My dear grandchildren,
This is disturbing post because it really illustrates those slowly tightening screws that Thomas referred to earlier.
First, we hear that Jews can no longer leave Germany. Then, we just watch as they are slowly dehumanized, from “just” not being able to own pets, to their hard-earned titles being stripped from them, to no longer being allowed to go to school, to being found guilty in court because they are Jews, and finally to be deported to Theresienstadt for just about any “offense” (including the death of a spouse).
There’s not much for me to add here, but I’ll add my personal impressions where relevant. Inserted photos (except those from family albums) are mine, from Google. Italics within the decrees are my father’s.
(Note: Refer to the Bibliography post for reference.)
January 3, 1942 (*13, pg. 361):
The emigration of Jews is to be discontinued “since the final solution of the Jewish question is imminent.” (The Wannsee Conference was on January 20, 1942!)
January 4, 1942 (*13, pg. 361):
Wool and fur collection for the Russian front: “The German population would be upset if Jews in the future would wear furs while the German-blooded part of the population voluntarily gives up winter clothing for the front. Voluntary donations from Jews are expected so that house searches can be avoided.” (One day later, the Reichssicherheits-Hauptamt (“National Security Main Office”) made the donation of all furs, wool clothing, skis, boots, etc. mandatory for all Jews who are required to wear the Star of David.)
January 7, 1942 (*13, pg. 362):
Poles and Jews are to serve their sentence in separate camps under enhanced conditions of severity.
February 15, 1942 (*13, pg. 364):
Jews are no longer allowed to keep pets.
My father has loved animals, especially dogs, all his life. He wanted to be a veterinarian from a very young age. This decree really bothered him, even as an adult.
March 13, 1942 (*13, pg. 366):
Mischlinge (first or second degree, i.e., two or one Jewish grandparents) are not considered “of German or related blood.”
This one really gets to me – and I can only imagine how it got to my father (and his parents)! Can you imagine? If you replace “Jewish” with “German,” it’s like saying to your parents that, because they have two German grandparents (my parents), they are not American, even though they’ve only ever lived here! Or to me that, because I have four German grandparents, I am not American, even though I’ve only ever lived here. Now imagine that those deemed in that way not American are to be sent to their deaths…!
April 1942 (*13, pg. 369):
Jews are not allowed to have Aryan or mixed-marriage persons as visitors.
In her letters to her mother Adele, Irmgard notes that her family hadn’t had visitors for years. And her husband was prisoner in his own home, as his job as bank president had been stripped from him. It must have been extremely depressing. We haven’t been able to have house guests in months, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and it’s been depressing for me – but that’s NOTHING compared to Irmgard and Carl’s experiences.
April 5, 1942 (*13, pg. 369):
On police registration forms, do not list the destination of transports. Only enter “moved, destination unknown” or “emigrated.”
May 10, 1942 (*13, pg. 372):
Jewish Mischlinge (men) of the first degree must terminate extramarital relationships to women and girls of German blood. Females are to be threatened with police action. Reports are required.
June 12, 1942 (*13, pg. 376 and 380, also 384 and 385/6/7):
Jews, except those in “privileged mixed marriages” must surrender all cameras, binoculars, bicycles, typewriters, any electronic or optical instruments, combs, shavers, etc., nor are they allowed to receive newspapers, magazines, or judicial publications. They are also forbidden to buy ice cream, meat, eggs, milk, etc. If deported, all their property goes to the Reich.
Remember the phone story? Being married to Irmgard was a literal life-saver for Carl, allowing him to live a comparatively normal life. Can you imagine his emotions when she died in January, 1944? In addition to grieving at the loss of his beloved wife, he would now lose everything – the least of which were his camera, binoculars, and typewriter. NOW he had to fear for his life.
June 22 and July 2, 1942 (*13 pgs. 378 and 379):
Mischlinge of the first degree are generally to be admitted to colleges upon special application, but are not to attend high schools, unless they are in their senior year.
Rainer finished high school with private Jewish tutors (who had lost their teaching jobs), but was NOT allowed to go to college, so this one baffles me. Thomas was kicked out of school in junior high, also continuing with tutors and only finished high school after the war, in Ingolstadt (another period of his life that he wrote about, which we’ll get to later).
July 21, 1942 (*13, pg. 382):
Mischlinge of the first degree who have had a relationship with a woman whose husband is in the Army are to be arrested and immediately put into a KZ (concentration camp).
SECRET! August 3, 1942 (*13 pg. 383):
In the next few days, Jews still residing in the state of Swabia will be relocated to Theresienstadt. This also includes the partner in a previous Privileged mixed marriage who does not have to wear the Star of David. (Note: as of January 1944, when Irmgard died, that would have included Carl Heumann, had he lived in the State of Swabia!)
August 7, 1942 (*13, pg. 383) (from the RSHA):
Jews must not use their former titles or professions in submissions or other written communications with Party Offices. This regulation also includes Jews in privileged mixed marriages.
This decree prompted me to google “Carl Heumann konsul Portugal.” I can find nothing, even though original documents show that Carl was the Konsul to Portugal AND that he was allowed to keep that title. So I’m confused. Note to self: follow up on this!
August 26, 1942 (*13, pg. 385):
German-blooded servants and cleaning women may no longer work for Jewish Mischlinge or live in their residence. This regulation is also applicable to privileged mixed marriages. German-blooded servants who remain in the employ and residence of Jews after September 1, 1942 must be reported, including the reasons for doing so. (I don’t know how my father got away with continuing to employ and house Liesbeth, except that she was too old and handicapped to do any work.)
September 9, 1942 (*13, pg. 386 - from the Reich Minister of Justice):
To the High Court Chief Justice: in processes against Jews, the deciding factor is the fact that they are Jews, not in their personal responsibility.
Just… wow. So if you were a Jew and you did something that brings you to court, you are judged on being a Jew (“guilty”), not on your transgression! In other words, justice was absolutely GONE.
September 9, 1942 (*13, pg. 386):
Mischlinge of the first degree are to be dismissed from high school.
I’m not sure if something was lost in translation, but I do know that my father, aunt, and uncle were all kicked out of school (and taught by Jewish tutors who had lost their teaching jobs), so perhaps it meant all school, not just high school. Ulli didn’t know why she had been forced to leave school and believed – even into adulthood – that she wasn’t allowed to go to high school because she wasn’t smart enough! She never did return to school, even after emigrating to America, but she did work for decades at the Children’s Hospital in Oakland, a job she loved.
(Ulli in Sacramento, CA, circa 1962.)
September 24,1942 (*13, pg. 388):
Soldiers who want to marry former wives of Jews are to be denied a marriage license. (The reason was that such wives were no longer considered “purely German-blooded.”)
October 10, 1942 (*13, pg. 390):
Privileged mixed marriage Jews are forbidden to contact the Gestapo without being asked. They can contact other offices only through their ombudsman. Books may be bought only from the Reich Jews’ Organization.
March 13 and April 1, 1943 (*13, pg. 396) from RSHA;
Jews or Poles who have completed a sentence for any crime, regardless of type, are to be turned over to a concentration camp (modified to read “to the Gestapo” on April 1).
December 18, 1943 (*13, pg. 401) from RSHA:
Jewish spouses of privileged mixed marriages that no longer exist are to be sent to Theresienstadt. (Note the date: less than 3 weeks before Irmgard died!)
Okay, THIS is where I stop and insist that Carl had a protectorate! Irmgard died in January, 1944. According to this decree, Carl would have immediately been sent to a concentration camp. WHY WASN’T HE? It was NOT because he had earned “a good note from the people,” as my father insists. It was NOT because he’d earned the Iron Cross metal in WWI, proving that he was a “good German.” It was NOT because he had been on the board of the Chemnitz Art Museum (Kunstsammlung Chemnitz) and had a highly-regarded art collection of his own.
OR WAS IT?! Waldemar Bellerstedt was a high-ranking Nazi who had served on the board with Carl and who had admired him and his art collection. Is it possible…..?! Stay tuned!
(Waldemar Bellestedt. Keep him in mind; you will see his name again later.)
October 1944 (*13, pg. 405):
All male Mischlinge of the first degree who are fit for physical labor are to be assigned to the Organisation Todt (the Nazi equivalent of the Corps of Engineers) to be used for construction labor duty.
My father was sent to Meissen, a work camp, in November, 1944. (Not sure why this happened a year after the decree and ten months after his mother’s death.) He remained there until shortly before the end of the war, when he was allowed to go (walk!) back to Chemnitz – where he found his home bombed to the ground and his father’s dead body where the basement had been. That story to come.
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