Reich Association of Jews in Germany (RVJD), Westphalia District Office

The RVJD moves into the residential and business premises at Laerstraße 9 of the Jewish businesswoman Julie Stern (linen and wool factory) as the headquarters of the Westphalia district office.

The first director of the Westphalia district office was Dr. Rosi Karfiol, who emigrated to the USA, from spring 1939 to January 1940. The Fürsorgeabteilung was headed by Sophie Koritzer. The head from the beginning of 1940 until July 1942 was Dr. Max Ostwald. Ostwald was deported to Theresienstadt on July 31, 1942, and his successor Adolf Stern, who was mainly responsible for assisting the Gestapo with the deportations, on June 29, 1943. They did not return. The representative of the Jews in Bielefeld until his deportation in July 1942 was Max Hirschfeld. After his return in 1945, he was chairman of the newly founded synagogue congregation.

The district office looked after old people's homes in Unna, Bielefeld and Detmold, an orphanage in Paderborn, retraining camps in Bielefeld (Schloßhofstraße) and Paderborn (Grüner Weg), and a retraining workshop in Dortmund. Until its dissolution, the company was also responsible for the Jewish schools. One department was responsible for the administration, maintenance and sale of real estate (e.g. the cemetery), another for the steadily growing area of welfare.

The district office was ultimately an essential instrument of the Gestapo offices in Münster, Bielefeld and Dortmund in forcing emigration, in the registration (keeping of lists), and from the end of 1941 in the implementation of the deportations. In addition, it had to organize the forced incarceration in ➔ Judenhäuser, the implementation of laws and ordinances (handing over of furs, jewelry, etc.).

After the dissolution of the district office, Jews from among the remaining Jewish mixed marriage partners took over residual functions until 1945. Until the end, Louis Sternberg from Paderborn acted as the central shop steward for the administrative districts of Münster, Minden and Land Lippe, and Dr. Max Rosenbaum from Dortmund for the administrative district of Arnsberg.