Ernst Kaufmann law office 621-1/84 Ernst Kaufmann
Extent and Medium
12,436 digital images,
Creator(s)
- Ernst Kaufmann
Biographical History
Dr. Ernst Kaufmann, a Jewish lawyer, was born on March 16, 1880 in Hamburg. In the 1920s he founded a law office with his law partners Dr. Edgar Haas und Dr. Walter Klaas at the address Dammtorstraße 27. Due to anti-Jewish regulations, Dr. Haas and Dr. Kaufmann were forced to leave the law practice. Dr. Walter Klaas, who was of "Aryan" descent, was allowed to continue practicing law. After loosing their law credentials in November 1938, Dr. Edgar Haas und Dr. Ernst Kaufmann applied for permission to work as so-called legal advisers ("Rechtskonsulenten"). While Dr. Haas was allowed to temporarily work as a legal adviser, Dr. Kaufmann's application was rejected. In April 1939, Dr. Kaufmann applied for emigration to Belgium with the Oberfinanzpräsident Hamburg/Devisenstelle. A lengthy investigation by the Customs Office ("Zollfahndungsstelle") for alleged violation of foreign currency law ("Devisengesetz") ruined Dr. Kaufmann's chances for emigration. Without any emigration prospects, Dr. Kaufmann successfully reapplied for permission to work as a legal adviser and joined the law office of Dr. Manfred Zadik. After Dr. Zadik's emigration to Guatemala, Dr. Kaufmann took over the law office. Dr. Kaufmann was subsequently deported and murdered in the Auschwitz concentration camp around 1943/1944.
Archival History
Staatsarchiv Hamburg (Germany)
Acquisition
Records originate from the Hamburg State Archive (Staatsarchiv Hamburg). The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum's International Archival Programs Division received the digitized microfilms in February 2019 from Yad Vashem, Israel, via exchange.
Scope and Content
Records of the law office of Dr. Ernest Kaufman, a German Jewish lawyer in Hamburg. Contains only client files.
System of Arrangement
Archival History Note. The Higher Regional Court confiscated the files of the deported or emigrated Jewish legal advisers. The files, which were handed over to the State Archives in 1986, were badly affected by improper storage; some of the files were removed because of mixed contents or severely damaged (e.g. by tearing out the stamps). It is noticeable that the first of two files with about 70 files of clients "A to E" were not delivered. The order of the records was based on the filing system of the archivist of the Staatsarchiv Hamburg, e.g., the files were recorded chronologically in the order of their opening and alphabetically by names of clients.
Conditions Governing Reproduction
Copyright Holder: Staatsarchiv Hamburg (Germany)
People
- Kaufman, Ernest, 1880-1943 (1944?)
Subjects
- Germany--Politics and government--20th century.
- World War, 1939-1945--Germany.
- Hamburg (Germany)--Ethnic relations.
- Jews--Persecutions--Germany--History--20th century.
- Antisemitism--Germany--History--20th century.
- Holocaust Jewish (1939-1945)--Germany.
- Germany--Emigration and immigration--20th century.
- Jewish lawyers--Germany--Hamburg--History--20th century.
Genre
- Legal documents.
- Document
- Correspondence.
Copies
-
The collection "Ernst Kaufmann law office 621-1/84 Ernst Kaufmann" was copied from Staatsarchiv Hamburg