III. Buildings Integral to the Former Life and/or Persecution of Jews in Hamburg - Rotherbaum II/Harvestehude.

15. No. 22 Bornstraße.

• Former Louis Levy-Stift (Louis Levy Housing Trust) building.
• Later, "Judenhaus" ("Jew Building").
• Later, the Verwaltungsstelle der "Reichsvereinigung der Juden in Deutschland" (administrative office of the "Reich Organization of Jews in Germany").

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 11.10.1898.
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" ("Jew 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:

Deportation Transport on 10.03.1943 destination Theresienstadt:

Name	Date of Birth	Place of Birth	Occupation	Address
Geistlich, Dorrit	27.03.1935	Hamburg		No. 22 Bornstraße
Geistlich, Esther	13.06.1923	Hamburg		No. 22 Bornstraße
Geistlich, Lieselotte	18.01.1920	Hamburg		No. 22 Bornstraße
Geistlich, Ruth	12.01.1928	Hamburg		No. 22 Bornstraße
Geistlich, Asta	13.03.1913	Hamburg		No. 22 Bornstraße

Deportation Transport on 5.05.1943 destination Theresienstadt:

Name	Date of Birth	Place of Birth	Occupation	Address
Geistlich, Ursula	18.08.1924	Hamburg		No. 22 Bornstraße

Deportation Transport on 9.06.1943 destination Theresienstadt:

Name	Date of Birth	Place of Birth	Occupation	Address
Geistlich, Vera	28.05.1926	Hamburg		No. 22 Bornstraße
Geistlich, Elka née Neumann	15.06.1884	Kiel		No. 22 Bornstraße

Following the deportation transports in July 1942 the Gestapo ordered that practically all Jews living in "nichtprivigierten" Mischehen ("non-privileged mixed-marriages") 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.
The Jüdische Religionsverband (Jewish Religious Federation) had to accommodate 108 such Jews at No. 22 Bornstraße, No. 15 Dillstraße and No. 25 a Rutschbahn, in addition to those already accommodated there.
In 1943 there were 40 individuals accommodated at No. 22 Bornstraße.

In accordance with the 10. Verordnung zum Reichsbürgergesetz (10th 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.