Clara Grau

Clara Grau was born on 6 December 1859 in Rastenburg (now Kętrzyn, Poland) near Königsberg. She and her sister Margarethe, who died in 1928, worked for many years as teachers at the Vogelsche Schule girls’ seminary in Berlin. During this period, Clara and Margarethe lived in Marchstraße and were friendly with the Ebeling family of bankers. In 1936, aged 77, Clara Grau registered as a housekeeper to the Magud family who lived at Waldschulallee 7. In view of her age and her previous occupation, it is likely that this arrangement was made to ensure Clara had a legal place of residence. In 1940, Mr and Mrs Magud were expropriated and forced to move into a “Jews’ apartment”. Clara was most probably forced to move with them. In any case, in March 1942, she was registered as living with Mr and Mrs Magud in a “Jews’ apartment” at Rosenheimerstr. 27 in Berlin-Schöneberg. Later she lived in the apartment of her nephew Walter Grau, a lawyer, at Wilhelm-Gustloff-Straße 51 (now Dernburgstraße), at the lake Lietzensee in Charlottenburg. Clara was due to be deported, aged 82, on 28 September 1942. But the day before, Clara and Walter Grau committed suicide. Another nephew of Clara’s, Richard Grau (later Richard Graw), survived the Shoah in exile in the United States.