Stumbling Stones in Chemnitz

Richard Sander
Born: 07.06.1872
Died: 15 July 1942

Sophie Sander, née Großmann
Born: 11.05.1871
Died: 09.12.1950

Herbert Sander
Born: 05/05/1908
Died: Autumn 1942

Mr and Mrs Sander lived in Chemnitz without interruption from autumn 1905. What is known about the family, who owned a furniture shop?

The businessman Richard Sander was born in Berlin, the son of Albert and Ernestine Sander. He later lived in Halle (Saale), where he married Sophie Großmann from Upper Silesia on 31 October 1905. She had learnt the tailoring trade in Großglogau.

The furniture shop was located in the house at Dresdner Straße 4, which became the property of Richard Sander in January 1908. They had their own upholstery, painting and carpentry workshops attached. The couple also lived in the three-storey house. They had two sons: Rolf Waldeck Herbert and Ernst Horst Gerhard. On 3 October 1908, Richard Sander was granted citizenship, making him an equal citizen of the town.

Richard and Sophie Sander were also politically active. They belonged to the SPD from 1913 to 1933.

In 1935, the business passed into the hands of their sons. From then on, it traded under the name "Sanders Möbelhaus Ernst u. Herbert Sander". From February 1936, Herbert Sander also worked as a salesman for the furniture dealer Oskar Hartmann (Theaterstraße 18). He was responsible for sales and warehousing, as the latter was repeatedly in Poland.

In December 1938, Richard Sander sold his joinery machines to a machine dealer in Chemnitz. The rented property remained in the family's possession until August 1940. The furniture shop had already been closed before then. The couple then had to move to the "Jews' house" at Hermann-Fischer-Straße 5 (previously Zimmerstraße) in 1941, where they and their son Herbert were allocated emergency accommodation.

During the November pogroms of 1938, Herbert and Ernst Sander were taken into "protective custody" and transferred to the Buchenwald concentration camp. Ernst Sander was released on 30 November 1938, Herbert Sander only on 24 January 1939. On 20 February 1939, Herbert Sander was remanded in custody on charges of "bankruptcy and disguising a Jewish business for the purpose of marital loan fraud". In October 1939, however, the proceedings were discontinued due to a lack of evidence of any foreign currency offences. The Reich Association of Jews in Germany sent Herbert Sander to Paderborn for retraining. He returned to Chemnitz in January 1941.

On 10 May 1942, Herbert Sander, who remained unmarried, was deported to the Belzyce ghetto. Ernst Sander, who enjoyed temporary protection due to a privileged "mixed marriage", wrote to his mother on 14 December 1942 that "we have received mail from dear Herbert every 14 days until now". Sophie Sander waited in vain for a message from him until after the end of the war.

Richard Sander died "suddenly" on 15 July 1942 as a result of "the excitement and worries", as was later stated in a eulogy. He was buried in the Jewish cemetery in Chemnitz. The master stone sculptor Kurt Uhlig undertook the necessary work for a grave surround. Ernst Sander informed his mother in Theresienstadt that "we have covered his dear father's grave with brushwood and are tending to it."

Sophie Sander was deported to the Theresienstadt ghetto on 7 September 1942. Her son Ernst was in regular contact with her until the end of 1944. In February 1945, she met her older son there, who "was able to make many difficult things easier and more bearable for her there through his love and care". Sophie Sander returned to Chemnitz ill with her son Ernst on 9 June 1945. She was initially taken in by her son's household. Due to her continuing infirmity, she was admitted to the municipal hospital in Küchwald, where she died after two and a half years on 9 December 1950. Her urn was buried in her husband's grave. The grave inscription contains an addition in memory of her missing son Herbert.

Since spring 2024, a former cell in the Kaßberg prison learning and memorial centre has commemorated the fate of Ernst Sander.

Author: Dr Jürgen Nitsche

It is a project against forgetting: stumbling stones have been laid in Chemnitz every year since 2007.

Embedded in the pavement, the memorial stones commemorate the tragic fates of fellow citizens who were persecuted, deported, murdered or driven to their deaths during the National Socialist regime.

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