Manufakturwarenhandlung Hermann Davidsohn, Inh. Arnold Davidsohn
In the town of Demmin Arnold Davidsohn ran a small textile shop together with his wife Lisbeth [1]. On the boycott day, 1 April 1933, SA men posted themselves in front of the shop [1], and in 1937 Arnold Davidsohn had to give notice to a long-standing employee, which according to the Nordkurier happened "inevitably" [1]. After the pogrom the couple fled to Berlin, were deported from there to Theresienstadt on 3 October 1942 and both lost their lives in 1943 [1][2].
The shop
According to the newspaper report of 2021 Arnold Davidsohn ran a small textile shop "H. J. Davidsohn", whose customers were mostly workers and small employees and to whom, according to Vensky, he gave credit or from whom he accepted payment in kind [1]. The newspaper names Turmstraße 25 in this context, where new buildings and two Stolpersteine stand today, but it does not expressly give this address as the business address [1]. The resident directory of 1927 and the Claims Conference list, on the other hand, give Frauenstraße 31 (Claims number 29846) [3][4], and according to a second newspaper report the Stolpersteine for Arnold and Liesbeth Davidsohn lie in front of the house Frauenstraße 25 [5], so that the Turmstraße 25 of the first report may rest on a slip and the address of the firm remains as yet unclear. the project database also lists an older firm Hermann Davidsohn at the same address with the period "before 1925", for which there is as yet nothing more than indications, while Arnold Davidsohn is recorded as owner in the resident directory of 1927 [3]. In the directory of 1910 the merchants Arnold Davidsohn and Hermann Davidsohn are listed side by side [6], although how the two were related is not known, and the Claims Conference list records under number 29846 a claim for the drapery business of Arnold Davidsohn [4].
Boycott 1933 and notice 1937
The Demminer Tageblatt announced for 1 April 1933 that the boycott measures would begin "at 10 o'clock sharp", and indeed SA men stood in front of the Davidsohn shop and kept customers from shopping [1]. In 1937 Davidsohn had to give notice "inevitably" to an employee who had worked for him from 1929 to 1937 and lived in his house, whom he praised in his reference as a "dear, honest and reliable colleague" [1]. Shortly after 9 November 1938 Arnold and Lisbeth Davidsohn fled to Berlin, where they lived in the Jewish old people's home [1].
The fate of the owners
According to the Gedenkbuch of the Bundesarchiv, Arnold Davidsohn, who had been born on 24 February 1874 in Demmin, was deported from Berlin to Theresienstadt on 3 October 1942 and died there on 10 February 1943. Lisbeth Davidsohn, née Löwenthal, who had been born on 22 September 1877 in Malchin, was deported on the same day and died on 20 February 1943 [2]. The newspaper report, by contrast, gives 3 February 1942 as the day of deportation, but the month of death, February 1943, is likely to have been mixed up there [1][2]. Stolpersteine in Demmin commemorate both; they were laid in 2010 [7].