Else Hecht née Grossmann

Else Hecht née Grossmann was born on April 28, 1884 in Schweidnitz (Świdnica) in Silesia. She was a beautiful woman and a dressmaker by profession. She had been married to Karl Hecht since around 1904. He ran a men's clothing store in Plauen in the Vogtland and she ran a women's clothing store on Bahnhofstrasse. The two daughters Ernestine, born on March 15, 1909 in Düsseldorf, and Eva Ingeborg, born on November 26, 1912 also in Düsseldorf, managed to escape to Palestine and England. The parents stayed in Berlin. Karl Hecht died of pneumonia in the Jewish Hospital Moabit in January 1942 and was buried in the Jewish Cemetery in Weißensee. Their older daughter Ernestine, who died in 1969, never spoke about the family history.

Ernestine was musical and learned to play the piano in Königsberg. She also gave concerts to her mother's delight. Both sisters helped in the shops. In 1929 Ernestine and Erich Futter married. When Jews were no longer allowed to run businesses, they fled to Palestine in 1934.

Karl and Else Hecht went to Berlin. They didn't live together there because they were told they would be safer that way. Else and Eva, who had gone to Berlin, too, opened a small shop where they sewed shirts, but this shop was also closed by the National Socialists.

Else Hecht's daughter Ernestine, who fled to Palestine, and Erich Futter had two daughters: Inge Goldstein (born 1930 in Plauen) and Ruth Rothstein (born 1934 in Jerusalem). Eva (known to her family as 'Evel') fled to London, where she lived until emigrating to the United States in the early 1960s.  She lived in Michigan then in New York City until she died in 1974.  She did not marry or have children.
A letter from Else Hecht dates from August 9, 1942: “Beloved child! This replies to the happy June letter. Nothing about children? I'm healthy, working, earning. Longing endless. Stay healthy and strong. Dearest kisses. You, children. Mother". With the address and date the letter counts exactly 30 words. At that time, Jews were not allowed to write more. It was her last sign of life.

On August 15, 1942, Else Hecht was deported from the Moabit freight station in a train to Riga-Skirotava station. Riga was the place of her death. Like almost all of the thousand inmates, including 57 children, Else Hecht was shot in the forest immediately after arrival on August 18, 1942.