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Betty von der Heydt (née Krim) * 1889

Bellevue 34 (Hamburg-Nord, Winterhude)

1942 Auschwitz

further stumbling stones in Bellevue 34:
Adolf Peine, Auguste Peine, Wally Simon, William Simon

Betty von der Heydt, née Krim, born 6 Oct. 1889 (or 1881), deported 11 July 1942 to Auschwitz

Bellevue 34 (Winterhude)

Betty (actually Peril) Krim (in some documents also referred to as Roth) was either born on 6 Oct. 1881 in Karlovka in the administrative district of Parlovka (as appears in Hamburg’s resident registry) or on 6 Oct. 1889 in Brody or Karlovka (as on her marriage certificate and the culture tax card of the Jewish Community); both dates can be found on official documents. 1881 appears more plausible as her year of birth since 1887 was noted as the year she moved to Hamburg, and in 1898 she was already working as a maid. The towns registered are located about 90 km east of the city Lviv in Galicia with roughly 15,000 residents. After the Third Partition of Poland the towns belonged to the border region of the multi-ethnic state Austria-Hungary. A number of reasons led Jews to turn their backs on Brody, the East-Galician border town, garrison town and free-trade zone. In 1880 the 100-year-old privilege of being a free-trade zone with Czarist Russia was suspended, which had had a negative effect on economic development. Around 1900, 17,300 people lived in Brody, mostly German inhabitants, over 70% of whom were Jews.
Betty Krim and her parents had already left the region of her birth prior to 1887. The identification card of the Prussian city Wandsbek noted 1 May 1887 as the date when she moved there from neighboring Hamburg. She lived with her parents at Bramfelderstraße 34 or 36 (today Holzmühlenstraße). Hamburg’s registry office shows 21 May 1898 as the date when she moved from the neighboring Prussian village Hinschenfelde where Betty had stayed since 11 May 1898. In Hamburg she only worked three months as a cook for the merchant and business owner Magnus von der Walde who had just moved to Harvestehude (Klosterallee 23a). After that she returned to her parents in the neighboring Prussian city Wandsbek (Bramfelderstraße 20). In 1908 the family moved to Kurze Reihe 40 (today Königsreihe) within Wandsbek. From 1910 she sublet in Wandsbek-Marienthal at Rennbahnstraße 50 (today Bovestraße) from Albert Seemann, proprietor of the trade nursery of the same name. She declared her occupation as cashier, her citizenship as "Austrian” and her religion as "mosaic”.

On 17 July 1925 she gave notice of her departure to Hamburg; since Hamburg’s registry catalogues burned up in air raids during World War II, we don’t know when or why the family changed their surname. The spelling of the first names of nearly all the family members varied in the official German documents: at times the original Jewish-Slavic first name was recorded, at other times the names were translated into German, and on other occasions a newly assumed first name was specified.
Her parents may have been the merchant Abraham Schabse Krim (1848-1931) born in Radschischow and Esther Krim, née Roth (1848-1919) from the small East-Galician city Lesniow (15 km north of Brody). The couple’s last residence was at Kurze Reihe 40 in Wandsbek. Esther Krim died at the Israelite Hospital in Hamburg and was buried at the Jewish cemetery in (Hamburg-) Wandsbeck (Jenfelder Straße). Schapse Krim (the spelling of his first name varies) died in 1931. Further relatives appear to have also lived in Wandsbek, including her brother Simon/Szloma Krim (born 5 Aug. 1877 in Karlovka) and the seamstress Ruchel Krim or Roth (born on 23 Mar. 1876 in Leszniov near Brody in Galicia) whose precise relationship to the family is not known.
In Hamburg in 1926 Betty Krim married the butcher’s son Erwin von der Heydt (born on 5 Feb. 1890 in Dortmund). Their witnesses were the sales representative Leon Braun (born on 13 Feb. 1891 in Hamburg) and his wife Feitsze (Fanny) Braun, née Engländer (born on 16 Dec. 1890 in Hamburg), who left the German-Israelite Community in 1934 and moved to an unknown destination in 1935. Betty von der Heydt received a fox fur as a wedding present from her brother-in-law. The 1927 and 1928 telephone book shows the entry "Betty von der Heydt, Cigar House Mundsburg, Mundsburger Damm 69” (Uhlenhorst). Her husband was characterized on the culture tax card of Hamburg’s German-Israelite Community as "Aryan”, and Hamburg’s 1930 address book notes him as a merchant at the address Tribünenweg 32a (Horn). Address book entries are missing for him from 1931 to 1933. From 1935 to 1937 he was listed as a merchant at the address Alstertwiete 24 (St. Georg).

Betty von der Heydt joined Hamburg’s German-Israelite Community in Oct. 1935 but paid no contributions, nor did she register any children. According to the supplementary card she filled out in May 1939 for the census, she gave her ancestry as "half Jewish” but was treated as a "valid Jew” due to her membership in the Jewish Community. In 1939 she lived at Grillparzerstraße 43 (called Goethestraße until 1940) in Hamburg-Uhlenhorst in a sublet from H. Richel and in a sublet from Nov. 1940 to Oct. 1941 at Andreasstraße 16 (Winterhude), possibly as the tenant taking over her brother’s apartment. Her husband Erwin was last noted in the Hamburg Address Book from 1935 to 1937 as a merchant at the address Alstertwiete 24 (St. Georg). An entry is missing for Erwin von der Heydt in 1938, but Betty von der Heydt was listed at the address Hofweg 101, 1st floor (Uhlenhorst). Her husband probably died in 1936/ 1937.

After her husband’s death, Betty von der Heydt tried to immigrate to England in May 1939. The officer at the Foreign Currency Office (Department F9), Heincke, sent her a summons in writing. Following further checks into Betty von der Heydt’s living circumstances, who declared her marital status as "widowed”, and an additional summons, he returned her "removal goods list” for completion. The list merely contained every-day clothing. There was no mention whatsoever of home furnishings, dishes, books, photo albums or valuables.

Betty von der Heydt was summoned a second time on 7 July 1939 due to missing papers, and Officer Heincke noted in her file four days later, tersely and unmistakably, "missing papers requested”. She was unable to keep the new appointment on 14 July 1939 and excused herself nine days later with a postcard citing illness.

The start of World War II appears to have put an end to her emigration plans. She was summoned to the Foreign Currency Office (F9) a final time on 9 Feb. 1940. It is not possibly to reconstruct whether the fifty-year-old kept the appointment. On 23 Oct. 1941 she was housed at the Haus Bellevue 34 (Winterhude) which belonged to the Simon Family (see the biography of Willy Simon). She lived there, subletting from Adolf Peine (see his biography) and his wife Auguste Peine, née Graf.

Jewish men and women had been housed at Villa Bellevue 34 since Dec. 1939 under pressure from the Housing Office. According to the house’s registry catalogue, the residents included Elsa Sprei (born 11 Nov. 1900 in Wiznitz, deported 25 Oct. 1941 to Lodz), Kurt Feiezweig(?) (born 31 May 1920 in Bremen, immigrated in 1940 to New York), Alfred Simon (born 26 Nov. 1897 in Hamburg), Hans Goldschmidt (born 10 Oct. 1901 in Hamburg, deported 8 Nov. 1941 to Minsk), Heinz Grossmann (born 22 July 1913 in Hamburg, deported 25 Oct. 1941 to Lodz), Helene Grossmann, née Hühn (born 14 Jan. 1921 in Reinbek near Hamburg, deported 25 Oct. 1941 to Lodz), Leopold Cohn (born 7 May 1873 in Altona, deported 6 Dec. 1941 to Riga), Gertrud Cohn, née Jacoby (born 25 Aug. 1884 in Berlin, deported 6 Dec. 1941 to Riga), Rosa Hühn, née Michel (born 27 Feb. 1890 in Berlin, deported with her daughter Helene on 25 Oct. 1941 to Lodz).

As long as Betty von der Heydt was married to her non-Jewish husband, her marriage was considered a "privileged mixed marriage” and protected her from deportation. Her husband’s death meant she had lost her precarious protection. The name of the woman, who by this time had lost all rights, was placed on the list for deportation on 11 July 1942, as were the names of her landlords Mr. and Mrs. Peine. Their transport took them to Auschwitz, as has proven in the meantime. Like all the others on the transport, Betty von der Heydt did not survive.

Betty von der Heydt declared Simon (Szloma) Krim or Roth (1877–1965) to be her brother. Under the name Szloma Roth, he married the seamstress Olga Wiegreve (born 1883 in Wandsbek) in Wandsbek-Hinschenfelde in 1905. Their marriage certificate noted both as belonging to the Protestant religion. At that time Szloma Krim/Roth was employed as a packer and lived in Wandsbek at Volksdorfer Straße 2, 2nd floor, in a sublet from Neuwald.

Robert Neuwald (born around 1862) was also one of the two witnesses at their wedding. The couple divorced shortly after the end of the war in 1918. His second wife was Ida, née Massanet (born 3 Aug. 1909 in Düsseldorf). He had been an independent truck dealer in Hamburg and Berlin since 1907 and lived in Wandsbeck from 1885 to 1920. In 1922 he founded a car dealership in Hamburg with a sales floor which sold cars manufactured by Horch, Packard, Adler and Röhr. He also rented an office, garages and a repair shop, all located near the Alster, a tributary of the Elbe River. He was "one of the major car dealerships in Hamburg prior to 1933,” according to a memo from the Reparations Office (Wiedergutmachungsamt). In addition to the company, Simon Krim founded Krim & Co. Ltd in 1933, both based at Ferdinandstraße 29/Friedrichshof (old town). Revenue dropped considerably in the wake of various boycotts by the SA and government offices and due to several car manufacturers revoking his right to represent them. Ultimately in 1936 Simon Krim was forced to sell his business to the car rental Hans Grimm (born 1900, member of the NSDAP as of 1 Nov. 1932).

Simon Krim lived from 1930 to 1933 at Adolphstraße 42 (Uhlenhorst), from 1935 to 1937 at Heinrich-Hertz-Straße 7a (Uhlenhorst) and from 1938 to 1939 at Andreasstraße 16 (Winterhude), among other places. In May 1941, the company Simon Krim was struck from the trade registry. Protected by his mixed marriage, he was initially excluded from deportation. From Sept. 1941 or 1942, the couple was forced by the Housing Office to move into a room at Bornstraße 22 (Rotherbaum). The offices of the Jewish Community were also located at that address, and the Jewish Community owned the building. The Gestapo conducted daily searches, checked who was present and searched for forbidden items (newspapers, radios, telephones), according to Simon Krim’s later statements to the Reparations Office. However, contrary to his sister, Simon Krim survived in Hamburg.

Information as of Mar. 2016


Translator: Suzanne von Engelhardt

Kindly supported by the Hermann Reemtsma Stiftung, Hamburg.

Stand: November 2017
© Björn Eggert, Ulrike Sparr

Quellen: Staatsarchiv Hamburg (StaH) 314-15 (Oberfinanzpräsident), FVg 8465 (Auswanderungsantrag Betty v.d. Heydt); StaH 332-5 (Standesämter), 4121 u. 5/1905 (Heiratsregister 1905 Hinschenfelde = Wandsbek II, Olga Sophia Martha Wiegreve u. Szloma Roth); StaH 332-5 (Standesämter), 810 u. 714/1919 (Sterberegister 1919, Ester Krim geb. Roth); StaH 332-5 (Standesämter), 3525 u. 117/ 1926 (Heiratsregister 1926, Betty Krim u. Erwin von der Heydt); StaH 332-5 (Standesämter), 4582 u. 364/1931 (Sterberegister Wandsbek 1931, Schapse Krim); StaH 351-11 (Amt für Wiedergutmachung), 3362 (Simon Krim); StaH 522-1 (Jüdische Gemeinden) 992 b (Kultussteuerkartei der Deutsch-Israelitischen Gemeinde Hamburg), Betty von der Heydt, Leon Braun; StaH 522-1 (Jüdische Gemeinden) 992 e 2 Band 4; StaH 741-4 (Alte Einwohnermeldekartei Hamburg 1892–1925, mikroverfilmt), Ester Krim (geb. 1848), Ruchel Krim (geb. 1876), Peril/Betty Krim (geb. 1881); StaH 741-4 (Alte Personalkarten/ Meldekartei Wandsbek, mikroverfilmt), Film-Nr. K 7450 (Betty Krim, Olga Krim richtiger Roth geb. Wiegreve, Rachel Krim richtiger Roth, Simon/Szloma Krim richtiger Roth); StaH 741-4, Film K 2360 (Hauskartei Bellevue 34, mikroverfilmt); StaH 221-11 (Staatskommissar für die Entnazifizierung), C 11136 (Hans Grimm); Stadtarchiv Dortmund, Standesamt Dortmund-Innenstadt 410/1890 (Geburtsregister 1890, Erwin von der Heydt); Handelskammer Hamburg, Firmenarchiv (S. Krim Auto-Reparatur-Werkstätten GmbH, HR-Nr. A 8496; Firma Simon Krim, HR-Nr. A 28715); Adressbuch Hamburg 1930, 1932–1938, 1941; Adressbuch Hamburg (von der Walde) 1898, 1899; Amtliche Fernsprechbücher Hamburg, 1926–1935; Amtliches Fernsprechbuch Hamburg (Simon Krim Automobile) 1931, 1939; Hamburger Börsenfirmen, 1935, S. 478 (Simon Krim; Erwin Krim & Co. GmbH); Staatsarchiv Hamburg, Gedenkbuch, Hamburger jüdische Opfer des Nationalsozialismus, 1995, Seite 166 (Betty von der Heydt); Bundesarchiv Koblenz, Gedenkbuch, Opfer der Verfolgung der Juden unter der nationalsozialistischen Gewaltherrschaft in Deutschland, 2006; Naftali Bar-Giora Bamberger, Die jüdischen Friedhöfe in Wandsbek, Band 2, 1997, S. 147 (Beerdigungen: 1919 Esther Krim, Grab-Nr. 104a/Jenfeld; 1931 Schabata Krim, Grab-Nr. 104b/Jenfeld); Ania Klijanienko, Lemberg entdecken, Berlin 2005, S. 191/192 (Brody); Isaak Babel, Tagebuch 1920, Zürich 1998, S. 208 (Topographie, Brody), S. 215 (Topographie, Leszniów).