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Who was still living in Themar?

On 1 September 1939, as German forces were pouring over the eastern border into Poland, Clara Müller put pen to paper to describe the comings and goings of Themar’s Jews to her son Willi in Palestine. “Dear Willi,” she wrote:

I have just written to Meinhold, so now it’s your turn. You will receive this letter when dad is back. He has accompanied Herbert to Dresden. Herbert wants to try to get his visa. Lothar [Frankenberg] is in Berlin and obtained his visa and Herbert Gassenheimer is already in England. […] Herbert [Müller, Willi’s brother] has his passport. Norbert [Müller] is on his way to England. His people [Sebald and Laura Müller and their daughter lived in Nürnberg] want to visit us, I think. Mani-Rhina [Manfred Nussbaum] likes London. I already told you that Käthe [Nussbaum Wurms, who lived in Amsterdam] has a little daughter. I’ll keep you up to date when dear Dad is back again. I do not know how long this card will take to reach you because the mail is pretty unreliable right now. Now I want to write to old grandma {Bertha Nussbaum, Clara’s mother] who has no other entertainment but the letters and cards from her relatives.

Eighty years later, Clara’s and Max’s letters and postcards to their sons help to reconstruct the Jewish community of Themar as World War II began. It is definitely a challenge: the best estimate at this time—20 August 2019—is that at least 50 members of Themar’s Jewish families were living in Themar and 3 members in nearby Marisfeld. This number is derived from documents in the Themar City Archives and evidence from the Jewish families such as the letters of Max and Clara Müller.

Two documents in the City archives of particular interest are dated 27 September 1939 and 6 October 1939. The memo of 27 September 1939 identified Jews who were in Themar in early September but left Themar on that date. The official list of 6 October 1939 identified 33 Jews in Themar on that date and included the names of two men who had left on 27 September—Markus Rosenberg and Max Steindler. The explanation: The men taken to forced labour camps such as Neundorf were worked to exhaustion and then allowed to return briefly to their homes for respite, before being sent off again to hard labour.

The official list of 6 October 1939 excluded the Jewish-Christians in Themar such as Erna Haass, née Kahn, who converted to Christianity, and her twins with Hermann Haass, Johanna and Günter; the daughter of Adolf Kahn, and the sons of Louis and Olga Walther. This exclusion was but a snare and a delusion:official documents indicate that the Nazi regime considered them Jewish and would definitely include them in its rapidly escalating antisemitic policies.

Unofficial documentation identified individuals who were in Themar in early September but left before 6 October 1939: Walter Rosenbaum, for example, left in mid-September for a “Hachshara” training program in Blankenese near Hamburg; Clara Müller sent the news to her son Willi in Palestine on 18 September 1939.

The map below is based on numerous documents both in the city and family archives.

See as well:
World War II and the Jewish Families of Themar
Who was still living in Themar in September 1939?
Who was in Britain on 3 September 1939?
World War II and Enemy Alien Tribunals in Britain
Kindertransport Program (page under construction)
The Kitchener Camp Program (page under construction)

T

  1. Meininger Straße 17: Max Müller II, his wife Clara (née Nussbaum), and son Herbert and his wife, Flora Müller, née Wolf.
  2. Bahnhofstraße 23: Hugo Grünbaum, his wife Clara (nëe Schloss), and their daughter Else Neuhaus, her husband Arthur Neushaus and 5-year-old daughter Inge.
  3. Bahnhofstraße 3/5: Max Müller I, and his wife Frieda Müller (née Freudenberger), and daughter Marta.
  4. Markt 8: Selma Stern (née Schloss), her sister Rosa Schloss, her daughter Elli Plaut and 4-year-old granddaughter, Hanna Karola Plaut.
  5. Römhilderstraße 11: Max and Alma (née Heimannsohn) Bachmann
  6. Leninstraße 20: Berta Frankenberg (née Rosenthal), widow of Nathan Frankenberg; sisters Sara Frankenberg and Meta Krakauer, née Frankenberg; Klara Frankenberg (née Bauer) and her daughter Paula Frankenberg. As well, Norbert Sander, the son of Hilde Sander (née Frankenberg), lived with his relatives.
  7. Leninstraße 10: Paula Müller (née Steindler), her mother Nanny Steindler (née Rindsberg) and her brother Max Steindler.
  8. Schulstraße 9: Sisters Carolina Mayer (née Eisenfresser) and Klara Eisenfresser; sisters Frieda Wolf (née Mayer) and Nanett Levinstein (née Mayer)
  9. Schulstraße 3: Markus and Else (née Kahn) Rosenberg, Julius Rosenberg and his wife Else (née Pabst) and 5-year-old daughter Lotte Rosenberg; and cousin Herbert Kahn.
  10. Schulstraße 1: Erna Haass and her twins, Johanna and Günter.

Notes:
• We do not know where the Walther family lived.
• The three people who lived in Marisfeld were Jacob and Hulda Kahn, the parents of Herbert Kahn, and Isaak Kahn, an uncle.

JEWISH FAMILY MEMBERS IN THEMAR SEPTEMBER 1939

THEMAR FAMILIEFAMILIEGEB.VORNAMEGEB. JAHRGEB. ORTTOD JAHRTOD ORT
BAERBAERSamuel1827Marisfeld1883Themar
BAERBAERWaltherJette1830Marisfeld1909Themar
BAERBAERBaerKarolina1854Marisfeld1934Themar
BAERBAERBaerRickchen1856Marisfeld1920Hibu
BAERBAER (STERN)Hedwig1858Marisfeld1948Berlin
BAERBAERSelig1861Marisfeld1934Meiningen
BAERBAERHulda1863Marisfeld1918Berlin
BAERBAERAlbert1867Marisfeld1918unk
BAERBAERMax1869Marisfeld1916Themar
FRANKENBERGFRANKENBERG (MÜHLFELDER)FrankenbergAmalie1862Marisfeld1934Meiningen
FRANKENBERGFRANKENBERG (WERTHEIMER)FrankenbergEmma1855Marisfeld1912Themar
FRANKENBERGFRANKENBERGHermannJette1826Henrichs1903Themar
FRANKENBERGFRANKENBERGJonas1776Marisfeld1876Themar
FRANKENBERGFRANKENBERGLöb1816Themar1894Themar
FRANKENBERGFRANKENBERGLouis1865Marisfeld1934Themar
FRANKENBERGFRANKENBERG (KRAKAUER)Meta1866Marisfeld1955Dinslaken
FRANKENBERGFRANKENBERGNathan1853Marisfeld1920Themar
FRANKENBERGFRANKENBERGNeubergerRegine1780Mühlfeld
FRANKENBERGFRANKENBERGSamuel1859Marisfeld1936Schleusingen
FRANKENBERGFRANKENBERGSara1857Marisfeld1941Themar
FRANKENBERGFRANKENBERGNathan1853Marisfeld1920Themar
GASSENHEIMERGASSENHEIMERJBibra
GASSENHEIMERGASSENHEIMERSamuel1837Bibra1892Themar
GASSENHEIMERGASSENHEIMERSteinLotte1840Marisfeld1889Themar
GASSENHEIMERGASSENHEIMER (MARCUS)Emma1863Themar1932Halle a.d. Saale
GASSENHEIMERGASSENHEIMERSimon1863ThemarukUSA
GASSENHEIMERGASSENHEIMERBernhard1865ThemarukUSA
GASSENHEIMERGASSENHEIMERJulius1869ThemarNY
GASSENHEIMERGASSENHEIMERErnst1870Themar1942Riga Ghetto
GRÜNBAUMGRÜNBAUMNoah1841Walldorf1901Themar
GRÜNBAUMGRÜNBAUMLöser1837Walldorf1904Themar
GRÜNBAUMGRÜNBAUMBergmannJohanna1841unk1917Altenburg
GRÜNBAUMGRÜNBAUMBertha1867Walldorf1942Theresienstadt
GRÜNBAUMGRÜNBAUMSophieukWalldorfukuk
GRÜNBAUMGRÜNBAUMNoah1841Walldorf1901Themar
GRÜNBAUMGRÜNBAUMHugo1868Walldorf1942Theresienstadt
GRÜNBAUMGRÜNBAUMFriedmannMinna1844uk1872Themar
HOFMANNHOFMANNLippmann1826Marisfeld1904Themar
HOFMANNHOFMANNSachsFredericka1831Berkach1917Jena
HOFMANNHOFMANNErich1864Marisfeld
HOFMANNHOFMANNSalomon1869Marisfeld1945Auschwitz
MÜLLERMÜLLERSalomon1802Bauerbach1902Themar
MÜLLERMÜLLERFriedmannKarolineukMarisfeldukThemar
MÜLLERMÜLLERMayer1849Marisfeld1907Themar
SCHLOSS/SACHSSACHSGabriel Levi1810Marisfeld1891Themar
SCHLOSS/SACHSSACHSSchlossBabette1841Marisfeld1887Themar
SCHLOSS/SACHSSACHSOtto1837Berkach1904Bamberg
SCHLOSS/SACHSSACHSSimon Gustav1864Themar1916Nürnberg
SCHLOSS/SACHSSACHSSachsHedwig1866Themar1943Theresienstadt
SCHLOSS/SACHSSACHSBetty1871Themar1876Themar
SCHWABSCHWABAbraham1860Marisfeld1937Themar
SCHWABSCHWABNUK
SCHWABSCHWABNUK
WALTHERWALTHERAbraham1827ukThemar
WALTHERWALTHERAbraham Selig18351857
WALTHERWALTHERAlfred1871Themar
WALTHERWALTHERLandeckerBabette1839Marisfeld1894Themar
WALTHERWALTHERHermann1862Marisfeld
WALTHERWALTHER (KAHN)Hulda1860Themar1929Themar
WALTHERWALTHERJosef1866Marisfeld
WALTHERWALTHERKahnJudith1828
WALTHERWALTHERJulius1863Themar
WALTHERWALTHERJulius1867Themar
WALTHERWALTHERJacobKaroline18101859Marisfeld
WALTHERWALTHERLeopold1861Marisfeld
WALTHERWALTHERLinna1867Themar
WALTHERWALTHERSamuelLotteukSülzdorf
WALTHERWALTHERLouis1859Themar1931Themar
WALTHERWALTHERLouisa1865Themar
WALTHERWALTHERMayer Moses1836Marisfeld
WALTHERWALTHERFrankMalchen1836Walldorf
WALTHERWALTHERMoses1866Themar
WALTHERWALTHERNUK1866Themar1874Themar
WALTHERWALTHEROlga1870Themar
WALTHERWALTHERRickchen1857Marisfeld
WALTHERWALTHERSamuel Löser1829uk1885Themar
WALTHERWALTHERSelig1860Marisfeld
WALTHERWALTHERSelig Abraham1800Marisfeld
WALTHERWALTHERSelig Sigmund1860Marisfeld
WALTHERWALTHERSelma1862Marisfeld
WANGENHEIMWANGENHEIMChaim Heinemann1815Marisfeld1891Themar
WANGENHEIMWANGENHEIMHoffmannSophie1832Marisfeld1897Themar
WERTHEIMERWERTHEIMERMendel1808Marisfeld1873Themar
WERTHEIMERWERTHEIMERGuttmannSarah1826Gleicherwiesen1885Themar
WERTHEIMERWERTHEIMERAbraham1859Marisfeld1926Coburg
WERTHEIMERWERTHEIMERLouis1855Marisfeld1902Themar
WERTHEIMERWERTHEIMERJulius1864Marisfeld
WERTHEIMERWERTHEIMERMinna1862Marisfeld1947Brooklyn, NY
WERTHEIMERWERTHEIMERAlbert1866Marisfeld1938Plauen
WERTHEIMERWERTHEIMERLeopold1866Marisfeld