Location
Breite Str. 10
District
Spandau
Stone was laid
19 July 2012
Born
19 July 1894 in Berlin
Verhaftet
01 April 1941
in
Berlin
Verhaftet
April 1941
in
Polizeigefängnis Alexanderplatz
Murdered
12 September 1941 in Buchenwald
-
Gustav Simonsohn © OTFW
Gustav Simonsohn was born on 19 July 1894 in Spandau, where he grew up in a large Jewish family. After attending the local 9th community school, he completed an apprenticeship in an ironmonger’s shop in Spandau.
During the First World War he served as a frontline soldier for four years and was awarded a 2nd class Iron Cross. In 1919 he opened a paint shop at Breiten Strasse 10. On 1 August 1922 he married Christin Elsa Tausche; in 1925 their son Gerhard was born. They lived in a small apartment behind the shop, made up of just one large room and a kitchen. “My father loved socializing in clubs and with the family,” Gerhard Simonsohn later wrote in his memoir “Leben im Schatten wachsenden Unheils” (Spandau 1998). He was an enthusiastic motorcyclist and a member of the local motorbike club, Spandauer Motorradclub. He had no links to Spandau’s Jewish Community. His son was baptized a Christian. In 1932 he was forced to close down his shop due to the difficult economic situation. He and his family moved to Mauer Strasse 15 and he worked as a lorry driver for the Flemming haulage firm, specializing in market haulage, in Lynar Strasse. He worked there for two-and-a-half years. In late 1938 his driving license was revoked by the Nazis, as were those of all Jews. As a consequence, he could no longer work for the Flemming haulage company.
After a short period working for a market trader, from February 1939 until late 1940, he worked as a builder for the Willy Köhler construction company in Spandau.
In December 1940 he was made a forced labourer. His last job was on the railway tracks close to today’s Nöldnerplatz station. He was arrested here on 1 April 1941 following a disagreement over an application for leave and taken to the police prison at Alexanderplatz. From here he was deported to Buchenwald concentration camp, where he died on 12 September 1941. The urn carrying his ashes from Buchenwald crematorium was buried according to Jewish ritual on the Spandau field of the Adass Jisroel Jewish cemetery in Weissensee.
In 1948 a trial at Berlin Regional Court resulted in the conviction of two participants in the disagreement at the station for crimes against humanity. They received prison sentences.
During the First World War he served as a frontline soldier for four years and was awarded a 2nd class Iron Cross. In 1919 he opened a paint shop at Breiten Strasse 10. On 1 August 1922 he married Christin Elsa Tausche; in 1925 their son Gerhard was born. They lived in a small apartment behind the shop, made up of just one large room and a kitchen. “My father loved socializing in clubs and with the family,” Gerhard Simonsohn later wrote in his memoir “Leben im Schatten wachsenden Unheils” (Spandau 1998). He was an enthusiastic motorcyclist and a member of the local motorbike club, Spandauer Motorradclub. He had no links to Spandau’s Jewish Community. His son was baptized a Christian. In 1932 he was forced to close down his shop due to the difficult economic situation. He and his family moved to Mauer Strasse 15 and he worked as a lorry driver for the Flemming haulage firm, specializing in market haulage, in Lynar Strasse. He worked there for two-and-a-half years. In late 1938 his driving license was revoked by the Nazis, as were those of all Jews. As a consequence, he could no longer work for the Flemming haulage company.
After a short period working for a market trader, from February 1939 until late 1940, he worked as a builder for the Willy Köhler construction company in Spandau.
In December 1940 he was made a forced labourer. His last job was on the railway tracks close to today’s Nöldnerplatz station. He was arrested here on 1 April 1941 following a disagreement over an application for leave and taken to the police prison at Alexanderplatz. From here he was deported to Buchenwald concentration camp, where he died on 12 September 1941. The urn carrying his ashes from Buchenwald crematorium was buried according to Jewish ritual on the Spandau field of the Adass Jisroel Jewish cemetery in Weissensee.
In 1948 a trial at Berlin Regional Court resulted in the conviction of two participants in the disagreement at the station for crimes against humanity. They received prison sentences.