II. Buildings Integral to the Former Life and/or Persecution of Jews in Hamburg - Eimsbüttel/Rotherbaum I. © Wilhelm Mosel, Deutsch-jüdische Gesellschaft Hamburg. 3. Nos. 27 and 29 Schäferkampsallee. No. 27 Schäferkampsallee, Old People's Home of the Jüdische Gemeinde in Hamburg (Jewish Community in Hamburg). Former Jewish Hostel for Young People "Mittleren Beth Chaluz". Former No. 25 Schäferkampsallee. Later Jewish crèche. Later "Judenhaus" ("Jewish Building"). Former communal kitchen of the Deutsch-Israelitische Gemeinde (German Israelite Community) / Jüdische Religionsverband (Jewish Religious Association), former No. 27 Schäferkampsallee. Later "Judenhaus" ("Jewish Building"). No. 29 Schäferkampsallee, Administration Building of the Jüdische Gemeinde in Hamburg (Jewish Community in Hamburg). Former Home for the Infirm and Nursing Home of the Deutsch-Israelitische Gemeinde (German Israelite Community), former No. 29 Schäferkampsallee. Later Nursing Home of the Deutsch-Israeitische Gemeinde (German Israelite Community) / Jüdische Religionsverband (Jewish Religious Association). Later "Judenhaus" ("Jewish Building"). Later Israelitische Krankenhaus (Israelite Hospital). Later Jüdische Krankenhaus Hamburg der "Reichsvereinigung der Juden in Deutschland" (Jewish Hospital Hamburg of the "Reich Federation of Jews in Germany"). The semi-detached house No. 25 and No. 27 Schäferkampsallee, 1941, with the crèche (left) and the communal kitchen (right). In 1928 the ground and existing rented buildings at Nos. 25 and 27 Schäferkampsallee were purchased by the Deutsch-Israelitische Gemeinde (German Israelite Community). In 1936, No. 25 Schäferkampsallee was established as a Jewish hostel "Mittleren Beth Chaluz". Such hostels existed for Jewish youth between the ages of 15 and 17 and were connected with vocational training centres of Jewish communities in many towns in Germany. These training centres were part of the Mittleren Hachschara. In 1936, 42 young people were accommodated here, two floors of boys and one floor of girls. Mittleren Hachschara provided occupational, intellectual, linguistic and social training for Jewish youth as preparation for a life of manual labour in Palestine. The technical training of boys in woodwork and metalwork took place at No. 8-10 Weidenallee and, in Hamburg, lasted three years. The buildings that housed the former training workshops exist today either side of an entrance to a courtyard, and are numbered 8 (right), 10a, 10b and 10c (left) Weidenallee. No. 25 Schäferkampsallee was administered by the Deutsch-Israelitische Gemeinde at least until the end of 1940. It had functioned as a Jewish crèche. Today a No. 25 does not appear in Schäferkampsallee; numbers 27 and 29 follow No. 21. The kitchen of the Communal Kitchen, No. 27 Schäferkampsallee, 1941. From 1932 the former No. 27 Schäferkampsallee functioned as a communal kitchen of the Deutsch-Israeitische Gemeinde. Before this the communal kitchen was situated at No. 13 Rentzelstraße. The former No. 13 has today been replaced by a new building. The establishment of a communal kitchen developed from the Verein zur Speisung armer Reisenden am Sabbath (Association for the Feeding of Poor Travellers on the Sabbath), founded in 1848. The purpose of the association was to feed poor Jews travelling on the Sabbath. It was the responsibility of the cook to provide a sufficient supply of good, healthy food, prepared according to Jewish religious ritual. Frau J. Gurwitsch was the cook at both No. 13 Rentzelstraße and No. 27 Schäferkampsallee. She was supported by a board of trustees. No. 27 Schäferkampsallee was administered by the Jüdische Religionsverband at least until the end of 1942, and further functioned as a nursing home for the infirm. Today, No. 27 Schäferkampsallee is a new building housing the "Altersheim der Jüdische Gemeinde in Hamburg" (Old People's Home of the Jewish Community in Hamburg). On the left wall of the entrance hall there are four rows of five large black panels. These are the 19 foundation panels from the former old people's home at No. 23 Sedanstraße. In the third row (middle) the Jüdische Gemeinde commemorates, on the twentieth plaque, that this new building at No. 27 Schäferkampsallee was erected in 1958, continuing in the tradition of the former old people's home in Sedanstraße. No. 29 Schäferkampsallee, 1941, Nursing Home, later Hospital from 1943-1961. Magnanimous donations enabled the Deutsch-Israelitische Gemeinde, in 1898, to purchase the real estate at No. 29 Schäferkampsallee and to found a Home for the Infirm and Nursing Home of the Deutsch-Israeitische Gemeinde. The bequest from Louis Lachmann and the donation from Hermann Pincus were the two major contributions. In accordance with the statutes, the purpose of the institution was to grant free accommodation and sustenance to needy, permanently disabled members of the community of both sexes. Members of the Hamburg Portugiesisch-Jüdische Gemeinde (Portuguese Jewish Community) were admitted to the institution. The charges received accommodation, clothing, food, medical care and medicine, all free. Individuals who were able to pay, in total or in part, for their maintenance were admitted by way of exception. However, the number of such paying guests was not permitted to exceed a quarter of the total number of charges. A supervisor or matron was appointed to administer the home, to supervise the nursing staff, and domestic staff, and to manage the domestic economy. The statutes specified that the name of the institution was to be permanently displayed on the facade of the building, and the inscription "Hermann und Friederike Lachmann-Siechen- und Altersversorgungshaus" was to be permanently displayed in an appropriate part of the building. In addition, the inscription "Herman Pincus-Stiftung" was to be permanently displayed on the outside of the building. And a roll of honour was to be displayed in an appropriate place on the inside of the building, comprising the names of benefactors who had given donations or legacies of at least 300 RM. (One such was Marcus Nordheim who founded the school in Carolinenstraße, and the Marcus-Nordheim-Stift, in the former Schlachterstraße). At the beginning of 1905 the institution had fifteeen charges, ten men and five women. Aby Warburg was treasurer and Dr. H.E. Plaut secretary. Later the institution was simply called nursing home. Dr. Siegfried Korach was, for decades, medical doctor to the institution. A former medical superior of his praised his exceptional diligence, his strict performance of duty, his extraordinary medical knowledge, his superlative medical talent and his nobility of character. He was deported to Theresienstadt on 23.06.1943, where he died on 1.07.1943. A synagogue was situated in the building which, however, was not in permanent use. Prof. Dr. Siegfried Korach (30.06.1855-1.07.1943), in 1936. He was senior physician at the Israelitische Krankenhaus from 1886-1931, and at the same time, and after 1931, he worked in an honorary capacity in the Nursing Home, Old People's home and Orphanage. The former buildings at Nos. 25, 27 and 29 Schäferkampsallee are registered as the last address in Hamburg of deportees on the group transports between 11.07.1942 and 30.01.1945. These buildings functioned as "Judenhauser" ("Jewish Buildings"). From those deported on 15.07.1942 alone, there are 84 individuals whose last address is registered as one of these three buildings i.e. Nos. 25, 27 and 29 Schäferkampsallee. The following named individuals are representative of the total number of deportees: Deportation Transport on 15.07.1942 destination Theresienstadt: Name Status Date of Birth Place of Birth Occupation Address Nationality Alsberg, Gertrud Joh S. née Weiss Married 15.01.1895   Nursing Sister Schäferkampsallee German Behrend, Katharina Henriete Ida S. Single 18.02.1872   Assistant Teacher (retired) Schäferkampsallee German Rosenstein, Sophie S. Single 24.07.1865 Hamburg Teacher (retired) Schäferkampsallee German Deportation Transport on 24.02 1943 destination Theresienstadt: Name Status Date of Birth Place of Birth Occupation Address Nationality Gerson, Dr. Albin Cäsar I. Divorced 24.08.1866 Hamburg Doctor Schäferkampsallee German Deportation Transport on 10.03.1943 destination Theresienstadt: Name Status Date of Birth Place of Birth Occupation Address Nationality Dawidowicz, Semi Werner   23.01.1922 Hamburg   Schäferkampsallee Polish Deportation Transport on 24.03.1943 destination Theresienstadt: Name Status Date of Birth Place of Birth Occupation Address Nationality Beit, Berl Single 7.07.1941 Hamburg   Schäferkampsallee German Frau S., in a telephone conversation in February 1984, recounts how her grandmother was deported to Theresienstadt from No. 29 Schäferkampsallee. One day her grandmother had to move out of her flat at No.22 Bornstraße into the nursing home building. She had to share a room with four other women on the ground floor (left). There was no other furniture in the room other than the five beds, a table and chairs. Frau S. had bid her grandmother farewell at around 10 p.m. on 10.07.1942. She was allegedly taken away at around 6 a.m. on the following morning. The women had believed they would be able to obtain work in a kitchen in the East. The music teacher Sophie Wohlwill was deported to Theresienstadt from Nos. 25/27 Schäferkampsallee on 10.03.1943. Sophie Wohlwill had been a member of the board of the Warburg-Stiftung since 1929. Rabbi Leo Baeck, (1873-1956, 1912 rabbi in Berlin, chairman of the German rabbinate, from 1933 President of the Reichsvertretung der deutschen Juden) who was also deported to Theresienstadt in 1943 spoke later, in London following his liberation, of Sophie Wohlwill as a "saint". She was of invaluable spiritual support to those in doubt and despair. Her conduct during her the time prior to her deportation was described as "heroism". She could not be persuaded to emigrate. Her decision was made in consideration of beloved friends. Her last place of residence was a tiny room in Schäferkampsallee. Even here she entertained the other occupants with her piano playing. Evidently she was allowed to keep her piano. She had repeatedly said that even when the worst happened she would try to make herself useful. Her sister Gretchen Wohlwill recounts that Sophie had believed in the goodness of people. This people experienced and benefitted from. A friend wrote that one became a better person by having known her. It is "practically impossible" to describe the degree of her devotion to others and her wllingness to make sacrifices. Even the greatest of self sacrifices were normal to her. Sophie Wohlwill, 1872-1944. Portrait in oil by her sister Gretchen Wohlwill. Sophie Wohlwill, was a private music teacher, and was for years on the board of the Warburg-Stiftung. Frau M. recounts her experience of Sophie Wohlwill in Theresienstadt: The first acquaintance she met in Theresienstadt was the pianist Sophie Wohlwill. Her "ghostly", emaciated, skeletal condition made her hardly recognizable. Fran M. had expected a dismal report of maltreatment that had brought this terrible transformation in Sophie but Fran M. could hardly believe her ears when instead Sophie began to speak of the advantages of her current life in Theresienstadt. She had access to a library and was writing a biography of her brother Heinrich. Her eyes lit up with "celestial bliss" as she spoke of this. Sophie died, in the end, of enteritis (inflamation of the intestine). Frau M. had wanted to visit her again but Sophie had died. Sister Amalie Noafeldt ran the Nursing Home at No. 29 Schäferkampsallee for years. She was also a deportee on the transport to Theresienstadt on 19.07.1943. Following the deportation of most of the charges and the remaining personnel of the nursing home on 15.07.1942, the Israelite Hospital was ordered to transfer here. It had to be accommodated in a part of this building from 15.09.1942 and later, from 1942, was called the Jüdische Krankenhaus Hamburg (Jewish Hospital Hamburg). The former Israelite Hospital was accommodated in the buildings of Nos. 68 and 54 Johnsallee, and in the end solely in No. 68 Johnsallee. Considerable amounts of laundry, bedding and medicines for the deportation transports were got ready here. The Foundation of the former Israelitische Krankenhaus was dissolved in January 1943, following its incorporation within the "Reichsvereinigung der Juden in Deutschland" on 1.08.1942. In the following period the hospital continued in a "sorry" state. At the end of the war the hospital survived in the "very humble" building at No. 29 Schäferkampsallee. It was the sole Jewish hospital in Germany that was still in operation. Even 14 months after the end of the war, i.e. in autumn 1946, the building existed with its 40 beds, most being "crude" iron frames, the mattresses threadbare and filled with wood-shavings. The patients rooms had hardly any paint; the walls were of whitewash. In several rooms there was visible bomb damage. There were cracks in the walls and ceilings and the windows barely closed. There were large holes in the linoleum. Linen for the beds and operations was totally inadequate. New patients were admitted on the condition that they brought their own linen. Linen used in operations was so scarce that operations that were not emergency were deferred until the linen had returned from the laundry. Despite indisputable improvements made in the mid 1950s, the conditions remained unsatisfactory in the antiquated, almost dilapidated building. In 1958 the hospital moved to a new building in Alsterkrugchaussee, which was completed in 1961. Today, No. 27 Schäferkampsallee is a new building housing the administration of the Jüdische Gemeinde in Hamburg (Jewish Community in Hamburg). No. 27 Schäferkampsallee. No. 29 Schäferkampsallee. German text: Dipl.-Pol. Wilhelm Mosel, Deutsch-Jüdische Gesellschaft, Hamburg.