Stumbling stone for Siegfried Löwenstein, Richard and Alice Löwenstein, née Friedberger, Margot and Jakob Löwenstein

Siegfried Löwenstein was born on October 10, 1868 in Offenbach. He married Johanna Heß on February 4, 1897. The couple had two children: Selma, born on January 16, 1898, and Richard, born on October 12, 1902. After the marriage, the family lived at Ludwigstraße 68.

Siegfried Löwenstein was the owner of the house and proprietor of a cardboard box factory, which was also located on the premises. He employed between 11 and 20 assistants.

His son Richard Löwenstein was a tailor and traveler by trade and spent a year in Turin and Milan in 1925. On June 4, 1930, he married Alice Friedberger, who was born in St. Wendel on August 18, 1903, in Offenbach. They also lived at Ludwigstraße 68, where their daughter Margot was born on August 29, 1931 and their son Jakob on October 14, 1934.

When Margot was two years old, 30.5% of the population in Offenbach voted for the National Socialists, the SA occupied the town hall, a boycott of Jewish businesses was declared and books were burned in the courtyard of Isenburg Castle. On November 9/10, 1938, Margot was 7 years old and Jakob was 4 years old. How did the two children experience the November pogroms and the arrest of their grandfather? In 1941, Jewish citizens were forced to wear the yellow star on their clothing, which children from the age of 6 also had to wear. At that time, Margot was 10 and Jakob 7 years old.

Mother Johanna Löwenstein died on September 11, 1934.

The house and the company at Ludwigstraße 68 were opposite the Gestapo headquarters. Today, the Chamber of Industry and Commerce building is located there. In 1996, after many years of insistence, a memorial plaque was erected to commemorate the fact that the Gestapo had been based there.

Siegfried Löwenstein was arrested in connection with the pogroms in November 1938 and imprisoned in Dachau from November 16 to December 5, 1938 as one of thousands of Jews. As a rule, people were released from there on condition that they leave Germany. In most cases, houses, businesses or other assets were extorted from them far below their value.

Siegfried Löwenstein was unable to continue running the business he had opened on March 15, 1897. The business register states that the business was "deregistered" on December 16, 1938.

On March 6, 1939, Siegfried, Richard, Alice, Margot and Jakob moved to Domstraße 66. It was certainly not a voluntary move, as several Jewish families were quartered in this house.

On September 27, 1942, Siegfried was deported to Theresienstadt via Darmstadt at the age of 74. The Arolsen Archive (opens in a new tab)states that he "died" there on May 22, 1943.

Richard Löwenstein was deported via Darmstadt to the Treblinka extermination camp shortly before his 40th birthday, Alice Löwenstein at the age of 39, eleven-year-old Margot and seven-year-old Jakob on September 30, 1942 and did not survive. Their registration cards state that the district court in Offenbach determined their deaths on May 8, 1945.