The Jüdische Altenheim Gerlachstraße was confiscated by the National Socialists during the Second World War and used as a collection point for elderly and old Jews who were to be transported to concentration camps. 260 original residents and over 2000 elderly Jews were deported from here. In the late 1960s, the buildings that had not been destroyed by Allied bombs were demolished to make way for the GDR's House of Statistics.

Julius Prochownik was born in 1873 in Bromberg in East Prussia. He studied law in Göttingen and was baptized as a Protestant. At first he worked in law firms in Munich and Passau. In 1901 he married his first wife Kathinka. In 1903 he settled in Donauwörth and opened a law office in Schustergasse, which was highly regarded for three decades. From 1911 he lived at Reichsstra&szlig 36 with his wife and children Luise (1902) and Hermine (1910). In 1915 his wife Kathinka died.

In the Adre;buch St. Johann, Saarbrücken, Malstatt-Burbach und Umland 1900 you can find the following entries under St. Johann an der Saar: Bickart Isaak, Kaufmann, Bahnhofstraße 90  -  Bloch Leopold, Kaufmann, Bahnhofstaße 90.Leopold Bloch, born on March 18, 1859 in Sulzburg, married Jette Bickart, born on May 28, 1863 in Eichstetten. On December 24, 1885, their first child, son Siegfried, was born at Bahnhofstrasse 90 in St. Johann. The second son Max followed on November 15, 1886.

Otto Thalmessinger saw the light of day in Ulm in 1872. His parents were the banker Nathan Thalmessinger and Jette Thalmessinger, née Steiner. Otto Thalmessinger was admitted to the bar in Stuttgart in 1899. In the same year, the above envelope already documents the existence of the law firm of Dr. Steiner, Widmaier and Thalmessinger. In the Stuttgart address book of 1900, the following entry is found in the directory of lawyers. Thalmessinger, Otto ( Dr. Steiner, Widmaier and Thalmessinger ). Königstr.

The founder of the company, Josef Oppenheimer, was born on April 5, 1818, and was married to Henriette Oppenheimer, born on December 11, 1836. The couple had three children - Adolf Oppenheimer born. Dec. 23, 1863, Siegfried Oppenheimer, b. Apr. 30, 1869,  -  Ludwig Oppenheimer, b. Jan. 21, 1872. All three brothers were merchants by profession  and part owners of the company.