Stumbling block for Samuel Augenblick

Samuel Augenblick, born on May 7, 1885 in Tarnopol (then K+K Austria/Hungary), was a trained carpenter and came to Offenbach in 1907.
On May 31, 1910, he married the Catholic Margaretha Lantz from Bieber. The couple had 3 children.
He had been a committed member of the Offenbach SPD since 1907. Two years later, in June 1909, he left the Jewish community and became a freethinker. After the end of the First World War, he applied for admission (naturalization) to the Hessian Confederation, which was certified by the Hessian District Office on 25 February 1919.

The whole family were cycling enthusiasts and very soon became members of the SPD-affiliated workers' cycling association "Solidarität", where Samuel Augenblick held the office of treasurer. On September 30, 1935, after 15 years working for the Verbrauchergenossenschaft Frankfurt (later Konsum-Genossenschaft), most recently as manager of the Konsum branch in Bürgel, he was dismissed because of his "non-Aryan descent". He then tried to set up his own grocery store in Bieber, but here too he was rejected by the local authorities because of his political affiliation.

In the course of the "November Action" in 1938, he was interned in Dachau concentration camp from 16.11.1938 to 15.12.1938 due to his political orientation and his religious background. His wife secured his release due to his participation in the First World War from 1915 to 1918 for Austria, where he had fought as a non-commissioned officer 1st class. Samuel Augenblick immediately recognized the dangerous situation and tried in vain to emigrate with his family at the beginning of 1939, partly with the help of Jewish aid organizations.
On 1 May 1943, he was arrested at home by the Gestapo in the presence of his family and remained in the forced labor camp in Heddernheim/Frankfurt until October 1943. In mid-October 1943, he was transferred to the Auschwitz concentration camp and remained there until January 1944. He wrote his last letter to his wife on December 31, 1943, asking for food. At the end of February 1944, his family received the death certificate, which stated that Samuel Augenblick had died in the Auschwitz concentration camp on January 27, 1944 at 7:00 a.m.

According to the Hessian State Statistical Office, Samuel Augenblick was the last Jew in Bieber in 1941. Due to his political stance and activity, he is considered a resistance fighter.

The godmother of the Stumbling Stone for Samuel Augenblick is his great-granddaughter Laura Augenblick

Laid on February 25, 2006