Department store - Menko Held

Menko Held,born on 29.12.1846 was the owner of the textile department store Menko Held in Wertheim, Marktplatz 8 -10.The houses 8 and 10 formed the department store Menko Held.In the years before 1911 were owners of the house No.8 Max and Moritz Held and für the house 10 Menko Held.1911 Menko Held died on 3.1.1918 and was buried in the Jewish cemetery in Wertheim. In the same year of the business takeover in 1911, Max Held married Johanna Bär from Graben.The couple had three daughters-1912: Gertrud,1915: Margot,1929: Eva-Marlies.The Held textile department store was the largest and most renowned department store in Wertheim and the surrounding area.The family was well respected and Max Held was a member of the Historical Society of Old Wertheim and the German State Party and a guest at skat evenings and musical events. All this changed from 1933 onwards. On April 1, 1933, the first boycott (2 hours) of the department store and all other Jewish businesses in Wertheim was enforced by the district leadership of the NSDAP. Even before the night of the Reich pogrom, Max Held's house was searched and Max Held was arrested and taken to the Dachau concentration camp via Tauberbischofsheim. He was not released until mid-December 1938, at the instigation of his wife Johanna.At the beginning of 1939, Max Held moved with his wife Johanna and daughter Eva to Herrenstraße 14 (Jüdische Gemeindehaus) in Karlsruhe to live with his sister Martha and her husband, dentist Dr. Alfred Meyer.Already in 1938 Johanna Held managed to get a visa for her daughter Gertrud to emigrate to England.August 1939 Alfred and Martha emigrated to England.On 22.10.1940 Max and Johanna Held were deported from Karlsruhe to Gurs.On 10.08.1942 they were deported to the concentration camp Auschwitz1943. The day of their murder is not known.