Stumbling Stones Grietgasse 25-26

These small, brass memorial plaques (Stolpersteine or stumbling stones) commemorate:

* Hermann Friedmann, born 1870, arrested 1938, Buchenwald, dead from consequences of imprisonment 15 February 1940.
* Klara Friedmann née Friedmann, born 1866, deported 1942, Theresienstadt, murdered 6 January 1944.

Background

Hermann Friedmann, a butcher, and his wife Klara moved to Jena in 1892 where he started as an independent wholesaler of intestines/casings and fur [Darm- und Fellgroßhändler]. At Grietgasse 25/26, he then began a business for butcher’s supplies, which developed into an international company. The Friedmanns did well. They bought a villa at Scheidlerstraße 3 and had a chauffeur, a cook, and a nanny for their children, Arthur and Martha.

Hermann Friedmann was committed to traditional Jewish life in Jena, and their villa became an unofficial Jewish center with religious services, festivals, and teaching. Starting in April 1933, hostility against Jews increased. On Reichspogromnacht in November 1938, Hermann and son Arthur were arrested and deported to Buchenwald. At some point during that year, Hermann and Klara were forced to turn their company over to new "Aryan" owners. Arthur was released shortly after the arrest, but Hermann was held for more than a year. In early December 1939, Hermann Friedmann was finally released but was seriously ill. He died two months later.

Klara was forced to sell the Scheidlerstraße house. Then she had to pay rent to live there with her daughter and her husband, who had moved to Jena from Rudolstock. In February 1942 Klara had to move to a "Wagonlager" on Löbstedter Straße. From there she was deported in September to Theresienstadt, where she was dead 17 months later.

The Friedmanns’ son Arthur Friedmann was able to flee to the U.S.A.

Their daughter and her husband, Martha and Alfred Walter, were not so lucky. On 10 May 1942, they were deported to Belzyce Ghetto in Poland where traces of them disappeared. Their official status is "murdered." Stolpersteine for Martha and Alfred Walter are at Scheidlerstraße 3 in Jena.

"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, date 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."

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Source

• Text: Fedor de Vries & Anne Palmer
• Photos: :Linda:
• Stolpersteine Jena: Hermann Friedmann
• Stolpersteine Jena: Klara Friedmann
• Yad Vashem Central Database of Shoah Victims’ Names
• Stolpersteine.eu