• Memorial sign Auerbach Orphanage
Until it was dissolved by force in 1942, the Auerbach Orphanage was a sanctuary for Jewish children. Since 2000 there are memorial sings and events to honour the over 100 children and their caretakers who were deported and murdered in the same year.
Image: Berlin, around 1920, Frontal view of the Auerbach Orphanage, Stadtbibliothek Berlin
Berlin, around 1920, Frontal view of the Auerbach Orphanage, Stadtbibliothek Berlin

Image: Berlin, 2014, Memorial sing »Ich war hier« (»I was here«), Stiftung Denkmal
Berlin, 2014, Memorial sing »Ich war hier« (»I was here«), Stiftung Denkmal
In 1833, Baruch Auerbach (1793–1864) founded a home for Jewish children in Rosenstrasse. He emphasized the importance of providing an artistic education, his aim was to create a »family home for orphans«. In 1897, around 80 children then moved into a new building on Schönhauser Allee. After the National Socialists took power the boys and girls lived here like on »an island in the sea of brown« as Walter Frankenstein, one of the last surviving Auerbach children, put it – the orphanage did everything to keep the children away from persecution.
On October 19, 1942, one year after the first deportations of Jews from Berlin, the 21st »Osttransport« carrying 959 people left the German capital. Among them were nearly 60 children from the orphanage aged 2 to 16 as well as 3 of their caretakers. The trains were destined for Riga, where members of SS shot most of the deportees in forests. There were 998 people aboard the 23rd »Osttransport«, which departed on November 29, 1942, including 75 children between 10 months and 16 years of age, most of them from the Auerbach Orphanage. They were murdered in the gas chambers of Auschwitz-Birkenau. After this deportation, the orphanage was dissolved; the building was confiscated and used by the Hitler Youth. In 1943, the building was destroyed in an air raid of the Allies.
Image: Berlin, around 1920, Frontal view of the Auerbach Orphanage, Stadtbibliothek Berlin
Berlin, around 1920, Frontal view of the Auerbach Orphanage, Stadtbibliothek Berlin

Image: Berlin, 2014, Memorial sing »Ich war hier« (»I was here«), Stiftung Denkmal
Berlin, 2014, Memorial sing »Ich war hier« (»I was here«), Stiftung Denkmal
More than one hundred boys and girls of the Auerbach Orphanage and their caretakers were deported and murdered by the Nazis.
Image: Berlin, around 1937, »Football team« of the orphanage with Walter Frankenstein at the centre of the back row, Jüdisches Museum Berlin, donated by Leonie und Walter Frankenstein
Berlin, around 1937, »Football team« of the orphanage with Walter Frankenstein at the centre of the back row, Jüdisches Museum Berlin, donated by Leonie und Walter Frankenstein

Image: Berlin, 2014, The names of the victims on the original brick wall, Stiftung Denkmal
Berlin, 2014, The names of the victims on the original brick wall, Stiftung Denkmal
The remains of the building heavily damaged by bombs were torn down in the 1950s. Only a small part of the outer wall persists. The Auerbach Orphanage was slowly forgotten. For a long time, there were no signs of the orphanage's existence or the fate of the children and their caretakers.
In June 2000, students of Kurt Schwitters School in Prenzlauer Berg, together with artist Karla Sachse, attached clay toys on the front garden wall, which they had made in memory of the murdered children. Only a few days later, the pieces were demolished by unknown offenders. Soon thereafter, the students made new clay figures, which today are stored at Pankow Museum together with the remaining fragments of the original pieces. During commemorative ceremonies, teenagers bring them back to this site.
On initiative of Walter Frankenstein (*1924), one of the few surviving Auerbach children, the Berlin Senate had a memorial plaque mounted to the façade of this tenement on September 5, 2011.
On June 26, 2014, the memorial site designed by the artist Susanne Ahner was consigned to the public. It was initiated by Walter Frankenstein and realized by the Berlin Senate and the Foundation Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. All the known names and ages of the murdered children as well as their caretakers now are inscribed on the original brick wall. The memorial sign is complemented by an information plaque.
Image: Berlin, 2014, The former Auerbach child Walter Frankenstein (*1924) on the day of the memorial sign's dedication, Stiftung Denkmal
Berlin, 2014, The former Auerbach child Walter Frankenstein (*1924) on the day of the memorial sign's dedication, Stiftung Denkmal

Image: Berlin, 2014, Clay figures in Pankow Museum, Stiftung Denkmal
Berlin, 2014, Clay figures in Pankow Museum, Stiftung Denkmal
Name
Erinnerungsort für die im Nationalsozialismus deportierten und ermordeten Zöglinge und Betreuer des Baruch Auerbach'schen Waisenhauses
Address
Schönhauser Allee 162
10435 Berlin
Phone
+49 (0)30 263 943-0
Fax
+49 (0)30 263 943-20
Web
www.stiftung-denkmal.de
E-Mail
info@stiftung-denkmal.de
Open
The memorial site is accessible at all times.