Armin's sister; Ilse's mother
Edith Johanna Bernhard née Gerechter
Klein Räschen, 25 June 1901 – Auschwitz, 1943
aged 41 when deported
Edith Johanna Gerechter was born in Klein Räschen on 25 June 1901, one of the younger of Wilhelm and Cäcilie's eleven children.
She married Herbert Bernhard in 1930, at the family store, and their daughter Ilse was born the next spring. In the war years her flat in Berlin, on Choriner Straße, became home to her sisters Margarete and Frida and their families as well.
In February 1943 she and Ilse were deported to Auschwitz. Edith was forty-one. Neither of them came back.
“Here lived Edith Johanna Bernhard, née Gerechter. Born 1901. Deported 1943. Murdered in Auschwitz.”
The Stolperstein in the pavement opposite Freienhufener Straße 2, Großräschen, laid on 22 March 2011. All nine stones
Before 1933
At the end of 1929 Edith became engaged to Herbert Bernhard of Crossen on the Oder. They married in July 1930 at the Kaufhaus Gerechter in Groß Räschen, where Herbert had just become her brother Armin's partner. Their daughter Ilse Cäcilie was born on 4 April 1931, and named for Edith's mother.
1938 – 1945
After the store was taken from the family, Edith moved to Berlin with Ilse. From April 1940 she rented a three-room flat at Choriner Straße 53. Margarete and her husband Siegfried lodged with her, Frida's family had a flat in the same house, and Max Bernhard lived in the attic.
Herbert had gone to England. By 1943 Edith wrote that they were living apart, and that she meant to emigrate with Ilse.
On 13 February 1943 the flat was emptied, and the family were taken to the collection camp on Große Hamburger Straße. On 19 February Edith and Ilse were deported to Auschwitz with Max, the Lewinskys and the Gutmanns, and murdered. That September her furniture was sold off for 270 Reichsmarks.
After
In 2011 a Stolperstein was laid for her in Großräschen, opposite the old store.
Close family
- FatherWilhelm Gerechter 1860 – 1926
- MotherCäcilie Gerechter, née Schiller 1862 – 1918
- HusbandHerbert Bernhard 1897 – c. 1988?
- DaughterIlse Bernhard 1931 – 1943
- BrotherDr. Erich Gerechter 1885 – 1949
- SisterMargarete Lewinsky, née Gerechter 1887 – 1943
- SisterElse Meyer, née Gerechter 1888 – 1941/42
- BrotherGeorg Gerechter 1892 – 1915
- SisterHedwig Gerechter b. 1894
- BrotherRobert Gerechter 1896 – 1936
- SisterFrida Gutmann, née Gerechter 1898 – 1943
- BrotherArmin Josef Gerechter 1899 – 1955
- SisterIrma Kassel, née Gerechter 1904 – 1943
In Armin's films
- Film 1, Hier wohnte1 July 1930. Armin and Herbert Bernhard, who is about to marry his sister Edith, take over the shop together.
- Film 4, Flucht 1939 EnglandArmin lives in Berlin now, at Choriner Straße 53, with Edith, Herbert, Ilse and Max Bernhard.
- Film 5, überlebt in KanadaFebruary 1943. From Choriner Straße 53, the Gestapo take Edith and Ilse, and Max Bernhard.
In Erich's films
- Film 4, Schicksal unbekannt19 February 1943. From Berlin his sisters Edith, Margarete and Frida are deported to Auschwitz, with their families. They are murdered.
What we don't know
We don't know why Edith and Ilse did not leave with Herbert, or exactly when they moved to Berlin. We don't know the day she died.
The recordsthe archive's notes, dates and sources
Life events
| Date | Place | Event |
|---|---|---|
| Dec 1929 | Groß-Räschen | Engaged to Herbert Bernhardt of Crossen (Oder) IFB |
| Jul 1930 | Groß-Räschen, Kaufhaus Gerechter | Married IFB |
| 4 Apr 1931 | Groß-Räschen | Daughter Ilse born IFB |
| 1930s | Großräschen | Lived there; her husband co-ran the Kaufhaus |
| 17 May 1939 | Berlin N 58, Choriner Str. 53 | Census address, with Herbert, Ilse, Max Bernhard and Armin (see the conflict below) MTL |
| Apr 1940 | Berlin N 58, Choriner Str. 53, front building 1st floor | "Since April 1940": 3 rooms and kitchen, rent RM 76, landlord Richau. Identity card issued in Kreis Calau (A 00005) BLHA-3330 |
| by 1941-43 | same | Main tenant; the Lewinskys lodged with her and the Gutmanns had another flat in the house BLHA-22898, BLHA-13184 |
| 1942-43 | same | Declaration: "getrennt lebend" (separated); husband "emigrated to England"; she intends to emigrate with Ilse BLHA-3330 |
| 1 Oct 1942 / 17 Feb 1943 | Berlin | Gestapo order confiscating all her property, received 17 Feb 1943 BLHA-3330 |
| 13 Feb 1943 | Choriner Str. 53 | Flat vacated BLHA-3330 |
| 19 Feb 1943 | Berlin → Auschwitz | Deported with Ilse (11) on the 29th Osttransport (list nos. 725-726) STAT, GB |
| 27 Sep 1943 | Berlin | Flat cleared; furniture proceeds RM 270 BLHA-3330 |
| 1965-67 | Berlin | Her file is drawn for restitution case 45 WGA 319/65 (Herbert Bernhard) and 145 WGK 97/66 BLHA-3330, WGA |
| 22 Mar 2011 | Großräschen | Stolperstein opposite Freienhufener Str. 2 STOL |
Sources
- BLHA Rep. 36A (II) 3330 (140 pp.;
_downloads/restitution-israel/) - Gedenkbuch de1040738
- 29th Osttransport list, p. 87
- Israelitisches Familienblatt 1929-31
- BLHA 22898, 13184
The small letters after an entry name its source: GB the German Memorial Book, JM the Joods Monument, AROL the Arolsen Archives, GENI the family tree on Geni, STOL the stones.