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"Vivo! es un milagro": El destino de una familia de Munich durante el Holocausto.
"I am alive! it is a miracle": The fate of a Munich family during the Holocaust.
"Ich lebe! Das ist ein Wunder": Das Schicksal einer Muenchner Familie waerend des Holocaust.

       
Fuente: Museo Judío de Munich

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Vivo

"Vivo ! es un milagro": El destino de una familia de Munich durante el Holocausto

Galicia

En julio de 1908 Mordejai Julev (su nombre fue cambiado a Markus Blechner, tiempo después en Munich) contrajo matrimonio con Mina Schaffer. Las familias de Mordejai y Mina eran provenientes de Galicia, región que formaba parte del Imperio Austro-Hungaro, donde llevaban una vida judía ortodoxa. Eran negociantes. El antisemitismo y el difícil clima económico existente en Galicia dió motivos a que muchas personas emigraran. Los padres de Mordejai, Pinkas y Bluma, ya habían pasado una cantidad de años en Alemania.

Mina y Mordejai se trasladaron a Munich a fin de comenzar una nueva vida. Con duro trabajo e imaginación lograron prosperar. Sus hijos crecieron en Munich y recibieron su educación allí.

Los Blechner eran judíos observantes y mantenían sus contactos con sus familiares en Galicia. Después de tres décadas Munich se convirtió en su nuevo hogar. Tanto así, que a pesar de las crecientes persecuciones y discriminaciones permanecieron en la ciudad por mucho tiempo.

El nuevo hogar - Vida Judía en Munich en el período entre las dos Guerras Mundiales

Mordejai Blechner llegó a Munich en 1910. Su esposa Mina le siguió en 1914 con sus hijos Jakob y Oskar, quienes nacieron en Galicia. Salo y Leon nacieron posteriormente en Munich. La familia vivió en el distrito de Munich, Isavorstadt, un barrio popular donde vivían los immigrantes judíos procedentes de Europa del Este.

A pesar de la creciente immigración desde finales del 19mo. siglo, ya en 1910 los judíos representaban sólamente un 1,9% de la problación de Munich. De estas 11.083 personas aproximadamente el 20% eran originarias de Europa del Este. Dentro de la comunidad judía de Munich, representaban un grupo independiente y desventajado desde hace mucho. Luego de la Primera Guerra Mundial como resultado del creciente antisemitismo, el cerco se fue cerrando entre la mayoría liberal de la comunidad, y la minoría ortodoxa de immigrantes. Los judíos de Europa del Este fundaron su propia Sinagoga en la calle Reichenbach en 1931, a la que los Blechner acudían.

Como muchos judíos habitantes en la Isavorstadt, Mordejai ganaba su sustento como hombre de negocios. Construyó un exitoso negocio con accesorios para zapatos. Sus dos hijos, Jakob y Oskar trabajaron con él en el negocio. Jakob era un agente de ventas para su padre y viajaba al área de Traunstein y mucho más allá hasta el Neuoetting en la Alta Bavaria.

Immigrantes ? Extranjeros ? Ciudadanos de Munich ?

Como la mayoría de los judíos de Europa del Este, los Blechner no eran muy diferentes de los otros residentes de la Isavorstadt. Mordejai y Mina hablaban no solo Alemán, sino también Yiddish y Polaco. El Alemán era la lengua materna de sus hijos. Toda la familia portaba la ciudadanía polaca luego de la fundación del Estado polaco en 1918.

Con el incremento del antisemitismo y la xenofobia en Alemania en los años anteriores a 1933, todos los judíos de Munich, incluídos los Blechner y especialmente aquellos que no eran alemanes, comenzaron a ser discriminados y marginalizados. El peligro de caer bajo la sospecha de las autoridades alemanas con la consecuente expulsión inmediata aumentó significativamente. La persecución llegó a un punto culminante a finales de octubre de 1938 con la deportación de judíos polacos, incluídos los Blechner, hacia la frontera entre Alemania y Polonia. Jakob, Frieda y los padres pudieron regresar a Munich a principios de noviembre. Salo, sin embargo, fue internado en una zona que era "tierra de nadie" entre Alemania y Polonia. Oskar fue anotado en la lista de deportación como "ausente".

De frente a una situación de amenaza a sus vidas como judíos, la familia decide abandonar Alemania. Leon consiguió emigrar hacia los EE.UU. Oskar partió desde Hamburgo en mayo de 1939 a bordo del SS St. Louis. Frieda y Jakob partieron a Suiza en 1939. En agosto de 1939, sólo Mordejai, Mina y Salo quedaron atrás en Munich. Trataron posteriormente salir de allí desesperadamente pero no lo consiguieron.

Album familiar

Los Blechner, con cuatro hijos eran una familia relativamente grande. El promedio de las familias en la Isavorstadt tenían de uno a dos niños. Jakob y Leon se casaron con esposas judías que crecieron también en la Isavorstadt con familias que también eran originarias de Europa del Este. 1937: Una de las últimas fotos de la familia reunida
1937: Una de las últimas fotos de la familia reunida

Este hecho era de gran diferencia al compararlo con los matrimonios de judíos que ya estaban largo tiempo establecidas y que vivían en Schwabing y Bogenhausen, donde el 58% se casaron con compañeros no judíos en 1927. Los Blechner, como otra gente cualquiera de Munich, pasaban sus horas y ratos libres en el zoológico, el Parque Inglés o en paseos a las montañas alpinas. La situación financiera les permitió inclusive viajar al extranjero. Los cuatro hermanos tomaron parte en la rica y multifacética vida comunal de la comunidad judía de Munich.

Prisioneros en Alemania

Mina, Markus y Salo Blechner buscaron refugio en la cercana Suiza. Llegaron el 27 de agosto de 1939 a St. Margarethen en la frontera suiza. Sus pasaportes fueron retenidos, pero se les aseguró que para el día siguiente podrían continuar el viaje. A pesar de documentos de viaje válidos, no se les permitió transitar ni entrar a Suiza y se vieron obligados a regresar a Munich.

Solo pocos días después regresaron al vacío apartamento en la calle Klenze 65, un decreto había sido emitido de agrupar a todos los judíos polacos en "custodia protectora". La Gestapo arrestó a Markus Blechner el 9 de septiembre de 1939 siendo llevado luego al campo de concentración de Buchenwald. Salo Blechner pudo escapar con escaso margen y huyó hacia Berlin donde fue arrestado al poco tiempo.

Mina Blechner quedó sola y libró una desesperada batalla para liberar a Markus y a Salo. Trató sin cesar de conseguir visas para su esposo, para su hijo y para sí misma. Sus esfuerzos fueron todos en vano. Ella recibió la noticia que su esposo Markus, había muerto el 14 de noviembre de 1939 en Buchenwald.

Al comienzo de marzo de 1940, Mina fue forzada a dejar su apartamento en la calle Klenze; fue reubicada en un llamado "apartamento judío" en el número 27 de la calle Reichenbach, donde tuvo que vivir en condiciones extremas en la cocina. A pesar del tremendo malestar y la restricción física, ella continuó con la lucha para conseguir la liberación y la emigración de su hijo Salo.

Deportación y asesinato

En octubre de 1941, la jefatura nazi ordenó la deportación de los judíos de Alemania hacia el Este. Mina Blechner recibió la orden para preparase a la "evacuación" el 7 de noviembre de 1941. Ella adivinó cual sería el destino que le esperaba. Mina estaba desesperada al saber que nunca más vería a sus hijos.

 

1941: Deportación en Munich-Milbertshofen
1941: Deportación en Munich-Milbertshofen
El 11 de noviembre de 1941, Mina junto con todos los hombres, mujeres y niños deportados fueron llevados al Milbertshofen y colocados en barracas. El 19 de noviembre, fueron trasladados del Milbertshofen, Mina escribió una última carta a Jakob.

A pesar de su situación desesperada procuró una vez más darle coraje a sus hijos. Esta carta es la última señal de vida de Mina Blechner.

El tren de deportación con mil personas de Munich, dejó el Milbertshofen a tempranas horas del 20 de noviembre de 1941. Luego de tres días de viaje, el tren llegó a Kaunas en Lituania. Los prisioneros fueron llevados a fortificaciones en las afueras de la ciudad. El 25 de noviembre, el triste famoso Comando de Acción 3 (Einsatzkommando 3), asesinó a los judíos de Munich, junto con los deportados de Frankfurt y Berlin. La masacre de ese día cobró la vida de 1159 hombres, 1600 mujeres y 175 niños.

Salo Blechner

Salo, el cuarto hijo de la familia, huyó a Berlín a consecuencia del arresto de su padre en septiembre de 1939. El había trabajado allí hasta 1938 como vendedor en Gerb. Koh y su novia margo y otros amigos vivían allí también.

La gran campaña para arrestar a ciudadadanos polacos se extendió por todo el país.

Salo Blechner en el Edificio Karstadt de Munich
Salo Blechner en el Edificio Karlstadt de Munich

Salo fue arrestado por la Gestapo y fue llevado al campo de concentración de Sachsenhausen el 13 de septiembre de 1939. Poco tiempo después fue trasladado a Neuengamme, donde tuvo que trabajar en la contrucción del campo. El 23 de octubre de 1942 fue nuevamente deportado hacia Auschwitz-Monowitz. En enero de 1944 fue llevado a Nordhausen donde siguió en régimen de trabajos forzados en los túneles del campo Dora-Mittelbau. En marzo/abril de 1945 Salo llegó de nuevo a otro campo de concentración, Bergen-Belsen. Finalmente el 17 de abril de 1945 fue liberado por la Armada Británica.

Luego de seis años de prisión en los campos de concentración y trabajos forzados, Salo regresó a Munich a buscar a su familia y tratar de emigrar a los EE.UU.. El gobierno militar americano lo nombró temporalmente encargado de la tradicional y conocida tienda de deportes de Munich, Sport Muenzinger. 1941: Trabajos forzados en Neuengamme
1941: Trabajos forzados en Neuengamme

Un oficial de la armada americana lo ayudó en su solicitud de emigrar y así llegó él en 1946 a los EE.UU.

Salo Blechner cuenta hoy con 87 años y vive en Boston.

Oskar Blechner

1939: Oskar Blechner viaja a Cuba
1939: Oskar Blechner viaja a Cuba
Oskar Blechner, el segundo de los cuatro hermanos trató de emigrar a los EE.UU. via Cuba en el Hapag Lloyd, barco trasatlántico SS St. Louis. El St. Louis partió de Hamburgo el 13 de mayo de 1939. El destino de los 937 pasajeros judíos era incierto desde el comienzo. La mayoría de los pasajeros portaban sólo visa de turista y ningún documento válido para entrar a Cuba. Estas visas fueron emitidas por la Dirección de Imigración pero fueron declaradas inválidas por el gobierno cubano.

America, el próximo punto de destino, también rechazó la entrada de los pasajeros del St. Louis. El barco tuvo que retornar a Hamburgo. Gracias a los esfuerzos de las organizaciones caritativas judías y la opinión pública mundial, los gobiernos de Bélgica, Holanda, Francia y Gran Bretaña decidieron aceptar la

estadía temporal de los refugiados. El gobierno británico aceptó a todos los ciudadanos polacos que estaban a bordo, incluyendo a Oskar.

Oskar se estableció rápidamente en Londres. Con un amigo, desarrolló una máquina para trabajar artesanalmente el cuero, consiguiendo venderla con éxito. Estableció su propia compañía en 1941. Su vida privada también floreció. Se casó y fundó una familia.

Oskar Blechner murió el 25 de octubre de 1976 en Londres.

Carta de Jakob a Oskar y Gwen en la ocasión de su matrimonio

Zurich, 16 de febrero de 1942
Mi querida Gwen, querido Oskar !

En la ocasión de vuestro inminente día de matrimonio quiero enviaros mis más sinceros y mejores deseos.
Que seáis bendecidos con una larga, feliz y saludable vida juntos y que todos experimentemos sólamente una mutual alegría y felicidad.
Querido hermano, desafortunadamente nuestra amada madre no puede acompañarlos a la Jupá en tu día de honor supremo. Debido a la situación de guerra no es posible para ella, así como a tus hermanos, Salo, Leo y nosotros, para participar personalmente en la Simjá.
Nuestra mayor tristeza es que nuestro bien amado padre no tuvo el privilegio de vernos y participar en este día de honor.
Estáis fundando una vida de matrimonio en uno de los tiempos más difíciles. Esto es lo que asombra de nosotros los judíos; que a pesar de la tragedia de hoy, la comunidad judía celebra un matrimonio y por consiguiente el pueblo judío continuará a existir. Tenemos la esperanza que lograremos soportar los difíciles juicios que han caído sobre nosotros los judíos; y que ya fuera de los tiempos difíciles, una verdadera, genuina y nueva vida emergerá. Estoy convencido que estos son también tus pensamientos. Y así deseamos que las víctimas, que prácticamente hay en toda familia de la Casa de Israel a causa de Hitler, llevarán al pueblo judío a un genuino y justo futuro. En este sentido también tu matrimonio crecerá en el nuevo futuro judío.
Ojalá que D-os le conceda a nuestra madre y a nuestro hermano Salo la fuerza especial necesaria para perserverar en su severo sufrimiento, para protegerlos a ambos y a todos nosotros y traiga pronto el día en el que toda nuestra familia pueda reunirse de nuevo en paz y buena salud.
Nuestros pensamientos estarán con vosotros especialmente en este día. Deseamos que tengáis un tiempo digno y feliz, y deseamos a vuestros padres, querida Gwen, un verdaderamente del corazón Mazaltov.
Cordialmente, Jakob

Jakob Blechner

Jakob y su esposa Frieda huyeron a Suiza en agosto de 1939. Desde allí quisieron irse a donde Oskar en Gran Bretaña via Francia y finalmente proseguir hacia los EE.UU. El empeoramiento de la situación de guerra evitó que ellos pudieran realizar estos planes.

La vida en Suiza para los refugiados judíos no era fácil. Jakob y Frieda pudieron lograr adquirir un apartamento privado. Debido a que los refugiados no se les permitía trabajar, la empobrecida pareja tuvo que confiar en la caridad judía. Jakob prestó servicios a la comunidad desde 1940 hasta 1946 en forma intermitente. Un benefactor de Zurich, Jakob Sussmann, le permitió trabajar como artesano de la seda durante un año entre 1942-43 en la escuela textil superior en Zurich. Frieda consiguió empleo como empleada doméstica y se le permitió vivir junto con su hijo Markus quien nació en 1941. Ella era afortunada ya que muchas otras madres refugiadas eran separadas de sus hijos.

Jakob pudo mantener correspondencia desde la neutral Suiza con los miembros de la familia en Gran Bretaña (Oskar), EE.UU. (Leon) y Alemania (Mina y Salo) y también de transmitir noticias entre la familia. Después de la muerte de su padre en Buchenwald, tomó el rol de jefe de la familia por ser el mayor de los hermanos.

Jakob Blechner murió el 15 de abril de 1978 en Zurich.

Leon Blechner

Leon es el más joven de los hermanos Blechner. Huyó de los nazis en marzo de 1938 hacia los EE.UU. Inicialmente vivió y trabajó cerca de Boston. Allí esperó a su esposa Gina. Su llegada fue retrasada. En avanzado estado de gravidez fue arrestada en el otoño de 1938 como parte de la "Campaña polaca" siendo retenida en Stadelheim hasta que por suerte se le dejó ir. Pocos días después nace su hijo Jerry en Munich.

Sólo un año después llegan Gina y Jerry a Nueva York. Tuvieron que permanecer en la isla Ellis por cuatro días. Sólo cuando Leon prometió pagar los gastos de viaje, se les permitió ingresar legalmente al país. A pesar de todos los esfuerzos, Leon no logró salvar a sus padres y rescatar a su hermano Salo del terror nazi. Gina vivió también y por mucho tiempo una gran incertidumbre sobre el destino de su familia.

Cuando Salo, finalmente pudo entrar a los EE.UU., Leon estaba trabajando como gerente de una pequeña tienda de textiles. Salo fue empleado inicialmente en el negocio de su tio elaborando iluminación fluorescente. Posteriormente, Salo fundó su propia compañía en Boston y Leon dejo la tienda de textiles para asociarse entonces con Salo.

Hoy Salo cuenta con 85 años y vive en un Hogar de ancianos en Florida.

Política imigratoria americana durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial

La politica americana hacia los imigrantes se tornó cada vez más restrictiva durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial. Un sistema de cuotas ya estaba establecido en los años 20, que definía el límite de imigración desde ciertos países.

Una vez que América comenzó a participar en la guerra en 1941, la posibilidad de salvar judíos desapareció por completo. La élite política americana sostuvo firmemente el único punto de vista que sólo la victoria sobre Hitler salvaría a la judeidad europea.

Luego de la crisis económica de 1929, las voces de la opinión pública americana se hicieron más intensas en protesta contra la imigración y especialmente contra los refugiados judíos. Antisemitismo no era un vocablo extraño en la América de los años 30. Una significativa mayoría de americanos temían que los imigrantes judíos les quitarían sus puestos de trabajo.

Post 1945

"Inclusive después de todos estos años, todavía no puedo olvidar lo que nos sucedió en Munich y el destino de nuestra familia en el Holocausto" es como Alex Blumenberg comenta sobre sus sentimientos hoy hacia Alemania. Alex, un sobrino de Markus Blechner, sólo regresó a Munich posterior a su huída de Alemania, para visitar la tumba de su abuela quien murió en 1942. Otros miembros de la familia describen sus sentimientos hacia Munich y Alemania en forma similar. Ningún miembro de la familia vive hoy en Munich o el resto del país. Alemania no es más su hogar sino sólamente el lugar de procedencia de la familia.

1945: Salo Blechner en la tumba de su padre
1945: Salo Blechner en la tiba de su padre
Mucho de los jóvenes miembros de la familia en la segunda y tercera generación han estado en Munich; sin embargo esperan que la ciudad tome responsabilidad por su historia, ya que sólo de esta manera la repetición del racismo y la violencia, del terror y el asesinato del período Nazi puede ser prevenido. El punto de vista de la familia es que el interés en ver de lo que ocurrió en el pasado, no debe obstaculizar nuestra visión del futuro.

La famila, apesar de estar dispersada por todo el munto, disfruta un fuerte sentimiento de permanecer junta. Todos tienen un fuerte nexo con Israel. Sin importar en qué país esten viviendo, viven en una comunidad judía pero con una mente abierta hacia el mundo no judío que los rodea.

La exhibición del destino de la familia en Munich fue iniciado y llevado a cabo por Anthony Blechner, con el apoyo de toda la familia desde diferentes partes del mundo.

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19.07.2001 - 11.04.2002. Una exposición de los Archivos Historicos de Munich y el Departamento de Historia Judía y Cultura (Seminario de Historia de la Universidad Ludwig Maximilian -LMU, Munich) en trabajo conjunto con el Museo de la Ciudad de Munich. MUSEO JUDIO DE MUNICH (JUEDISCHES MUSEUM MUENCHEN): Reichenbachstrasse 27 Rgb. D-80469 Muenchen. Tel: 00 49-(089)-200 096 93
HISTORY OF THE JEWISH COMMUNITY IN MUNICH: Go to History in Munich

I am

"I am alive ! it is a miracle": The fate of a Munich family during the Holocaust

Galicia

In July 1908 Mordechai Chulew (his name was changed later in Munich to Markus Blechner) married Mina Schaffer. The families of Mordechai and Mina came from Galicia, part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, where they followed an orthodox Jewish life. They were business people. Anti-Semitism and the difficult economic climate in Galicia encouraged many people to leave. Mordechai's parents, Pinkas and Bluma had already spent a number of years in Germany.

Mina and Mordechai came to Munich in order to settle a new life. With hard work and imagination they achieved prosperity. Their sons grew up in Munich and received their education there.

The Blechners were observant Jews and maintained family contacts in the Galician homeland. Over three decades Munich became their new home. So much so, that despite the growing persecution and discrimination they clung to it for a long time.

The new home - jewish life in Munich between the World Wars

Mordechai Blechner came to Munich in 1910. His wife, Mina followed him in 1914 with their sons Jakob and Oskar, who were born in Galicia. Salo and Leon were born in Munich. The family lived in the Munich district, Isavorstadt, a popular quarter for Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe.

Despite increased immigration since the end of the 19th century, by 1910 Jews represented only 1.9% of Munich's population. Of these 11.083 people approximately 20% originated from Eastern Europe. Within the Munich Jewish community, they represented an independent, long disadvantaged group. After the First World War as a result of the substantial increase in anti-Semitism the gulf was slowly narrowed between the assimilated liberal majority of the community, and the immigrant orthodox minority. The Eastern European Jews opened their own synagogue in Reichenbachstrasse in 1931, which the Blechners joined.

Like many jews in the Isarvorstadt, Mordechai earned his living as a businessman. he built up a successful trade in shoe accessories. His two sons, Jakob and Oskar worked with him in the business. Jakob was a sales agent for his father and drove to the Traunstein area and as far as Neuoetting in Upper Bavaria.

Immigrants? Foreigners? Munich citizens?

Like the majority of the Eastern Europe Jews, the Blechners were no different from the other residents of Isarvorstadt. Mordechai and Mina spoke not only German, but also Yiddish and understood Polish. German was the mother tonge for their sons. All the family held Polish citizenship after the founding of the Polish state in 1918.

With the rise of anti-Semitism and Xenophobia in the years prior to 1933 in Germany, all Jews in Munich, including the Blechners and especially those who were not German were increasingly discriminated against and marginalised. The danger of falling within the sights of the German authorities and the consequential immediate expulsion increased significantly. The persecution reached a new, provisional peak at the end of October 1938 with the deportation of Polish Jews, including the Blechners, to the German-Polish border. Jakob, Frieda and the parents were able to return to Munich at the beginning of November. Salo was however interned in no man's land between Germany and Poland. Oskar was recorded on the deportation list as being "away".

In the face of the life-threatening situation for Jews, the family decided to leave Germany. Leon had immigrated in 1938 to the USA. Oskar left from Hamburg May 1939 on board the SS St. Louis. Frieda and Jakob fled to Switzerland in 1939. In August 1939, only Mordechai, Mina and Salo were left in Munich. They sought desperately to leave but in the end to no avail.

Family Album

The Blechners with four children were a relatively large family. The average Jewish family in the Isarvorstadt had only one or two children. Jakob and Leon married Jewish wives who grew up in Isarvorstadt and whose family also originally came from Eastern Europe. 1937: One of the last pictures of the family together
1937: One of the last pictures of the family together
This stands in direct contrast to the marriages of old-established jews in Schwabing and Bogenhausen, where 58% married non-Jewish partners in 1927. The Blechners, like other people in Munich, spent their leisure time in the zoo, the English Garden or with trips to the Alpine foothills. Their financial situation enabled them to travel abroad. The four brothers took an active part in the very rich and multi-faceted communal life of the Munich Jewish community.

Captive in Germany

Mina, Markus and Salo Blechner sought refuge in nearby Switzerland. They arrived 27th August 1939 at St. Margarethen on the Swiss border. Their passports were taken from them, but they were assured that the next day they would be able to continue their journey. Despite valid travel documents they were allowed neither to enter nor to transit and were forced to return to Munich.

Only a few days after they returned to the empty apartment at 65 Klenzestrasse, a decree was issued to take all Polish Jews into "protective custody". The Gestapo arrested Markus Blechner on 9th September 1939 and he was later taken to the Buchenwald concentration camp. Salo Blechner could only narrowly escape arrest and fled to Berlin where shortly after arrival he too was arrested.

Mina Blechner was now alone and led a desperate battle for the release of Markus and Salo. She tried increasingly to obtain visas for her husband, her son and herself. Her efforts were to no avail. She received the news that her husband, Markus had died 14th November 1939 in Buchenwald.

At the beginning of March 1940, Mina was forced to leave her apartment in Klenzestrasse; she was billeted in a so-called "Jewish apartment" at 27 Reichenbachstrasse, where she had to live in extremely cramped quarters in the kitchen. Despite the tremendous physical strain she continued to strive for the release and emigration of her son, Salo.

Deportation and murder

In October 1941, the Nazi leadership ordered the deportation of Jews in Germany to the East. Mina Blechner received a summons to prepare for "evacuation" on 7th November 1941. She guessed what fate would have in store for her. Mina was desperate, as she knew that she would never see her children again.

1941: Deportation in Munich-Milbertshofen
1941: Deportation in Munich-Milbertshofen
On 11th November 1941, Mina and the other men, women and children deportees were brought to the Milbertshofen barracks. On 19th November, a few hours before they were marched to the Milbertshofen freight depot, Mina wrote a letter to Jakob.

Despite her desperate and hopeless situation she sought to give courage and strength to her children. This letter is the last sign of life from Mina Blechner.

The deportation train with 1000 people from Munich left the Milbertshofen depot in the early hours of 20th November 1941. After a three-day journey, the train arrived in Kaunas, Lithuania. The prisoners were taken to fortifications on the outskirts of the city. On 25th November, the infamous Einsatzkommando 3 murderer the Munich Jews, together with deportees from Frankfurt and Berlin. The mass shooting on that day claimed the lives of 1159 men, 1600 women and 175 children.

Salo Blechner

Salo, the second youngest son of the family fled to Berlin following the arrest of his father in September 1939. He had worked there until 1938 as a salesman at Gebr. Koh and his girlfriend Margo and other friends lived there too.

The major campaign to arrest Polish citizens ran nationwide.

Salo Blechner at the Karstadt-Building in Munich
Salo Blechner at the Karlstadt-Building in Munich
He was arrested by the Gestapo and was taken to Sachsenhausen concentration camp on 13th September 1939. Not long after he was transferred to Neuengamme, where he had to help build the camp. On 23rd October 1942 he was then deported to Auschwitz-Monowitz. In January 1944 he was taken to Nordhausen where he worked, as a forced labourer in the underground tunnels of the Dora-Mittelbau camp. In March/April 1945 Salo arrived in Bergen-Belsen. He was liberated 17th April 1945 by the British army.
After six years imprisonment in the concentration camps and forced labour, he returned to Munich to search for the family and to try to emigrate to the USA. The American Military Government appointed him temporary trustee of the old-established and well-known Munich sports shop, Sport Muenziger. 1941: Forced labour in Neuengamme
1941: Forced labour in Neuengamme

A senior officer in the American army supported his application to emigrate and he arrived 1946 in the United States.

Salo Blechner in his 87th year lives today in Boston.

Oskar Blechner

1939: Oskar Blechner travels to Cuba
1939: Oskar Blechner travels to Cuba
Oskar Blechner, the second oldest of the four brothers attempted to immigrate to the USA via Cuba on the Hapag Lloyd luxury liner, SS St. Louis. The St. Louis left Hamburg 13th May 1939. The fate of the 937 almost exclusively Jewish passengers was uncertain from the outset. The majority of passengers held only tourist visas and not valid entry papers for Cuba. These visas were issued on the sole authority of the Director for Immigration but were declared invalid by the Cuban Government.

America, the next port of call, also refused entry to the St. Louis passengers. The ship had to return to Hamburg. Thanks to the untiring efforts of the Jewish charitable organisations and world public opinion, the governments of Belgium,

Holland, France and Great Britain decided to grant temporary haven to the refugees. The British accepted all the Polish citizens on board, including Oskar.

Oskar quickly established himself in London. With a friend, he developed a machine to decorate leather banding and was able to market it successfully. He set up his own company in 1941. His private life also flourished. He married and started a family.

Oskar Blechner died 25th October 1976 in London.

Jakob's letter to Oskar and Gwen on the occasion of their marriage

Zurich, 16th February 1942
My dear Gwen, dear Oskar !

On the occasion of your imminent wedding day I want to send you my most sincere best wishes.
May you be granted a long, happy and healthy life together and that we should experience only mutual joy and happines.
Dear brother, unfortunately our beloved mother cannot accompany you to the Chupeh on your supreme day of honour. Because of the war situation it is not possible for her, as well as your brothers, Salo and Leo and us to personally participate in the Simcha.
Our greatest sadness is that our dear beloved late father was not granted the privilege of seeing and taking part in this day of honour.
You are establishing a married life together in the most difficult time. This is the wonder of we Jews; despite the tragedy of today the Jewish community, married life and consequently the Jewish People will continue to exist. We have the hope that we will withstand the difficult trials which have befallen us Jews; and that out of this difficult time a new, truly genuine and worhtwhile life will emerge. I am convinced that these are also your thoughts. And so we want to hope that the victims, which practically every family in the House of Israel has become as a result of Hitler, will bring the Jewish People to the genuine just future and in this sense so too your marriage will grow into the new Jewish future.
May dear God grant our dear mother and our brother Salo the special strenght to persevere their severe suffering, to protect them both and all of us and bring forth soon the day, when our entire family can meet together in peace and in good health.
Our thoughts will be with you especially on this day. We wish you a dignified and happy time and wish your parents, dear Gwen, a truly hearty Mazeltov.
Yours, Jakob

Jakob Blechner

Jakob and his wife Frieda fled to Switzerland in August 1939. From there they wanted to go to Oskar in Great Britain via France and ultimately to move to the USA. The outbreak of war prevented them from realising their plans.

Life in Switzerland for Jewish refugees was not easy. Jakob and Frieda could however avoid being admitted into a hostel and lived in a private apartment. Since refugees were not allowed to work, the near penniless couple had to rely on support from Jewish charities. Jakob was required to perform community service from 1940 until 1946 with some breaks in between. A Zurich benefactor, Jakob Sussmann, enabled him to train as a silk weaver for a year during 1942/43 in the textile high school in Zurich. Frieda was employed as a domestic maid and was able to live together with her son Markus who was born in 1941. She was lucky as many other refugee mothers were separated from their childred.

Jakob could correspond from neutral Switzerland with all the members of the family in Britain (Oskar), the USA (Leon) and Germany (Mina and Salo) and also to pass on news between the family. After the death of his father in Buchenwald, as the oldest brother he took on the role of head of the family.

Jakob Blechner died 15th April 1978 in Zurich.

Leon Blechner

Leon is the youngest of the Blechner brothers. He fled from the Nazis in March 1938 to the United States. Initially he lived and worked near Boston. He waited there for his wife Gina. Her arrival was delayed. Heavily pregnant, she was arrested in the Autumn of 1938 as part of the "Polish campaign" and held overnight at Stadelheim before fortunately being released. A few days later her son Gerson/Jerry was born in Munich.

Only a year later did Gina and Jerry finally arrive in New York. They had to remain on Ellis Island for four days. Only once Leon had committed himself to pay for the boat tickets were the two allowed to enter. Despite all his efforts Leon did not succeed in saving his parents and his brother, Salo from the Nazi terror. Gina was also uncertain for a long time about the fate of her family.

When Leon's brother, Salo finally was able to enter the USA, Leon was employed as a manager of a small clothing store. Salo was initially employed in his uncle's business making fluorescent lighting. Not long after, Salo set up his own company in Boston and Leon quit his job to become Salo's partner.

Today Leon is 85 years old and lives in a nursing home in Florida.

Immigration Policy of the United States during the Second World War

American policy towards immigrants became increasingly restrictive during the Second World War. A quota system had already been introduced during the 1920's, which defined the limited immigration quotas for certain countries.

Once America joined the war in 1941, the chances of saving Jews completely disappeared. The political elite in America held the firm view that only victory over Hitler's Germany could save European Jewry.

After the economic crisis of 1929, the voices of the American public grew ever louder in protest against immigration and especially against jewish refugees. Anti-Semitism was not a foreign word in America of the 1930's. A significant majority of Americans feared that Jewish immigrants would take away their jobs.

Post 1945

"Even after all those years, I still cannot forget what happened to us in Munich and the fate of our extended family in the Holocaust" is how Alex Blumenberg commented about his relationship today towards Germany. Alex, a nephew of Markus Blechner, has only returned to Munich once since he fled Germany, when he came to visit the grave of his grandmother who died in 1942. Other members of the family describe their attitude towards Munich and Germany in similar vein. None of the family lives today in Munich or Germany. Germany is no longer their home but only the place from where the family came.

1945: Salo Blechner at the tombstone of his father
1945: Salo Blechner at the tombstone of his father
Many of the younger members of the family from the second and third generation have never been to Munich. However they do expect the city to take responsibility for its history, because it is only in this way that a repetition of the racism and violence, the terror and murder as in the Nazi period can be prevented. The overriding view of the family is that, even allowing for the necessary interest in the past, it must not be allowed to obstruct our view into the future.

The family, although scattered all over the world, does enjoy an extraordinary sense of belonging together. All have a strong association to Israel. No matter which country they now live in, they live in a Jewish community but with an open mind to the non-Jewish world around.

The Munich exhibition on the fate of the family was initiated and encouraged by Anthony Blechner and supported by the entire family from all over the world.

* * *

07.19.2001 - 04.11.2002. An exhibition by the Munich City Archives and the Department for Jewish History and Culture, Historical Seminar of the Ludwig-Maximilians University (LMU) Munich. JEWISH MUSEUM, MUNICH (JUEDISCHES MUSEUM MUENCHEN): Reichenbachstrasse 27 Rgb. D-80469 Muenchen. Tel: 00 49-(089)-200 096 93
HISTORY OF THE JEWISH COMMUNITY IN MUNICH: Go to History in Munich

Ich lebe

"Ich lebe ! Das ist ein Wunder": Das Schicksal einer Muenchner Familie waerend des Holocaust

Im jahr 1910 kam der in Galizien geborene Mordechai Blechner mit seiner Frau Mina nach Muenchen. Mit ihren vier Soehnen lebte das Ehepaar in den folgenden Jahren in unmittelbarer Naehe zu der ostjuedischen Synagoge in der Reichenbachstrasse. Mordechai, der seinen Vornamen mittlerweile in Markus geaendert hatte, wurde bald ein erfolgreicher Geschaeftsmann im Schuhhandel.

Einigen Familienmitgliedern gelang nach 1933 die Emigration aus Deutschland. Besonders abenteuerlich war die Flucht

1937: Eine der letzten gemeinsamen Aufhahmen der Familie
1937: Eine der letzten gemeinsamen Aufnahmen der Familie

von Markus Sohn Oskar, der mit der "St. Louis" in Richtung Kuba aufbrach und nach dem tragischen Scheitern dieser Passage als einer
der Wenigen das Glueck hatte, von den britischen Behoerden eine Einreiseerlaubnis zu erhalten.
1941: Deportation in Muenchen-Milbertshofen.
1941: Deportation in Muenchen-Milbertshofen

Von hier wurde Mina Blechner nach Kaunas deportiert.

Salo Blechner auf dem Dach des Karstadt-Gebaeudes in Muenchen Salo Blechner auf dem Dach des Karstadt-Gebaeudes in Muenchen
Markus und Mina Blechner sowie ihr Sohn Salo blieben in Muenchen zurueck und bemuehten sich vergeblich um die Einreise in die rettende Schweiz. Markus Blechner wurde schliesslich nach Buchenwald deportiert, wo er unter ungeklaerten Umstaenden ums Leben kam.
Mina Blechner wurde mit 1000 anderen juedischen Maennern, Freuen und Kindern am 20. November 1941 von Muenchen ins litauische Kaunas deportiert und dort fuenf Tage spaeter von Angehoerigen des Einsatzkommandos 3 erschossen. Salo ueberlebte die Lager Auschwitz und Bergen-Belsen und lebt heute
- 86jaehrig - in Boston.
1941: Zwangsarbeit in Neuengamme
1945: Salo Blechner am Grabe seines Vaters 1939: Oskar Blechner reist nach Kuba
1945: Salo Blechner am Grabe seines im KZ Buchenwald ermordeten Vaters. 1939: Im Mai reist Oskar Blechner auf "St. Louis" in Richtung Kuba, wo er nicht an Land gehen darf.

1941: Zwangsarbeit in Neuengamme.

Die Familiengeschichte der Blechner ist beispielhaft fuer viele Muenchner juedische Schicksale in diesem Jahrhundert. Sie zeigt den Weg vom galizischen Schtetl in die mitteleuropaeischen Metropolen um 1900, den erfolgreichen sozialen Aufstieg und die (oft nur partielle) Integration in die deutsche Gesellschaft, schliesslich - nach 1933 - die brutale Zerschlagung des Familienverbunds.

Die unterschiedlichen Lebenswege der einzelnen Familienmitglieder stehen stellvertretend fuer das ganze Verfolgungsspektrum des NS-Systems: Emigration, abenteuerliche Flucht und Neuanfang; verzweifeltes Ausharren und gescheiterte Ausreise; Deportation und Ermordung; gegluecktes Ueberleben nach einer lebensbedrohlichen Odyssee durch den nationalsozialistischen Lagerkosmos.

* * *

19.07.2001 - 11.04.2002. Eine Ausstellung des Stadtarchivs Muenchens und der Abteilung fuer juedische Geschichte und Kultur (Historisches Seminar der LMU Muenchen) in Zusammenarbeit mit dem Muenchner Stadtmuseum. JUEDISCHES MUSEUM MUENCHEN: Reichenbachstrasse 27 Rgb. D-80469 Muenchen. Tel: 00 49-(089)-200 096 93
HISTORY OF THE JEWISH COMMUNITY IN MUNICH: Go to History in Munich

comm

HISTORY OF THE JEWISH COMMUNITY IN MUNICH
(from the English translations of the Museum's panels text by Dr. Margret Szymanski-Schikora)

Middle Ages - Persecution and Expulsion

One of the first medieval sources dealing with the presence of Jews in Munich reports about an act of violence. According to the "Nuremberg Memorbuch" the outraged mob murdered 67 Jews in 1285 after they had been accused of "ritual murder". According to the records, those jews who were not already murdered in the streets, fled into the synagogue, which was eventually set on fire by the crowd.

Nevertheless, Jews took up residence again in Munich during the following decades. there is, however, litte information about the life of this medieval community. Between 1380 and 1442 there is secure indication for the existence of a synagogue. But for this period the records report another pogrom and the explusion of the Jewish population from Munich. The synagogue was converted into a church.

It was not until the 18th century that the ban on residence was relaxed and Jews could again take up residence in Munich.

"Hoffaktoren" (purveyors to the court) - Aron Elias Seligmann-von Eichthal

"Hoffaktoren" purveyed capital and goods to the courts of nobles, the court society and the high civil servants. Since the 16th century this position was held almost exclusively by Jews. They supplied all the goods that were necessary as expenditure for maintaining a royal household, particularly luxury goods from abroad. Apart from that, they supplied the military with grain, meat, spirits and horses.

Thus they built up a relationship of mutual trust with the prince, which used to be rewarded by privileges. The purveyors to the court could be exempted from special taxes for which Jews were usually liable, and from "Leibzoll". They were subject to the jurisdiction of the court, which meant that they were released from municipal and district jurisdiction, as well as from rabbinical jurisdiction.

Their style of life was considerably different from that of the other members of the Jewish community, most of whom were living in poor conditions. Nonetheless, they spoke up for the interests of the Jewish community, often successfully. Owing to social advancement in the 19th century, however, many "purveyors to the court" with their families converted to Christianity.

Emancipation - Moritz Guggenheimer

The Bavarian jews were not granted full equality of civil rights until the Constitution of the German Empire of 1871. During the previos decades the State of Bavaria had tried, by way of a legislation that was comparatively reactionary, to restrict the rights of the Jews. By means of a "Jews Register" they tried to keep the proportion of Jews in the population as low as possible.

The fact that Moritz Guggenheimer, a Jewish citizen, presided over the council of the authorized representatives of the capital and royal seat from 1870 on, was a decisive signal for the emancipation of the Bavarian Jews. The office was considered to be the most important position of trust within a community. Under the leadership of Guggenheimer, some important communal projects of infrastructure were tackled, among other things, the abattoir and cattle yard, the waterworks and the sewerage.

Lines of Conflict - Between Orthodoxy and Reform

As early as in the first half of the 19th century, there were conflicts between liberal and orthodox members of the Jewish community, which, however, did not escalate violently until the 1870s. The introduction of organ music during synagogue services became the focus of the controversy. The liberal members of the Jewish community - who were certainly influenced by Christian liturgy - wanted organ music to "render particular dignity, solemnity and beauty to the ceremony".

The vehement resistance of orthodox Jews against this innovation was in vain. When the first sound of the organ was heard in April 1876, this brought about the formation of the society "Ohel Jacob" (Jacob's tent). Its purpose was to build a separate synagogue for the orthodox congregation. In 1892, after numerous difficulties, they could build an orthodox Jewish place of worship in Herzog-Rudolf-Strasse.

In spite of considerable dissent in questions of faith and synagogue service, the leading representatives of the orthodox and liberal communities made a genuine effort, during the following years, to save the unity of the Jewish community.

Integration - Philipp Loewenfeld

For Philipp Loewenfeld, a lawyer, a social democrat, and a dedicated republican, there was only one answer to this question. Like most of the members of the liberal religious community of Munich, who represented the majority, he considered himself a Jewish German, and Germany was not only the country of his birth, but also "his country".

The process of integration was twofold: their emancipation and equality as citizens promoted their willingness to assimilate to their non-Jewish environment. At the same time the willingness of the surrounding society to integrate the Jews grew.

The Jewish Germans, who had been residents in Germany for many generations, did not only have very close ties with the regional and local culture, but had an essential share in the high standing of this culture by their own creative contributions. The diversity of Jewish ways of life in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century was wide. It ranged between these extremes: uncompromising dissociation from the surrounding society which was shaped by Christianity and was constituted in a civil and secular way, on the one hand; assimilation and entire abandonment of Jewish identity and religious orientation on the other.

"Eastern Jews" in Munich - Josef Kupfer

About 1900, the religious community of Munich enjoyed another period of growth. It was not only the anti-Semitic pogroms in Russia, but also the appalling poverty in the "schtetl" of eastern Europe that brought about emigration on a large scale. The new Jewish inhabitants of Munich from eastern Europe, many of whom took up residence in Isarvorstadt, soon represented one fifth of the Jewish community.

The jewish newcomers had to face enormous problems of integration. They were often received with reserve and mistrust by the established Jewish community. The non-Jewish public, the town and state authorities considered them as undesirable foreigners. The way of life of many of the east European jews, which seemed to be strange, served as a welcome pretext for racist propaganda. A great part of the eastern Jews were categorically refused naturalization.

Antisemitism - Rabbi Leo Baerwald

The antisemitism of the late 19th century became more and more aggresive and violent. The racist hatred of humankind, nurtured by nationalist and racist ("voelkisch") ideologies, queried the emancipation and integration of the German Jews in a categorical way.

In December 1891, the "Deutsch-Sozialer Verein" was the first expressly anti-Semitic party to apply for admission with the police in Munich. Other groups and agitators followed and soon generated a vivid anti-Semitic malicious campaign, warned with strident slogans against the infiltration of Jews' national loyalty and love of their country.

During the twenties, there were numerous violent assaults against Jews in Munich. The right-wing extremist hatred was first of all directed against well-known citizens, as for example Sigmud Fraenkel, a respected merchant, and Leo Baerwald, the Rabbi of the community.

National Socialist Persecution - Carry Brachvogel

After 1933, Jews in Munich were gradually pushed out of public life and were defamed as a contemptible group of "aliens to the community". The acts of violence of the year 1938 - the demolition of the imposing main synagogue as early as in June and finally the brutal terror of the night of the pogrom of 9th/10th November - were disastrous peaks on the way to the "final solution of the Jewish problem". This had already been traced out bureaucratically by the National Socialists from 1933 on by numerous degrading regulations and decrees.

At the beginning of the thirties, the Munich Jewish community numbered 10.000 members. After 1933 more than 7.000 Jews of Munich emigrated abroad, where they found refuge at first. 3.000 Jews stayed behind. From 1941 on they were deported from Munich and were murdered in Kaunas, Piaski, Minsk, Auschwitz and Theresienstadt. Among these was Carry Brachvogel, a writer.

Postwar period - rebuilding the religious community

In the spring of 1945, 400 citizens of Jewish origin were still living in Munich. In march 1946, their number had already risen to 2.800; among them were 796 persons who had been members of the former Jewish community. They were joined gradually by tens of thousands of liberated prisoners from concentration camps, who wanted to emigrate from Munich to Palestine or the United States.

For many years the Bavarian capital remained shelter and intermediate stop for about 120.000 Jews, many of whom had to stay because of the restrictive British regulations for immigration to Palestine, and they became members of the Israelite Religious Community.

The community had been re-established on 19th July, 1945, in the Jewish old people's home in Kaulbachstrasse 65. Since May 1947 the renovated synagogue in Reichenbachstrasse has served the community as their main synagogue.

In the course of the decades the religious community has grown. A varied cultural and social life has been re-established in the town. Owing to the arrival of Jews from the former Soviet Union since the 1990s, the community, with about 8.000 members, has now almost reached its former size.

.L I N K S

Haus der Wannsee-Konferenz La Página Rodas

Topographie des Terrors ....Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora Memorial

.....Yad Vashem .........March of The Living

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