Stumbling stone for Hugo, Recha, née Hess, Ernst Josef and Trude Oppenheimer

Hugo Oppenheimer was born on February 17, 1877 in Weinheim and, after his marriage to Recha Heß, born July 4, 1885 in Frankfurt, lived in Offenbach at Herrnstraße 30 since 1906, where he had already opened a textile store in 1904. Around 1915, he expanded his business by moving into the spacious house at Frankfurter Straße 1 / corner of Marktplatz.

After buying the stately house and making considerable alterations in 1927/1928, Hugo Oppenheimer turned the business into one of the most sought-after department stores in Offenbach with over 100 employees.
His son Ernst Josef, who was born in Offenbach on June 27, 1907, worked in his father's business after completing his commercial training, which, as a Jewish department store, successfully competed with other stores in Frankfurter Strasse.

On March 31, 1933 - one day before the boycott of Jews - the store was searched by SS men in front of many onlookers for alleged receipts from the son for the purchase of instruments for the communist music band in Offenbach. Without success. One day before May 1, 1933, Ernst Oppenheimer was taken from the store by SA men and, together with the Jew Dr. Manfred Weinberg, forced to remove communist slogans from the floor of Wilhelmsplatz in public with a brush.

Despite the boycott calls "Germans out! You shouldn't buy from Jews", the business was still doing well thanks to the support of many regular customers, but over time it collapsed as Jewish store owners received fewer and fewer goods from "Aryan" suppliers. The Oppenheimers still resisted selling the business to "Aryan" buyers and believed they could withstand the pressure of discrimination and control by the Nazis.

With the promulgation of the "Nuremberg Laws" in September 1935, Ernst Oppenheimer changed his mind. After marrying Margot Strauss, he applied for a certificate to emigrate to Palestine. After paying 1,000 pounds and undertaking to settle in the countryside in Palestine, he left Germany in the spring of 1936.

Despite the adverse conditions, Hugo Oppenheimer could not yet decide to leave Offenbach with his wife and seventeen-year-old daughter Trude. However, under pressure from the National Socialists, he was forced to agree to the sale of the business premises to the "Aryan" buyer Kalberlah on May 1, 1936 for far less than the regular price.

After losing their apartment in Frankfurter Strasse, the Oppenheim parents moved with their daughter to relatives in Frankfurt.
During the pogrom night, Hugo Oppenheimer was arrested and deported to Buchenwald, from where he was released on November 27, 1938, after his son Ernst had acquired certificates for his parents' entry into Palestine. Hugo and Recha Oppenheimer were thus able to find refuge in Palestine in the spring of 1939.

Despite all his efforts, Ernst Oppenheimer was unable to obtain an entry certificate from the authorities for his sister Trude because she had not yet completed her education. She therefore fled to the Netherlands in March 1939, where she lived until 1942.

After the occupation of the Netherlands by the German Wehrmacht, Trude was arrested as a Jew and sent to the Westerborg camp. From there, she was deported to the Ausschwitz extermination camp on July 15, 1942, where she was killed on August 26, 1942.