Department store 'Gubi' - Henry Jacobson

In the 1930s, Lüneburg's largest and most modern department store „Gubi“ was located at Markt 6. Henry Jacobson took over the lingerie and trousseau shop from his father and converted it into the small price store Gubi (good and cheap) in 1932. The department store offered all the everyday necessities: from clothing and stationery to food. At the time, it was very unusual for the goods to be displayed freely and for customers to be able to put together their own purchases using rulers. There was a snack bar on the second floor.

After the Nazi takeover, anti-Semitic pressure on the Jacobson family increased. Signs with yellow dots were put up at the entrances to the store and flyers with anti-Semitic content were distributed. The people of Lüneburg initially continued to visit the Gubi department store because it had the largest range of goods. However, when SA men insulted them, photographed them and their names were passed on to the Gestapo offices by the local party authorities, fewer and fewer people shopped there out of fear. Because the Jacobson family felt increasingly threatened by the National Socialists, they moved to Hamburg in 1936. From then on, Henry Jacobson traveled to Lüneburg every day to be able to continue the business.

In the November pogroms of 1938, the shop windows of the department store 'Gub' were smashed and the goods thrown onto the street. The Jacobson family then managed to flee to the USA, while the Gubi department store was „aryanized“. Henry Jacobson returned to Lüneburg after the war. He hoped to see his old acquaintances again, but they avoided a reunion. Disappointed, he returned to the USA, where the family built a new life for themselves. In 1958, she demanded compensation in vain before the Hanover Regional Court.