’s confiscated works of art from Rose Valland’s list.

 

Figure 11a. Page 1 of Rose Valland’s 1942 list of Nazi-confiscated art

 

Figure 11b. Page 2 of Rose Valland’s 1942 list of Nazi-confiscated art including details on some of Fedor Löwenstein’s works

 

Figure 11c. Page 3 of Rose Valland’s 1942 list of Nazi-confiscated art including details on some of Fedor Löwenstein’s works

 

 

Figure 11d. Page 4 of Rose Valland’s 1942 list of Nazi-confiscated art

 

 

Figure 11e. Page 5 of Rose Valland’s 1942 list of Nazi-confiscated art

 

 

Figure 11f. Page 6 of Rose Valland’s 1942 list of Nazi-confiscated art

 

 

As confiscated art passed through the building, Rose Valland eavesdropped on German conversations and covertly kept notes on where the looted pieces were being shipped. Her records were instrumental in the recovery of tens of thousands of artworks, many of which were returned to rightful owners. Yet about 70 of the paintings belonging to the French art dealer Paul Rosenberg, for example, are still missing. 

Let me conclude this post by mentioning two ERR photographs of room 15, the Salle des Martyrs, where some of Fedor Löwenstein’s confiscated paintings were hung. Until recently, I was uncertain how many photographs of the Jeu de Paume existed. One picture I had stumbled upon, then lost track of, showed Rose Valland standing in the Salle des Martyrs. (Figure 12) Relocating this picture was of paramount interest because clearly visible in the background is one of Fedor Löwenstein’s paintings, the one known as “Composition (Paysage),” which happens to be one of the three paintings I’ll be repatriating. (Figure 13)

 

Figure 12. Rose Valland seemingly standing in room 15, the “Salle des Martyrs” at the Jeu de Paume

 

 

Figure 13. Details and photo of Fedor Löwenstein’s painting entitled “Composition (Paysage)” that I’ll be repatriating

 

Unable to relocate this image on my own, I asked one of my acquaintances at the CIVS if she could help me track it down. Of passing interest to readers but of great personal interest is that Rose Valland has been “photoshopped” into the Salle des Martyrs. If she was ever photographed there, such a picture does not survive; I’ve included an authentic one of Rose standing elsewhere in the Jeu de Paume. (Figure 14) The one I’d come across was based on a photo of Rose taken elsewhere where she was “inserted” into room 15. I include a copy of that original. (Figure 15)

 

Figure 14. Rose Valland in one of the rooms at the Jeu de Paume

 

 

Figure 15. The original of the photo of Rose Valland used to “photoshop” her into the “Salle des Martyrs”

 

The two contemporary authentic photos of the Salle des Martyrs both show Fedor Löwenstein paintings. So-called View 1 (Figure 16) includes two Loewenstein paintings. Photographed is a fragmentary section of an unknown painting (Figure 17), and a second one titled “La Ville Moderne,” “The Modern City.” (Figures 18a-b) Regrettably, the latter two were lost or destroyed. View 2 (Figure 19), the one where Rose Valland has been photoshopped into the image, includes the still existing painting “Composition (Paysage).” This is one of the three paintings I will be repatriating.

 

Figure 16. The so-called View 1 of the “Salle des Martyrs” where a fragment of an untitled work by Löwenstein and the painting known as “The Modern City” were hung

 

Figure 17. The description and view of the “Untitled Work” by Fedor Löwenstein

 

Figure 18a. The description and view of “The Modern City” by Fedor Löwenstein

 

Figure 18b. “The Modern City” by Fedor Löwenstein

 

Figure 19. The so-called View 2 of the “Salle des Martyrs” where Fedor Löwenstein painting known as “Composition (Paysage)” can be seen

 

Besides the painting “Composition (Paysage),” I’ll also be acquiring artworks entitled “les Peupliers” (Figure 20) and “Arbres.” (Figure 21) Neither of these paintings is pictured in the ERR photographs. Having personally seen the three paintings, it is obvious the Nazis intended to destroy them as evidenced by the fact that now faintly visible red Xs were scrawled across their painted surfaces. Whether Rose Valland played a role in saving Löwenstein’s paintings is unknown.

 

Figure 20. Fedor Löwenstein’s painting known as “les Peupliers”

 

Figure 21. Fedor Löwenstein’s painting known as “Arbres”

 

REFERENCES

Doré-Rivé, Isabelle. “La Dame du Jeu de Paume Rose Valland Sur Le Front de L’Art Sommaire.” “Centre d’Histoire de la Résistance et de la Déportation.”

plan-général-dp2

“History of CIVS.” Premier Ministère, Commission pour la restitution des biens et l’indemnisation des victimes de spoliations antisémites (Commission for the Restitution of Property and Compensation for Victims of Anti-Semitic Spoliation), Updated 19 April 2024.

History of CIVS | CIVS

“Jeu de Paume.” Wikipedia, Wikipedia Foundation, 21 May 2025.

Jeu de paume – Wikipedia

“Jeu de Paume.” Encyclopedia Britannica, 5 August 2024.

Jeu de Paume | Museum, History, Impressionism, Photography, & Facts | Britannica

“Jeu de Paume (museum).” Wikipedia, Wikipedia Foundation, 13 March 2025.

Jeu de Paume (museum) – Wikipedia

Ministère De La Culture. “POP : la plateforme ouverte du patrimoine”

Vue 1 de la salle 15

La Ville moderne

Titre inconnu

Vue 2 de la salle 15

Paysage

Composition

Polack, E. (March 2014). “Rose Valland à la veille de la Seconde Guerre mondiale.” “L’Historire Par L’Image.”

Rose Valland à la veille de la Seconde Guerre mondiale – Histoire analysée en images et œuvres d’art | https://histoire-image.org/

Polack, Emmanuelle & Alan Prevet (March 2014). “Bruno Lohse et Hermann Goering.” “L’Historire Par L’Image.”

Bruno Lohse et Hermann Goering – Histoire analysée en images et œuvres d’art | https://histoire-image.org/