Jewish families in Hof
Our aim is to offer an insight into the experiences and fates of the Jewish citizens of Hof during National Socialism. We want to make the realities, challenges and suffering of these people tangible in order to create a personal, moving and local experience. By presenting their stories, we want to raise awareness of this dark chapter in our history and at the same time create space for reflection and empathy.
Overview
The families
Here you will find four families and their stories. Including interviews with the descendants.
Interactive city map
Where can you find the former Jewish houses – right here!
Experience history on site
How did historical events affect the lives of Jews in Hof?
Family trees of the families
Here you will find the family trees of the four families.
Created and maintained by the ‚School without Racism‘ team of the Schiller-Gymnasium Hof
Responsible for the content according to §10 paragraph 3 of the MDStV (German Interstate Media Services Agreement):
Schiller-Gymnasium Hof
Naturwissenschaftlich-technologisches Gymnasium
und Wirtschaftswissenschaftliches Gymnasium
OStDin Dr. Anke Emminger
Schillerstr. 38
95028 Hof
Tel 09281/72640
Fax 09281/7264290
Mail 0116.SGHofSekretariat@schule.bayern.de
Responsible administrators:
StR Christoph Selbmann (IT)
Funding authority:
Stadt Hof
vertreten durch Oberbürgermeisterin
Eva Döhla
Klosterstraße 1
95028 Hof
Responsible supervisory authority:
Bayerisches Staatsministerium für Unterricht und Kultus
Salvatorstraße 2
80333 München
We would like to thank …
(in alphabetical order)
The pupils:
… Johanna Ehrlich for revising the texts
… Johannes Fränkel for creating the original website
… Christian Hager for the complete revision and redesign of the website
… Angélique Kittl for her work on the videos, audio and texts
… Johannes Klaschka for his support
… Viktorie Matičková for the translations into Czech
… Lilly Rödel for the musical organisation of the opening event
… Nele Schoen for her collaboration on the videos, audios and texts as well as the interview with Susanna Hoffmann
… Charlie Strunz for the revision of the texts
… Vanessa Trifel for working on the videos, audio and texts
… Andreas Waldhütter for the technical support
… Christian Waldhütter for his work on the videos, audio and texts as well as the design of our flyer
… all pupils who participated in the run-up to the event
The families and all members:
… the Hoffmann family for their feedback and for providing the pictures
… Mrs Susanna Hoffmann for the interview
… The Reiter family for the feedback and for providing the pictures
… Mr Pieter Kohnstam for the interview and his interest
The other supporters:
… Mr Kenan Canbay for the translation into Turkish
… Dr Franziska Dornig for her organisational support
… Dr Anke Emminger for her moral support
… Dr Ekkehard Hübschmann for his feedback and for providing the images
… Mr Pierre-Yves Kerloc’h for correcting the French texts and for the recordings in French
… Dr Arndt Kluge from the Hof City Archives for permission to use the images
… Dr Joachim Mathieu for providing information and contacts
… Mrs Marie-Claude Millitzer for the photographs in French
… Mrs Michaela Millitzer for the idea, initiation, creative and administrative support of the project
… Mrs Gertraud Pichlmeier for the administrative and content-related supervision of the project
… Mr Sebastian Schumann for the design of the boards
… Mr Bastian Schatz for technical advice and support
… Mr Christoph Selbmann for technical advice and support
… Mrs Margarita Trifel for the translations and the recordings in Russian
…. all colleagues for tips, assistance and proofreading help
The City of Hof for its support and co-operation, in particular:
… Mrs Mayor Eva Döhla
… Mr Peter Nürmberger and Ms Anja Schmidt from the Cultural Office of the City of Hof
Financial support for the realisation of our project was provided by:
… the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth as part of the federal ‘Demokratie Leben!’ programme
… the Sparkassenstiftung Hochfranken foundation
… the Wolfang-Siegel Foundation
Few people today are aware that numerous places, buildings, houses and squares in our hometown of Hof were places of persecution and the incipient extermination of Jewish fellow citizens during the National Socialist era – but in the years before that, they were also places of Jewish life, work, business, learning, family happiness and suffering, in short: lived normality.
As part of the school competition “Fates of Jewish Hofer in National Socialism”, which was announced by the Hermann and Bertl Müller Foundation in 2018, we, the “School without Racism” working group at Schiller-Gymnasium Hof, set ourselves the task of looking into this little-known history of the families of Jewish Hofer and making it accessible to as wide an audience as possible through our web app. Our research was based on the book “Jüdische Familien in Hof an der Saale” by Dr. Ekkehard Hübschmann, which was published in 2019.
Our aim is to provide an insight into the experiences and fates of Hof’s Jewish citizens during the Nazi era. We want to make the realities, challenges and suffering of these people tangible in order to provide a personal, touching and local experience. By presenting their stories, we want to raise awareness of this dark chapter in our history and at the same time create space for reflection and empathy.
We have compiled life stories, family trees and photographs of the four families Heymann, Lax & Lump, Reiter and Franken and would like to encourage you to take a thematic walk through Hof’s old town. The website is also open to all other contributions to the competition, which can be linked or posted here. On our site you can read the stories of the families, listen to audio texts or watch a short video. The information is now available in English, Russian, French, Turkish and Czech, and some of it is also available as audio. On the site you will also find interviews and greetings from descendants: from Susanna Hoffmann, the granddaughter of Max Franken, Pieter Kohnstam, the grandson of Klara Habermann (née Lump), and from Jackie and Steve Reiter, the grandchildren of Adolf Reiter.
Many thanks to all those who made this project possible with their commitment and support!