Life_under_Siege_The_Jews_of_Magdeburg_under_Nazi_Rule.pdf

on the third position, which offered her better renumeration. This was of great
importance to her as she already knew that she was emigrating to Australia. 55 In
all of her positions she commented on the lack of business being generated and
that her Jewish colleagues hardly discussed their overall depressing situation. 56 In
assessing her comments about her two final positions, it is clear that as both
businesses were still functioning in 1938, that their custom must have been at a
suitable level. Both businesses employed a number of staff and, given the nature
of their businesses, even if they were only operational within the Jewish
community itself, it may have been enough to sustain them financially.
Hemmi Freeman’s experiences were not that dissimilar to Gisela Kent’s.
However, he also provides additional valuable insights into the economic situation
for Jews. When he left school in September 1935, he was sent to a Jewish private
school in Coburg for approximately two years. When he returned to Magdeburg
he worked for close to twelve months, prior to his emigration to England before
the pogrom of November 1938. His first position was with a leathergoods
manufacturer and retailer, owned and operated by Siegmund Rohlick at
Freiligrathstraße 72 57 until the Rohlicks left for the United States of America
(USA). His testimony sheds light on another important aspect which featured in
the displacement of Jewish businesses:
What happened – a Magdeburg [non- Jewish] German [living in the USA] had
family in Magdeburg, and had a business in photographic something-orother
somewhere in America; and they swapped businesses. He was a
Volksdeutscher [Ethnic German]. He came back from the USA and took over
this Lederwaren [leathergoods] business and Rohlick took over the
photographic business. I worked for him for six months. I was Mädchen für
alles [a ‘Jack of all trades’]. He got me at six o’clock every morning to
55
Kent, op. cit., 5 January 1998.
56
Ibid.
57
Magdeburgs Juden stellen sich vor!, 1935, ASGM, op. cit.
93