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Krefeld. In memory of the Krefeld pediatrician Kurt Hirschfelder, who died during the Nazi era, a stumbling block has now been laid in front of the east wall 142 in front of the new passage. The doctor of Jewish faith committed suicide on October 29, 1941 – exactly 80 years ago – because he had learned of an imminent deportation. Kurt Hirschfelder had previously suffered reprisals and harassment from the Nazi regime, which prevented him from practicing his medical profession, among other things. At a small commemoration on the occasion of the laying of the stumbling block for Kurt Hirschfelder, Lord Mayor Frank Meyer and Sandra Franz as head of the Nazi documentation center Villa Merländer also attended Sibylle Kühne-Franken as chairwoman of the Friends’ Association Villa Merländer, Thomas Siegert as board member of the residence and Tim Niehues took part as chief physician of the Center for Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine. In the entrance area of the Krefeld Children’s Clinic, a memorial plaque pays tribute to Hirschfeld’s great importance for Krefeld pediatrics.
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In a speech, Lord Mayor Frank Meyer recalled Hirschfelder’s vita and merits
In his speech, Lord Mayor Frank Meyer recalled Hirschfelder’s work in Krefeld, his numerous achievements and the traces he left in the city. A square in the city center and a street are named after Hirschfelder. Hirschfelder lived for three decades in a house on Ostwall 148, where he also had his practice. The location of the stumbling block is directly in line with the entrance of the passage way, so it catches the eye. Local authority employees let the stumbling block into the pavement. At the memorial hour, a photo of Kurt Hirschfelder was put up next to the stumbling block.
“The perfidious and inhuman anti-Semitic politics of the National Socialists can be particularly well understood in Hirschfelder’s biography. He was a highly relevant person for the Krefeld city population for several decades and was systematically marginalized and ultimately driven to suicide, ”said Sandra Franz at the memorial service at Ostwall. She then reported on the life of Hirschfelder, who was born on March 11, 1878 in Rexingen / Württemberg as the son of the businessman Max Hirschfelder. After graduating from high school in Tübingen, he studied medicine in Freiburg, Munich and Berlin and completed his doctorate in Freiburg in 1903. As a specialist in childhood diseases, Dr. Hirschfelder settled in Ostwall 148 in April 1906. In 1908 he volunteered in the maternity care center; He worked closely with the Krefeld women’s association and the association for infant care.
Doctorate was revoked
As a result of this collaboration, an infant home was opened in the summer of 1914 at Petersstrasse 71, and he became its medical director. During the First World War, Dr. Hirschfelder as senior staff doctor and was awarded the Iron Cross 1st class. Shortly after the Nazis came to power in Krefeld, however, he was dismissed as a school and welfare doctor. He lost his job in the nursery and was even banned from living there. His doctorate was also revoked. Dr. Hirschfelder was only allowed to treat Jewish patients, but we know from contemporary witnesses that in individual cases, despite the associated danger, he also helped non-Jewish children in emergencies. In December 1938, Dr. Hirschfelder, who was not married, moved to the house at Hohenzollernstrasse 46, which at that time was probably already functioning as a so-called “Jewish house”. In August 1941 he was then forced to move into another “Judenhaus” at Westwall 50. With him went his servant Simon Friedemann, who had previously worked for Richard Merländer’s partner, Hermann Heymann, until 1940. After the first deportation of Krefeld Jews to Litzmannstadt on October 25, 1941, during which Simon Friedemann was also deported, Dr. Hirschfelder probably no longer had a way out for himself. On October 29, 1941, he shot himself with his service weapon from the First World War in his apartment.
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