Oppenheimer, Moses — Oppenheimer Family Archive

Personal Details

Religion

Jewish

Profession

Cattle dealer (stalls in Backnang)

Address

Griesinger Weg 9, Raitelsberg, Stuttgart (until 1935)

Address

Charlottenstr. 5, Stuttgart (1938)

Family

Parents

Joseph Marum Oppenheimer, Mina Oppenheimer

Spouse

Anna Maria Ruth Kuhn

Children

Änne Berger, Margit Edith Erna Bernstein, Josef Oppenheimer

Siblings

Frieda Allersheimer, Irma Fuldauer, Julius Isaak Oppenheimer, Klara Kaufmann, Max Marx Oppenheimer, Sigmund Oppenheimer, Simon Israel Oppenheimer, Zacharias Oppenheimer

Location Trail

Born: Gemmingen (22.03.1874) → Marries Maria Ruth Fuchs: Stuttgart (1919) → Convicted of 'Rassenschande': Landgericht Stuttgart (07.05.1935) → Imprisoned: Ludwigsburg Prison (13.05.1935) → Resided (until 1935): Griesinger Weg 9, Raitelsberg, Stuttgart (1935) → Released from Ludwigsburg prison: Charlottenstr. 5, Stuttgart (08.05.1938) → Resided (1938): Charlottenstr. 5, Stuttgart (1938) → Interned: KZ Buchenwald (23.07.1938) → Re-arrested as 'work-shy Jew': KZ Buchenwald (23.07.1938) → Died: KZ Buchenwald (16.01.1940) → Letter: Gemmingen (30.10.1946) → Letter: Bad Cannstatt

Persecution & Camps

Convicted: 07.05.1935 — Rassenschande
Sentence: 3 years prison + forced sterilization

Prison: Ludwigsburg Prison from 13.05.1935 to 08.05.1938

KZ Buchenwald 23.07.1938 – 16.01.1940 → died

Timeline Events

22.03.1874
Born in Gemmingen
📍 Gemmingen
1919
Marries Maria Ruth Fuchs
📍 Stuttgart
1929
Divorce from Maria Ruth
Children classified as 'half-Jews'
📍 Stuttgart
07.05.1935
Convicted of 'Rassenschande'
Judge: NSDAP/SA Alfred Flaxland. 3 years prison + sterilization. Imprisoned Ludwigsburg (from 13.05.1935), solitary confinement, shoe-making workshop.
📍 Landgericht Stuttgart
08.05.1938
Released from Ludwigsburg prison
📍 Charlottenstr. 5, Stuttgart
23.07.1938
Re-arrested as 'work-shy Jew'
Arrested at Charlottenstr. 5, deported to KZ Buchenwald
📍 KZ Buchenwald
16.01.1940
Murdered in KZ Buchenwald
Stolperstein: Griesinger Weg 9, Stuttgart
📍 KZ Buchenwald

Correspondence (2 documents)

Personal data sheet for emigration

Transcribed

Data. Margit Edith Erna Oppenheimer May 31, 1922 Stuttgart Father: Moses Oppenheimer, born March 22, 1894 Gemmingen Mother: Anna Maria [Fuchs crossed out] Kuhn, divorced Oppenheimer nee Fuchs born June 4, 1896 in Leonberg Guardian: Leo Israel Moser Stuttgart Kornbergstr. 45. Address: Margit Oppenheimer c/o Mrs. Marie Bad-Cannstatt Geellbergstr. 1

Daten. Margit Edith Erna Oppenheimer 31. Mai 1922 Stuttgart Vater: Moses Oppenheimer geb. 22. Marz 1894 Gemmingen Mutter: Anna Maria [Fuchs crossed out] Kuhn geschiedene Oppenheimer geborene Fuchs geboren 4. Juni 1896 in Leonberg Vormund: Leo Israel Moser Stuttgart Kornbergstr. 45. Adresse: Margit Oppenheimer bei Frau Marie Bad-Cannstatt Geellbergstr. 1

This personal data sheet was likely prepared for emigration or identification purposes. It provides key genealogical data: Margit's full name was Margit Edith Erna Oppenheimer, mother's name clarified as Anna Maria Ruth Kuhn (nee Fuchs) with birth date June 4, 1896 in Leonberg. Margit had a legal guardian Leo Israel Moser at Kornbergstr. 45 in Stuttgart, indicating she was under guardianship (her father Moses was imprisoned from 1935 and her parents were divorced in 1929). She was living with a 'Frau Marie' in Bad Cannstatt.

Handwritten letter to cousin — family fate (page 1 of 3)

30.10.1946

Transcribed

1) Dear Cousin! Gemmingen, October 30, 1946 I found your address earlier at the town hall in Gemmingen. As I begin this letter -- your dear mother is after all in America. It is a miracle from God to me that you survived the terrible times. But very few of us survived this dreadful catastrophe. My dear father died in KZ Buchenwald concentration camp. My Uncle Julius and Aunt Elsa, Aunt Frieda and their children were deported and never returned. Aunt Klara was together with your dear father at Burkenbrausch [?] and I went to look for many things. Only my sister Margrit [Margit] and I survived the concentration camp period. My sister worked as a gardener and in a wood factory. She emigrated to Palestine half a year ago and is near a settlement that was established in 1939. Now I will report about myself: At the beginning of 1939, I was at the Jewish emigration training estate in Esslingen, then at the Jewish emigration training farm at [continues on page 2]

1) Liebe Cousine! Gemmingen den 30.10.46 Ich habe fruher Deine Adresse auf dem Rathaus in Gemmingen aufgefunden. Als ich mit dem Brief anfange, ich Deine liebe Mutter geht doch bis in Amerika. Es ist mir ein Gotterwunder, dass Du die schwere Zeit uberstanden hast. Doch auf haben sehr wenige von uns diese schreckliche Katastrophe uberlebt. Mein lieber Vater ist in dem K.Z. Buchenwald gestorben. Mein Onkel Julius und Tante Elsa, Tante Frieda und deren Kinder sind verschleppt und sind nicht mehr zuruckgekehrt. Tante Klara war zusammen mit Deinem lieben Vater nach Burkenbrausch [?] und gehe ich habe ich auf vieles [?] war es gespaht. Nur meine Schwester Margrit und ich haben die K.Z. Zeit uberstanden. Meine Schwester war ein Gartnerin und Holzfabrik. Sie ist von einem halben Jahre nach Palastina mit ausgewandert und befindet sich in der Nahe von einer Ortschaft nanntes [?] die 1939 mit zusammengebaut ist. Mein, will ich von mir berichten: Anfang 1939 war ich von den jud. Auswanderunglehrgut in Esslingen auf dem jud. Auswanderungslehrgut

This is the first page of a 3-page handwritten letter from Josef Oppenheimer, written on the same date as the typed letter (October 30, 1946) but apparently a more personal, detailed account. He provides crucial family information: his father Moses Oppenheimer died at KZ Buchenwald, Uncle Julius and Aunt Elsa Oppenheimer were deported and did not return, Aunt Frieda and her children were deported and did not return, Aunt Klara (Kaufmann, nee Oppenheimer) is mentioned in connection with the recipient's father. Only Josef and his sister Margit survived the camps. Margit had emigrated to Palestine about half a year before (around early 1946). Josef had been at Jewish emigration training farms (Hachshara) in Esslingen and then Grossbreesen near Breslau.

Memorials

stolperstein

Griesinger Weg 9, Stuttgart — more info

Notes

Denounced for relationships with 'Aryan' housekeepers 1931-1934

Memoir (Margit, 1963): 'I grew up, together with my brother and sister, in the house of my father... He did everything so that we could have a carefree youth. He loved us without limit.'

Memoir: Father arrested March 1935. Charged with Rassenschande. Margit: 'my father was not tried for offenses against the purity of the race, but for rape.' Family believes charges were fabricated.

Memoir: Imprisoned at Ludwigsburg prison. Margit visited him there at age 13 — 'the big strong man cried like a little child.'

Memoir: After release, the restitution case continued. A neighbor on Greisinger Weggs Street named Braun wanted to testify in father's favor but was threatened.

Memoir: 'Our table was always full and rich. Our clothes were great. We visited a good school.'

Sources

Oppenheimer/Shacham Family Archive Stolpersteine Stuttgart Margit Bernstein Memoir (English Translation)