Felix Alterthum

Date of Origin: 3/1943-10/1944

Inscription of Felix Alterthum © WILDFISCH

Family picture of the Alterthums: Hans-Werner, Carla, Felix and Joachim, Tilsit 1937 ©Doris Alterthum

The inscription is badly damaged, barely legible, but originally there was written: „FELIX ALTERTHUM TILSIT 1943.“ The town’s name Tilsit was the key to the identification of the author. Felix Alterthum (born November 10, 1894) acted in the Baltic city before the war as a representative of the Jewish community (formerly an East Prussian province). As such Felix was responsible among other things for the running of the so-called “Heimeinkaufsverträge.” [1]

Felix with his spouse Carla and son Joachim came to Terezin via Berlin on the fourth major transport of the elderly, number I/90 on March 18, 1943.
On September 29, 1944 Felix left Terezin with a transport for Auschwitz-Birkenau. After a short stay there, he was finally transferred to Kaufering, a subcamp complex of the concentration camp Dachau where he died on January 17, 1945. The exact circumstances of his death are not known. Carla and Joachim deported a few days later to Auschwitz where they perished. They were most likely murdered in the gas chambers soon after arrival.

[1] German Jews, who since 1942 were being forcefully deported to the “Ghetto for the Elderly” in Terezin, were required to sign so-called “Heimeinkaufsvertraege”
(property purchase contracts). Although this fictitious project was initiated by the Gestapo, it was administered through the Reich Association of the German Jews. The collected purchase sums later went to the  Reichssicherheitshauptamt, the Main Office of Reich Security.

Il Capitano

Date of Origin: 1942–1944

© WILDFISCH (2005)

This is a series of portraits (2005) , most likely caricatures of the same creator. A noticeable nose, chin, and cap with two stripes and the words IL CAPITANO DELLA GUARDIA (Italian for “Captain of the Guard”). These details provide small hints as to who was depicted. The portrait series depicts members of the Ghettowache, the ghetto police.

Three stripes on the cap point to the fact that the man was of a higher rank in the Ghettowache. Why the words are in Italian remains unclear (there were no transports from Italy to Terezín). The striking caricature shows Artur Weisl, who was chief of The Ghettowache. [1]

Under another portrait we read the word „KAMERADEN“ (COMRADES). If we look closer, we can recognize a man with eyeglasses. The inscription „R.104 Wienna T“ and the initials I.R. pertain to this series of portraits. However, they do not reveal the identity of the author nor of the man depicted.
The Czech name „KOTAS – HONZA“ was carved into the stone after 1945 as confirmed by a recently discovered photo that was taken after the liberation of the camp. [2]

Artur Weisl

• Born in June 27, 1888
• Last residence: Teplitz, Schönau
• Transport Ao / 28. 4.1942 / Prague – Theresienstadt/Terezín
• Transport Eq / 12.10.1944 /Theresienstadt/Terezín –Auschwitz/Osvětim

[1] cf.. ANONYMUS: O národním umění Gemeindewachmanském, s.305-308, In: Kamarád, č. 20, 8.11.1944, http://www.vedem-terezin.cz/kamarad/about-magazine-en.html (Stav k 1.3.2018); cf. Philipp Manes: Als ob´s ein Leben wär: Tatsachenbericht Theresienstadt 1942-1944, Ullstein Buchverlage, Berlin 2005 S. 235, 532.

[2] Archiv Památník Terezín, Sign. A 1900.

Josef Freund

Date of Origin: Dec. 1942 – Sept. 1944

© WILDFISCH (2014)

This framed inscription was carved by Josef Freund from Pardubice (born Nov. 11, 1890). The style of the letters and the careful carving would indicate that Josef invested much time in the carving – the fine, almost elegant lettering are quite eye catching.

Unfortunatelly, little is known about his fate. Josef Freund was married to Zdenka, née Flaschner. Together with their grown children, Eva and Karel, they were deported on Dec. 9, 1942 from Pardubice to Terezín. The ghetto was but a transfer station for them.

Josef was deported to Auschwitz on September 28, 1944, as the first member of the family, and a few days later followed his wife Eva and his children. Nobody survived.

Zdenka Freundová lived in Prague until February 1942 when she was sent to Terezin and imprisoned for four months. Her name appears on the list of the AAi transport that left the ghetto on June 13, 1942. And here her trail disappears.

The destination of these transports is to this day unclear.

MEMBER OF THE GHETTO POLICEMAN

Date of Origin: 1942–1944

© WILDFISCH (2005)

Even though the details are barely legible, this is a portrait of the same ghetto policeman, this time wearing a coat.

NAMELESS

Date of Origin: July 1943 – October 1944

©Památník Terezín A 1900 (photographed in 1945))

A deep niche, not larger than a standard sheet of paper and a few centimeters deep. Exactly on this spot there was a name 70 years ago: “B. Nettl”. Benno Nettl was his full name. He came to the ghetto on July 5, 1943 with the „De“ transport from Prague. Then he was a member of the Ghettowache, the ghetto police.

A year later, in August 1944, the Gestapo arrested Benno Nettl, his wife Anna, son Mirko, and daughter Hana. They were moved to the nearby Small Fortress, the infamous Gestapo prison.

(To those Jews who were taken there, death came quickly. Exposed to the unbridled sadism of the SS, many died due to brutal violence. Prisoners were often tortured to death or executed.)

Benno Nettl ca. 1940-1942
© Igor Nettl

The reason for imprisonment of the entire family: Benno Netto was allegedly caught letter smuggling. Benno Nettl had no chance to survive. The circumstances of his death are unknown. He perished on October 20, 1944. His son did survive his arrest either. He died on December 22, 1944 at the age of 20.

Benno Nettl memorialized himself on the south wall of Poterne III in 1944.

PALM AND HANNUKKA CANDLELABRA

Date of Origin: Sept. 1942 – Sept. 1944

© WILDFISCH (2011)

The palm is probably pertaining to biblical mythology. It is a symbol of victory and triumph. In the ghetto, where the official religious practice was not permitted, religious symbols kept their significance.

The candlelabra with nine candles was a symbol of Hannukkah that announced the winter solstice and celebrated the triumph of light over darkness. Most certainly it was this meaning that the author had in mind when he carved it into the sandstone.

In the ghetto, the Hanukkah candlelabra had much greater significance than as a purely religious symbol. The lighting of the candles symbolized also the victory of good over evil and a new beginning. Traditionally, the candelabra was placed in a window so it would be visible from the outside.

Max Pizemczy, a native of Vienna (born October 5, 1894) left these carvings with his signature. Along with his wife Berta he was deported from Vienna to Terezin on September 25, 1942. Almost on the day, two years later, on September 28 and October 23,1944, both were deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau where they perished.

REMEMBERING SCHOOL TIMES

Date of Origin: 1943–1944

© WILDFISCH (2014)

„ 11. Gympl, 1943-1944. This inscription was most likely left by a student who was imprisoned in Terezín between 1943-1944. „Gympl“ is a Czech slang word for „Gymnasium“- that is the Czech college prep high school. The word is still used in Czech to this day.

Samuel Rosen

Date of Origin: Oct. 1942 – Oct. 1944

© WILDFISCH (2011)

This carving „S. Rosen, Wien, G.W. 31,“ was created by Samuel Rosen (born October 18, 1878).

Samuel and his family were deported on October 1, 1942 from their native Vienna to Terezin where they remained two years.

Samuel was a member of the Ghettowache, the ghetto police and, despite his advanced age (64), had to work as a guard at Poterne III. His activity as a guardsman protected his family from deportations for a long time – until October 1944.

His wife Sary and sister Jenny and daughter Edith were sent to Auschwitz first. On October 28, 1944, Samuel was deported on the very last transport that left Terezín for Auschwitz-Birkenau. His sister Jennys name is also to be found on the same transport list. Nobody survived.

The Scutcheon of the City of Cologne

Date of Origin: 1942 – 1944

Three crowns and eleven „flames.“ that is the sovereign sign of the City of Cologne. This coat-of arms recalls the fate of hundreds of Cologne Jews, who were deported to Terezín between June 15, 1942 and April 26, 1944.

The first major transport from Cologne to Terezín left on June 15, 1942, only two weeks after the start of deportations from the German Reich. From the total of 2514 Jews of Cologne, only 231 survived the Holocaust. At least 65 Cologne Jews were sent to Berlin on January 15, 1943 and from there dispersed in various transports headed to Terezín and Auschwitz. [1]

[1] Gottwald, Alfred; Schulle, Diana. Die Judendeportationen aus dem Deutschen Reich von 1941-1945. Eine kommentierte Chronologie, The Jewish Transports from the German Reich 1941-1945. Chronology with a commentary, Wiesbaden, 2005, p.291.

Вилгелм Валтух

Date of Origin: September 1944

©WILDFISCH

Wilhelm Waltuch during a vacation in Italy ©Kay Sharpe

Wilhelm Waltuch (born January 26, 1889 in Zagrabela) carved his name into the sandstone in cyrillic letters in September 1944. He also carved his name on the south side of the Poterne III – about two meters away.

Wilhelm and his wife Berta were deported from Vienna to Terezin on October 9, 1942. He was 53 years old. He remained in the ghetto for two years. On October 23, 1944 the couple was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau where they were probably murdered upon arrival.

The couple had three children, Adolf, Gertrude and Hedda. The children had a sheltered and happy childhood. That changed drastically after the annexation of Austria to the German Reich. During Aryanization, Wilhelm lost his position as a director of the largest movie house in the 17. Viennese district, and during liquidation he lost the movie house itself of which he was a co-owner.

The Waltuch family © Kay Sharpe

The destruction of the family happened in phases. When the Waltuchs were robbed of their property, they were forced to leave their apartment in Favoritenstrasse 12 – an address in the best section of central Vienna. Wilhem and Berta remained until their deportation in a building in Novaragasse 40/26 where many Jewish families lived cramped together and had to endure until their deportations.

The daughters who had work permits for England and left Vienna just in time. Hedda left on March 15 and her sister on April 4, 1939. Both survived the Holocaust.

„St.“

©WILDFISCH (2014) and Památník Terezín A 1900 (photographed in 1945)

Date of Origin: 1943–1944

The crude symbol of female genitals does not need any further explanation. The carving was made most likely after 1945.

The only hints as to the author of the original relief are the inscriptions „St.“ and „No.“ Most certainly also these are the last messages as the years 1943 and 1944 indicate.

On the south side of the Poterne III., „St.“ is carved a stylized flower.