Oppenheimer Family Archive Gemmingen · 1520 — present
Oppenheimer Archive
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Josef Oppenheimer

Emigrated
b. 28.03.1925, Stuttgart — d. 13.02.2019
Husband of Rhoda
Religion Jewish
Address Neuwiesenstraße 239, Stuttgart-Lederberg, Germany (1946)

Family

Parents
Moses Oppenheimer 1874–1940 Anna Kuhn 1896–1989
Spouse
Rhoda Oppenheimer 1939–2018
Siblings
Änne Berger 1919–2014 Margit Bernstein 1922–2006

Persecution

KZ Theresienstadt 01.1942 — 1944
1.5 years in Theresienstadt
KZ Oranienburg (Sachsenhausen) 1944 — 02.1945
Work: Gardening, digging, road construction
Near Berlin. Feb 1945 arrested again, then released to Stuttgart.

Liberation

1945 , Oranienburg . Released to Stuttgart. Contracted TB, sent to Bavarian sanatorium.

Emigration

✈ Florida, USA 17.08.1949
Route: Stuttgart → Florida, USA

Location Trail

  1. Heilbronn, Germany Letter · 1900
  2. Heilbronn Letter · 1900
  3. Stuttgart Born · 28.03.1925
  4. Esslingen Sent to Esslinger Waisenhaus · 1929
  5. München (Munich), Germany Letter · 06.1930
  6. Großbreesen, near Breslau At Großbreesen emigration training farm · 1939
  7. New York, New York, USA Letter · 1939
  8. Zug, Switzerland Letter · 04.02.1939
  9. Bad Cannstatt Letter · 04.11.1939
  10. München (Munich), Germany Letter · 1940
  11. München (Munich) and Stuttgart, Germany Letter · 1940
  12. München (Munich), Germany Letter · 05.11.1940
  13. Hannover, Germany Letter · 1941
  14. München (Munich), Germany Letter · 14.01.1941
  15. Hannover, Germany Letter · 10.1941
  16. München (Munich), Germany Letter · 11.10.1941
  17. KZ Theresienstadt Interned · 01.1942
  18. München (Munich), Germany Letter · 18.07.1942
  19. KZ Oranienburg (Sachsenhausen) Interned · 1944
  20. Oranienburg Liberated · 1945
  21. Neuwiesenstraße 239, Stuttgart-Lederberg Resided (1946) · 1946
  22. Stuttgart-Lederberg / Gemmingen Letters to Mina Kaufmann · 30.10.1946
  23. Stuttgart-Lederberg Letter · 30.10.1946
  24. Gemmingen Letter · 30.10.1946
  25. Florida, USA Emigrated to · 17.08.1949
  26. Israel Letter · 1963

Timeline

  • 1924 Born in Stuttgart
  • 1929 Sent to Esslinger Waisenhaus
  • 1939 At Großbreesen emigration training farm
  • 01.1942 Deported to KZ Theresienstadt
  • 1944 Transferred to KZ Sachsenhausen near Berlin
  • 1945 Liberated from Oranienburg
  • 30.10.1946 Letters to Mina Kaufmann
  • 17.08.1949 Emigrates to Florida, USA

Correspondence

Picture postcard front 1900 Handwritten letter (page 2 / continuation) 1930 Typed updated affidavit of support from Samuel Morris 1939 Typed letter (page 1 of 2), marked "Abschrift" (copy) 1939 Letter seeking emigration sponsorship 1939 Handwritten letter discussing shipping of belongings, with inventory 1940 Handwritten letter with typed American Consulate document 1940 Handwritten letter with multiple short notes from different writers 1940 Envelope back — airmail letter 1941 Envelope back — airmail letter 1941 Handwritten letter on blue/green paper 1941 Envelope front — airmail letter 1941 Handwritten letter — two separate notes: a condolence letter and a personal note 1941 Handwritten letter 1941 Handwritten letter in German Kurrent script, written upside-down on page (rot... 1941 Handwritten short letter/note 1942 Handwritten letter to cousin — family fate 1946 Typed letter to Mina Kaufmann requesting affidavit 1946 Margit Bernstein Memoir (1963) 1963

Notes

Sent to Esslinger Waisenhaus (Jewish orphanage) as child
Beginning 1939: Jewish emigration training (Hachshara) in Esslingen, then Großbreesen near Breslau
30.10.1946: Typed letter from Stuttgart-Lederberg via AJDC (American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee) office in Stuttgart, Reinsburgstr. 19, requesting affidavit for USA
30.10.1946: Handwritten 3-page letter from Gemmingen confirming family fate: father died Buchenwald, Julius/Elsa deported and never returned, Frieda and children deported and never returned. Only Josef and Margit survived.
After liberation: found family belongings scattered, some property returned, porcelain to a Frau Kleene. Encountered hostile post-war environment.
Mentions 'Cousin Mina in Franklinton' (separate from Baltimore Mina?) and 'Cousin Sophie' in 1946 letters
Enclosed letter about Jewish history in Gemmingen with his 1946 correspondence
Simon's late 1941 letter confirms Josef 'still at Gross-Breesen' agricultural training farm near Breslau.
Wife: Rhoda W. Oppenheimer (per Geni.com)
Geni.com lists birth date as March 28, 1925 — existing data says 1924. Discrepancy needs verification.
Memoir: Arrived at Theresienstadt 14 days before Margit, from Silesia (likely via Sachsenhausen/Oranienburg).
Memoir: Brother also returned after the war. Heard while in Hamburg that Margit had survived.
Memoir: After liberation, Margit went to Siegfried's birthday flowers ceremony — met her brother there.

Sources

  • Oppenheimer/Shacham Family Archive — Personal documents, photos, and correspondence
  • Stolpersteine Stuttgart
  • USHMM Kaufmann Family Correspondence — Letters from Josef and Margit Oppenheimer to cousin Mina Kaufmann (1939, 1944, 1946)
  • Geni.com World Family Tree — Collaborative genealogy profiles managed by Randy Schoenberg. Profiles for Joseph Marum Oppenheimer and Mina Oppenheimer (née Kirchhausen).
  • Margit Bernstein Memoir (English Translation) — 11-page English translation of Margit Bernstein's Hebrew memoir/autobiography. Written in 1963. Title: 'The biography of Margit Edith Bernstein born Oppenheimer'. Covers childhood, father's arrest and imprisonment, Jewish orphanage in Esslingen, Kristallnacht, forced labor, deportation to Theresienstadt, Auschwitz, factory camp in Silesia near Czech border, liberation at Nachod, emigration to Palestine via Belgium, post-war life in Israel. Ends with 'I Accuse.'
Research completeness
78%