Moritz Tobias was born at his parents’ home in Heimbach-Weis on June 19, 1880. The house is still standing. He was the first son of Moses and Jettchen. He attended primary school and middle school. After that, he learned the butcher’s profession in his father’s shop and also passed the exam for the master’s certificate, which meant that he was allowed to run his own shop and educate apprentices. During World War I Moritz served his country. When he returned home, it was time for Moses to retire and he passed his butcher shop on to his eldest son.
Moritz married Rosalie Weinberg of Bork, Selm in Westphalia, the eldest daughter of Levy Weinberg and Rica Gumperich. She was five years older than Moritz. They had no children. Rosalie’s brother Hermann Weinberg and his wife also lived in Neuwied between 1920 and 1931. In September 1934 Moritz leased the shop to Josef Staudinger. In 1937 Staudinger de-registered his business and moved to Mayen. It’s not clear if it was only a pro forma lease to a non-Jew and Moritz still ran the shop during these years until Kristallnacht. He also worked at one of the pumice building block factories, which are typical for the region of Heimbach-Weis. He was likely forced to work there.
On Kristallnacht, a gang of incited SS-men destroyed their five-room apartment. They threw furniture out of the windows and smashed porcelain and glasses. We don’t know how long Moritz was taken into custody or if he was sent to a concentration camp after Kristallnacht. With the rest of usable furniture, Moritz and Rosalie moved to Neuwied, where they lived in a room at the house of Jakob Moses. In January 1939, the Gestapo noted that Moritz declared that the pair was planning to emigrate to Australia. We don’t know if they really ever applied for a visa. In fact they didn’t make it out of Germany. At the end of April 1942, the Gestapo noted that they left the country to an unknown destination and therefore all of their belongings went to the German Reich. It’s nothing but a cynical euphemism for “deportation to the East.” Moritz and Rosalie were probably deported on March 22, 1942, from Koblenz to Izbica. Nobody on this transport survived.
Family tree:
Generation 1
- Moritz Tobias (1880-1942) Heimbach-Weis/Neuwied ∞ Rosalie Weinberg (1875-1942) Bork
Generation 2
- Moses Tobias (1854-1931) ∞ Jettchen Österreich (1848-1928) Heimbach-Weis/Neuwied
Generation 3
- Michael Tobias (1802-1858) ∞ Esther Kronenthal (1824-1899) Niederwambach/Puderbach
- Isaak Oestreich (1811-1891) ∞ Hanche Kahn (1814-1882) Langstadt/Babenhausen
Generation 4
- Tobias Herz (1758-1833) ∞ Täubchen Samuel (1774-1860) Oberdreis/Puderbach
- Joseph Moses Kronenthal (1795-1865) ∞ Johanna David (1796-1865) Dierdorf
- Nehm Oestreich ∞ Jendel Isenburger Langstadt/Babenhausen
- Abraham Kahn ∞ Sara (1773-1863) Aschaffenburg