Armin's eldest sister
Margarete Rosa Lewinsky née Gerechter
Berlin, 6 April 1887 – Auschwitz, 1943
aged 55 when deported
Margarete Rosa Gerechter was born in Berlin on 6 April 1887, the eldest daughter of Wilhelm and Cäcilie.
She married Siegfried Lewinsky, and they had one son, Harry, who reached Palestine. Margarete and Siegfried stayed in Berlin.
In February 1943 they were deported together to Auschwitz and murdered. Margarete was fifty-five.
Before 1933
Her engagement to Siegfried Lewinsky, of a family in Graudenz, was announced in April 1909. Their son Harry was born on 11 July 1911.
1938 – 1945
In May 1939 Margarete and Siegfried lived at Bötzowstraße 16 in Prenzlauer Berg, Berlin. By 1943 they were lodging with her sister Edith at Choriner Straße 53.
On 14 February 1943 Margarete was made to sign a declaration of everything they owned. Three days later, at the collection camp on Große Hamburger Straße, it was confiscated. On 19 February she and Siegfried were deported to Auschwitz with her sisters Edith and Frida and their families.
After
In 1955 her son Harry, in Israel, filled in a page of testimony for her at Yad Vashem. In the late 1980s he had his mother and father declared dead.
Close family
- FatherWilhelm Gerechter 1860 – 1926
- MotherCäcilie Gerechter, née Schiller 1862 – 1918
- HusbandSiegfried Lewinsky 1882 – 1943
- SonDr. Harry David Lewinsky 1911 – after 1989
- BrotherDr. Erich Gerechter 1885 – 1949
- 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
- SisterEdith Bernhard, née Gerechter 1901 – 1943
- SisterIrma Kassel, née Gerechter 1904 – 1943
In Armin's films
- Film 5, überlebt in KanadaWith them go his sister Margarete and her husband Siegfried, and his sister Frida, her husband Erich and their daughter Eva.
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 the day she died. There is no Stolperstein for her in Großräschen, though there is one for Siegfried.
The recordsthe archive's notes, dates and sources
Life events
| Date | Place | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 23 Apr 1909 | Groß-Räschen / Graudenz | Engagement to Siegfried Lewinsky announced by W. Gerechter and E. Lewinsky (Graudenz) BT |
| 17 May 1939 | Berlin, Bötzowstr. 16 (Prenzlauer Berg) | Census address MTL |
| 1943 | Berlin N 58, Choriner Str. 53 | Sub-tenants of Edith Johanna Bernhard née Gerechter BLHA-22898 |
| 14 Feb 1943 | Berlin | Signs the compulsory asset declaration as "Margarete Sara Lewinsky geb. Gerechter" BLHA-22898 |
| 17 Feb 1943 | Große Hamburger Str. 26 | Confiscation order served at the collection camp BLHA-22898 |
| 19 Feb 1943 | Berlin → Auschwitz | Deported on the 29th Osttransport (list no. 719), with Siegfried, the Gutmanns and the Bernhards STAT, GB |
| 1957 | Berlin (WGA) | Son Harry claims restitution (81 WGA 770-771/57) WGA |
| 1988-89 | AG Schöneberg 72 II 85/88 | Declared dead on her son's application BLHA-22898 |
There is no Stolperstein for her; Siegfried's stone ("Siegfried Lewinski") is in Großräschen.
Sources
- BLHA 36A (II) 22898
- Gedenkbuch de1105672
- 29th Osttransport list, p. 86
- Mapping the Lives
- Berliner Tageblatt 23 Apr 1909
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.