Introduction
Presented by the City of Düsseldorf, this digital memorial book commemorates the Jews who were murdered during the Nazi. The City’s Memorial and Education Centre has been researching victims’ life stories since its foundation in 1987, collecting biographical data, documents, letters and photographs. Using databases whose origins can be traced back to the 1990s, together with the collated information to be found in the archival collection, almost 3,000 individuals have been identified who were persecuted and murdered because they were Jews, or “non-Aryan” Christians.
Biographical research into the above necessitated searches – of both national and international archives – for a variety of documents such as register office certificates, registration indexes, address books and exit papers. Perpetrator resources, too, were searched, for example Gestapo files, files relating to communal matters, and tax and administrative district files. Numerous interviews with survivors and members of victims‘ families provided insights into family life, routine and otherwise, as well as of the personality of the deceased.
The cohort of those who were murdered is heterogeneous. Old and young, men and women, the young and the elderly, people from modest backgrounds or those who had built a secure living for themselves; people who, after 1933, had fled to the European continent but who were then “reeled in” by the German occupation; people whose death or murder came about in a variety of circumstances. Some died of starvation, disease or forced labour in the ghettos and concentration camps to which they had been deported, others were murdered in extermination camps. And there were also those who, out of despair, committed suicide or were murdered before the outbreak of war whilst still at home, for example during the 1938 November Pogrom and in other violent events.
The relationship to Judaism of many of those who died was very individual. The breadth and depth of the spectrum was such that they ranged from the deeply pious and orthodox to those of a more liberal or conservative persuasion and, at the other end of the scale, to atheists. All were persecuted as “Jews” by reason of their ancestry, whether they were baptised Christians, having previously been Jews, or had become Jews only in the course of Nazi “investigations”, despite never having had a Jewish identity. Nazi ideology decreed that the decisive factor was not individual identity but “ancestry”, “blood relationship” and “racial hygiene”. Despite all their differences, what all these people had in common was that they came from Düsseldorf, had been born there or had lived there for many years.
Scientific research can access genealogical connections by availing itself of the online compilation of names, dates and biographies; but in addition, by creating connections with their own personal research, survivors and their descendants the world over can also search for their murdered families.
The work on an online memorial book is never done. The intention is to add more dates and names. Of course the Düsseldorf Memorial and Education Centre is grateful for any leads, additions and corrections which contribute to the overall picture.
Düsseldorf, May 2022
Hildegard Jakobs
Academic Project Leader
and Deputy Director
Dr. Bastian Fleermann
Director
Einführung
Die Landeshauptstadt Düsseldorf legt hier ein digitales Gedenkbuch vor.
Es erinnert an jüdische Menschen, die während der NS-Herrschaft ermordet wurden.
Alle stammten aus Düsseldorf, wurden hier geboren oder haben eine lange Zeit in Düsseldorf gelebt.
Die städtische Mahn- und Gedenkstätte forscht seit 1987 nach den Biografien dieser Menschen.
Sie hat Lebensdaten, Dokumente, Briefe und Fotos zusammengetragen.
Die Forscherinnen fanden viele Informationen in nationalen und internationalen Archiven und Datenbanken.
Bisher konnten sie fast 3.000 Personen identifizieren, die verfolgt und ermordet wurden.
Die Forscherinnen führten viele Interviews mit den Überlebenden und mit Verwandten der Ermordeten.
Daraus entstanden auch Eindrücke vom privaten Leben und der Persönlichkeit der Toten.
Die Ermordeten kamen aus allen Teilen der Gesellschaft. Ihre Lebenswege sind sehr verschieden.
Für die nationalsozialistische Ideologie war die einzelne Person nicht wichtig.
Es ging um „Abstammung“, „Blutsverwandtschaft“ und „Rassenhygiene“.
Ob jüdische Menschen religiös waren oder Atheisten, oder ob sie sich selbst als jüdisch oder christlich ansahen, spielte keine Rolle.
Die „Ermittlungen“ von NS-Behörden entschieden, wer „Jude“ war.
Der Tod dieser Menschen hatte viele Formen. Sie starben in ihrer Heimat, auf der Flucht oder in Gefängnissen und Lagern. Sie starben durch Gewalt, durch Hunger, Erschöpfung und Krankheit. Einige töteten sich in ihrer Verzweiflung selbst.
Das Online-Gedenkbuch hilft Menschen in aller Welt, nach ihren ermordeten Verwandten zu suchen. Es hilft Forscherinnen, Informationen über Personen und Familien zu finden.
Die Arbeit an diesem Gedenkbuch ist niemals vorüber.
Es gibt noch viele Menschen, an die hier erinnert werden soll.
Die Biografien in diesem Buch müssen ergänzt oder korrigiert werden.
Die Mahn- und Gedenkstätte ist für alle Hinweise dankbar, die ihr bei dieser Arbeit helfen.
Düsseldorf, im Mai 2022
Hildegard Jakobs
Wissenschaftliche Projektleiterin
und stellv. Leiterin
Dr. Bastian Fleermann
Leiter