What We Know:
Family name: Hirschowitz
Given name: Günther
Date/place of birth: 23. February 1925, Jena
Date/place of death: Exact date of death unknown
Age: 17 years old at deportation

Günther Hirschowiz was born 23 February 1925 in Jena, Germany. His parents were Elias Hirschowitz (10.12.1885) and Irma geb. Katz  (01.01.1896). Elias was born in Riga and Irma was born in Berlin.

Irma’s parents were Aron Katz (31.08.1968) and Sidonie Katz geb. Heller (15.11.1869). Aron and Sidonie were married 24 February 1894 in Berlin. They had three children, Alexander Abraham, Charlotte and Irma.

Elias immigrated to the United States from Hamburg to New York in September 1895. On the Ellis Island Passenger list Elias is recorded as having Russian nationality, 9 years old, a protracted sojourn traveller with a final destination of Boston, USA. He was on board the Dania ship with his 19 year old sister Blume and 8 year old brother Adolph. There are no other passengers registered on the passenger list under the name Hirschowitz.

The three children were most likely meeting family or a family contact in Boston, however the exact details on where Elias stayed and how long he was in the  United States before returning to Germany is unknown. There is no mention of his parents on any of the immigration documents.

***

Irma and Elias were married in Berlin on 23 July 1923. At the time of their marriage Elias was living in Jena and Irma in Berlin. They settled in Jena where Günther was born two years later.

In Jena, Jews were not allowed to settle within the town until 1790. Slowly the Jewish community grew. In 1925 the Jewish population was 277. After the Nazi’s came to power in 1933, the number dropped again to 150 Jewish citizens. The Hirschowitz family resided in Jena for some time after Günther’s birth in 1925,  although it is unclear for how long. Günther’s father Elias worked as a mechanic. In his young teen years, Günther worked as a gardener.

On a registration card for the town of Saafeld, Irma’s sister Charlotte is documented in the town with her main residence as Berlin. It is probable that Irma brought her family to stay with her sister or at her sister’s residence in Saafeld.

On Kristallnacht, Elias Hirschowitz was arrested in Saafeld and taken to Buchenwald Concentration camp where he was kept until 12 December 1938. Nine Jewish men were arrested on Kristallnacht from Saafeld.

With heightened violence and discrimination against Jewish citizens in Germany, efforts to emigrate were urgently pursued. Elias and Irma applied to emigrate to the United States, indicating on their emigration index card that Elias’s sister was their contact in the USA. At the time, they were living in Saafeld at Wielandstr.1. Günther is not included on the emigration index card. Perhaps other plans to get him out of Germany were already organized, possibly via kindertransport. The date of their emigration index card is unknown.

Attempts to leave Germany were unsuccessful for the Hirschowtiz family. On 10 may 1942 Günther and his parents Elias and Irma Hirschowtiz were deported to Belzyce Ghetto. The last known address of the Hirschowitz family was Herbert Nordkus Straße. 1 in Saafeld.

There are no records regarding the whereabouts of Günther, Elias or Irma past the deportation date of 10 May 1942. Günther and his parents were murdered in the Holocaust. He was 17 years old at deportation.

Irma’s parents, Aron and Sidonie Katz, were deported to Theresienstadt 11 September 1942. They were both murdered in Theresienstadt. A death certificate for Sidonie  indicates her date of death as 11 February 1943 with the cause of death as enteritis.

Charlotte Levi geb. Katz was deported from Berlin to Auschwitz 1 March 1943. She was murdered in the camp.

Irma’s brother, Alexander Abraham Katz, was able to flee Germany and arrived in San Francisco, California from Shanghai in 1948.

There are no stolpersteine laid for Günther, Elias or Irma Hirschowitz.