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Housing Trusts:
All "Jews" (as defined by the Nuremberg decrees) living in the Reich became compulsory members. The "Reichsvereinigung der Juden in Deutschland" was a registered society with its office in Berlin. The local branches of the "Reichsvereinigung der Juden in Deutschland" replaced the local Jewish religious associations. The organizations had the goal of promoting the forced emigration. It was also responsible for Jewish education and social welfare. The "Reichsvereinigung der Juden in Deutschland" was subordinate to the Reichsinnenminister (Reich Home Secretary). He had the power to disband Jewish societies, organizations and charitable foundations, or to order their incorporation within the "Reichsvereinigung der Juden in Deutschland".
Louis Isaac Levy died on 9.12.1898 in Hamburg, and left a will jointly made up
with his wife Caroline Theres, née Blersch on
The testator specified in his will that a housing trust be established under the name of
Louis Levy-Stift. The purpose of the trust was to make flats available at a modest rent,
or in special circumstances for free, to "poor" Jews who were members of the
Deutsch-Israelitischen Gemeinde (German Israelite Community) or the Portugiesisch-Jüdischen
Gemeinde (Portuguese Jewish Community).
Isidor Isaacsen and Dr. Max Cohen, lawyer, were named executors. They appointed
Joseph Koch and Jacob Alexander together with Isidor Isaacsen as the
administrative board of the trust.
In June 1900 the trust acquired two properties in Grindelallee and a property in
Bornstraße by selling a site in the former Goßlerstraße/Löwenstraße in the district of
Eppendorf. The architect A. Heidmann was commissioned to draw up plans for the house in
Bornstraße, whereas the properties in Grindelallee were to be provisionally let at the highest
possible rent.
In 1905, Leo Isaacsen took the place of his deceased father on the board. In
1903, No. 22 Bornstraße is registered as containing 12 flats. In 1926,
the trust building at No. 15 Bornstraße contained 15 flats. The trust buildings at
No. 1 and No. 8 Durchschnitt contained 4 and 7 flats respectively.
From 1929 on, Emil Elias, Dr. Nathan Max Nathan and Dr. Bruno Tannenwald were
members of the board. In 1933, Elfriede Pick joined the board in place of the
deceased Dr. Tannenwald. The board remained so constituted until 1937.
In 1941, the trust's properties came under the name of the Jüdische Religionsverband
(Jewish Religious Federation). This name was given to the amalgamation of the four former
independent Jewish communities in Hamburg i.e.
Hamburg, Altona, Wandsbek, and Harburg-Wilhelmsburg, on 1.01.1938, following the creation of a greater
Hamburg i.e. Hansestadt Hamburg on 1.04.1937.
Together with the three former religious associations i.e. Synagogue Association,
Temple Association, and
Dammtor Synagogue, the Altona Religious Association also joined.
The Portuguese Jewish Community remained independent of the new amalgamated community until 1941.
The Jewish Religious Federation Hamburg lost its status as a public body in an Act passed on
31.03.1938, as did
all Jewish religious associations within the Reich.
It was demoted to the status of a registered society which had the effect that its income was
inevitably further reduced.
Following the 1942 deportations the independence of the Jewish Religious Federation Hamburg
could no longer
be maintained. By order of the Reich Security Main Office it was incorporated into the
"Reichsvereinigung der Juden in Deutschland" ("Reich Society of Jews in Germany")
directly under the supervision of Adolf Eichmann.
This took place on 1.08.1942.
The Gestapo named these buildings owned by the Jüdische Religionsverband, "Judenhäuser"
("Jewish Buildings").
The following deportees, whose last address in Hamburg was No. 22 Bornstraße, are
representative of those on the 10.03.1943 deportation transport to Theresienstadt:
Following the deportation transports in July 1942 the Gestapo also ordered that,
practically all Jews living in "nichtprivigierten" Mischehen ("non-privileged mixed-marriage")
i.e. either a Jewish husband with a non-Jewish wife with no children or children of the Jewish faith,
or a Jewish wife with a non-Jewish husband with children of the Jewish faith, were to be accommodated
in these "Jewish Buildings". No. 22 Bornstraße was one of the five designated buildings.
In 1943 there were 40 individuals accommodated at No. 22 Bornstraße.
In accordance with the 10. Verordnung zum Reichsbürgergesetz (10 Regulation of the Act
defining German nationality) of 4.07.1939, the Louis Levy-Stift, with its three properties,
was incorporated
into the Reichsvereinigung der Juden in Deutschland (Reich Organization of Jews in Germany).
All "Jews" (as defined by the Nuremberg decrees) living in the Reich became compulsory members. The
"Reichsvereinigung der Juden in Deutschland" was a registered society with its office in Berlin.
The local
branches of the "Reichsvereinigung der Juden in Deutschland" replaced the local Jewish religious
associations.
The organizations had the goal of promoting the forced emigration. It was also responsible for
Jewish education and social welfare.
The "Reichsvereinigung der Juden in Deutschland" was subordinate to the Reichsinnenminister
(Reich Home Secretary). He had the power to disband Jewish societies, organizations and charitable
foundations, or to order
their incorporation within the "Reichsvereinigung der Juden in Deutschland".
In October 1943, No. 22 Bornstraße became an office of the Reichsvereinigung der
Juden in Deutschland, that was officially named the Vewaltungsstelle der Reichsvereinigung
der Juden in Deutschland (Administrative Office of the Reich Organization of Jews in Germany).
The former office at No. 2 Beneckestraße was destroyed by a bomb in July 1943.
The building at No. 22 Bornstraße exists today. It is again in the ownership of the
Jüdische Gemeinde in Hamburg (Hamburg Jewish Community), and is a residential building.
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