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Housing Trusts:
Former Z.H. May und Frau-Stiftung. The buildings at Nos. 25 and 27 Bogenstraße, together with No. 24 Hallerstraße, initially belonged to the Z.H. May und Frau-Stiftung (Z.H. May and Wife Housing Trust).
The trust was established by Emil and Minna May, née Ruben from funds given to them
on the occasion of their 50th wedding anniversary by Emil May's sister Frau Sophie von
Rosenthal, (Amsterdam). The trust was named after Emil May's parents. A commemorative plaque
was erected in house No. 25 with the following inscription: The Senate approved the constitution of the trust on 19.02.1913. The purpose of the trust was to build flats to be provided free to needy Israelites (Jews). The flats were to be granted only to individuals or families of the Jewish faith who were members of the Deutsch-Israelitische Gemeinde (German Israelite Community). The board of directors were obliged to submit an annual report and financial statement to the community. Alterations to the statutes of the trust required the unanimous approval of the board, and the approval of the Hamburg Senat (executive). (In 1937, No. 27 Bogenstraße housed a training centre, for young women, of the "Noar Agudati" organization. This was a Hachschara institution; a training centre with a religious life style for young women). In June 1938 the board was compelled to delete the word "free" (accommodation) from the trust's purpose, as the trust was burdened with considerable taxes. In March 1939 an order from the Jüdische Religionsverband (Jewish Religious Association) lead the board of the trust to resolve on a more intensive occupation of the flats, following which the two-roomed flats formerly occupied by one person were occupied by two people. In October 1938 the board resolved to install a plaque, in the Bogenstraße trust buildings, in honour of the former chairman of the board Martin M. Heilbut, who died in Amsterdam. At the board meeting on 6.01.1940, the chairman submitted a communication, dated 20.12.1939, addressed to the board of the Jüdische Religionsverband, which conveyed an order of the Chefs der Sicherheitspolizei und des SD (Head of the Security Police and the SD. This was the title given to the head of the Reichssicherheits-Hauptamt (RSHA) (Head of Reich Security Main Office) in Berlin), in which the trust was to be incorporated into the "Reichsvereinigung der Juden in Deutschland (Reich Organization of Jews in Germany). Also at this board meeting Dr. Walter Rudolphi, former Oberlandesgerichtsrat and now member of the board of the Jüdische Religionsverband, and also, from October 1939, a member of the board of the trust, reported that following his personal meeting with the Head of the Security Police and the SD, Reinhard Heydrich, in Berlin, the board should, in the meantime, continue to function as normal. In the last minutes of the board meeting of 2.03.1940 the chairman reported that according to notification of the Reichsvereinigung der Juden in Deutschland, dated 19.02.1940, the administration of the property was to be transferred to the Jüdische Religionsverband. In 1942, the trust's property was compulsorily sold to the Reichsvereinigung der Juden in Deutschland. Before this occured Nos. 25 and 27 Bogenstraße appeared in the deportation transport lists of the Gestapo as the last address in Hamburg of those individuals on the deportation transports on 11.07.1942 to Auschwitz, and on 15.07.1942 and 19.07.1942 to Theresienstadt. Practically all Jews registered by the Gestapo had to be accommodated in the few buildings ("Judenhäuser") of the Jüdische Religionsverband before April 1942. There are at least 84 individuals, whose address was registered as Nos. 25/27 Bogenstraße, listed on the transports of 11.07.1942, 15.07.1942 and 19.07.1942, of whom 61 were deported to Theresienstadt on 15.07.1942. Of these 61 individuals the following are representative:
Today, the trust's property is owned by the Jüdische Gemeinde in Hamburg (Jewish Community
in Hamburg). In the building at No. 25 Bogenstraße the original plaque remains with the
inscription:
German text: Dipl.-Pol. Wilhelm Mosel, Deutsch-Jüdische Gesellschaft, Hamburg.
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