http://www.fasena.de/courage/english/index.htm
Ingrid and Irene, the children of the Jewess Irma Eckler, had to grow up separated from each other and without their parents. They survived persecution and war. When she was over fifty, Irene, born in 1937, began to investigate her past - a past, which had hitherto been repressed. Although her search for clues to the past had begun late in life, it nevertheless brought some amazing facts to light. From books, films and television programs, Irene built up a picture of the Third Reich and was able to place her experiences in an historical context. Above all, she gained a better understanding of her parents, both of whom met violent deaths. She had no recollection of her mother and only once had she consciously met her father. She visited Hamburg to find out about her mother from surviving relatives. She also sought out her sister and they exchanged memories, letters, pictures and documents. Irene discovered that her Guardianship File was likely to be found at the Amtsgericht (Lower Court) in Hamburg. And so it was. The file became the guideline to the investigation of her past.

Irene Eckler would like to take this opportunity to express her thanks to Mister Alfred Hillert for his friendly advice and help in compiling this manuscript. The English language version of the text had been translated by Jean Macfarlane.

The text has been scanned by Karsten Wilke and Olivia Polo for the presentation on the internet. There might be still mistakes in the text. Please, help us to correct it by contacting us! [info@fasena.de]

The basis for this website is the first edition of the book

Irene Eckler: A Family Torn Apart by "Rassenschande", Schwetzingen 1998
In the meantime, Irene Eckler has published a second, revised edition, which, again, has the full English and German text in one volume with 276 pages:

Irene Eckler: A Family Torn Apart by "Rassenschande", Schwetzingen 2001, Horneburg Verlag [ISBN 3-9804993-2-4]
You can order the book at any bookstore, using the ISBN, or ordering it directly from

Horneburg Verlag
Postfach 1446
68704 Schwetzingen
Germany

The author and the Research and Study Center for Holocaust Education do hope that through this service many people will get access to this story, who would not have had a chance without this website.

http://www.fasena.de/courage/english/5d.htm

Irene Eckler at an orphanage
What happened to Irene at the orphanage after her mother had been deported in July 1938? She has no memories of that time

The physical and mental aftereffects of what appears to have been maltreatment, give an idea of what happened.

There are many scars on her body, some as long as 3 cm.

The dermatologist observed:

About 30 linear scars are to be found in the region of the Median-line of the neck, the back of the head, the thorax lumber spinal regions, very pronounced on the upper arms and, less obvious, on the right thigh. Some of the scars are faded and deep, others slightly hypertrophied. The scars are most likely from cuts.
Apart from the scars, there are also signs of old injuries to the right shoulder, the right collarbone and the back of the head which also stern from the same time and suggest that she might have fallen.
She also experienced hallucinations, sleep walking and a sudden feeling of faintness.

After the birth of her own child, she had strange experiences. For exarnple, she would get up during the night without realizing it, look for her child at the foot of her bed and panic because she could not find it. Her husband spoke to her and showed her that the child lay quietly sleeping in its own bed. Or she got up, went to the open window, imagined the child in her arms; it slipped out of her hands and fell out of the window - they lived on the third floor - she waited for the impact and screamed terribly until she was spoken to.

Even today, she still has strange experiences at night. She sits up and stares about her, distraught. Or she jumps out of bed, runs to the window and screams. When she is spoken to she becomes conscious of what is happening, but usually she cannot remember anything.

All injuries, physical and mental, result from the period spent in the orphanage (July 1938-March 1939) when she was a year old and suggest a fall through a window (the scars on the arms are lengthways, the large, deep scars on the back, however, run in all directions ).

The serious fall must been seen in the light of the fact that the child of a woman accused of "Rassenschande" was considered inferior and unworthy of life.

Did the fall through the window occur during the November pogroms? ("Reichskristallnacht" 9th-11th November 1938).

Until May 1940, the Youth Welfare Office in Harnburg had guardianship of both children.

However, no files remain from this time. Even in the Guardianship File of the Amtsgericht, pages 6-13 are missing. An obligatory insurance for home children did not exist at that time. The Averhoffstraße orphanage also burned down during the war, so there are no written records available and it is impossible to find out exactly what happened.

On 31st March 1939 an identity card with the letter "J" (Jude; Jew) was issued for the child.

Together with a photograph, this ID card indicates the rnove frorn orphanage to a foster home.

Why was the child fostered out privately?

Was it easier to conceal the consequences of the fall, this way?

The grandrnother knew nothing about what had happened.

And Irene's sister, Ingrid, saw the scars in 1994 for the first time.

The grandmother could finally visit her grandchild at the home of the foster parents, the Krauses.

Ingrid overheard a conversation where her grandmother said she thought the child was not happy there. She maintained that every time she came to visit Irene, her granddaughter, frightened, crawled under the bed.

But this proved to be wrong. Irene learnt to trust again. Her behaviour changed and she later developed into a happy, active child.

The foster rnother and her 13-year-old daughter knew how to give her a feeling of security.

She was only sad when Herr Krause, a cheerful man despite his war injuries, who always meant well, fetched a chair especially for her every midday and sang the popular song: "Ist denn kein Stuhl da, Stuhl da, Stuhl da, für meine Hulda, Hulda, Hulda." (Is no chair there for my Hulda.)

She knew, without anyone having told her, that indeed there was no chair for her because she did not really belong there.

The guardian, Landgerichtsrat a.D. Dr. Gerson, tries to save Irene...
Up until now the youth Welfare Office in Harnburg had guardianship of both children.

Ingrid was classed as a 'Mischling' (half-cast) first degree, Irene, because she had been born after 31st July 1936, as a 'full Jew' (Nurernberg Laws).

1. Supplementary Decree to the Reich Citizenship Law of November 1935:
§ 5 No (1) A Jew is anyone descended from at least three grandparents who are fuly Jewish as regards race. § 2, Paragraph 2, Sentence 2 is applicable (A grandparent is considered fully Jewish if he/she belonged to the Jewish religious community). No (2) Also deemed a Jew is a Jewish 'Mischling' subject who is descended from two fully Jewish grandparents. (d) who is the offspring of extramarital intercourse with a Jew, as defined in Paragraph 1, and is born out of wedlock after 31st July 1936."
§ 5, 2 d applied to Irene. Accordingly, a guardian was sought who conformed to the following directive:

"17th October 1938: Regarding the principles of Race Legislation in respect to the appointment of individuals as guardians, foster parents ... full-blooded Germans or 'Mischlinge', second degree, are not to be proposed for appointment as guardian etc. of Jews . . ."
In May 1940, the Jewish Landgerichtsrat (member of the district court) Dr. Gerson (retd.), was proposed. He accepted the guardianship of both children and undertook the complicated case of racial classification. He wanted to achieve the recognition of Irene as a 'Mischling' in order to give her more protection against persecution. Up until 1944, 'Mischlinge' and even Jews who lived within mixed marriages, were not generally deported.

The retired Landgerichtsrat Dr. Hermann Israel Gerson had been forced to retire in 1933 because the law of 7th April 1933 for the "Restoration of the Professional Civil Service" demanded:

'§ 3 ) Civil servants who are not of Aryan descent are to be retired (§ 8ff.); honorary officials are to be dismissed from official status."
The description "Restoration of the Professional Civil Service" was misleading. Its purpose was to get rid of politically and "racially" undesirable civil servants. The decree of 17th August 1938 facilitated persecution of Jews and their disenfranchisement:

"... Jews without a fIrst name in accordance with those listed in the Ministry of Interior directive of 18th March 1938 for Jewish first names, are, as of 1st March 1939, to add the first name 'Israel' (for males) or 'Sara' (for females)."

Accordingly, Dr. Hermann Gerson now had to add Israel to his name.

In his letter of 25th June 1940 to the Amtsgericht, Dr. Gerson tried to clarify the "racial" category of each farnily member.

Although grandfather Arthur Eckler officially left the Jewish religious community in February 1939, according to the first supplementary decree to the Reich Citizenship Law of 14th November 1935 he was still classified as a Jew.

"§ 5 paragraph 2 a (2) Also deemed a Jew is a Jewish 'Mischling' subject who is descended from two fully Jewish grandparents and a) who belonged to the Jewish religious community when the law was issued or who joined it thereafter."
In his efforts to have Irene declared a 'Mischling' it would have been an advantage to have had the father, August Landmesser, acknowledge paternity in a public declaration and pay maintenance for Irene. This explains his exposition.

Likewise, his suggestion that the mother should lose custody of the children. In his letter he wrote:

"In this case it would be recommendable to transfer the fight of custody for the children to either myself or the foster parents".
But the mother, in concentration camp, did not understand the reason. She feared she would lose the children completely (see her letters from KZ). One could not write too overtly, however, or the letter would not pass censorship.

... I should like to draw your attention to the following: The Youth Welfare Office applied for the appointment of an individual guardian taking into account that, according to § 5, paragraph 2 d, the children are classified as Jews. In my opinion, this premise does not apply, at least not to the eIder child, Ingrid. Both children were born out of wedlock to the Jewess Irma Eckler. Father of both children is the Aryan August Friedrich Landmesser. In this case, according to the above decree, only those born after 31st July 1936 are Jewish, so Ingrid Eckler is 'Mischling', first degree. PIease check if I should nevertheless continue as guardian for both children or whether in the case of Ingrid Eckler the guardianship should be transferred back to the Youth Welfare Office, Hamburg. The birth certificate of Ingrid Eckler, which verifies paternity, is enclosed with the request that it be returned. Dr. Gerson
:..with reference to my recent consultation with the 'Vormundschaftsrichter' (Judge from the Family Division of the High Court), I should like to add to my report of 12th June 1940:
1. Ingrid Eckler resides with her grandmother. The grandmother is an elderly woman of about 60. She is divorced from her first husband, the commercial traveller Arthur Eckler, and has been married to the onetime accountant Nicolaus Ernst Graumann since 22nd March 1932. The apartment is in Hamburg 19, Rellingerstr. 11 p. The grandmother is of Jewish race, however, baptised as Protestant Lutheran on 28th April 1931; the child was similarly baptised on 3rd November 1935. Ernst Graumann is Aryan and Protestant. The child is welllooked after there, and can remain in this foster home.

Irene Sara Eckler is fostered out to the married couple Ernst Krause, porter, and Auguste Krause. She was billeted there by the Welfare Office. The husband, an invalid of the Great War, is 42 years old and devout, his wife is 41 years old, Protestant. The Krauses are Aryan. The apartment is in Hamburg 22, Hamburger Str. 15 d IV. I intend to leave the child at her present address. At the behest of the Infant Welfare Office she is presently at the Infant Convalescent Home, Haus Lauenstein in Hittfeld near Harburg-Wilhelmsburg, but will be returning to her foster parents next week. The child's grandmother, Mrs. Graumann, told me that the child has been baptised, however, I have not yet been able to verify this information.

... IV Further, I consider it my duty to draw your attention to the following: According to § 1707 of the Civil Code, custody of the children Ingrid and Irene Sara lies with the mother. As she is in protective custody in the women's concentration camp Ravensbrück near Fürstenberg in Mecklenburg, and is likely to remain there for a considerable time before her release, she is, in fact, prevented from exercising this right. Therefore, I ask the Court to consider whether the mother should be relieved of her right to custody or that it be declared suspended. In this case, I would ask that the right of custody for the children be given to either myself or the children's foster parents. Dr. Gerson
In the case of the Eckler Guardianship, your request of 13th July 1940, re. recognition of paternity by Friedrich August Landmesser, Prison Camp 1, Börgermoor, has been sent to Amstgericht Sögel (Hümmling) within whose jurisdiction it lies.
The prisoner was brought forward and declared: Today, I will not voluntarily recognize paternity. I will be released from prison on 19th January 1941. I shall then find out if I am really the father of the child. When I am convinced of paternity, I will voluntarily recognize paternity and undertake to pay maintenance. I admit to having had relevant sexual intercourse. I request that the matter rests until after my release from prison.
[V.g.u. = Vorgelesen, genehmigt, unterschrieben]

Read, confirmed, signed

August Landmesser

In the matter of Guardianship Eckler 112 VII E 83 I draw your attention to the decree of 15th August 1940 that neither child is in possession of any assets.
I request the return of August Landmesser's personal letter acknowledging paternity re. Irene Eckler which I submitted to the Court with a statement on 25th June 1940.

I further request the issue of a Statement of Means for Irene Sara Eckler because the father refuses to make a public declaration of paternity and I am therefore forced to take proceedings against him with respect to paternity and maintenance payments.

Dr. Hermann Israel Gerson

Guardian

Erst ihr Vormund Dr. Gerson hat dafür gesorgt:

"Die Taufe der Irene, die bisher unterblieben war, ist inzwischen nachgeholt. Sie hat am 1. September (1940) durch Herrn Pastor Dr. Uhsadel in Harnburg 24, Immenhof 4, stattgefunden."

Weitere Hilfeleistungen seitens der evangelischen Kirche waren damit nicht verbunden.

Am 19. Januar 1941 wurde der Vater August Landmesser aus der Strafhaft nach Harnburg entlassen.

Am 30. Januar 1941 erschien folgender "Runderlass des Reichsministeriums der Finanzen":

"Die Kinderbeihilfe wird nur an Personen deutschen oder artverwandten Blutes gezahlt, darunter an alle europäischen Volksgruppen, außer Juden, Zigeunern und Mischlingen fremder Rassen."
Am 8. März 1941 teilte Dr. Gerson dem Amtsgericht mit, dass

die Sozialverwaltung seit dem 1. Februar 1941 die Unterstützung für Irene abgelehnt hat, da das Kind als Jüdin gilt

der Jüd[ische]. Religionsverband Harnburg jetzt die Unterstützung zahlt.  

Die Zeit drängte, denn jeder weitere Monat brachte Verschlechterungen für die Situation der Juden. Endlich, am 31. März 1941, erkannte August Landmesser die Vaterschaft an dem Kind Irene an.

Auf dieses Anerkenntnis gestützt, wollte Dr. Gerson versuchen zu erreichen, dass Irene als "Mischling" anerkannt würde, vor allem auch deshalb, weil die Pflegeeltern sie sonst nicht mehr behalten könnten. [Quelle] (A 35)

...Enclosure to Statement of Assets of 27th November 1940. The children are still with the sarne foster parents. Ingrid is with her grand- mother and husband, Mr. and Mrs. Ernst Graumann (retired accountant), Harnburg 19, Rellinger Straße Ilp, Irene Sara is with Mr. and Mrs. Ernst Krause (porter), Harnburg 22, Harnburger Straße 15d. They are both weIl looked after and cared for in their foster hornes and feel weIl there. Irene's baptism, which had hitherto been neglected, has now taken place. It was performed by Herm Pastor Dr. Uhsadel in Harnburg 24 Immenhof 4. As the father, August Landmesser, refuses voluntarily to acknowledge pater- nity of Irene, and his obligation to maintenance payments for her, I took pro- ceedings against hirn in this respect and on 2nd October 1940 received a default judgernent forcing hirn to pay 360 RM annual maintenance. The judgernent is final. The Amtsgericht, Harnburg, File ref.: 25 C 501/40. The Social Services pay the Krause foster parents a monthly welfare sup- plement of 30 RM for Irene Sara. Due to a worsening of Mr. Graumann's income, the Graumanns are no longer in a position to feed and educate Ingrid without receiving compensation. I applied to the Social Services that they agree to pay the Graumanns the sarne supplement for Ingrid. As a result, as of September 1940, the Graumanns have received a monthly contributi- on of 10.50 RM frorn the Social Services. The difference is explained by the fact that foster children who are related to their foster parents receive a lower supplement. The children's mother is still in the Ravensbrück concentration carnp near Fürstenberg in Mecklenburg. Dr. Gerson [document in the archives]

...The children's father, Friedrich August Landmesser, was released from prison on 19thJanuary 1941 and now lives in Harnburg, Steinwegpassage 11. As he has not yet acknowledged paternity of the younger child, Irene Sara, I request that he be summonds to the Guardianship Court to acknowledge paternity. I request that this opportunity be used to establish where Land- messer is working and w hat his earnings are so that I can urge him to meet maintenance obligations towards the children. I ask to be notified of the date of the hearing. Dr. Hermann Israel Gerson Guardian [document in the archives]

...The father has now acknowledged paternity for the second child, Irene Sara, with a notary attested document of 31st March 1941. Supported by this acknowledgement, I shall endeavour to have this child, who like her elder sister, is of 5/8 Aryan blood, recognized as a 'Mischling'. I am collecting the necessary documents for such an application and will then make the necessary application to Reich Dept. for Race Research (Sippenforschung). The elder child, Ingrid, is still welllooked after by the grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Graumann, Hamburg 19, Rellinger Str. 11 p. She is healthy and gives no cause for concern. The younger child is with Mr. and Mrs. Krause, Hamburg, von Essenstr. 26 p, and is likewise very well cared for, although she has recently been ill. As TB is suspected, she is under regular medical supervision. She will only be able to remain permanently with the Krause's if the TB ( tuberculosis) suspicion proves false and if she is recognized as a 'Mischling'. To bring up a child classified as Jewish would involve too many difficulties for the Krauses as the child gets older, difficulties which they are neither prepared to, nor possibly capable of taking on. Should it no longer be possible for the present foster parents to keep the child, I shall have to look for another foster home myself. [document in the archives]
On the 5th May 1941, Dr. Gerson wrote a four page letter, containing twenty enclosures to the Reich Interior Ministry, Dept. for Race Research (Sippenforschung) - Berlin. [document in the archives]

He received notification from there that the present classification was correct. He then made use of the final possibility according to § 7 of 'The First Supplementary Decree to the Reich Citizenship Law of 14th November 1935':

"The Führer and the Reich Chancellor can grant exemption from the rules of implementation decree."
and addressed a petition for clemency to the "Führer and Reich Chancellor" on 3rd June:

"Above all, in the interest of this child, who, just like the elder sister, has 518 Aryan blood, may I beg for clemency. What it means to the child to remain Jewish all her life needs no explanation. Everyone in Germany today is well aware of this."
With what courage these words were spoken!

• Reference: FamilySearch Genealogy - SmartCopy: Apr 27 2024, 5:00:41 UTC