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STOLPERSTEINE PROJECT

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COMMEMORATION 1938-2008
JONATHAN GOLDSCHMIDT: WHAT THE COMMEMORATION IN BOLLENDORF ON NOVEMBER 9 MEANS TO ME
A SHORT HISTORY OF JEWS IN BOLLENDORF
MEMORIES OF BOLLENDORF
BELLA HEPPENHEIMER
MARTHE KRISTELLER
HELEN HERRMANN
DANIEL MAYER
WALLY MAYER
A MAP OF BOLLENDORF
IN MEMORIAM
PHOTOS OF BOLLENDORF, NOVEMBER 2008
STOLPERSTEINE PROJECT

Stolpersteine, a creation of the German artist Gunter Demnig, are cobblestone-sized brass memorials commemorating Holocaust victims. The memorials are typically placed at the last known residence of the victims; there are currently thousands of these memorials placed throughout Europe. See Wikipedia: Stolpersteine for more information.

The initial set of Bollendorf Stolpersteine was laid down in November 2016 in front of the houses of Bollendorfer Jews who were killed or who fled abroad during the Nazi Era. The first ones were placed on Sauerstaden at the corner of Lindenstrasse, in front of the Steinberger house, commemorating Adolf Steinberger, his wife Marianne née Levy, their daughter Erna Plonsker and her husband Herbert, all of whom were killed in 1942. Their daughter Irma Stern, her husband Isaak, and their two sons Norbert and Arnold were able to escape overseas in 1939.

The second set of Stolpersteine was placed in front of the house at Lindenstrasse 17, where Moritz Levy, his wife Emilie née Wolff and their two sons Josef and Armand lived until 1936. They then moved to Luxembourg from where they were deported to Lodz in October 1941; all four were killed.

Esther Levy née Baum lived at 33 Neuerburgerstrasse. Esther was deported to Theresienstadt in April 1943 where she died shortly before her eighty-fourth birthday.

Between Abteihof and Sauerstaden lived the family of Daniel Abraham Levy, his wife Klara Levy née Levy, and their children Adolf and Betty (Goldschmidt). Daniel and Klara were deported to Theresienstadt; they were murdered in 1943 and 1944. Adolf died at age ten in 1937 as a result of a brutal crime which was never properly investigated. Betty was the only family member to survive the Holocaust by virtue of reaching England.

A second phase of placing Stolpersteine was begun in November 2017. The Bollendorf synagogue was located at 32 Kirchstrasse. It was built around 1889 and burned down during the 1938 Kristallnacht. A Stolpersteine was placed at the site of the synagogue.

At 4 Bachstrasse stood the house of Karl Mayer, his wife Adelheid née Kahn, their son Siegfried and his wife Delphine née Levy. Karl and Adelheid were taken to Theresienstadt, where they were murdered in 1942. Siegfried and Delphine fled to Luxembourg, to no avail, as they were later deported to the Lodz Ghetto. Siegfried died there in 1941; Delphine was sent to Chelmno, where she was murdered a few weeks after her arrival. Stolpersteine were placed across the street from their house.

Daniel Levy lived at 38 Neuerburgerstrasse along with his wife Ernestine née Ermann and their children Ilse and Gunther Leopold. The entire family was deported from Luxembourg on 16 October 1941; they were sent to the Lodz Ghetto. Three years later the family was deported to Auschwitz where all but Daniel died.

Not far from the Daniel Levy house, at 48 Neuerburgerstrasse, stood the house of Max Mayer, his wife Hedwig née Kahn, and their two sons Manfred and Kurt. In 1936, this family was able to escape to America, where they settled in St. Louis, Missouri.

Not only Jewish residents of Bollendorf suffered as a result of false Nazi eugenics ideas. Theresia Spang, a non-Jew, living at 66 Neuerburgerstrasse, was euthanized at the Andernach Clinic for having the misfortune of suffering from depression. Theresia was killed on 18 December 1944.

On Sauerstaden, at number 4, lived two unmarried sisters – Sophie and Helene Levy. The sisters were poor and had no means of escape. Along with other Bollendorfers, Sophie and Helene were transported to Izbica on 29 April 1942. Not long afterwards they were killed in Belzec.

At the edge of the village stood the house at Burgstrasse 15, where Salomon Levy (a.k.a. Scholem Levy), his wife Johannetta née Samuel, and their twelve children had lived. In March 1941, the house at Burgstrasse 15 became a "Jewish House", where Jews whose property had been confiscated had been assigned to residence. Johannetta and one son, Moritz, and his wife Klara née Wolf, were still living there. Seven other Jews shared the house and payed rent to the state. These seven Jews were:

  • Daniel Levy and his wife Klara Levy
  • Leo Hein and his wife Paula Mayer Hein
  • Leo Levy and his wife Betty Kaufman Levy
  • Hermine Sender Levy
By 1942, they had all been deported to extermination camps.

Daniel Levy was known as Baker Dani because he ran a bakery at Lindenstrasse 10. He lived there with his wife Melanie née Cahen, and his daughters Irène and Martha. Daniel and his family escaped to France and settled in Nice. A plaque with photos and family history is affixed to the outside wall of the former bakery.

Click here for further details, including photographs, of the Stolpersteine Project.

 Copyright © 2011 Suzanne Mayer Tarica

Email: suzanne.tarica@gmail.com