Albert Bein

Parents

Albert Bein’s father, Alexander Bein, was born in Unsleben, Neustadt an der Saale district, on April 11, 1848. He was a merchant. ¹ On January 17, 1846, Albert’s mother, Clara Bein, née Schwab, was born in Heidingsfeld, Würzburg district. ²

The couple had nine children. On March 7, 1876, they moved from Königshofen to Augsburg. There, they lived at 1 Elisenstrasse, third floor.³ On March 9, 1876, directly after their relocation, Alexander Bein registered the cheese wholesale company “Bein Brothers” ⁴ which he managed together with his brother Seligman on the second floor of the building. ⁵ The property belonged to the family. ⁶

Since 1883, Alexander Bein was a citizen of the city of Augsburg. ⁷

Albert Bein

Albert Bein was born in Augsburg on March 21, 1879.⁸ The files do not indicate which schools

As it seems, he was not married and had no children.⁹ In his youth, he is said to have performed as strongman in a circus.¹⁰

Siblings

Max Bein was born in Königshofen on October 4, 1873, and died in Norfolk, USA, on March 12, 1896. According to his father, Max had emigrated there and then died.¹¹

Sigmund Bein was born on June 30, 1876,¹² and, on December 7, 1903, married Theresia Schwab. Their children were Claire and Siegbert.¹³ In World War I, he served in the Bavarian Landwehr Infantry Regiment No. 1, 2ndCompany, and was finally discharged for being able to work in his own business. ¹⁴ In the NS era, together with his wife and his adult children, he escaped from the Netherlands to Great Britain. Due to the mine hazard, their ship could not leave. Siegbert found a fishing boat which took them on board. Shortly before they arrived in England, the boat almost hit a mine, but could be rescued by a pilot. ¹⁵ Sigmund and Theresia then lived in London. ¹⁶

Their daughter Claire was separated from her husband Siegbert van Wien and their daughter Beate. They had to stay behind in Holland, but successfully managed to hide. ¹⁷

Babette Bein was born in Königshofen on April 27, 1875 ¹⁸ and, on January 5, 1898, married the Dutch merchant Benjamin van Wien. For a while, they lived in Munich, ¹⁹ before they emigrated to Haarlem in the Netherlands. ²⁰ Their last home was in Amsterdam, ²¹ where their two sons Siegbert-Arthur and Max lived as well. ²² Babette died in Amsterdam on November 5, 1951. ²³

In May 1880, a “boy” was born; he remained unnamed, since he died on the same day. ²⁴

On October 15, 1881, Hugo Bein was born. ²⁵ He was a commercial apprentice and moved to Munich. In World War I, he fought for Germany, and on December 15, 1918, he succumbed to his war injuries in a military hospital in Munich-Schwabing. ²⁶

Tekla Bein was born on October 1883 and on April 23, 1906, she married the merchant Leo Lehrburger from Munich.²⁷

Arthur Bein was born on February 11, 1887. ²⁸ In 1907 he moved to 7 Pettenkoferstrasse in Munich and worked for Heinrich Lösch & Company as an apprentice. ²⁹ On June 30, 1936, he emigrated to the Netherlands ³⁰ after having paid almost 22’000 Reichmarks “escape tax” to the NS regime. ³¹ In addition, his “domestic assets” amounting to more than 50’000 Reichsmarks were confiscated by the Gestapo after his emigration. ³² In the Netherlands, he was arrested in 1943 and, on June 29, deported from the Westerbork camp to the extermination camp Sobibor, where he was murdered on July 2, 1943. ³³

Elsa Bein was born on February 17, 1889, and on December 9, 1912, in Augsburg, married the merchant Salomon Gattmann from Heidingsfeld ³⁴ , her mother’s birthplace. Afterwards, they lived in Stuttgart. ³⁵

Cheese Wholesale Business Bein Brothers

As already mentioned, the Bein brothers‘ cheese wholesale company was founded in 1876. ³⁶ They had their goods delivered to themselves by rail or road and shipped them also to their customers by train. ³⁷

On January 16, 1908, Albert’s father deregistered the cheese wholesale company. ³⁸ On the same day, Albert and his brothers Sigmund and Hugo re-registered the business in their names. ³⁹ It is possible, that the transfer to the sons had to do with a longtime disease their father had; he died in September of the same year. ⁴⁰ Their mother, Clara Bein, had already died on March 30, 1898. ⁴¹

Since October 28, 1908, the brothers had owned the house on Elisenstrasse, in which they also lived together. ⁴² In the files of the State Compensation Office, for Albert Bein, a further residential address, 3 Hermanstrasse, is named, albeit in no other source. ⁴³

On December 17, 1920, Albert and Sigmund re-registered their company without their brother Hugo ⁴⁴ who had died in World War I. ⁴⁵

In 1922, they added butter and milk to their product range. ⁴⁶

Even after the National Socialists assumed power, the business seemed to have gone well: in 1934, the company had sales of almost 300’000 Reichsmarks, ⁴⁷ as well as 21 employees and an apprentice. ⁴⁸

Things changed for the Bein brothers in the following years. On November 19, 1937, the wholesale company was again de-registered. This time, the business was probably “aryanized”, meaning forcibly sold. ⁴⁹

The wholesale was bought by Johann Schötz, a non-Jewish butter and cheese dealer. ⁵⁰ The cheese wholesale Schötz had been existing since 1909 and, for a long time, had purchased goods from the Bein brothers. ⁵¹ Already in August 1937, Johann Schötz had relocated his business to 1 Elisenstrasse, for the time being only as a tenant. ⁵²

On February 22, 1939, the brothers Albert and Sigmund Bein signed a purchase contract with the Schötz family. ⁵³ The couple Johann and Maria Schötz, having lived until then at 9 Maximilianstrasse, acquired the property at 1 Elisenstrasse including associated shares and rights. ⁵⁴ The site consisted of the residential building, the front yard, the cheese warehouse, the laundry room and the courtyard. ⁵⁵ In addition, through the purchase, the couple obtained a number of gas- or coal-powered stoves, a kitchen stove and an electric freight elevator. ⁵⁶

On April 1, 1939, the transfer of ownership took place. The agreed purchase price was 34’500 Reichsmarks. The Bein brothers themselves, however, had to contribute almost 16‘000 Reichsmarks, which served as revaluation mortgage and loan receivable. ⁵⁷ Thus, the remaining amount the Schötzes had to pay, was approx. 18’670 Reichsmarks. ⁵⁸ Albert Bein was allowed to use the rooms where he lived in the sold property “until his intended emigration or until the date of transfer of the property on April 1” ⁵⁹ against payment of compensation of 80 Reichsmarks per month, which represented the current rent of the apartment. ⁶⁰

The purchase price, however, was never directly paid out to the brothers, but transferred to a blocking account at Deutsche Bank, they had no access to. ⁶¹

Restitution Request

On April 14, 1949, Sigmund Bein applied for restitution at the Zentralanmeldeamt (Central Application Office) in Bad Nauheim. ⁶² The amount in dispute was 34’500 Reichsmarks, which Albert and Sigmund were entitled to for the sale of their house in 1939, which, however, was never paid out to them. Since Albert Bein had been murdered by the National Socialists, Sigmund Bein filed the claim for restitution. ⁶³ As the sold house was Jewish property, it was subject to “Wiedergutmachung” (restitution). Wolfgang Schötz, son of Johann and Maria Schötz, eventually had to refund 15’000 Marks to Sigmund Bein. ⁶⁴

Attempted Emigration and Deportation

Albert Bein tried to obtain a visa for Shanghai. For the application, he had to pay a high amount of money, which he received from his sister Rosa Gattmann. ⁶⁵ , ⁶⁶ The flight was to go through Russia, ⁶⁷ but was made impossible by the German assault on the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941. ⁶⁸

On April 4, 1942, Albert Bein was deported from Munich-Milbertshofen to Piaski in Poland which was occupied by the Germans. ⁶⁹ He did not survive the deportation and was declared dead after the end of World War II. ⁷⁰

This is an excerpt from the biography which was written by Isabel Schäffer, senior student 2018/2020 at the Gersthofen Paul Klee High School. The project was part of the “W” history seminar “Jewish Victims of National Socialisms in the Augsburg Region”.

(Translation by Michael Bernheim)