Location
Emser Straße 19 -20
District
Wilmersdorf
Stone was laid
16 June 2016
Born
05 December 1878 in Berlin
Deportation
on 03 October 1942
to
Theresienstadt
Murdered
08 January 1943 in Theresienstadt
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Stolperstein für Otto Julius Bendix, Foto: OTFW
Julius Otto Bendix was born in Berlin, on 5 December 1878. His parents Hugo and Anna (née Hauer) Bendix, were German citizens of Jewish descent. Otto was raised in Berlin and joined his father in business at the family-owned linen / textile company, "Julius Bendix Söhne" founded in 1870. The company had offices in Berlin, and factories in Friedland, Silesia and Qualisch, Bohemia. The factories employed many residents of these
small communities at a time when jobs were scarce. Otto was considered a kind and generous employer. He enjoyed skiing, and was an avid stamp collector.
Otto married Gertrude Stern on 26 December 1911, and was a loving father to their 3 children, Gerhart born 1913, Günter born 1916, and Monika born 1918. Otto and Gertrude converted to Christianity and their children attended Lutheran parochial schools and were confirmed as Lutherans.
Otto and Gertrude divorced in 1925 and he remarried in the same year to Gertrud Gurschke or Trude. They had no children.
His first wife and his three adult children fled to the United States in the fall of 1938 after the Nazis took control of Czechoslovakia. Otto remained in Germany thinking that his social connections and respected position in the business community would protect him from Nazi persecution. Ultimately, however, the Nazis forced the sale of his home and his company. It is believed that he and Trude, who was Gentile, divorced so that she would not be subject to the same persecution directed at Otto. It is likely that they continued to live together until he was deported to a concentration camp. Or it is possible that, no longer able to work, he moved to a room in the home of a Jewish acquaintance. On 4 October 1942 Otto was arrested and transported to the Theresienstadt concentration camp. His death was recorded three months later on 8 January 1943. Otto had just turned 64.
Otto's grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren, all citizens of the United States of America, honor his memory with the laying of this Stolperstein. Otto is also commemorated with a headstone at the Weißensee Cemetery in Berlin and is listed in the Yad Vashem Central Database of Shoah Victims’ Names.
small communities at a time when jobs were scarce. Otto was considered a kind and generous employer. He enjoyed skiing, and was an avid stamp collector.
Otto married Gertrude Stern on 26 December 1911, and was a loving father to their 3 children, Gerhart born 1913, Günter born 1916, and Monika born 1918. Otto and Gertrude converted to Christianity and their children attended Lutheran parochial schools and were confirmed as Lutherans.
Otto and Gertrude divorced in 1925 and he remarried in the same year to Gertrud Gurschke or Trude. They had no children.
His first wife and his three adult children fled to the United States in the fall of 1938 after the Nazis took control of Czechoslovakia. Otto remained in Germany thinking that his social connections and respected position in the business community would protect him from Nazi persecution. Ultimately, however, the Nazis forced the sale of his home and his company. It is believed that he and Trude, who was Gentile, divorced so that she would not be subject to the same persecution directed at Otto. It is likely that they continued to live together until he was deported to a concentration camp. Or it is possible that, no longer able to work, he moved to a room in the home of a Jewish acquaintance. On 4 October 1942 Otto was arrested and transported to the Theresienstadt concentration camp. His death was recorded three months later on 8 January 1943. Otto had just turned 64.
Otto's grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren, all citizens of the United States of America, honor his memory with the laying of this Stolperstein. Otto is also commemorated with a headstone at the Weißensee Cemetery in Berlin and is listed in the Yad Vashem Central Database of Shoah Victims’ Names.