Karl Lehmann

Karl Lehmann was born on 24 August 1879 in the West Prussian town of Lesnian (today Leśna Jania), in the district of Marienburg. He married Jetty Lehmann, who was born Jetty Klonower on 3 November 1886 in Danzig (Gdansk). In spring 1939 they lived at Josty Strasse 10 (today leading off Moll Strasse) in Prenzlauer Berg. On 1 September 1939 they moved to Grossbeeren Strasse 56c in Kreuzberg, where they lived until their deportation. The owners of the building at Grossbeeren Strasse 56c were the Mayer brothers; the custodian was Paul Weil. The Lehmanns paid a monthly rent of 35 reichmarks. They did not have an apartment to themselves; they were subtenants of a Jewish tenant named Arthur Hirsch. They were probably forced to live with him in one room of his apartment. Karl Lehmann’s three brothers, Berthold, Julius and Alfred, had emigrated to Palestine in the 1930s. His sister Meta is noted in his property file as having “migrated”, which no doubt stands for “deported”. Jetty Lehmann’s sister, Julie Klonower, was deported to Riga on 27 November 1941, and did not survive the Nazis’ reign of terror either. The Lehmanns signed their declaration of assets on 19 March 1942. They completed it carefully by hand with a fountain pen, probably at home. Yet only some of the sections are filled out – the Lehmanns evidently had few possessions left, probably because of earlier expropriations. It is likely that they had to sell some of their possessions for money to buy food, and that they had to leave some behind when they moved. The “15th transport to the East” with over 740 people on board left Berlin on 13 June 1942. The passengers included over 20 children from the “Israelite home for mentally retarded children” in Beelitz and three carers, including the home’s director, Sally Bein. Karl and Jetty Lehmann were sent with them to Sobibor extermination camp, where they were murdered. Their apartment in Berlin was declared vacated on 14 September 1942; their furniture was bought by a second-hand furniture dealer, Anna Pleschka. The proceeds of the sale were seized “for the benefit of the German Reich”.