born 8 June 1880 in Birnbaum (Polish: Międzychód)
died 1943 (?) in Auschwitz-Birkenau
Historical former address Mühlenstraße 4
Stumbling stone Mühlenstraße 4
Date of stone-laying 3 December 2019
Eugen Brandt was born into a Jewish family in Birnbaum an der Warthe (Polish: Międzychód) on 8 June 1880. His later wife Rosa Hoffmann also came from Birnbaum. At the time of their marriage on 24 July 1912, Rosa was living with her widowed father in Berlin, and Eugen was living in Rathenow (Havelland). The couple’s first two children, Rudolph and Gerda, were born in Rathenow in 1913 and 1914 respectively. In 1920, the family moved to Fürstenwalde, where their youngest son Werner was born three years later.
The family owned a house at Mühlenstraße 4, where they also ran a shop for “haberdashery, drapery, trimmings, woollen and fashion goods”. Eugen Brandt was an active member of the local synagogue. In December 1938, he stood for election to the synagogue board as “representative of the congregation”. During the November pogroms in 1938, he was arrested and imprisoned in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp until 14 December 1938. Eugen was insulted and slandered in the antisemitic hatesheet “Das Schwarze Korps” (“The Black Corps”), the official SS newspaper with a national circulation.
Shortly after Eugen’s release from Sachsenhausen, his daughter Gerda fled to Brazil and his son Rudolph to France. Rosa and Eugen then moved to Berlin-Schöneberg, where their son Werner was living. It was from here on 12 January 1943 that the couple – along with 1,195 others – were deported to the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp, where they were murdered.
Family members:
Rosa Brandt née Hoffmann
Rudolph Brandt
Werner Brandt
Gerda Philippine Villemor Amaral Brandt née Brandt