The Jewish Community of Laupheim and its Annihilation

Book Pages 391 - 392

NÖRDLINGER, Julius,

66 Kapellenstrasse

Translated by: Marco Savino, Hi-Jung Park, Maria Diana Paius and Jennifer Schocker
Supervisor: Dr. Robynne Flynn-Diez,
Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg,
Institut für Übersetzen und Dolmetschen Englischabteilung

KARL NEIDLINGER

Julius Nördlinger, born October 27, 1867 in Laupheim, deceased January 9, 1933, in Laupheim

Thekla, née Leiter, born March 29, 1879 in Oberdorf, deported April 26, 1942, to the Izbica Ghetto, Poland

-    Isidor, born June 5, 1905

-    Bertha, born January 24, 1907

-    Leopold, born March 11, 1911

Shortly before the most destructive catastrophe of the 20th century, which began with Hitler’s appointment as Reichskanzler[1], the Nördlinger family was dispersed due to the migration of the children, marriage, and the father’s death. Leopold, the youngest son, moved to Nauendorf, Brandenburg a small village near the German-Polish border at the end of 1932. The daughter, Bertha, married Benno Strauß in September 1932 and they moved to Lohr am Main. The eldest son, Isidor, had moved away earlier. The only information known about him is that he was in the USA in 1938.

From the top: Alice Bernheim. In the middle, on the right: Bertha Nördlinger as a student of the Catholic Mädchenmittelschule in 1918 and next to her Steffi Rieger. On the bottom, left to right: restaurateur Senze, Emma Lämmle, Luise Mann. The students of this school were between 11 and 14 years old.

(taken from: 100 Jahre Realschule, 1996)

Their father, Julius, also called “Juler”, a livestock trader, passed away on January 9, 1933 and was buried in Laupheim. Shortly after, Thekla, their mother, also left Laupheim and moved in with Bertha in Lohr am Main. This family’s separation has contributed to the lack of centralized, recorded information about them. Of the three children, only one photograph of Bertha could be found. In 1918, she was a student at the Catholic Mädchenmittelschule,[2] which time and again also admitted Jewish students despite their religious affiliation – evidence of the once harmonious relations between Christians and Jews.

Had these circumstances lasted, the Nördlingers could have been left out of this book since nearly the entire family had left Laupheim by 1933. However, in 1935, Thekla Nördlinger returned to Laupheim for unknown reasons. Instead of emigrating, she moved back into the house on 66 Kapellen Street, which had not been sold yet. Nevertheless, she was not permitted to stay there very long. In September 1939 she was forced to relocate to the former office of the rabbinate, which had been turned into a “Jewish home for the elderly.”

In the photo provided, Thekla can be viewed at the very left of the photo, sitting at the Kaffeetafel[3] with an emotionless expression next to considerably older people, such as Helene and Karl Guggenheimer. All of the younger residents had been deported to the Riga Ghetto in November 1941.

On April 24, 1942, the three youngest women, Hedwig Rosenberg, Selma Einstein and Thekla Nördlinger, faced the same fate. They were deported to the Izbica Ghetto in Poland, from where they did not return.

Photo: In the Jewish home for the elderly: Thekla Nördlinger,

Helene Guggenheimer, Karl Guggenheimer, Arthur Grab (with glasses). The young visitor standing at the window is probably Edith Weil.

[1]Chancellor of the Third Reich

[2]Middle school for girls

[3]A social event with coffee, cake and fine china for Sundays or special occasions

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