Es gibt keine Aufzeichnungen darüber, ob Hans Loewenthal versucht hat, seinen Vater während dessen Besuchen zu überreden, in England zu bleiben. Er war halsstarrig und sagte, er sei zu alt, um ein neues Leben anzufangen, ohne englisch sprechen zu können. Von 1936 an gibt es wenige Zeugnisse über sein Leben in Berlin. Über sein weiteres Schicksal geben Unterlagen Auskunft, die im Brandenburgischen Landeshauptarchiv in Potsdam lagern. 1938 wurde er demnach gezwungen, das Haus an der Achenbachstraße zu verkaufen. Es existieren Briefe eines gewissen Hans Brandt, adressiert an Theodor, die auch von einem Verkauf handeln. Andere Briefe sind an Nazi-Behörden gerichtet, in denen vom Kauf des Geschäftes („Wurstfabrik und Stadtküche“) von dem “Juden Th. Loewenthal” die Rede war.
Die auf der ganzen Welt in England, Ekuador, Kenia und den USA verstreute Familie Loewenthal/Rosenfeld/Feingold nahm an, dass Theodor nach Theresienstadt deportiert wurde und dass er dort gestorben ist. Es liegen zwei Versionen vor. Die Unterlagen in Yad Vashem in Jerusalem und im Jüdischen Museum in Berlin besagen, dass er am 8. Juli 1942 von der Adresse eines Altersheims aus der Wannseestrasse 10 in Zehlendorf deportiert wurde. Aber in der Ausstellung “Wir waren Nachbarn” im Rathaus Schöneberg tauchte eine von der Gestapo ausgefüllte Karteikarte auf, wonach Theodor Loewenthal, bevor er in das “Altersheim” in Zehlendorf gebracht wurde, seit 3. Januar 1942 in einem “Judenhaus” am Bayrischen Platz 3 als Untermieter bei Wanda Jacoby wohnte und bis Juni 1942 für ein Zimmer die Miete bezahlt habe. Nicht von ihm selbst, sondern nachträglich wurde Theodor Loewenthal als „staatenlos, früher Österreich“ einsortiert.
In seine allen Juden abgeforderte Vermögenserklärung trug er die wenigen Möbel und Kleidungsstücke, die er noch besaß, ein sowie ein “Brockhaus”-Lexikon und, erschreckend, eine Aufstellung der Sachen, die er mitnehmen durfte, als er gewaltsam verschleppt wurde. Das liquidierte Unternehmen, das Eigentum und das Vermögen wurden vom Nazi-Staat eingezogen. Alle jüdischen Männer mussten den Zusatzvornamen „Israel“ führen, so auch Theodor Loewenthal. Er unterschrieb zwar so, weil er musste, aber den aufgezwungenen „Israel“ in deutlich kleinerer Schrift. „Dies war wohl seine Form des stillen Protestes“, vermutet seine Enkelin.
Vom Gleis 17 des Bahnhofs Grunewald wurde Theodor Loewenthal am 8. Juli 1942 zusammen mit 99 anderen Berliner Juden nach Theresienstadt deportiert. Dort musste der 81-jährige im Ghetto noch zwei Wochen unter scheußlichen Bedingungen aushalten, bis er am 22. Juli 1942 ums Leben kam. Als Todesursache wurde im Sterbedokument (siehe http://www.holocaust.cz/de/document/DOCUMENT.ITI.1205 ) ein „Lungen-Ödem“ mit anschließender „Herzlähmung“ eingetragen. Der Stolperstein zum Gedenken an ihn liegt an der Stelle, wo einst das von ihm erbaute, nicht mehr existierende Haus stand. Die heutige Adresse ist Lietzenburger Straße 32.
Text: Susan Loewenthal Lourenço
Quellen: Familienerinnerungen; Brandenburgisches Landeshauptarchiv Potsdam; Landesarchiv Berlin; Ausstellung „Wir waren Nachbarn“
This Stolperstein was laid by Theodor Loewenthal’s granddaughter, Susan Loewenthal Lourenço, on September 10, 2013 in the presence of family members Steve Rosenfeld and Peter, Ali and Jan Feingold, numerous friends and two 10th grade classes from Wilmersdorf Schools. At the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church Community Hall ceremony held afterwards, Vicar Martin Germer recalled Theodor Loewenthal’s life.
Greeting people, Susan Loewenthal Lourenço spoke of Hans Loewenthal, her father, a young medical researcher who had to flee Berlin in spring 1933, and who married Ilse, also from Berlin, in London. Susan said her grandfather’s story was not a happy one. He twice visited her parents and met his new granddaughter, but returned to Berlin, saying he was too old to learn a new language.
Theodor was born on March 4, 1861. According to his son, Hans Loewenthal’s family tree and other family lore, as well as his Theresienstadt death certificate, he was born near Karlsbad, Bohemia. As Hans wrote, “the Loewenthal family migrated from Bayerischer Wald, where they made porcelain, to Bohemia around 1800.” Elias, Theodor’s father, sold cattle, and he had to help drive them to market, so he often missed school. Both Elias and his wife, Catherine Schnurmacher, died before Theodor was 13, his father probably of appendicitis, his mother, by choking on a chicken bone! Their eight children were divided among relatives, with Theodor, the eldest, deciding that he was old enough to start out on his own! He walked 195 kilometers to seek his fortune in Berlin, where he apprenticed himself to butcher Hirsch Elkan in, Friedrichshagen, near Koepenick and, on 18.1.1888, married Elkan’s daughter Jenny, born 1867. Little is known of their lives, other than of their four
children, Kate (born 1889), Else (1890), Helene (1891) and Hans (1899).
In 1898 Theodor bought land at Achenbachstrasse 4, engaged a well known architect to construct a large building to combine home with work — a magnificent butcher shop and non kosher sausage factory, catering to Berlin’s many secular Jews. Jenny, a slight, highly intelligent, hardworking woman worked with Theodor as bookkeeper, leaving the household and kitchen to her sister Minna. Jenny suffered from heart disease and died in 1921.
Theodor was a tall, strong man with a temper. Self made, he “expected the same of his family.” Jenny managed his money until her death, when their eldest daughter Kate and her husband Paul, came from Marienbad to take over. Theodor never finished school, but was intelligent and wanted to enjoy life’s offerings. Stories tell of him going to the opera in his own fiacre, and owning one of Berlin’s first motor cars. In the plans of Achenbachstrasse 4 were found stables for at least four horses! There are photos of Theodor on a toboggan, hurtling down a slope in Switzerland, and enjoying his travels in England and Scotland in 1935 and 1936. But he also cared for, and supported his family in many ways. Two of his three daughters lived with him at one point: Kate and her husband and daughter Ellie came after Jenny died. When second daughter, Lene divorced in Dresden, she and son Jochen Feingold also came to live in Achenbachstrasse 4, which was rebuilt several times to
accommodate the family.
Hans Loewenthal tried to persuade his father to remain in England during his visits, but Theodor was stubborn, saying he was too old to start anew. From 1936 onwards, there is little evidence about his life, but the Brandenburgisches Archiv in Potsdam tells what befell Theodor. In 1938, he was forced to sell Achenbachstrasse 4. There are letters, many quite officious and all signed ‘Heil Hitler,’ from one Hans Brandt, addressed to Theodor, speaking of the sale, while other ingratiating missives sent to Nazi officials deal with buying the business from “the Jew Th. Loewenthal.”
Theodor’s dispersed family, in England, Ecuador, Kenya and the USA, assumed that Theodor was deported to Theresienstadt and died there. Official records in Yad Vashem, Jerusalem and the Berlin Jewish Museum, indicate that he was deported from a Zehlendorf old age home. However, in the Schoneberg Town Hall “We were Neighbours” exhibit a Gestapo file card indicates that he lived from January 3, 1942 as a subtenant in Wanda Jacoby’s “Judenhaus” at Bayerischer Platz 3. Another Gestapo document lists the few pieces of furniture he still owned and, more menacingly, the items of clothing which he would be permitted to take when deported.
From Gleis (Platform) 17 at Grunewald Station, together with 99 other Berlin Jews, Theodor Loewenthal was deported to Theresienstadt on July 8, 1942. The 81 year old withstood terrible conditions until he died there on July 22, 1942. Cause of death was noted as “pulmonary edema/heart attack.”
(See http://www.holocaust.cz/de/document/DOCUMENT.ITI.1205).
Text: Susan Loewenthal Lourenço
