Stemwede under National Socialism

The Jews of Wehdem

According to current knowledge, four Jewish families lived in Wehdem in 1933. They each owned residential property and land. All four were merchant families or cattle dealers and of varying degrees of wealth. At the beginning of the Nazi regime, they were all well-respected and accepted members of the village community. With Hitler's so-called seizure of power in January 1933, the mood in the village changed. Party events increasingly confronted the local population with the racial doctrine of National Socialism. The nationwide call to boycott Jewish businesses from April 1, 1933 was clearly felt in Wehdem. Jewish families were dispossessed and discriminated against. The families gradually left the town. The events of the Reich Pogrom Night on 9/10 November 1938 in Wehdem were characterized by vandalism and targeted agitation against the last remaining Jews in the community.

Stemwede under National Socialism

Philipp Coblenzer

A text from the perspective of the Wehdemer Jew Philipp Coblenzer, read by Tobias Seeger

Stemwede under National Socialism

Fates

The Sauer merchant family

The Sauer merchant family left Wehdem in the summer of 1933 and moved to Braunschweig. Their property was foreclosed.

The Philipp Sauer family

The merchant Philipp Coblenzer gave up his business in 1933 and leased it to a former employee. Over the next few years, pressure was exerted on the family to sell their property at a favorable price. In November 1938, the furniture was smashed up and thrown onto the street. The family had previously been forced to leave the village with only the bare necessities. The family had previously applied to leave the country.

The Carl Coblenzer family

The modestly living merchant Carl Coblenzer had already emigrated to the USA via Antwerp in 1936 with his wife Kaete and their children Ellen and Ernst.

The Simon Sauer family

The cattle dealer Simon Sauer was one of the wealthiest citizens in Wehdem. On November 10, 1938, his house was set on fire and burned down. Over the next few months, the family left Wehdem and emigrated.

Else Bertha Schiftan, née Sauer

Else Bertha Schiftan was born on 7.11.1893 in Haldem. She lived in Hanover before the war. On December 15, 1941, she was deported to Theresienstadt in the Czech Republic and around 1944 to the Stutthof camp. She was murdered in the Shoah.

Minna Goldberg, née Coblenzer

Minna Goldberg was born on July 4, 1869 in Wehdem. She was married to Adolphe Goldberg and lived in Twistringen. During the war, she lived in Haaksbergen in the Netherlands. On April 27, 1943, she was deported from the Westerbork camp in the Netherlands to the Sobidor extermination camp (Poland), where she was presumably murdered on April 30, 1943. (The information was submitted by her grandson Kurt Frank)

Emmy Herschkowitz, née Sauer

Emmy Herschkowitz was born in Wehdem in 1893, the daughter of Moses and Julie Sauer. She was married and lived in Bydgoszcz and Poznan in Poland. She was murdered in 1943. (The information was submitted by her nephew Rolf Magnus)

Sophie Joseph, née Coblenzer

Sophie Joseph was born on 22.12.1871 in Wehdem. She was married to Emil. Before the Second World War she lived in Twistringen and Solingen, during the war in Haaksbergen in the Netherlands. She was deported from the Vesterbork camp to the Auschwitz extermination camp on 19.05.1944 and probably murdered on 22.05.1944. (The information comes from her nephew Kurt Frank, among others)

Moritz Kaschmann

Moritz Kaschmann was born on May 23, 1895 as the son of Emanuel and Sara Kaschmann in Wehdem. He was married to Emma, née Speier. He lived in Kassel before the Second World War. During the war he was deported to Buchenwald and Riga and probably murdered in the Shoah in 1945. (The information comes from Helene Frank, a second cousin.)

Moritz Samenfeld

Moritz Samenfeld was born on January 29, 1882 in Diepholz. He lived in Wehdem before the war, later in the Ahlem camp. He was deported to Warsaw on March 31, 1942. He was murdered in the Shoah and declared dead.