Bertha Falkenstein

One of two children in a Jewish family, Bertha grew up in the small village of Bergheim, Germany. Her father was a farmer. Bertha married Leo Falkenstein. The couple settled in Hochneukirch, about 20 miles northwest of Cologne. There, Leo worked for his father’s cigar manufacturing business, Isak Falkenstein and Sons. Bertha and Leo had five children whom they raised in the Jewish faith.

1933-39: Bertha was 55 years old when the Nazis came to power in 1933. For German Jews like Bertha, Leo, and their family, life became increasingly difficult. In 1937, Bertha’s daughter Johanna brought her two daughters, Margot and Lore, to spend the summer with their grandparents in Hochneukirch. The girls enjoyed playing in the Falkensteins’ large backyard. They helped  their grandmother gather fruit from the orchard, as well as flowers and fresh vegetables from the garden.

1940-44: In July 1942, Bertha and Leo were deported to the Theresienstadt ghetto, where Leo died. At the end of June 1943, Johanna and her family were also deported to Theresienstadt, Johanna cried when she saw how thin her mother had become and when she learned about her father’s death. In May 1944, 66-year-old Bertha was deported to Auschwitz, where she was killed. Her granddaughter Margot survived the Holocaust.