Katharina Bayerwaltes (née Rehtmann; January 20, 1914 – June 11, 2011) hid a Jewish family of three — Henriette and Salomon Jacoby and their daughter Hildegard Jacoby Schott — during World War II. She received the title Righteous Among the Nations in 2005, with a memorial presentation in 2006. Others who also helped conceal the Jacobs received the title, Josephine Odenthal, Heinz Odenthal, and Josephine's mother Sibylla Cronenberg.
Katharine Bayerwaltes | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Katharine Rehtmann January 20, 1914 Gelsenkirchen, Germany |
| Died | June 11, 2011 (aged 97) Bonn, Germany |
| Other names | Katia Bayerwaltes |
| Occupation | Accountant |
| Known for | Saving a Jewish family during World War II, reconstruction of Bonn |
| Awards | Righteous Among the Nations (2005) |
Following the war, she worked for the Allied City Commander to rebuild the city. She also coordinated the partnership, or twin cities, between Bonn and Oxford, England.
Life
edit
Katharina Rehtmann was born in Gelsenkirchen on January 20, 1914.[2] She married a court trainee, becoming Katharina Bayerwaltes. During World War II, her husband was an officer of the Wehrmacht who was assigned to the Russian Front (Eastern Front).[2][3] The couple had an infant baby in 1943. Bayerwaltes lived and worked in Bonn, where she was an accountant for a factory.[2][3] The Bayerwaltes lived on Argelanderstrasse in the Gründerzeit area of southern Bonn.[1]
World War II
editBayerwaltes took in 72-year-old Henriette and 77-year-old Saloman Jacoby, as well as their daughter Hildegard Jacoby Schott, to live in an apartment in her building during World War II.[3][4] The Jacobys were from Cologne where their family department store, Kauf Jacoby, was confiscated by the Nazi regime in 1939. When Jews in Cologne were arrested and held at the Müngersdorf camp by the beginning of 1942,[3] Josephine Odenthal and Heinz Odenthal, their neighbors, helped them escape the camp[5] and took them to the home of Sibylla Cronenberg in Remagen-Rolandseck, south of Bonn.[3][4] Cronenberg, Josephine Odenthal's mother, owned the Zum Anker hotel.[6] The Jacobys lived with Cronenberg until May 1943 when she was hospitalized with an illness.[3]
The story about their background was that their home in Cologne was bombed and the Jacobys were relatives of the Odenthals who need a residence. The Odenthals saved them from being three of the 7,000 or so Cologne Jewish people who were ultimately transported to concentration camps.[3]
The Jacobys left Cronenberg's home about May 1943 and went to live in an apartment in Bayerwaltes building. Henrietta was injured when she fell down the stairs in December 1943. Bayerwaltes took care of Henrietta, guessing that the family were Jews and realizing that they could not call for a doctor. She helped take care of the family's needs and did not tell her husband that the Jacobys were Jewish.[3]
Bayerwaltes' husband was home on leave when Bonn was bombed, sometime between October and December 1944. The soldier moved his family to Schlegeshaid to live with his parents. The Jacobys remained in the apartment through the war, with periodic visits from the Odenthals to bring them food and supplies. Bayerwaltes returned to her home in February 1945, to see if her home has been bombed and if the Jacobys were safe.[3]
American forces came through Bonn on March 9, 1945, liberating its citizens.[3]
After the war
editHenrietta and Saloman Jacoby moved to Bad Godesberg, with Bayerwaltes helping them find an apartment.[5] Both of the elder Jacobys died within a year or two. Hildegard, who had been a widow during the war.[3] Her husband Leo Schott was deported to Shanghai and was exterminated there during the war. Hildegard learned of his death after the war.[7] Hildegard lived on until 1980, and stayed in contact with Bayerwaltes.[3] Cronenberg lived with a relative who took care of her in Kirn, after having lived in Bad Kreuznach.[8]
The people who helped the Jacobys — Josephine and Heinz Odenthal, Kathrina Bayerwaltes, and Sibylla Cronenberg — received the title of Righteous Among the Nations on May 25, 2005.[4] She was honored in 2006 in the Old Town Hall of Bonn[4][9] by Lord Mayor Bärbel Dieckmann.[10] Their names are on a memorial wall in Jerusalem.[1]
Rebuilding Bonn
editBayerwaltes received a position working for the occupying allied forces[5] to rebuild the city. She reported to Edward Brown, the city commander.[9] Bayerswalte was instrumental in the partnership of the city of Bonn and Oxford, England.[4] She was nominated to have a street in Bonn named after her.[4] Upon her death, Mayor Jürgen Nimptsch said "Katharina Bayerwaltes is one of those quiet people who do a lot of good in the background without making a fuss about it. The city of Bonn will honor her memory."[9]
References
edit- ^ a b c Witte, Leticia (2022-09-30). "Versteckt in Bonn [Hidden in Bonn]". Jüdische Allgemeine [Jewish General] (in German). Retrieved 2023-04-13.
- ^ a b c "Biografie Katharina Bayerwaltes [Biography of Katharina Bayerwaltes]". Gedenkstätte Stille Helden [Silent Heroes Memorial]. Retrieved 2023-04-13.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Bayerwaltes Katharina". Yad Vashem. Retrieved 2023-04-12.
- ^ a b c d e f "Straßenbenennungsliste". Bundesstadt Bonn (in German). Retrieved 2023-04-13.
- ^ a b c "Biografie Henriette Jacoby [Biography Henriette Jacoby]". Gedenkstätte Stille Helden [Silent Heroes Memorial]. Retrieved 2023-04-13.
- ^ Simons, Anton (2020-12-19). "Yad Vashem ehrt posthum drei "Gerechte unter den Völkern": Remagener retteten eine jüdische Familie vor den Nazis". General-Anzeiger Bonn (in German). Retrieved 2023-04-13.
- ^ "Biografie Hildegard Schott [Biography Hildegard Schott]". Gedenkstätte Stille Helden [Silent Heroes Memorial]. Retrieved 2023-04-13.
- ^ "Biografie Sibylla Cronenberg [Biography Sibylla Cronenberg]". Gedenkstätte Stille Helden [Silent Heroes Memorial]. Retrieved 2023-04-13.
- ^ a b c "Stadt Bonn - "Gerechte unter den Völkern": Katharina Bayerwaltes ist tot". 2016-10-31. Archived from the original on 2016-10-31. Retrieved 2023-04-13.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ "Stadt Bonn - Mit Mut und Zivilcourage jüdische Familien gerettet". 2006-10-03. Archived from the original on 2006-10-03. Retrieved 2023-04-13.
External links
edit- "Katharina Bayerwaltes". Views from Nightingale Cottage. - an interesting account by a neighbor of Bayerwaltes, but not a reliable source for this article as it is on a personal website without editorial control