Fabric and clothing store - Leon Joel

Leon Joel was born in Colmberg on January 28, 1888. His parents were Julius Joel and Sara Joel, née Schwab. Leon Joel had six other siblings, including Karl Amson Joel, grandfather of pop musician and international star Billy Joel. Leon Joel became a member of the Chewra Kadischa in 1922/23, and when Ludwig Dietenhöfer, the community leader for many years, moved to Nürnberg in 1936 übern, Leon Joel took over the office of community leader. Leon Joel was married to Johanna Samuel, a native of Köigshofen. During the Night of Broken Glass, Leon Joel was arrested in Würzburg and taken from there to Ansbach, where he was imprisoned. That same night he was forced to sell his house in Nuremberg Street. Increasing anti-Semitic pressure and reprisals caused the Joel couple to move first to Nuremberg and later to Frankfurt am Main. The attempt to emigrate to Cuba on the passenger ship St. Louis of the Hapag shipping company, which was planned for May 1939, failed due to the repatriation of all passengers on board by the Cuban government (Die Irrfahrt der St. Louis). Leon and Johanna Joel were deported from Drancy in France to Auschwitz and have been missing ever since. An additional inscription on the gravestone of Julius Joel commemorates the fate of Leon and Johanna Joel.