Residents tracing the history of their homes in Berlin have discovered the lives of Jewish predecessors who fled or were deported during the Nazi era. Many individuals have passed through a fourth-floor apartment at Rosenheimer Straße 40, where Marie Rolshoven has lived with her family since 2007. "The feeling of crossing that threshold, the same one the former residents crossed for the last time, stays with you," she stated, acknowledging that Jews once lived there and none survived the Nazi period.
After the National Socialists seized power in January 1933, Jews were increasingly seen as second-class citizens, and their right to remain in their homes was jeopardized. The Nazi party newspaper Völkischer Beobachter published on September 18, 1938, that landlords could terminate leases without notice. A law took effect on April 30, 1939, forcing Jewish tenants and property owners to leave their homes and move into designated buildings known as "Judenhäuser" (Jewish houses).
At Rosenheimer Straße 40, several individuals were forcibly housed, culminating in nine residents. By the fall of 1941, Nazi authorities began systematically deporting Jews to ghettos and camps in Eastern Europe. Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels wrote in his diary about the goal of cleansing the capital of Jews, a process that affected the residents of this apartment.
Marie Rolshoven aims to honor the fate of these individuals through the initiative Denk Mal Am Ort, founded in 2016 with her late mother and a friend. The initiative invites people to visit locations where everyday life once occurred, fostering a connection to the past. "You feel a strong connection to these individuals through the actual site," Rolshoven remarked.
Denk Mal Am Ort has uncovered that the Jewish Katzenellenbogen family previously rented an apartment two floors below. They escaped Nazi Germany in 1939. In 2018, 92-year-old Joel Ludwig Katzenellenbogen returned to the apartment, recalling memories of his childhood home.
Claudia Samter, whose mother fled to Argentina, sought assistance from Denk Mal Am Ort to trace her family history. It was revealed that her aunt had once lived in Rolshoven's apartment. Rolshoven noted, "We sat at the kitchen table to talk about life today and tomorrow, and we laughed a lot and cried, too. It felt good to give this space a new purpose once again."
Denk Mal Am Ort has organized 90 commemorative events in eight cities this year, with many young descendants participating. Adam Ethan Klein, a 19-year-old from Switzerland, expressed a desire to learn more about his ancestors' history, prompted by rising antisemitism and the slogan "Never again is now."
Klein discovered a suitcase belonging to his great-grandfather, which contained documents, including a letter from the Hanover District Court dated June 12, 1933, informing his great-grandfather, attorney Max Haas, that he had been removed from the list of licensed attorneys. Klein reflected on how this letter made it clear that his family was no longer seen as an average German family but primarily as Jews.
Klein's research led him to write his high school graduation thesis about his relatives. In spring 2024, he plans to visit locations where his ancestors lived with his family. During a visit to Stuttgart, he encountered Thomas Koch, who had researched the former residents of his house. Koch discovered that the Merzbacher brothers had sold their house in 1936, and the Hirschheimer family, who lived there afterward, were forcibly relocated to a "Judenhaus."
Klein learned that Adolf and Auguste Hirschheimer were his great-great-grandparents. The family eventually found refuge in England and later moved to Israel. Adam noted that his great-grandparents struggled to find peace after leaving Germany, ultimately settling near their old homeland in Switzerland.
Klein emphasized the importance of remembering history, stating, "We have to learn from history, and I think every single person has a responsibility—and the power—to actively keep memories alive. And hopefully, that can happen even without eyewitnesses."
This article was originally written in German.