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Olga Koppel (née Strelitz) * 1873

Kielortallee 25 (Eimsbüttel, Eimsbüttel)

HIER WOHNTE
OLGA KOPPEL
GEB. STRELITZ
JG. 1873
GEDEMÜTIGT / ENTRECHTET
FLUCHT IN DEN TOD
13.7.1942

further stumbling stones in Kielortallee 25:
Frieda (Friederike) Popper

Olga Koppel, née Strelitz, born 16 Oct. 1873 in Hamburg, chose to kill herself 13 July 1942

Kielortallee 25

Olga was born to the merchant Moses Jacob Strelitz and his wife Rosalie, née Luria. The family was religious, and her father had donated an endowment to the German-Israelite Community (DIG) for grave maintenance; her mother came from a well-established Sephardic family in Hamburg. In 1900 Olga married the authorized representative Wolf Koppel (1859–1940) who was also a member of the DIG. The couple lived in secure circumstances, first in the Grindel Quarter and from 1908 in Eppendorf, initially at Eppendorfer Weg 275, then at Curschmannstraße 8 as of 1912 and shortly after the end of World War I at Eppendorfer Landstraße 56. During that period, Wolf Koppel started his own business with Hans S. Adler, as a jute goods supplier called "Koppel & Adler". The company was located in the city center, changed addresses frequently and must have flourished because the revenue was recorded as 2,600 Reichsmark (RM) when the couple applied to the foundation Vaterstädtische Stiftung for a family apartment in Aug. 1933. On 12 Aug. 1936, they moved into apartment number 6 at the Max and Mathilde Bauer Foundation at Kielortallee 25, which catered to those who were well off.

On 31 May 1937, Wolf Koppel was forced to leave the company and the couple lived off of the earnings from life insurance, approximately 80 RM per month, 14 RM of which paid rent. When the foundation Vaterstädtische Stiftung was "Aryanized", they were forced to move to apartment no. 30 in the Martin Brunn Stift at Frickestraße 24 in Eppendorf on 29 Mar. 1939, a building which had been turned into a "Jewish house". At the time, their assets had shrunk to 300 RM. Wolf Koppel perished there on 2 Apr. 1940. His widow continued to live in the apartment. Dr. Paul Wohlwill – decades-long board member of the foundation Vaterstädtischen Stiftung – became administrator of the Martin Brunn Stift, which had split off after the "Aryanization" of the board. In the minute book he noted: "On 30 June it came to our attention that a total evacuation of Hamburg’s Jews was to take place. The first transport will be carried out on 3 July, the second on 14 July. With that the majority of residents of the Martin Brunn Stift will be evacuated, apart from about 5 who are ill and will be housed at a home for the aged." Olga Koppel’s name was on the deportation list scheduled for 15 July 1942. The day before, she took her life and was buried on 22 July 1942 in Ohlsdorf.

Translator: Suzanne von Engelhardt

Kindly supported by the Hermann Reemtsma Stiftung, Hamburg.

Stand: October 2016
© Angela Schwarz

Quellen: 1; 4; 5; Archiv Vaterstädtische Stiftung; StaH 325-1 Friedhofsverwaltung 265