Martin Friedländer

Friedländer was born in Berlin on January 20, 1920. From 1926 he attended elementary school in Berlin, which he had to leave again in 1934. From 1934 to 1937 Martin Friedländer did an apprenticeship as a ready-to-wear clothing maker at "Herrenkonfektion Wolfgang und Simon Kalinowsky" in Memhardstraße in Berlin and at the same time attended a commercial vocational school. After successfully completing his apprenticeship, he then worked for one year at the same company as a buyer. Two years later, Friedländer became self-employed until 1941, when he worked as an errand boy in a Berlin fashion store on Budapesterstraße. Because he had physically attacked a Gestapo informer and distributed leaflets for the SPD, he was arrested by the Gestapo in 1943. A neighbor, who turned out to be a Gestapo informer, had previously betrayed his sisters' hiding place. Only one of the two sisters survived the Holocaust; the other was deported to Auschwitz, where she and her child were murdered. He himself survived the Holocaust and was subsequently obliged to perform forced labor in Berlin-Neukölln and Berlin-Lichtenberg, which he had to do in rail construction and garbage collection, among other things.

(Since the house number is not known, the place marker is symbolically in the middle of the street.)

Martin Friedländer's father, the merchant Bernhard Friedländer, was born in Posen on December 3, 1889. Bernhard Friedländer was a soldier in World War 1 and then co-owner of a store from 1918 to 1938. In 1938 he was arrested by the Gestapo and subsequently tortured several times. On November 4, 1946 he was arrested for alleged espionage by Soviet soldiers. He was sent to a Siberian camp and did not return from the Soviet Union until December 11, 1955. His wife Maria Friedländer was also born in Posen on December 4, 1889. The birthplace of the two was the very city where they were married on January 10, 1916. Together they had three children besides Martin, of whom only Margot and Martin Friedländer survived the Holocaust. Martin Friedländer's parents also survived; Maria died on August 3, 1952, Bernhard in 1971 - both passed away in Berlin.

(Since the birthplace of the above-mentioned persons is not known in detail, the place marker is symbolically located in the center of the city of Posen)

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On June 8, 1946, Martin Friedländer married Margot Agnes Minna Scholtz, a non-Jew and a stenographer, who was born in Berlin-Neukölln on April 27, 1925. Together they had two children, Norbert Abraham, born in 1948, and Brigitte Esther Louise Friedländer, born in 1950. In 1972, Margot Friedländer converted to Judaism so that she and Martin Friedländer could also religiously marry in Hanover that same year (on May 31, 1972). Margot's name from then on was Miriam Friedländer.

(Since the house number is not known, the place marker is symbolically in the middle of the street)

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Martin Friedländer presumably first lived with his family in Prenzlauer Berg after his return from Auschwitz. Immediately following his brief stay there, he was assigned an apartment issued by the refugee camp at Grollmannstrasse 36. In 1946, Martin Friedländer opened a carriage business, which he had to close again in 1951. Since he was not a member of the SED, he suffered increasingly from economic restrictions, which is why he left for West Berlin with his family in 1953. The Friedländers were initially accommodated as political refugees in a reception camp at Wannsee (Walter-Rathenau-Heim, Sandwerder 33). Then the family moved to Bundesallee 194/195 in the Berlin-Wilmersdorf district. Martin Friedländer tried to apply here for the refugee card "C", which would have allowed him to leave the country permanently in case of coercion. However, the application was rejected, although the Jewish community asked for reconsideration several times and supported Martin Friedländer enormously in his endeavor as a member. Until his retirement in 1985, he worked as an insurance salesman for Hamburg-Mannheimer Versicherung.

Martin Friedländer was active in the Jewish community in West Berlin and was politically active as a member of the SPD. In addition, he has been doing educational work with school classes as a contemporary witness since the 1980s. He proactively approached schools to talk to students about the crimes of the Nazi regime. He also took part in legal hearings in order to be able to report on his traumatic experiences resulting from the various stages of his imprisonment. Among other things, he was called as a witness in the trial of SS-Rottenführer Friedrich-Wilhelm Rex. He was also invited as a guest or speaker at official events. He participated in commemorations of the Aktion Sühnezeichen Friedensdiente e.V., the Topography of Terror or Against Forgetting for Democracy e.V. . For his commitment he was awarded in July 1995, shortly before his death, the Citizen's Medal for special services by the Berlin district of Wilmersdorf.

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Until his death, Martin Friedländer suffered from physical impairments as a result of the torture and the terrible conditions of imprisonment. Therefore, he filed claims for compensation immediately after the end of the war. Among other things, he tried to obtain compensation for deprivation of liberty in 1963, which was rejected at the time. It was not until 50 years later, when he was already retired, that he was able to assert his compensation claims. Friedländer also did not receive recognition of 100% severe disability - as a result of torture by the Gestapo and imprisonment - until October 1992. He died in 1995 in Berlin-Wilmersdorf, where he had lived at Bundesallee 194/95 since 1963.