Joseph Nathan

Joseph Nathan was born on September 15, 1884 in Kerpen. He lived in Cuxhaven and was a cattle dealer by trade. In 1909, his first marriage was to Lina Solmitz (born 1883) from Kampsheide (Hoya).

The couple moved from Cuxhaven to Bremervörde. They moved into their first apartment there with the master butcher Gütersloh at Neue Straße 118.

After his wife Lina died in 1933, Joseph Nathan moved from Bremervörde to Stade. Alongside the Davids family and Fritz de Jonge he was now the third Jewish cattle dealer in the town.

On December 23, 1933, Joseph Nathan married Selma Horwitz, née Buchholz (born 1883 in Posen), who was also widowed, in Hamburg. She had a daughter Ilse (born 27.11.1920) from her first marriage. However, three years later in March 1936, they separated and Joseph Nathan lived alone again.

His wife Selma Nathan emigrated to South Africa in 1939, where their daughter Ilse was already living. The marriage was divorced in the same year. Joseph Nathan had also tried to emigrate to South Africa, but was unsuccessful.

Under pressure from the National Socialists, Joseph Nathan had to leave Stade in 1939 and moved to Bremen, first to Westerstrasse 70 and then to Westerstrasse 28. He was no longer allowed to pursue his profession.

On November 18, 1941, he was deported from Bremen to the Minsk ghetto. He was murdered there: unless he succumbed to the inhumane living conditions in the ghetto, he fell victim to one of the mass murder operations that began at the end of July 1942.

Joseph Nathan died on July 28, 1942.