Justus Bendit

Justus Bendit was born in Fürth on March 25, 1867, the youngest of four children of the glazier Moritz Bendit and his wife Sofia.¹

The Jewish merchant and commercial judge Justus Bendit owned a book mail order business in Fürth for several years.²

On May 24, 1894, he married Klara Löwy in Fürth.³ In 1896, their first daughter Hildegard was born in Amberg, followed by Manfred, Bettina and Zerline.⁴

His son Manfred was killed in action in 1917 at the age of 20 in Malanceurt, France, during World War I, having received the Iron Cross 2nd Class for special service in combat three years earlier.⁵

From 1921, Justus Bendit was co-owner of the Stahl & Co metal goods factory in Fürth, and from 1926 he ran a store there for tobacco products.⁶ After the National Socialists came to power, he immediately suffered from their anti-Semitic exclusion measures. In 1933, a boycott list was published in the local press, in which his store " Justus Bendit, Tabakwaren, Marienstraße 7″ was also mentioned.⁷ It is possible that due to the economic pressure thus created, the store was signed over to Eugen Lägel in October 1933.⁸

After the death of his wife Klara, Justus Bendit moved to Augsburg in 1934 to join his daughter and her husband Heinrich Neuburger at Gabelsbergerstrasse 1.⁹ This was followed by a move to the third floor of Gesundbrunnenstrasse 3.¹⁰

The daughters Bettina and Hildegard were able to emigrate to the U.S.A. in 1939 with their husbands and Justus' grandchildren Ilse, Senta, Lotte and Susan.¹¹

His last place of residence in Augsburg from 1941 was at Kaiserstraße 53, today Konrad- Adenauer- Allee.¹²

On August 5, 1942, Justus Bendit was deported from Munich- Milbertshofen to Theresienstadt on transport II/22 number 1081.¹³ There he was joined by his niece Selma Grünfeld who had also been deported to Theresienstadt.¹⁴

On February 15, 1944, Justus Bendit died, allegedly of a sepsis.¹⁵

The biography was compiled by Sonja Konheisner, Elena Lidl and Anna Nerlich as part of the "Biographical Research" elective course of the 10th grade at Maria Theresia Gymnasium Augsburg in the 2016/2017 school year.

Translation by Wolfgang Poeppel