On Sunday, May 19, 2024, Lisa Aronson from Ojai (California, USA) visited the Jawne Memorial and Educational Center. Lisa is the daughter of former Jawne student Hanneliese Fürst, who was able to leave for Great Britain in February 1939 on a “Kindertransport” organized by the school’s principal Dr. Erich Klibansky, thus saving her from further persecution by the Nazis.
© Andrea Döhrer
The Fürst family lived at number 81 Mauritiussteinweg, in the Cologne city center and ran a factory there that made hats, masks and carnival accessories. During Pogrom Night in November 1938, the interior of the factory was largely destroyed, and it was later “confiscated” by the Nazis. By a stroke of luck, Hanneliese’s parents, Herta and Erich Fürst, managed to find jobs as domestic servants in Scotland and were able to leave in August 1939. Their son Helmut Max had already been accepted at an art school in London in 1937, their second son, Hans Hermann, was able to travel to Belgium on a “Kindertransport” and finally to England. On May 16, 1940, the Fürst family, now reunited in Great Britain, was able to board a ship in Liverpool and emigrate to the USA. Other members of the family died in various ghettos and concentration camps.
In the USA, the former Jawne student Hanneliese was now called Jan (Janet). Among other things, she worked as a secretary for the well-known cartoonist Bill Mauldin and had three daughters.
Following in the footsteps of her mother and family, Lisa Aronson visited the archive of the Cologne NS-Documentation Center, the Jawne Memorial and Educational Center as well as Mauritiuswall 81. Except for the stumbling blocks (memorial stones) for her murdered great-aunt Irma and her husband Ernst Schönholz, nothing there reminds of the Fürst family and their factory. In 2025, more stones will be laid for the family at this location, and Lisa is already planning to be there with members of the family.
We very much look forward to welcoming you back, Lisa!