Stumbling Stone Ansbacher Straße 18

Six small, brass memorial plaques (Stolpersteine or stumbling stones) at this address commemorate:

* Berthold Rothschild, born 1894, humiliated / deprived of his rights, escaped into death, 14 March 1943.
* Grete Franziska Rothschild née Rosenthal, born 1903, humiliated / deprived of her rights, escaped into death, 14 March 1943.

* Rosa Zarinzansky née Jaretzki, born 1864, deported 4 August 1942, Theresienstadt, dead 18 August 1942.
* Ada Lea Zarinzansky née Löwenstein, born 1911, deported 3 March 1943, murdered in Auschwitz.
* Dr. Kurt Zarinzansky, born 1890, "protective custody" 1938 Sachsenhausen, deported 3 March 1943 Auschwitz, murdered 11 March 1945, Mauthausen.

* Anna Schachnow née Haymann, born 1872, deported 6 August 1942 Theresienstadt, dead 15 March 1943.

Background

Berthold Rothschild and Grete Franziska Rosenthal married in 1923 and lived in Gießen, Germany. He was a co-owner of a wholesale business, which was liquidated in 1937. The couple, who had no children, went to Berlin at some point. They were registered in the city in 1941. When they moved as tenants to the Zarinzansky’s house at Ansbacher Strasse 8a (today 18) is unknown – perhaps at the end of 1941 or early 1942. Eleven days after Ada Lea Zarinzansky and Dr. Kurt Zarinzansky were deported, Berthold and Grete Franziska Rothschild killed themselves. They were buried in the Weißensee Jewish Cemetery.

Rosa Zarinzansky was Kurt Zarinzansky’s mother. His father, a Jewish merchant, died in 1927. Kurt became a lawyer and notary, with his office 1933 at Ansbacher Strasse 8a (today 18). He converted from Judaism to Catholicism and married a Catholic woman, Ada Lea Löwenstein. In 1935, he could was no longer allowed to be a notary, and in 1938 he could no longer practice law. In 1938, he was placed in "protective custody," probably associated with the November pogrom. He was released the next month. In 1942, Rosa Zarinzansky, age 78, was deported to Theresienstadt, where she died 2 weeks later. Kurt was in forced labor for a while, then had to give up all his assets. Kurt and Ada Lea Zarinzansky were deported on 3 March 1943 to Auschwitz. She was probably murdered on arrival. He survived 2 more years, including a January 1945 death march to Mauthausen. But he was dead there less than 2 months later.

Anna Haymann married Siegfried Schachnow, and they had 2 daughters (Edith and Margot) and one son (Kurt). After Siegfried died in 1927, Anna moved to this Ansbacher Strasse address. Son Kurt and his wife emigrated to Australia in 1938. In 1939 Anna’s grandson and granddaughter (Edith’s children) fled to the U.K. Anna’s two daughters remained in Berlin. Daughter Margot was deported on 2 June 1942 to Theresienstadt, then murdered in Auschwitz two years later. Anna Schachnow herself was deported on August 6 1942 to Theresienstadt and was killed there at age 71. Daughter Edith Oppenheim did not survive either – probably also murdered in Auschwitz.

"Stolpersteine" is an art project for Europe by Gunter Demnig to commemorate victims of National Socialism (Nazism). Stolpersteine (stumbling stones) are small, 10x10cm brass plaques placed in the pavement in front of the last voluntary residence of (mostly Jewish) victims who were murdered by the Nazis. Each plaque is engraved victim’s with the name, year of birth, and place (mostly a concentration camp) and date of death. By doing this, Gunter Demnig gives an individual memorial to each victim. One stone, one name, one person. He cites the Talmud: "A human being is forgotten only when his or her name is forgotten."