Verhaal

Events after Kristalnacht

What happened to family members who did not fled Germany after Kristalnacht

After Kristallnacht, Gerda Kaufmann, concerned about her father Sigmund, was driven to the Zulpich jail by Felix Hartoch and his son, Heinz. Gerda wanted to bring her father his prayer book and tefillin. AS they drove home, they were stopped by the Nazi's. Felix took an axe and threatened the Nazi's that if they would come close to Gerda, he would kill them. A few days later, Felix and Heinz Hartoch were picked up by unknown persons and taken away. They were never heard of again. Records have been found of Heinz Hartoch who was incarcerated at Dachau concentration camp on November 15, 1938 and then deported to Minsk. It is believed that Felix Hartoch was taken into a nearby field and killed by a local group of Nazi's shortly after Kristallnacht.

After the War, we learned that in the summer of 1942 when Germany began deporting its own Jews, the remaining Jews in the region of Sinzenich (who had not already emigrated) were gathered by the authorities in the Horn family home. On July 14th, the all were deported to Bonn, Germany where they were held in a Convent. Then on July 20th, they were sent to Cologne and left on transport to Minsk in the Soviet Union. Included in this transport were Julius and Erna Scheuer as well as Veronica Daniel Hartoch. Julius and Erna's daughter Clemi Scheuer, as well as Felix and Veronika's Daughters, Edith and Helga, had been deported earlier. The girls were apparently driven Euskirchen by Willy Minten, under orders of the SS. We never learned their ultimate fate.