The Victims
The memorial is dedicated to all victims from Echzell of the Persecution of Jews under the Nazis - and thus to many more people than those 59 whose names are inscribed in the foot. Because all the many people who were ousted from their native land are victims of persecution, too, and how much more the few who survived the camps and returned to Echzell.
Engraved into the foot are the names of the people who were born in Echzell or used to live here for an extended period of time - most of them because they married into families here - and who are recorded in the official lists in Yad Vashem and the German “Memorial Book of the Federal Archives for the Victims of the Persecution of Jews in Germany (1933-1945)” as victims of the Shoah.
These are, according to our best knowledge:
Isidor Adler, born Feb. 26, 1892 in Echzell, died in 1943 in one of the camps near Lublin in Poland
His wife Karoline Adler née Hammerschlag, born Dec. 6, 1893 in Treis a.d.L. - deported to Poland in 1942, declared dead
Recha Fromm née Naumann, born July 27, 1903 in Bisses - deported to the east in 1942, declared dead
Salomon Gruenebaum, born Feb. 27, 1885 in Herbede - deported to Auschwitz in 1943, declared dead
Lilli Grünewald née Simon, born Aug. 28, 1909 in Echzell - deported from Darmstadt to Treblinka in 1942
Siegmund Hecht, born Feb. 10, 1875 in Bisses - committed suicide on July 12, 1941
Emma Heilbronn née Mayer, born Aug. 25, 1884 in Echzell
and her husband Hermann Heilbronn, born Apr. 14, 1879 in Echzell, were deported from Echzell in October 1942
Hermann Heilbronn died in Theresienstadt in 1942, Emma was taken from Theresienstadt to Auschwitz on May 16, 1944 and killed there
The couple’s sons Martin Heilbronn, born Sep.11, 1925 in Echzell - killed on Sep. 23, 1942 in Majdanek
and Siegfried Heilbronn, born May 12, 1913 in Echzell - deported to the extermination camp of Auschwitz on Apr. 19, 1943
Betty Henoch née Mayer, Emma Heilbronn‘s sister, born Apr. 1, 1903 in Echzell - killed in the mass execution on Nov. 25, 1941 in Kovno (Kaunas) in Lithuania
Emilie Heiser née Simon, born Feb. 27, 1890 in Echzell - shot dead in Kovno on Nov. 25, 1941
Herta Herz née Rossmann, born 8.9.1888 in Echzell - deported to Łódź Ghetto on Oct. 30, 1941 and perished there
Lina Hess, born Apr. 23, 1906 in Echzell - deported to Theresienstadt in September, 1942, taken to Auschwitz on May 16, 1944 and sent into the gas
Albert Kaufmann, born Dec. 25, 1883 in Bisses - was last seen by a former neighbor in Bialystok in 1942 doing forced labour, presumably perished there
His brother Leopold Kaufmann, born July 10, 1877 in Bisses - shot dead on Nov. 25, 1941 in Kovno
Their brother Theodor Kaufmann, born Oct. 3, 1880 in Bisses,
his wife Emilie Kaufmann née Fuld, born Oct. 16, 1880 in Schafheim
and their son Julius Kaufmann, born Feb. 1, 1910 in Echzell
were deported to Minsk in November 1941, according to Theodor‘s brother Adolf the parents perished in Auschwitz in 1942, Julius probably died in Minsk Ghetto
Their further brother Richard Kaufmann, born Sep. 30, 1895 in Bisses,
his daughters Helma Kaufmann, born Sep. 20, 1925 in Bisses
and Ruth Kaufmann, born Nov. 28, 1926 in Bisses
and Richard‘s mother-in-law Sara Lamm née Muenz, born Jan. 20, 1869 in Kirtorf,
were deported to Łódź Ghetto on Oct. 20, 1941 and perished there, only for Sara Lamm the date of death is known as Apr. 24, 1942.
Therese Lind née Simon, born July 19, 1893 in Echzell - died 1942 in Auschwitz
Paula Lindtheimer née Reis, born Oct. 2, 1870 in Echzell - died on Dec. 6, 1942 in Theresienstadt
The siblings
Levi Loewenstein, born Jan. 27, 1879 in Echzell - missing -
Mathilde Loewenstein, born Sep. 10, 1875 in Echzell - died in Theresenstadt on Feb. 21, 1943
Siegmund Loewenstein, born July 18, 1876 in Echzell - died in Theresienstadt on Jan. 17, 1943,
and the latter’s wife Jenny Loewenstein née Wormser, born May 29, 1882 in Zeitlofs - 1941 murdered in Majdanek
Jenny Mayer née Rollhaus, born Apr. 5, 1883 in Bisses - deported to Theresienstadt in 1942 and perished there
Ernestine Meier née Simon, born Jun. 25, 1885 in Echzell - died on Apr. 6, 1943 in Theresienstadt
Leopold Meyer, born Dec. 5, 1878 in Bisses - deported to Minsk Ghetto in 1942 probably perished there
His brother Max Meyer, born Mar. 10, 1880 in Bisses - killed in Majdanek in 1942
Emilie Neu née Simon, born Aug. 11, 1866 Bisses - died in Theresienstadt on Dec. 22, 1942
Hermann Reis, born Mar. 3, 1872 in Echzell - died on Feb. 16, 1943 in Theresienstadt
The sisters
Dina Rothschild, born Sep. 22, 1896 in Echzell - murdered in Auschwitz on Jan. 29, 1943
Emma Rothschild, born Dec. 6, 1894 in Echzell - deported in 1941 and missing
Klara Kaufmann née Rothschild, born Feb. 20, 1889 in Echzell - was deported to Minsk Ghetto in November 1941 and perished there
and Sofie Rothschild, born Apr. 27, 1891 in Echzell - deported to Riga Ghetto in 1941, died there
The siblings
Theckla Hamburger née Simon, born June 7, 1881 in Bisses
Ernestine Adler née Simon, born Aug. 30, 1882 in Bisses
and Adolf Simon, born Dec. 4, 1887 in Bisses
and the latter’s wife Frieda Simon née Adler, born Dec. 15, 1892 in Ober-Seemen - all missing in unknown places
The son of Adolf and Frieda, Alfred Simon, born Dec. 3, 1920 in Bisses - murdered on Jul. 16, 1942 in Majdanek
Bernhard Simon, born July 7, 1877 in Echzell - shot dead in the mass execution in Kovno on Nov. 25, 1941
His brother Moritz Simon, born Feb. 12, 1879 in Echzell - deported in 1942 and missing
Julius Simon born May 12, 1891 in Bisses - murdered in Auschwitz on Oct. 6, 1944
His wife Milli Simon née Simon, born Jan. 28, 1896 in Gettenau - also murdered in Auschwitz on Oct. 6, 1944
Their children
Erich Simon, born July 5, 1924 in Bisses - perished in Poland in 1942
Gustav Simon, born Jan. 15, 1920 in Bisses - deported to Sobibor and killed in the gas on Apr. 2, 1943 - together with all the children of the children’s home in which he served -
and Margot Simon, born Oct. 24, 1922 in Bisses - presumably perished in Poland in 1942
Milli Simon’s father Adolf Abraham Simon, born Mar. 24, 1873 in Echzell - killed in Auschwitz on May 16, 1944
Julius‘ sister-in-law Helene Simon née Rossmann, born Sep. 30, 1892 in Woelfersheim - was deported to Minsk in November 1941 and died there
Emilie Schreiner née Simon, born Jul. 25, 1881 in Echzell - probably deported from Darmstadt to Treblinka on Sep. 30, 1942 and killed there
Her brother Sigmund Simon, born Oct. 12, 1878 in Echzell - was deported to Gurs in southern France in October 1940 and died there on Jan. 7, 1942
The step-mother of the two, Lina Simon née Theilhaber, born Oct. 9, 1876 in Niederwerrn - assumed to have been killed in Auschwitz in 1944
Siegmund Simon, born Jul. 26, 1882 in Bisses - died on Mar. 8, 1943 in Theresienstadt
Arthur Stern, born June 9, 1904 in Echzell - was deported from Drancy in France to Auschwitz in August 1942 and killed there
Erna Stern, born Nov. 27, 1894 in Echzell - declared dead