The department store Hirsch Ascher in Parchim's Lindenstraße was founded in 1915 by Emil Ascher and offered fabrics, toys, trousseau items and ready-made clothing [1]. After the harassment of the family on 16 and 17 July 1935 the store was closed for three weeks, and Emil Ascher felt forced to sell the business and the property before he moved with his family to Hamburg on 1 July 1936 [1]. He, his wife Gertrud and their son Rolf were deported from Hamburg to Minsk on 8 November 1941 [1][2].
The store
The store's advertisement reads "Kaufhaus Hirsch Ascher, Inh. Emil Ascher, Lindenstr. 33" and promotes "the modern specialty store for everyone", telephone 263 [1]. Frank describes a store founded by Emil Ascher in 1915 with a wide range of goods, which included fabrics, toys, trousseau articles and ready-made clothing [1]. A photograph "of about 1920" shows the store in Lindenstraße [4]. The sources give the house number differently, for the advertisement and Frank name 33 [1], whereas the Stolpersteine list and the Claims Conference name 12 [2][6]. According to the Stolpersteine list Emil Ascher was born on 10 June 1887 in Neustadt-Glewe, his wife Gertrud, née Rosenbaum, on 14 September 1885 in Hannover [2]. A sister-in-law of Emil Ascher, Anna Rosenbaum, worked as a cashier in the store [3].
1933 and 1935
During the boycott of 1 April 1933 Emil Ascher was not personally molested because he wore his First World War decoration [1]. On the evening of 16 July 1935 an incident occurred in front of the house, of which, according to Frank, several versions circulated in the town, and National Socialists claimed that Mrs Ascher had emptied a chamber pot over an SA man [1]. On the morning of 17 July 1935 they drove the family through the streets to the town hall. The couple had to carry a sign reading "I poured urine over SA men!", a chamber pot was put on Emil Ascher's head or tied around his neck, and he was injured on the head with his own walking stick [1]. His arrest and a closure of the store for three weeks followed [1]. According to a regional report nearly all Jewish residents of the town were arrested and held for several days in the town hall [5], and according to the Hamburg Stolpersteine biography shop windows of the store were also broken in 1935 [3].
Forced sale and departure
According to Frank, Emil Ascher was compelled as a result of the event to have the business and the property auctioned publicly, and he was served a notice terminating his credit at eight days' notice, followed by a payment order, "so that he had no choice" [1]. The Stolpersteine list states that he ran the store until 1935 and was then forced to sell [2]. On 1 July 1936 the family moved to Hamburg. There Emil Ascher took over the Altona steam laundry Edelweiß but was unsuccessful and had to sell the business again [1]. The community website counts the Ascher store among the businesses "Aryanized" before 1939/40 [4]. Who acquired the store is not known.
The fate of the family
Emil Ascher was arrested in 1938 and held in the concentration camps Fuhlsbüttel and Sachsenhausen until 17 December 1938 [2]. On 8 November 1941 he and Gertrud Ascher were deported from Hamburg to the Minsk ghetto [1][2], and Gertrud Ascher was later declared dead [2]. The son Rolf, who was born on 17 December 1921 in Parchim, was deported with his parents to Minsk on 8 November 1941 and was likewise later declared dead [1][2].
The son Kurt, born on 5 August 1920 in Parchim, attended the Friedrich-Franz-Gymnasium until 1935 and then trained at the horticultural school at Ahlem, and in 1941 he was in the emigration camp Groß Breesen [2]. Frank names the son "Karl", registered at Groß Breesen since January 1941 and said later to have perished [1]. According to Frank only the son Max survived National Socialism; he went to Shanghai in 1939 and then to the USA [1]. The Parchim Stolpersteine list includes stones for Emil, Gertrud, Kurt and Rolf Ascher [2].
After 1945
The Claims Conference lists under nos. 5071 ("Ascher (Kaufhaus Hirsch Ascher)") and 5072 ("Ascher Hersch") assets at Lindenstr. 12 in Parchim [6]. No verified information is available about a restitution procedure or the later owner.