Photo: Cesar von Meissen
Stolpersteine Bungertstraße 32 in Essen-Werden
Ruth Baum and Sophie Baum lived in Essen-Werden before their deportation and led a life that was severely affected by the increasing discrimination and persecution of the Jewish population in Germany. After the death of her husband, Sophie Baum continued to run the family business, a fish store, on her own and was eventually captured and deported with her daughter. Two Stolpersteine at Bungertstraße 32 commemorate her fate.
Relocation to Essen-Werden
Sophie Baum, maiden name Viehser, was married to Philipp Baum. Both had married in Emden and settled in Essen-Werden with a fish store at Bungertstraße 47. Their daughter Ruth was born in Essen on April 19, 1921. When Philipp Baum died in 1932, Sophie Baum initially continued to run the business. During the Reichsprogromnacht - also known as the November progroms - the business was vandalized and destroyed and Sophie and her daughter were taken prisoner and - together with other Jews - taken to the so-called "Jugendhaus" at Bungertstraße 32. From 1938 onwards, they lived there under increasingly difficult conditions, as Jewish citizens were increasingly deprived of their rights and property.
End of her life in Werden
Ruth Baum was a young lady who suffered under the restrictions of the Nazi regime. There are reports of Jewish families in Essen who tried to lead a normal life despite the adverse circumstances. But as the persecution progressed, this became increasingly impossible. The deportation of mother and daughter on April 22, 1942 marked the end of their lives in Essen-Werden. The women were taken to the Izbica ghetto in Poland. This transit station, also known as a transit ghetto, was a transit camp from which people were deported to the Belzec extermination camp and the Sobibor extermination camp. It is not known exactly where Sophie Baum and Ruth Baum died. The Izbica ghetto is therefore named as their last known place of residence.
The inscription on the Stumbling Stones reads
| Stolperstein for | Inscription |
|---|---|
| Sophie Baum née Viehser | "SOPHIE BAUM, NÉE VIEHSER, LIVED HERE. VIEHSER, B. 1892, DEPORTED 1942, IZBICA, MURDERED" |
| Ruth Baum, married name Cussel | "RUTH BAUM LIVED HERE, BORN 1921, DEPORTED 1942, IZBICA, MURDERED" |
All information without guarantee
A walk down memory lane
A walk along the Stolpersteine around the Baldeneysee is more than just a walk - it is a journey into the past. In Bredeney, for example, you will find Stolpersteine commemorating members of the Rothschild family, who once ran an important business before they were expropriated and deported by the National Socialists. In Werden, there are Stolpersteine for residents who were considered political opponents of the regime and who lost their lives for their convictions.
