Hermann Holzheim

Hermann Holzheim was born on 24 December 1891 in Neustettin, Pomerania. The son of a master butcher, he attended school in Neustettin and started an apprenticeship in the leather industry. After serving in the First World War, from which he returned with serious eye damage, he worked in his father’s shop before starting his own business. He became a travelling salesman for clothing fabrics and moved to Berlin. In 1935 he lost his job as a result of the calls to boycott Jewish traders and was forced to live off public welfare. When he was also cut off from this in January 1941, he was supported by the Jewish Community. By the mid-1930s Hermann Holzheim had a wide circle of gay friends. His stamping ground was Mulack Strasse and the bars “Gormannbude” and “Weltkrug”. His apartment at Wolliner Strasse 3 in Mitte became a meeting point for men who had suffered persecution on account of their homosexuality. He himself narrowly avoided criminal proceedings in 1937, when he aroused the suspicion of the Gestapo. At this time, Hermann Holzheim was almost completely blind and rented rooms to his friends, who supported him, paid him regular visits and bought him groceries. In early February 1941 he was arrested together with his friends and sentenced to six months’ imprisonment by the regional court. While in prison, his brother Alfred, who was living in Berlin, saw to his needs. On his release from Spandau prison in August 1941 Hermann Holzheim was rearrested and deported to Dachau concentration camp. He died here three months later, on 22 November 1941.