This evening marks the beginning of Yom HaShoah. This day is dedicated to the memory of the Shoah and specifically to Jewish resistance. Here in the Altenburg region, we honor this memory by sharing the stories of those who stood up against destruction—through combat, through intelligence, or through the power of bearing witness. Today we remember those whose voices were violently silenced – and those who refused to be silent. From the armed resistance in the ghettos to the witnesses in the courtrooms: their struggle is our duty to remember.
Biographies from our region impressively demonstrate this courage and strength of self-assertion:
Abram "Abrasza" Blum (1905–1943): An engineering student in Altenburg and a leader of the Jewish Fighting Organization (ŽOB). An architect of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, he fought until the end, escaped through the sewers, but was eventually captured and murdered.
Abraham (Adolf) Goldberg (1923–2010): Humiliated at his school in Altenburg as a "specimen" for Nazi racial theory because his blond hair and blue eyes were seen as a "deceptive" threat. He survived the Janowska camp with the help of officer Hans Hartman and later served as a crucial witness in trials against Nazi war criminals.
Nathan Jakubowicz (born 1905): A former engineer student at the "Technikum" Altenburg who joined the "Chapaev" partisan unit in 1943. He fought in the "Rail War" against the Wehrmacht and worked in intelligence (Razvedka), forging documents and translating enemy mail.
Kurt Kohn (1918–2005): Lived in Altenburg in the 1930s before joining the French Resistance as "Pierre Marty" or "Pierre Claude Flament" engaging in sabotage against the German occupiers.
Max Fruchtmann (1908–1967): Born in Meuselwitz, he was a former prisoner of the Sachsenburg and Dachau concentration camps. Forced to emigrate in 1937, he returned in 1945 as a US Army investigator to uncover Nazi crimes in his home region.
These life stories demonstrate that Jewish resistance had many faces. Let us today read the names of those we have lost and honor the stories of those who resisted.
We remember the Jewish citizens of the Altenburg region who were persecuted and murdered:
Isaak Abt (Apt) – Jenny Adler (Spiegl) – Siegmund Adler – Malke Altmann (Frühmann/Friemann) – William Amram – Fajbusch Anikst – Henriette Bach (Hirschhahn) – Wilhelm Bäuml – Johanna Baumann (Hirsch) – Dr. Julius Baumann – Walter Dan Baumann – Hugo Beck – Abraham Mortko Beller – Chaja (Helene) Beller (Brand) – Gitla „Gusty“ Ryfka Beller – Yitzchak Belzer – Anita Berlinski – Esther Berger (Berkower) – Abraham Dawid Berger – Israel Moses Berger – Joachim Berger – Joseph Salomo Berger – Hedwig Berlinski (Schreier/Allerhand) – Rosa Berlinski – Symcha (Simon) Mendel Berlinski – Wolf "Willy" Josef Berlinski – Johanna Berner (Fleischmann) – Bertha Bernstein (Weiss) – Michael Bialystoki – Chaim Abraham Bittmann – Hugo Blank – Dawid Bleiberg – Salomon Meilech Blitzer – Abraham „Abrasza“ Blum – Wilhelm Böhm – Isak Borak – Wulf Borischansky – Jakob Brand – Uscher Brand – Wolf Brand – Moses Brechner – Monos Bromberg – Nachemias Bronstein – Helene Bruck – Siegfried (Salo) Bruck – Sima Buchhalter (Rosenmann) – Marianne Bucky (Cohn) – Sally (Salym) Bucky – Siegfried Burgheim – Therese Burgheim (Ahlfeld) – Lucie Chan (Windmüller) – Julius Cohn – Philippine „Pinchen“ Cohn – Clara Dambitsch (Kohn) – Kurt Dannemann – Nathan Dannemann – Girsch Darschon – Bruno Deutsch – Leon Dick – Gregor Drabkin – Isidor Dressler – Jeanette Drucker (Spiegl) – Adolf Dünmann (Adolf Dimano) – Margarethe Dünmann (Wallfisch) – Selig Eichen/Köstenbaum – Josef Eichner/Strassler – Hillel Ekman – Ruben Eljaschew-Kahn (Robin Robert) – Hirschleib Elstein – Henoch Ende/Leiter – Chaim Engelberg – Wulf Feigelsohn – Abraham Feiler – Peter Fein – Meyer Feingold – Chaskel Feldmann – Zala Feldmann – Aron Feldstein – Lea Felsen – Markus „Max“ Felsen – Hinda Ferber – Isaak Leib Feuermann – Salo Fiderer – Isaak Finder – Hirsch Finkelstein – Gdalja Fisch – Emil Albert Fischer – Eisik Fränkel – Bernhard (Berich) Freilich – Sophie Freilich (Felsen/Gelobter) – Karolina „Lilly“ Freund (Spiegl) – Dr. Arthur Karl Friedmann – Arthur Heinrich Friedmann – Richard Friedmann – Josef Friemann/Frühmann – Abraham Jacob Fruchtmann – David Gelles – Hersch Gelles – Lipa Gelles – Schewa Gelles (Neufeld) – Lipa Gelles – Toni Gelles (Leifer) – Philipp Gertler – Dora Gfrörer (Hase) – Simcha Gimberg – Alfred Glaß – Elsa Glaß (Salomon) – Anna Hilda Goldberg – Bertha Goldberg (Kamermann) – Cilly Goldberg (Goldberg/Unger) – Daniel Goldberg – Ella Goldberg – Gittel (Eugenie) Goldberg (Wiesel) – Kalman Goldberg – Moritz Goldberg – Wilhelm Goldberg – Fischel Goldenberg – Nathan Goldenberg – Regina Goldschmidt (Baum) – Jakob Goldstein – Moses Gorenbuch – Selig Wolf Gottesmann – Chiel Großmann – Leib Meier Grünberg – Aron Grünfeld – Benisz Grünglas – Erich Grünwald – Moyses Guralnik – Nuson Guzik – Helene Hamberger – Berl Hammer – Fischel Handweiler – Golda Handweiler (N.N.) – Henoch Harband – David Hasenfratz/Gottlieb – Jakob „Jacky“ Hausmann – Selig (Siegmund) Hausmann – Toni Hausmann (Brandwein) – Chaim Häussler – Willy Benjamin Heinrich – Isak Hercberg – Sima (Sabina) Hilsenrath – Peisach Hirsch – Jenö Hoffmann – Lena Hoffman/Kassner – Mortko Schlome Hoffman – Munisch Hoffman – Oskar (Schaja) Holder – Irma Holzhausen (Kolsen) – Hermann Horowitz – Julius Huppert – Josef Inspektor – Jowel Iliwitzki – Leon Itzowicz (Ickowicz) – Chany Jad – Josef Jad – Natan Jad – Schaja Jakubowicz – Pinek Jochimowicz – Max Joffe – Moric Kabiljo – Mowsche Kacenelenbogen – Koloman Kaiser – Abraham Kamusiewicz – Moses Kanarek – Wulf Kantor – Leo Katz – Oskar Kaufmann – Samuel Kaufmann – Jakob Lazar Kirschner – Hermann Kloß – Marion Kloß – Regina Kloß (Heidemann) – Felix Kern/Pfeffer – Adele Kohn – Arnold Kohn – Betty Kohn – Johanna Kohn (Kohn) – Max Kohn – Psachje Kohn – Rösi Kohn (Fischhof) – Samuel Kohn – Elkan Kolazki – David – Konikow – Joel Kornberg – Mendel Kornfeld – Chaim Kornmehl – Max Kornmehl – Siegfried Kornmehl – Abram Krejnin – Grischa Kremer – Josef Krinski – Isaak Kronfeld – Samuel Kurgan – Imre Kurländer – Abraham Kurz – Anna Rosa Kurz – Leibisz Kurz – Sabina Kurz (Gross) – Aron Kussmann – Abraham Lack – Abraham Samuel Lambek – Erich Lamm – Nachman Landenberg – Aron Landwirth – Dora Landwirth – Rosa Landwirth (Kempler) – Saul Hersch Lauer – Isak Leimsieder – Leo (Leib) Lenobel – Ida Leopold (Felsen) – Abraham „Freddy“ de Leeuw – David Levit – Albert Levy – Franziska „Fränze“ Levy (Bucky) – Lore Levy – Renate Levy – Minna Malka Liatowitsch – Benjamin Liebermann – Else Liebermann – Hertha Liebermann (Schlabowsky) – Margot Liebermann – Paula (Perla) Liebermann (Feiner) – Meszulim Linden – Josef Lipinsky – Alwin Lippmann – Dr. Edmund Oscar von Lippmann – Käthe Loewy (Strumpfner) – Renate Loewy – Kurt Löwenstamm – Lily Löwy ( Kohn) – Dr. Artur Luka – Jossif Manus – Fritz Marienfeld – Martin Marienfeld – Theodor Marienfeld – Mojsei Markus – Max Mathias – Shneer (Georg) Meerowicz – Jakob Mehrfeld – Josef Menakier – Felix Meyenberg – Bertha Michaelis (Adler) – Siegfried Michelsohn – Gdala Milikowski – Ita Miller (Rein) – Majer Milneris – Tobias Moszkowicz – Martha Müller (Lewinsohn) – Levi Nachtigal – Gizela Nagler (Morgenstern) – Mortko Schlome Neubauer – Berl Neuhäuser/Spiegel – Chaim Nathan Neumann – Fani Neumann (Rothfeld) – Julie Neumann (Krauser/Neumann) – Michael (Mechel) Neumann – Karoline Neuß (Zivi) – Nuchim Oberhand – Hans „Hänsel“ Oronowicz – Leo Oronowicz – Margarethe „Gretel“ Oronowicz – Regina Oronowicz (Handweiler) – Wanda Oronowicz – Alexander Owczynski – Grigori Palant – Sabine Parnes (Hilsenrath) – Isidor Peiser – Leon Percik – Salomon Pevsner – Amalie Pfingst (Schott) – Max Pfingst – Kurt Pick – Sophie Pick (Neugarten) – Elisabeth Platz (Neubauer) – Rubin Pleple – Markus Pohoryles – Abraham Poljakow – Abram Pozmantier – Sidona Prager (Spiegl) – Hendrik Prins – Schmuel Itzek (Heinrich) Pruschansky – Samuel Prywer – Chaim Rabinowicz – Israel Rabinowicz – Samuel Rafelsohn – Szöbel Rand (Freilich) – Simon Ratner – Mendel Reich – Dresel Reig (Neumann) – Mortko Reig – Moses Reiter – Sava Rezer – Leib Rigel – Feiwel Rochman (Rachman) – David Rosdeutscher – Blima Feigel Rosenbach/Parnes (Unger) – Julius Rosenbach/Parnes – Max Rosenbach/Parnes – Samuel Isak Rosenbach/Parnes – David Rosenbaum – Adele Rosenberg (Szkolny) – Hans Rosenberg – Siegmund (Selig) Rosenberg – Sitty Rosenberg (Katz) – Markus Rosenberg – Hersch Rosenblatt – Salomon (Shamol) Rosenmann – Szaja Leib Rosenstein – Taube Lea Rosenthal (Beermann) – Alexandrine Rosner (Gärtner, Alice Gordon) – Carl Rost – Elemer Rosza – Betty Rotenberg (Kloß) – Edith Rotenberg – Ella Rotenberg (Ruschewitzky) – Esther Rotenberg – Isaak Rotenberg – Josef Rotenberg – Hinda Rotenberg (Perla) – Luzie Rotenberg – Ruth Rotenberg – Samuel Rotenberg – Sonja Rotenberg – Henie Rottenberg – Ilia Rubin – Sara „Sally“ Rubin (Rosenfeld) – Fischel Rubinstein – Chaim Rudich – Eisig Simche Rudich – Siegfried Sabor – Marco Safir – Martin Salzmann – Mendel Schagrün – Samuel Schewelewitsch – Emma Schlabowski (Rosenstein) – Ryfka Schlanger – Minna Schleifer (Engelberg) – Georg Schleimer – Elias Schlossberg – Schevel Schlossberg – Anna Schmidt (Fließ, Anni Vara) – Erna Schneeberg (Chorinski) – Pinkas Arje Schnitzler – Karl Schorr (Karl-Friedrich Schorr-Lassen) – Beni Schuman – Gerhard Schwarz – Gerasim Schur – Bertha Seckel (Grünberg) – Miriam Shmukler (Miriam David) – Berl Silber – Käthe Simon (Steinitz) – Aron Singer – Israel Sinnreich/Mühlstein – Artur Soldin – Abraham Soltes – Dora Soltes – Israel Soltes – Joachim Soltes – Sara Soltes – Naftali Sonnenblick – Jakob Sommer – Berl Spiegel – Clementine „Tina“ Spiegl (Wilmersdörfer) – Luitpold Spiegl – Chaim Springer – Dr. Herbert Starer – Natalie Starer (Josephson) – Wolf Starer – Abraham Stein – Charlotte Stein – Jakob Steiner – Dr. Michael Steiner – Julius Steinmann – Abraham Stempel – Malka Ruchel „Rosa“ Sternberg (Rudich/Grünberg) – Simon Sternberg/Steinbrecher – Malka Sternberg/Steinbrecher (Iwanier) – Philipp (Fischel) Strassmann – Adolf Strauß – Johanna Strauß (Rosenberg) – Hans Strumpfner – Hedwig Strumpfner (Stern) – Isaak Stul – Abraham Stupel – Saul Szer – Elias Leib Switkes – Froim Sztajnbok – Henny Thiele (Bornstein) – Moses Tischler – Moritz Tondowski – Aisik Trepel – Ewsej Tury – Emanuel Unger – Henoch Unger – Leo Wächter – Berta (Basia) Wandstein (Buchhalter/Rosenmann) – Helene Wandstein – Hermann Wandstein – Leo Weinberg – Paul Weinzweig – Antonie „Toni“ Weiss (Reichenbach) – Dr. Hugo Weiss – Isak Wiedemann – Jacob Wilamowsky – David Winer – Alter Chaim Winzelberg – Peissach Winnicki – Klara Wohlgemuth (Seckel) – Erich Wolff – Arnold Wollberg – Jacob Wolozinski – Ilse Woreczek – Max Woreczek – Willi Woreczek – Rosa (Ruchla) Zimmer/Plattner.
We should also remember the victims of the Altenburg and Meuselwitz subcamps of the Buchenwald concentration camp at the HASAG factories, the forced laborers buried in the district, the numerous people whose exact fate we do not yet know or whose existence we are currently unaware of, and all the fortunate souls who survived the reign of terror of the National Socialists or were able to save themselves by fleeing.