Virtually no memories of Jakob Springer have come down in our family. He was born in Munich on September 23, 1867, the son of the businessman Bernhard Springer and Bertha Springer, née Schwab. His younger sister Pauline (Paula) was born on July 15, 1876. We know nothing about Jakob’s childhood or youth. He became a businessman and on June 27, 1901 married Emma Levinger. The couple had one child, a daughter: Margarethe, born in Munich on June 26, 1902. Along with Dorline and Arnold Springer, Jakob and Emma were co-owners of the house at Rosental 19 (now Sendlinger Strasse 3). They also owned the apartment at Franz-Joseph-Strasse 15, where they lived from 1920 to 1933. It is not known whether they left the apartment voluntarily or in connection with Nazi persecution.
During the Nazi period, Jakob and his wife lived at Winzererstrasse 52, Krumbacher Strasse 9 and Magdalenenstrasse 2. From December 1939, the couple were lodged in a so-called “Judenhaus” (“Jews’ house”) at Richard-Wagner-Strasse 11, where Jakob Springer died on March 29, 1941.
The Gestapo deported Jakob’s wife Emma to the Piaski Ghetto in Poland, which is known for the horrific conditions that prevailed there. Her relatives Dorline and Arnold Springer were on the same transport. To this day, it has not been possible to establish when or where Emma was killed. Jakob and Emma’s daughter Margarethe had managed to emigrate to Jerusalem in the summer of 1933. There she later married Dr. Ernst Linz. Jakob Springer was a cousin of my great-grandfather David Springer. (Text and translation: Judith Rosenthal; editor: C. Fritsche)
