How we learn the story… Dankward Sidow about his work

Between December 1938 and May 1942, Clara and Max MĂŒller wrote regularly to their two sons who had already emigrated, to Meinhold in Sweden and Willi in Palestine. Only the oldest of the three sons, Herbert, was initially still with his parents in Themar, before he was able to escape persecution with his Flora in … Read more

Cousin Aaltje

by Fred Michael Brick Amram I’m an only child. It was customary for young German adults during the Holocaust to have only one child—often none at all. “Why bring more Jewish children into a world like this?” my mother, Mutti, would often ask. Why, indeed. Papa had an older sister, Tante Beda, who married Ernst … Read more

The decision, Sept 1941, to ship the German Jews to the ‘East’.

In the late summer of 1941 – 70 years ago – there were about 145 relatives of members of the Themar Jewish community (parents, spouses and children) still living in Germany or somewhere in occupied Europe (Holland and France). After that, from September 1941, the Nazis gave free rein to their hatred against the German … Read more

The Jewish families in Themar – who were they?

This list – drawn by age, handwritten in pencil, annotated – is one of the most important documents about the Jewish community in Themar. On September 3, 1962 – more than 50 years ago – Oskar Stapf, the town archivist of Themar, drew up this list of Jewish families who lived in Themar after 1900. … Read more

Day of Remembrance: 12 November 1941

On 12 November 1941, Martha Hahn, nĂ©e Katz, b. 1889 in Themar, was deported from Frankfurt am Main to Minsk Ghetto in Belarus, 1672 km to the east. Martha was a member of the Adolf & Meta (nĂ©e Schwab) Katz family. Martha probably lived in Themar until the early 1900s. We do not know much about her life once she … Read more

Day of Remembrance, 16 October 1941

16 October 2011 — It is 70 years since the first deportation of members of Themar’s Jewish community to the ‘east.’ On this day in 1941, Hugo and Eva (nĂ©e Kahn)  Friedmann were deported from Luxemburg-Trier to the Ghetto in Lodz, or Litzmannstadt as it had been renamed by the Nazis. The Friedmanns lived in Themar in … Read more

“You are always welcome!”

In the evening of April 29th, 2011, 41 visitors gathered in the Official House and Mayor Hubert Böse, with the help in translation of Sabine MĂŒller, greeted them with these words: “Dear guests, I greet you all and would like to welcome you to our town. To you, who accepted our invitation and are present here … Read more

Finding the traces — one google at a time!

15 December 2023: This post has been updated with documents made available online in the Arolsen Archives. Initial post, 26 June 2011: Ever vigilant to discover any new traces about Themarens, a recent google search for “Meta Krakauer” brought lots of news! Six months ago [2010], Anne Prior of Dinslaken published a book about the … Read more

Kristallnacht 1938 — what happened in Themar?

For the third time, Themarens commemorated Kristallnacht 1938. Barbara and Arnd Morgenroth began the city’s examination of the painful chapter in its past with the 2008 exhibit, “Sie Waren Themar/They were Themarens.”  This year, they invited Julia de Boor to present her lyrical-musical conversations with three young German women, Anne Frank, Selma Meerbaum-Eisinger and Lisa … Read more