Konfektionsgeschäft Max Löwenberg
In Waren (Müritz) the Jewish merchant family Löwenberg had been resident for more than 100 years, and Max Löwenberg last ran a haulage and coal business at the Neuer Markt [1][2][3]. In the November pogrom of 1938 SA men from Waren destroyed the family's businesses and arrested Max Löwenberg, and after the forced sale of the house the family was deported from Hamburg to Minsk on 8 November 1941 and murdered [1][6].
The Löwenberg family and their businesses
According to the leaflet on the Stolpersteine of Waren, the Jewish merchant family Löwenberg had lived in Waren for over 100 years [1]. Max Löwenberg was born on 24 June 1891 and lived with his wife Margarete and the children Otto, Ruth and Gerda at the Neuer Markt [1]. The letterhead of the firm shown in the leaflet reads "Max Loewenberg, haulage, coal trade, founded 1848, Waren, Neuer Markt 5, telephone 20" [1]. According to the Nordkurier the family traded in colonial goods and clothing and also ran a coal trade [2]. The Claims Conference lists two businesses for Max Löwenberg, namely a merchant at Neuer Markt 16 and a haulage and coal business at Neuer Markt 5, plus plots of land (meadow, field, barn plot) [3]. the project database, by contrast, calls the business a "Konfektionsgeschäft" (clothing business), which does not readily agree with what the sources say about haulage, coal trade, a merchant, and colonial goods and clothing [1][2][3].
The directories know several Löwenberg firms in Waren, among them in 1846 a drapery business J. Löwenberg at the Neuer Markt and in 1862, among others, a trade in groceries, haberdashery, bar iron and coal, S. Löwenberg, at the Markt [5]. Whether and how these firms are connected with the firm of Max Löwenberg, however, cannot be seen from the sources.
November pogrom and persecution
In the night from 9 to 10 November 1938 the Jewish families still remaining in Waren were attacked, whereby parts of their property were burned on the market square [1]. According to the leaflet, members of the Waren SA destroyed the Löwenberg family's businesses and arrested Max Löwenberg [1]. According to the Nordkurier, stones were thrown at the house and shop windows, "everything was taken out, thrown onto the market and burned", and Max Löwenberg had to clear away the remains himself and bear the costs [2]. A chronicle notes for 9 November 1938, whereas the leaflet by contrast names the early morning hours of 10 November 1938 [1][4], that the SA naval unit smashed the shop windows of the merchants Löwenberg, Leopold and Baruch in Waren and gathered the goods on the market, trampled them and set them on fire, whereby Löwenberg was a war-disabled veteran of the First World War and his protest is said to have been answered with particular harassment [4].
The eldest daughter Gerda left Waren on 30 November 1938, and from Hamburg she managed to emigrate to the USA [1]. After his release from custody and the forced sale of the house, Max Löwenberg also tried to reach the USA with his family by way of Hamburg [1]. On 8 November 1941 Max and Margarete Löwenberg were deported from Hamburg to Minsk with their children Otto and Ruth and murdered [1][6]. Stolpersteine for Max, Margarete, Karl Otto and Ruth Löwenberg lie at the Neuer Markt today [1][6].