Fritz Hirschfeld

Schooldays

Fritz Hirschfeld grew up in Berlin and attended the Königliches Wilhelms-Gymnasium, which he graduated from in 1905.

Studies

He then studied law in Heidelberg, Marburg and Berlin, where he received his doctorate in law. He then became a court assessor at the Prussian Ministry of Justice.

Professional stations

On January 23, 1911, he started as a trainee at the Court of Appeal. His appointment as a district judge was continually extended from 1921 to 1926. From 1927 to 1933, he was presiding judge at the Labor Court. When the NSDAP came to power in 1933, Hirschfeld was relieved of his position as presiding judge on July 25 of the same year and appointed as an assistant judge. This was followed by forced leave of absence in 1935 and early retirement on December 31, 1935.

In 1938, he was imprisoned by the Gestapo for three weeks as a result of the pogroms. Hirschfeld subsequently promised to leave the country.

Escape and murder 

Fritz Hirschfeld managed to escape to Amsterdam Zeeburgerdijk 321 on February 14, 1939. From Sluis, he returned to Amsterdam on February 29, 1940 and went on to Huize St. Agnes in Voorhout. His last address was Nieuwkuijksestraat 98 in Nieuwkuijk (demolished in 1969). In 1941, he lost his German citizenship and, as a result of the Reich Citizenship Act, his assets.

On August 15, 1942, he was deported to the Westerbork transit camp and from there to Theresienstadt. He was part of the transport of April 20, 1943, where Hirschfeld lived in the attic of the Dresden barracks (Hauptstraße.22 Bd). Officially, he was already on the transport list Eo, to Auschwitz Birkenau, but was only deported to the ghetto in the Nächten, Ep transport. The date of death is assumed to be October 11, 1944.

Memory

In 2018, he was part of the exhibition "Persecution of Jewish Lawyers of the District of Potsdam". In the district court, a room was named after him in his memory; the Fritz Hirschfeld Room. Stumbling stones exist in Heusden, Teylingen (Netherlands) and Potsdam. In addition, various online contributions commemorate his fate (further links).

Fritz Hirschfeld translated Dutch works such as „Altargeheimnisse“, was a music enthusiast and wrote his own manuscripts. He is said to have played music in the Theriesienstadt concentration camp. His acquaintances particularly remembered his unshakeable optimism despite the atrocities he was subjected to.