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Erich Geiringer

Erich Geiringer was the first husband of Fritzi Markovits, Otto Frank's second wife.

Person

  • Erich Geiringer
  • Born on: Nov. 11, 1901
  • Born in: Wenen, Oostenrijk
  • Died on: March 7, 1945
  • Died in: Ebensee, Oostenrijk

Erich Geiringer was born in Vienna on 11 November 1901. His parents were David Geiringer and Hermine Neugebauer. He had a younger sister Blanca Geiringer.

On 27 May 1923, Erich married Elfriede 'Fritzi' Markovits. They had two children: Heinz Felix (12 July 1926) and Eva Minni (11 May 1929)..[1]

In Vienna, Erich owned a shoe factory, which he had inherited from his father. According to his daughter Eva, the factory went bankrupt during the economic crisis in the early 1930s.[2] Nevertheless, he continued to produce shoes, which he exported to the Netherlands, among other countries. When anti-Semitic measures were introduced after the Anschluß of Austria to Germany in 1938, he liquidated the business with the help of his friend Fritz Mandel.[3] He fled to the Netherlands, where he went to work at the Gebroeders Roestenberg shoe factory in Kaatsheuvel.[4] Fritzi spent some time with the children in Brussels before they too came to the Netherlands in February 1940.[5]

In April 1940 the family found an apartment at Merwedeplein 46-I. They lived there until Heinz was called up to report to a German labor camp in July 1942. The family then decided to split up and go into hiding.[4] In September 1942 Erich and Heinz first went into hiding in The Hague and later in Soest with the Katee-Walda family. Fritzi and Eva went into hiding in Amsterdam.[6]

Under the names Annie and Elly, Fritzi and Eva sent a number of postcards to Erich and Heinz.[7] They also managed to visit the hiding place in Soestdijk a few times. While in hiding, Erich was inspired by his son to also make oil paintings and write poems.[8]

On 8 December 1942, a blackmail letter arrived at the Katee-Walda family, threatening to betray the Jewish people in hiding at their address. Erich and Heinz then temporarily fled to another hiding place in Arnhem. They returned to Soest after about three months, but disagreements arose with the Katee-Walda family about the compensation they had to pay. This difficult relationship forced Erich and Heinz to find another hiding place. The family also wanted to be closer together again.[9]

Through an acquaintance, Fritzi came into contact with resistance fighter Jannes de Haan, who found a new hiding place for her husband and son in Amsterdam. Together with Maria (Miep) Braams-Baerts, De Haan picked the two up at the Muiderpoort station on 13 May 1944. Braams-Baerts then took them to a house on Kerkstraat 225. However, they were betrayed by her and arrested by the Sicherheitsdienst on 15 May 1944. One day later Fritzi and Eva were also arrested.[9] The entire family was deported to Auschwitz via Westerbork on 19 May 1944.[10]

When Auschwitz was evacuated in January 1945, Erich and Heinz were sent on one of the many 'death marches'. They arrived in Mauthausen on 25 January 1945. Four days later, on 29 January 1945, they were both send to the subcamp Ebensee.[11] Erich died there on 7 March 1945 at the age of 43.[12]

Source personal data.[13] Addresses: Vienna; Kaatsheuvel: Hoofdstraat 191 (1 December 1939); Amsterdam: Daniël Willinkplein 13-III (15 February 1940), Merwedeplein 46-I (29 April 1942).

Footnotes

  1. ^ Stadsarchief Amsterdam (SAA), Dienst Bevolkingsregister, Archiefkaarten (toegangsnummer 30238): Archiefkaart E. Geiringer.
  2. ^ Eva Schloss, Herinneringen van een Joods meisje, 3e druk, Breda: De Geus, 2005, p. 23.
  3. ^ Nationaal Archief (NL-HaNA) Den Haag, Nederlands Beheersinstituut (NBI), toegang 2.09.16.05, inv. nr. 79002: Centrale Vermogensopsporingsdienst van het Ministerie van Financiën aan NBI, 1 april 1947.
  4. a, b NL-HaNA, NBI, inv. nr. 79002: E.E. Geiringer-Markovits aan NBI, 4 april 1946.
  5. ^ Schloss, Herinneringen van een Joods meisje, p. 24-29.
  6. ^ NL-HaNA, Centraal Archief Bijzondere Rechtspleging (CABR), inv. nr.: 75212, p. 2.
  7. ^ Anne Frank Fonds, Bazel, Familiearchief Frank-Elias, OtF_pdoc_019: Tien kaarten aan Katee-Walda, 1943; Privécollectie Eva Schloss-Geiringer: Kaart aan Katee-Walda, 1943.
  8. ^ Schloss, Herinneringen van een Joods meisje, p. 44-45. Van de schilderijen die Erich maakte is er één ook opgenomen in de drietalige bundel over de gedichten en schilderijen van zijn zoon.Zie: Heinz Geiringer, Gepeins in het donker – Pondering in the dark – Grübeln im Dunkeln, met een inleiding van Martha van der Bly, Amsterdam: Rose Rebel Publications, 2019, p. 90.
  9. a, b NL-HaNA, CABR, inv. nr.: 75212, p. 2-7.
  10. ^ Arolsen Archives - International Center on Nazi Perscution, Bad Arolsen, Incarceration Documents, Document ID: 130291063: Erich Geiringer.
  11. ^ Arolsen Archives, Incarceration Documents, Document ID: 1455284: Heinz Geiringer.
  12. ^ Totenbuch des Konzentrationslagers Mauthausen (Sign. MM/Y46b); United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Holocaust Survivors and Victims Database: Erich Geiringer; Arolsen Archives, Incarceration Documents, Document ID: 1280397.
  13. ^ Totenbuch des Konzentrationslagers Mauthausen (Sign. MM/Y46b); SAA, Dienst Bevolkingsregister, Archiefkaarten (toegangsnummer 30238): Archiefkaart E. Geiringer & Archiefkaart E.E. Markovits; Arolsen Archives, Incarceration Documents, Document ID: 5148853: Erich Geiringer. In dit document staat als overlijdensdatum 31 januari 1945 genoteerd.