The Kohls family

At Bergstrasse 10 lived the Jewish couple Adolf (born 23. 10.1896) and Elsa Kohls (née Cahn, 19.11.1894) lived with their daughters Edith (b. 20.04.1920) and Lieselotte (b. 18.01.1922), as well as Elsa's mother, Rosa Cahn (b. 1862).

The family lived in difficult economic circumstances, which may have been the reason why Adolf went to Aachen in 1933. In the spring of 1935, Else Kohls turned to the Evangelical Lutheran Church with the request to have herself and her daughters baptized as Christians. The pastor of the Neuenhäuser congregation, Wilhelm Voigt, who was a member of the „Confessing Church“, was willing to do so and the mood in the congregation was also positive. However, Voigt pointed out that they would remain Jewish in the eyes of the Nazis in accordance with the racial laws. As Else Kohls assured them that her decision was in line with her convictions, the pastor gave the necessary lessons for converts. The baptism took place in July. The event initially received no public attention until September, when an article appeared in the Lower Saxony Stürmer“ under the headline „Judentaufe in Celle“ an article appeared attacking Voigt for his involvement in a „Jewish scam“ that „deeply offended the national sensibilities of the German-minded members of his community“. An innkeeper, where the older daughter Edith was employed, had denounced the pastor. Members of the Hitler Youth then broke the windows of the vicarage. Edith Kohls moved to Hamburg after these events. The economic hardship of the relatives who remained in Celle grew in the following period, and the town accommodated them in a communal apartment in Westercelle. Elsa and her younger daughter Lieselotte were forced to do unpaid work. After the pogrom night, the entire family followed the older daughter to Hamburg. From here they were deported: Adolf Kohl's daughters Edith and Lieselotte perished in Auschwitz, Elsa Kohl and her mother Rosa Cahn in Lodz.