Max Krämer

Clementine Cahnmann was born on September 7, 1873 in Rheinbischofsheim, Baden. She was ahead of her time in many respects: author, feminist, social worker, and a board member of the influential Jüdischer Frauenbund (Jewish Women’s Association), where she worked with figures such as Bertha Pappenheim and Paula Ollendorff. Together with these two good friends she was already campaigning for women’s suffrage in the early twentieth century. As an author she discussed topics such as equality, discrimination, and the social coexistence of different cultures and religions. Her articles were published in various newspapers and journals. Clementine Cahnmann was also very active in Jewish social and education work. She gave language courses for young women from eastern Europe who had fled to Munich to escape poverty and anti-Jewish riots.
In 1891 she married Max Krämer, a distant relative. He was born on August 23, 1863 in Munich, came from a wealthy banking family and ran his own credit and finance institution. In 1910 the couple moved into Trautenwolfstraße 4. The marriage remained childless, but Max and Clementine fostered close ties to the children of Clementine’s older brother, Sigwart Cahnmann. As a result of the stock market crash in 1929 Max Krämer’s bank was forced to declare bankruptcy. His wife then took on a position as saleswoman in a department store.
The life of the Krämers changed dramatically and irrevocably after the Nazi seizure of power. In 1937 the couple were forced to move out of their apartment in Trautenwolfstraße by the Reichstreuhänder der Arbeit für das Wirtschaftsgebiet Bayern (Reich Trustee of Labor for the economic region of Bavaria), a Nazi-created authority that then moved into the premises. Max Krämer died in August 1939 at the age of 75 in Munich. Clementine Krämer attempted to emigrate several times but remained unsuccessful. In July 1942 she was deported from the camp for Jews in Milbertshofen to Theresienstadt ghetto. Fully exhausted, Clementine Krämer died in Theresienstadt, the camp administration register noting her passing on November 4, 1942 at 8.30 a.m. (text: Daniel Ammann, editor: C. Fritsche, translation: Paul Bowman)