The deadly trap
Moving to Stettin

The spread of hate even reached the rural areas when Laja returned to her everyday life in the house Gronemann in Wilhelmstraße 1 in Torgelow. Bloodcurdling stories circulated through out the whole town. Former respectable townsman were condemned.
Thus it was gossiped that the Jew Louis Pless from Ueckermünde had taken nude pictures and had organised obscene gatherings.



The mob tolerated no objection, even if the former gendarme and head of the district council Allwarth from Torgelow stated in evidence: "Nothing disadvantageous is known about the Jew Pless in the moral aspect." Allwarth could not be frightened from the terror by the Nazis and remained courageously with his version. That was of no earthly use.
The statement of Mrs. Swensson, at that time maidservant with the Plessens, that she has to announce nothing of negative also was of no earthly use. They existed, these handfuls of loyal and more honestly German citizens.
However, only one miserable handful. The mob was in the driver's seat. Old Mr. Gronemann resigned. He decided to leave together with his adult son Hans and the helpful Laja Torgelow.
He left the former blossoming family enterprise to Wilhelms Körner, the NSDAP member.



Still in the illusion to be compensated properly sometime for it. "Julius Gronemann moved to Szczecin on 04.10.1937, Pölitzerstr.14 I", announces the archive of the city of Torgelow in 2002; "(...) whether members of the family moved, is not evident from the documents. The family Gronemann has already lived in Torgelow, Wilhelmstr. 1, in 1900.
A Jewish housekeeper lived with the family between 1933 and 30.06.1937 , name is unknown." There is only a small side note in the documents about Laja Menen from which one could conclude that Laja Menen worked as a housekeeper for Mr. Gronemann and likewise moved with Mr. Gronemann to Szczecin in 1937. Thus it was. Obvious they all believed, like most Jews from the region, to find security and protection in the Jewish municipality in Szczecin which they lost in their provincial hometown in the first place.
They all were fatally wrong!

Julius Gronemann wrote to his son Fritz to Palestine, March 18th 1938:

"Dear Fritz! (...) Purim has been fine, according to the circumstances, but not as loud as
it has been celebrated before. We also went to the celebration at school last night. Werner also participated. We were at a "Bar Kochba-Ball" Sunday night. Werner is the chairperson and we shook a leg.
Now to the property exchange. This would not be too bad, but I do not know whether it is actually to be done. Nevertheless, Körner has the Pre-emptive right and I have to offer it to him for 50,000 DM first. It would be possible that he is not able to buy the house. The payment of interest is for my benefit. K. has a 15-year contract and pays yearly 5,200 DM of rent, that means a high payment of interest. I add a picture. The adviser told me before that the assessed value from 52,000 DM is 30,000 DM. Hans does not know yet what he should do, provisionally he manages with his substitutions. We cannot probably think of travelling, and I have heard that there are not any tickets anyways. Willi goes on tour at the end of the month, it will probably be his last. Nevertheless, it is a big misery that such an existence comes to an end!
Kurt is surely depressed. Willi is less depressed because he says to himself that he is going to sit it out. Please start writing regularly again, hopefully with better news.
Stay healthy and be warmly greeted and kissed by your father."

Vain hope for fair treatment. If one could even talk by such a winding-up of a fair deal. Gronemann ran against a wall. The pressure became stronger and stronger, the chicaneries more drastically. The Jews had to announce their whole property from on April 26th 1938 and apply for a identification card at the police marked with big "J" at the latest between the 23rd and December 31st 1938.
German troops had marched in to the Sudeten areas of Czechoslovakia after the Munich agreement from September 29th 1938. The Polish government announced on October 6th that it does not recognise the nationality of those abroad living Poles any more which have not been in Poland for many years whose passports contained no test certificate. The crossing of the border is refused to them from on October 29th. As a result Himmler deported on October 27th 1938 all Polish Jews accessible in Germany as fast as possible to the Polish border, also about seventy Polish-Jewish families which were registered in Pomerania. A 17-year-old German Polish Jew, Herschel Grynszpan, attempted the assassination of the German Legationssekretär Ernst of the Rathin Paris on November 7th 1938, an act of unconscious revenge. The young Jew found out the bitter doom of his parents who were brought together
with 17 000 other fellow sufferers to the German Polish border by the Gestapo where they had to stay, rejected by the Polish authorities, under pathetic conditions in the middle of nowhere. The Nazis used the attempt as a pretence for an unprecedented pogrom against the Jews. The supposedly "spontaneous" national rage broke with all force upon Germany in the evening of November 9th. Synagogues bursted in flames, Jewish shops were wrecked, Jewish citizens were humiliated, mocked and abused, killed, stabbed or beaten to death.
Commercial facilities and shop-window got broken. The revolting spectacle came as an "Reichskristallnacht", into the history. Party and SA member did their work. Thoroughly. There was relatively little approval from the population, but only some courageous showed
sympathy for the Jews. About 30000 Jewish men were arrested in the whole German empire at first and were deported in "protective custody" to the concentration camps Dachau, Buchenwald and Sachsenhausen, in the intention to blackmail their emigration. "They are to be primarily wealthy Jews selected." The economic damages had to be made up by the Jewish population, the compensations performed by the assurances were confiscated, a "penalty" of 1.25 milliard Reichsmark was raised.

The news from Torgelow meant nothing good neither. It had come to excesses of violence and destructions during the pogrom night in Torgelow there and in Ueckermünde where Gronemann usually went in the small synagogue. The position report of the head of the provincial government from November 10th 1938 said: "Ueckermünde: Synagogue inside wrecked and cleared. Commodities burnt on the castle court. No looting. Two Jewish shops
shop-window smashed. 6 antiquity weapons and 2 Teschings seized from the former Med. Council Dr. Glaser.
Torgelow: Window of a Jewish flat smashed.
Synagogue - probably a praying room - burnt down." All Jews had to lead either the name "Israel" or "Sara" as the obliging second given name from on January 1st 1939. All passports of Jewish German had to be provided with a "J". The exclusion was perfect by now.
Every broadcasting device had to be delivered by September 23rd 1939. The "Volksempfänger", it was called "Goebbelsschnauze" (Goebbels’ gob) in the vernacular, was neither supposed to be sold by nor bought from Jews. Gronemanns wish to be able to still "decently" sell his business sometime did not come true. Wilhelm Körner acquired the flourishing textile business in Wilhelmstrasse 1 in Torgelow for only 27,980 Reichsmark on December 8th 1938, one month after the pogrom night. The devil's pact was sealed. The once
respected businessman Julius Gronemann moved, completely impoverished, in a cheap block of flats in Stettiner Pölitzerstrasse 14 and lived there together with several members of the family on the narrowest space. He asked the new owner of his business now and then for financial support. It was the way to Canossa.

Arial view of Stettin (photo copyright protected)
Pomerania’s capital of Stettin with its flourishing seaport, close to the Baltic Sea, the pretty terraces on the sea and the Prussian atmosphere could easily be compared by visitors to the beauty of the German capital of Berlin.

Meanwhile, the Stettinern of aryan descent lived the good life. The flourishing pommersche port was worth a trip. "Enjoy the morning coffee with a spring concert in Szczecin!" wrote an eager tourist of her relatives on a postcard to Berlin. Anyone who mounted the train in the morning in the Berlin, could already sit down at noon, after the first extensive walk by the Old Town, on a pretty sea terrace and enjoy the sun. There were already a lot of cultural activities to experience besides paddlesteamer, restaurants and dance cafés in the city at the Baltic Sea.
The national museum, the "Parlament der Stände" above the hook terrace, the harbour gate and the king's gate as well as the St. Jakob's cathedral from the 12th century, the Gothic city hall from the 13th century and the Gothic St.Peter-und-Paul-Kirche belonged on every sightseeing list of in Szczecin. That is where the German educational bourgeoisie met. The Stettiner knew that their city with the Prussian facades of their stately houses, the splendid parks and places and the immediate nearness to the Baltic Sea, was easily as beautiful as the "Reichshauptstadt". One showed off just what one had. Julius Gronemann, whose daughter Kate already lived for a long time with her man Werner Freundlich and both grandchildren in Szczecin, knew the city like his vest pocket. He was there on and off for a visit



He often visited Stettin, mad purchases special stores, met with Mendel Ginsberg, the haberdasher from the Elisabethsstreet 45, spent time with friends and went to the theatre. However, then (now) the Nazis tightened the noose for the Jews. Long before they were deprived of the cheerful activities of the seaport. They were not allowed to be in the streets during night time and they were only allowed to purchase groceries in specific stores using food stamps marked with a “J”. They were no longer entitled to buy milk, poultry, rice, legumes and other edibles neither were they allowed to purchase new clothes. Only used clothes were handed out to the Jews and new tax regulations were introduced harming the Jews. They had to walk in the gutter, because it was forbidden to use the pavement, neither were they allowed to listen to the radio or read the newspaper, nor to own a telephone.

Jewish lawyers, tax accountants, und agents lost their accreditation. The next step was the withdrawal of licences to practice medicine for the remaining Jewish doctors and veterinarians, harassment upon harassment.
Everyone who was able to leave Germany did so. However, leaving the country became more and more difficult. Foreign countries misjudged the seriousness of the situation, they did not just shut their eyes but also their borders. Freedom was merely accessible via long detours. After the population census in Mai 1939, 213390 Jews still lived in Germany and 3329 of them in Pomerania. Eventually 38 were left in the whole district of Ueckermuende. From the end of 1938 there were no Jewish stores or craftsman's establishments left in the Pomeranian province, according to the district administers report.
Even the Gronemanns seriously considered leaving the country. After Fritz, who established himself in Palestine, it was the Gronemanns daughters’s turn to flee. Käthes husband, Wilhelm Freundlich, who originated from a Jewish family from Preußisch Friedland, Kreis Schlochau, at that time near the polish border, was blessed with many children. As second oldest child he had taken care of his early widowed mother and his ten younger siblings. He was a soldier in the First World War and had fought for the German army in France as well as in Russia and Serbia. 1930 the hard-working expert for textiles worked for the company G.&B.; in Feldberg, a renowned men’s wear-factory in Stettin, was promoted to a manger. “Then Hitler came. I will never forget the 1st of April 1933, when 10 uniformed SA-members appeared at the factory to destroy our machines” he reported years later. They stated that we were exploiting the workers. We employed 600 workers and employees at that time. On the 1st of April I was the only Jew in the factory. The owner and the others Jewish employees were scared and stayed away from the factory. I had served with two of the uniformed soldiers during the war and that is why we came to an arrangement in the same night and nothing happened. Käthe and Wilhelm Freundlich left their beloved Pomeranian land on Christmas Eve 1938, just in time, before everything was too late, accompanied by their children Werner and Gerda. They went to Hamburg where they boarded a Chilean ship. Father Gronemann stayed behind with his youngest son Hans.
“Dear Fritz! You have certainly been awaiting a message from us”, he wrote to his son in Palestine on 27th of February, 1939, but wanted to wait until we had heard from the Freundlichs. Now, they have written two times already, but not much. One thing is for sure that they are very happy in Santiago. In the near future we will receive more detailed information. The trip went well for everyone, even though it was stormy and exhausting. Plessens could stay in Peru thanks to Martin Silbermann who could negotiate with the authorities in fluent Spanish (…).”
Quiet tones. Very quiet tones.
Trying to escape from the worst, the Freundlichs had left everything behind. Ilse Freundlich, at that time married with Kurt Freundlich, Wilhelm’s brother, still remembers till this day the tiring crossing from Hamburg to Santiago.
“On the 24th of December, Christmas Eve, the Chilean ship left the port of Hamburg deep in winter, packed with Jewish immigrants and almost all emigrants were from Stettin. The food on board was scant and awful, the beddings were primitive and dirty.

Difficult sea conditions made us suffer, until we finally reached Chile on the 7th of February 1939. Ilse Freundlich was 29 years old at that time. Together with her husband, her five year old son and a six-month old child, she dared taking the risks of the long journey. The now 95 year old former citizen of Stettin lives in Santiago de Chile and still speaks perfect German. Also Hans Gronemann, the 34 year old bachelor, took his chances. He tried to save his life by reaching the Chinese seaport Shanghai in spring 1939, were he settled down at the Studley 26. By now the old man Julius Gronemann was the only one who stayed behind in Pommeria. In the narrowness of the tenement he became absorbed in thoughts about the question “Where to?” It was too late for him to emigrate. He missed the moment to escape, because he was convince for a long time that things would not turn out that bad. He knew that his children, as well as his grandchildren, were safe. However, they were far away scattered to the four winds and emigrated to Palestine, South America and Shanghai carrying their last belongings. Far, far away. The hatred and contempt towards the Jews, either for religious motives or social prejudices was socially acceptable and the radical philosophy of the Nazis became part of the normal course of life. “Respectable” citizens subsequently took part in the riots of the Night of Broken Glass, uncontrolled preys and enriched themselves by taking possession of “Aryan products”.
Most of them contented themselves not having to know what they did not want to know. Gronemann’s possessions in Torgelow were lost for ever anyway. Staying was by no means a solution. Everyone left the sinking ship.

“Stettin, May 1, 1939
Dear Fritz! I have been waiting the whole week for a message from you and then your lovely lines from the 25.(…) arrived. Hans sent me two letters in a row, the last one from Hong Kong. He has now been in Shanghai for eight days and I am anxious to find out what he has to report. I just recently heard that aunt Anni and Fritz emigrated to K. They kept silent about their emigration. Hans should be arriving in Australia soon, his girlfriend’s parents who left on the July 24, are taking good care of him. The Tobias’ have been living at my house for 14 days now, they are leaving on the 14th of June to start their long journey on June, 26 from Liverpool. The Eggisiners have departed again, the Bolivians all have a secure existence and they had more luck than most other people. I am not quiet sure if I mentioned that I have been very angry in the past time. Körner collected 2000 Marks from the conveyance of property for the rent and so on from January 1 to June 1. The agreement was already effective from the first of January. Other vendees were decent enough to refrain from doing so. My fortunes are dwindling away, so that I can not think of spending money on a secure existence. To reduce our livelihood, we are going to keep house in threesome from the middle of June. Aunt Röschen and uncle Sally are staying with us as well as uncle Max and myself. The tavern is going to be split into three parts. We are also getting rid of the attendances and will help aunt in the tavern. I can not tell you anything about my emigration. (…)Fonfi, Mrs. Landerbergs mother of Mrs. Else, can not come out. I have received a message from Chile 14 days ago and it also seems very difficult there.



Nevertheless, Willi Winters had made a request to leave in July/August. Maybe I will be able to leave soon. (…) Now I am very busy with my correspondence. For now, fare well, stay healthy, I would love to receive good news from you. Best regards and kisses, your father.”

Hope was the only thing left for the broken-hearted father. It was to no avail. In the meantime the manipulators of the Nazi Regime had already made extremely cruel plans. After the German attack on Poland in September 1939, the whole west was under German command. At that time over two million Jews lived there, as well as half a million in Gdansk, West Prussia, the region Posen and Upper Silesia. Himmler and Heydrich indented to deport the “Jewish Pack”, gypsies and other unwanted people in the “general -governorate”. These were polish provinces controlled by the Germans, which were not part of the German Reich and the Nazis intended to found the “Jewish Reservation” in the region of Lublin. This was the outermost east of Poland under the command of the Germans. At first they were supposed to be rounded up in Ghettos in order to deport them to the east. Hitler gave his OK to the plan. The “reorganisation of the races” was initated, the ethnical boarders of the German Reich were expanded to the east and consequently room was made for the “folk with no space”. This was the propagandistic keyword for the Nazis in there “equitable” war for the German citizens with no space. The German race justified the war stating that they were superior. There was a need for “Living space in the east”.

At the same time the ruthless exploitation and decimation of the Slavic “subhuman” took place. And of the Jews. In order that the plantation of the Germans could take place, over 30 million local citizens had to be dispelled according to the “General-plan east”. Dislocate, relocate and settling. People were disrooted, mortified and deprived of their homes and properties, which was pure insanity. Up until the end Hitler adhered to the madness and the ideology of the “habitat in the east”. However, he uttered his doubts concerning the scheme “Jewish Reservation” in March 1940. However, it was too late.

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