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II. Buildings Integral to the Former Life and/or Persecution of Jews in Hamburg - Eimsbüttel/Rotherbaum I.© Wilhelm Mosel, Deutsch-jüdische Gesellschaft Hamburg. 15. No. 35 Bundesstraße.
The former Samuel Levy-Stiftung (Samuel Levy Trust) was situated at No. 35 Bundesstraße. It was founded in a will on 4.07.1841, with addenda added until 1858, and established in 1896. The purpose of the trust was the provision of subsidized flats for "upright", "peace-loving", needy Jews who were members of the Deutsch-Israelitischen Gemeinde (German Israelite Community) or Portugiesischen Gemeinde (Portuguese Community). Exceptions were Jews who were not members of either of the two Jewish communities, when born in Hamburg, or having at least 15 years authorized residence. The number of the latter were not permitted to exceed one tenth of the total number of tenants of the trust. The prospective tenants had to be over 50 years of age. With married couples the age of the man was decisive. In 1909, there were 25 two room flats with kitchen, and 22 one room flats with kitchen. In 1939, Alfred Levy, a relative of the founder, resigned his position as chairman of the board of directors, which he had for years devotedly fulfilled, as he had decided to emigrate.
From February 1940 the board of directors unanimously decided that, in general, the one room flats were to be allocated to married couples, and no longer to single people. At this time there were numerous requests made to the Jüdischen Religionsverband for rooms in the various housing trusts. The majority of married tenants of the trust preferred to move into one room flats with kitchen rather than have a third person share their flat. On the 1st January 1941 there were 105 individuals living in the trust building, of whom 104 were registered. They occupied 49 flats. The allocation of the tenants necessitated a number of structural alterations, and in addition improvements were made, for example, the installation of electricity in all the flats.
On 10th January 1941 the chairman of the board of directors was summoned by the Gestapo,
where he had to submit a financial statement, and sign a protcol concerning the following matters:
the trust was registered under old Hamburg trust law, members of the board of directors were required
to be "German" citizens, and "foreigners" were not allowed to be supported. In 1942, the property upon which houses A, B and C stood, was compulsorily sold. Before this occured the address frequently appeared in the Gestapo deportation transport lists as the last address in Hamburg of deportees. Practically all Jews registered by the Gestapo had to be accommodated in buildings of the Jüdischer Religionsverband (Jewish Religious Federation) before April 1942. It was very overcrowded in these "Judenhäusern" ("Jewish buildings"). There were at least 130 individuals whose address is registered as the Judenhaus, No. 35 Bundesstraße, on the three deportation transports in July 1942, of whom 104 alone were deported on 15.07.1942.
The following names are representative of those deported:
Today the former Samuel-Levy-Stift building no longer exists. After the war the building was returned to the Jüdische Gemeinde in Hamburg (Hamburg Jewish Community). In 1979 the foundation stone of the Appartmenthaus Rentzelstraße was laid. This is a four-storey appartment building with entrances at No. 35 Bundestraße and No. 32 Rentzelstraße.
German text: Dipl.-Pol. Wilhelm Mosel, Deutsch-Jüdische Gesellschaft, Hamburg.
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