Stumbling stone for Paula, Leo and Ruth Wolfstein

Paula Schwabe, born on April 1, 1896 in Kassel, and Leo Wolfstein, born on January 31, 1882 in Bochum, married on June 26, 1918 in Kassel. Their two children were also born there. Heinz on March 21, 1919 and Ruth on April 15, 1920. The family belonged to the Jewish community.

Dr. Leo Wolfstein had already established himself as a veterinarian in Offenbach in April 1919 and worked as a veterinarian in the Offenbach slaughterhouse together with his Jewish colleague Dr. Strauss. The Wolfstein family lived at Bleichstraße 37 in Offenbach.
According to the newspaper "Offenbacher Nachrichten", Dr. Wolfstein and Dr. Strauss were dismissed as official veterinarians shortly after the National Socialists came to power.
were relieved of their duties as official veterinarians. As an independent veterinarian
Dr. Wolfstein was still able to continue practising.

After his dismissal from public service, Dr. Wolfstein and his family moved into the house at Mittelseestraße 40, which belonged to his late father, the merchant Josef Wolfstein and his wife Charlotte, née Weinberg, according to the address book.

Due to the increasing disenfranchisement by the Nazi regime, daughter Ruth
Wolfstein emigrated to Italy in 1937 at the age of 17. Her emigration to San Marino is noted in the memorial book of the Federal Archives.

The rest of the family remained in Offenbach and experienced the pogroms against the Jews there in November 1938. Heinz Wolfstein was lucky enough to be able to emigrate to the USA at the beginning of 1939. In September 1941, the Wolfstein couple moved into the Andorn family's house at Mittelseestraße 34. According to a fictitious entry in the registration card, they both left for "unknown destination" in October 1942. In fact, Dr. Leo Wolfstein and his wife
Paula were deported from Offenbach via Darmstadt to Poland on September 30, 1942; they are noted in the memorial book (opens in a new tab)as "missing in Poland". The entry for their daughter Ruth reads: "missing Auschwitz concentration camp". She is not included in the Offenbach deportation list and was probably deported to Auschwitz from Italy in 1943.
deported from Italy to Auschwitz in 1943.

Relocated on March 08, 2007